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In a green forest corner close to a river, the sound of splashing water could be heard.

Hiding inside the bushes, a sinister laughter could be heard as if it came from the depths of hell....

The immediate surroundings were seemingly full of poisonous green mushrooms with bright purple dots indicating how dangerous they were. Closeby, a bizzare scene could be seen...

A humanoid dog with a staff in his hand was dancing in a spot close to the river,  he uttered the words: ""Life is part of a cycle. Yours is over.". Suddenly, An azure arrow from the river shot past through him straight into the bushes from where the laughter was heard. 

"You have been slain.", The screen lit up with these words as Feng Li threw his mouse against the wall and started screaming and furiously typing on the keyboard. "Fucking Hell! This game is lost because my teammates won't help me at top against this dog-champ!" Feng Li wrote to the enemy team berating his teammates, despite being the one with most deaths in his team.

Feng Li urged his team to surrender the game so he could have better luck in matching with smarter players for his next game, unbeknownst to him that the results of future games would be similar to this defeat.

"I was so close to ranking up to Silver earlier today..." Feng Li thought to himself as he queued up for another match.

The sound of rain hitting the windows of his apartment could be heard at the same time as a ringing catchy tune.

"Bzzt-Bzzt"  Feng Li's cellphone was vibrating on the desk, he took a quick glance and read the screen.

"Mother is calling...." it said, He slowly picked up the call and started it with a few coughs..

"Hello Ma, what is it?" Feng Li asked with a sick and hoarse voice. 

"Is everything okay Li-er? You sound a bit sick..." Feng Li's mom asked in a slightly worried yet endearing voice.

"I'm just calling you about the dinner plans we have with your aunt and cousins tomorrow." She continued and wondered if her son would be able to come.

A pop-up suddenly appeared on Feng Li's computer screen reading: "Join Game." 

Feng Li coughed a few time and replied hurriedly to his mother: "I'm not sure if I'll be able to come tomorrow, I think I'm catching a cold... I have to go now Ma, I'll call you later alright?", Click.

The truth was that Feng Li wasn't really sick, he was faking it so he could have an excuse for declining invitations from friends and family so he could stay at home to continue playing.

Filial piety? He felt sad, but didn't care enough to actually do anything about it.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Focusing on the computer screen, He was just about to click the "Join Game" button on his screen when his hand moved to the mouse that was supposed to be on the mousepad, but it was empty.

In a slightly dazed and stressed state, Feng Li had forgotten that he threw the mouse against the wall and that it had fallen down onto the floor. 

Feng Li bent down and reached below his desk to grab the mouse without even looking down because he was confident that he didn't need to exert even more focus to actually see where the mouse was in order to grab it.

At this moment, a burst of blindning light flashed through the windows accompanied by a loud deafening thunderclap.

A jolting and burning sensation could be felt through Feng Li's fingers, paralyzing his body completely as his eyes froze in time and the vision of his computer screen was as if stuck and imprinted on his retina.

His biggest remorse after dying wasn't not being able to say good bye to his mother, but instead his biggest regret was that he couldn't reach the silver rank on the game he played before he died. 

It happened in an instant, yet for Feng Li it felt as if it was for lifetime... a never-ending feeling of pain and torture.

Without a second thought given to him, everything became dark. He gradually lost his five senses as if the curtains were closed.

Time passed... Years went by as if they were seconds, or even faster.

The darkness of death was truly dark and nonexistant and time couldn't be realized.

"Hmm... So I really did die?" Feng Li thought to himself but soon understood that there was something strange.

Feng Li never had a fear of death because he never found a reason for living. So although he was shocked, he wasn't  really surprised as to what happened.

"Something's wrong... or different, I can still think.. Perhaps this is my sense of self that some people call spirit?" He tried to justify his reasons for what was going on.

Feng Li theorised that his spirit still lived outside of his body, that despite going through what is known as Death of the physical form, he will live on in a non-existential manner with his consciousness and awareness intact.

But Feng Li couldn't be further from the truth because soon he could feel a slight beating, yet Feng Li had no clue where it came from.

Soon came the ensation of a cold and cool substance surrounding him and at the same time he became aware of a physical force that could be controlled.

His new body.

Feng Li became very excited to have a physical form again after having lost time of how long he had spent being dead.

A tingling buzz could be felt from outside the substance that surrounded him, something beckoned to him to escape the cage that imprisoned him. As if instinct called him, he wriggles, moves his body and pushes himself through the covers of this so called "cage".

The final push.

As Feng Li releases himself, he could feel energy seeping in through the pores of his new body, he stretched out his arms in an invigorated fashion.

He has gotten reborn...

Feng Li check his new sky blue environment, the bright sand covered surface is a refreshing sight to behold he thinks to himself.

But suddenly he panics!

Feng Li immediately notices that he can't breathe!!! Or rather that he doesn't need to!

A moment of clarity strikes him as bubbles float up to the "sky" surface".

.....

"I'M A FUCKING FISH!" He screams silently.

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End of Prologue, The journey of Feng Li the fish begins on chapter 1: "Aquatic Breathing"!