Darkness. Then, the lab snaps back into focus. Dr. Keyser is gone—reduced to a pile of dust on the floor. Not even a bone remains. It’s like he spontaneously combusted.

What in the world was that?!

I slowly push myself up. Next to the dust pile, I see the contraption the old man had pulled from the machine in my vision. I pick it up and press the button, but nothing happens.

I turn, scanning the room with all my senses. Nothing’s alive, nothing’s burning, and it’s eerily quiet.

I slump to the floor, relief washing over me. Then it hits me: That memory… It was Dr. Keyser’s. It was what actually happened here.

Why did I just see that? It was like a first-person movie, but way more disturbing.

I sit there, blankly staring, trying to calm down. “Ugh…” I clutch my head and shake it.

Don’t panic. Definitely not time to panic. Why am I panicking?! This is totally normal, right? Waking up in a destroyed lab in a body with no organs after dying. Totally normal! Things can’t possibly get any worse. Right?

My mind races, trying to piece together everything I remember. It’s like trying to complete a puzzle with half the pieces missing.

One thing’s for sure: this isn’t the afterlife I signed up for! I didn’t need or want a second chance. My life was good.

I was satisfied. No regrets. I was this close to a heartwarming reunion with my family and friends! If this was an isekai, WHY did it have to be a dying old man who dragged me here? Shouldn’t it have been a beautiful, clumsy goddess who tripped and accidentally reincarnated me with overpowered abilities? Or at the very least, a handsome, apologetic god with a sincere apology and maybe a cheat sheet? Where’s the tutorial?! Did I miss the memo?

Some memories of my life on Earth are still intact, but most of my later memories are gone. Just images and fragments remain. Thankfully, most memories from before my thirties are still there.

I’m a thirty-year-old consciousness, seeing fragments of my “future.” However, that “future” is already in the past.

At least I’m not old anymore… Silver linings, I suppose.

My knowledge, experience, and everything is currently stuck around the time I was thirty. Somehow, my consciousness was transferred—or reincarnated—into this stupid body, in god knows where, after passing away on Earth.

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Val, the name given to this body by the Doctor. Not bad for a name. That’ll be my name in this world, in this crazy isekai! I guess I have a name now. Progress!

The visions of my family and friends were probably the afterlife planned for me. I was in that hidden plane, but most of my family and friends were well and healthy when I died.

Why were they in the afterlife with me?

Dr. Keyser’s crazy experiment took me away from my family and friends. It also caused the explosion that destroyed this place and killed him.

Why me? Why did it have to be me?! I was resting in peace! I was perfectly happy being dead.

Furiously, I stare at the pile of dust again.

Humph! He got what he deserved!

Trapped in this body, not even knowing what I am. I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Looking down, I feel my new body.

For some reason, I don’t look exactly the same as the body in the vision. I run my hands over my face, touching my hair. It’s soft, thin, smooth, but incredibly strong. I try pulling it, but not a strand breaks off.

Hooray! I am not bald!

Aside from not having a heartbeat and not needing to breathe, there’s no digestive tract, no sensation of hunger or thirst. There’s nowhere to excrete waste.

No bathroom breaks! That’s… actually kind of nice.

Smooth scales cover my body from the neck down, regulating my body temperature. I don’t feel hot or cold, and I don’t sweat.

This wasn’t in the vision either. Where did the scales come from?

This new body is definitely not human. I don’t know what I am, and I can’t even tell if I’m alive!

Fury surges through me as my fist punches into the ground, creating a crater and shaking the floor. Whoops. I jump back, startled.

Well, that’s new. Superpowers? Hmm…

I check my fist. Not even a smudge on the scales.

This body definitely needs some road testing.

Flopping back down, I’m suddenly swamped with memories of my family and friends. Hawaii vacations, those perfect cool waves on a blazing summer day, crazy parties, sunset dinners on the beach with lobster that practically melts in your mouth, the heart-melting smiles of my love and child…

We said our goodbyes, but I really want to see them again. I did see them again, in the afterlife, bathed in golden light.

I could go back to that warmth. All I need to do is, you know, pop back over to the afterlife. I must return to the afterlife!

A wave of calm washes over me. If death is nothing to be scared of, then what’s the big deal?

“Ahahahaha…” I could just end it myself! Jumping up and promptly bash my head into, well, everything.

Bang! Clank! Clash!

Nothing. No pain, no blood, not even a tiny scratch.

This ridiculous body is way tougher than a human’s. I flop back to the floor, rubbing my head and suddenly remembering all those anime and movies I’ve binged. Trapped in this body, I gotta get out of here.

If I’m stuck here and can’t even starve to death, this is going to be one hell of an eternity.

Dragging myself up, I spot that contraption I found earlier.

Is this thing even good for anything?

Walking toward the machine where the contraption had been placed in the visions, I find everything completely destroyed by the explosion.

Well, that’s just great.