"the world is not obliged to follow your prejudices, but you are obliged to accept and follow the world rules if you want to live a good life."

-Unknown.

Chapter 2: Bitter Taste.

Confusion, this is the word that surgically defines my current situation.

Not only were my senses confused as if they were mixed together, I also felt a splitting headache and the taste of blood lay in my mouth.

"Ah..." I moaned weakly. Moaning was the only thing I could do, after all, I didn't even know what was happening to me.

As my senses began to return to normal, I realized that it wasn't just my head that was hurting; every part of my body was drowning in pain. It would be an understatement to say that I could survive this. I thought I was going to die from the pain I was in.

"What pain! Why does it hurt so much?"

I wanted to die, but I survived that ordeal. It's as if a deity said, "I won't let you die; I want you to live and suffer to entertain me."

Slowly, the pain diminished, deconstructed, disappearing from my flesh and the confines of my being.

Finally, the pain stopped.

"What the hell...?"

I was confused. What happened? What happened? Even though my senses had returned, they were still dim. I turned my head to look at the place I was in only to realize that my vision was still fluctuating between being somewhat clear and completely blurry. When my vision returned to normal, I looked around and was dumbfounded by the scene in front of me.

All around me were men with pointy ears and tails. Apparently, I was in a... wagon? Holy shit, where am I?! Have I been kidnapped?

And why do these people look so much taller than me? Did I shrink? What the fuck is going on here?

"Are you okay? You almost passed out a moment ago."

One of the men asked if I was okay. He spoke a strange verbal language that I was unexpectedly able to understand.

"Yes..."

I replied stutteringly. My dry throat made me cough lightly.

"OK."

I answered in the same language he had asked the question in. I didn't know how, but I could understand and speak that language.

I looked around and could see other carts that were also carrying people with strange appearances. Some of the carts were carrying white-skinned women with four pointy ears. Unlike the men around me, she had no tail.

Those carts didn't exactly look like carts. They floated and were apparently moved by some kind of slime that also floated. When I looked again at the women with two ears on each side of their heads, a name came to mind.

"Lilac," I murmured. I didn't know how, but I knew the species of the woman in front of me. This strangeness only shook my heart even more, which was wrapped in anxiety.

I was kidnapped?! Why? I'm a rich man, it's a possible situation to happen, but how did they enter my mansion if it had several guards? Are they terrorists? And who the hell are these men in costumes? Are my kidnappers perverts?!

My chest only became heavier as the flood of anxiety crushed my heart. This avalanche of emotions increasingly sank my heart, throwing it to the bottom of the well.

I took a deep breath.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Calm down, I need to calm down."

Being anxious will not help me at all; it will do the opposite: it will make my situation worse. First, I need to calm down, second, check my senses and see if they are in order, and third, check the environment around me.

I regulated my breathing, starting to breathe regularly and slowly, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. After that, I started to check my senses. First, I moved my body slightly because I couldn't make large movements due to the limited space. I pinched myself, testing my sense of touch, and after that, I checked my vision and hearing.

Apparently, I had new limbs added to my body. My ears were pointy and I had a tail.

"Tropical, demi-human."

At that moment, I realized something was wrong. Very wrong, so wrong, more wrong than being kidnapped. It struck me as absurdly strange.

"What the fuck..."

That made my brain clench. In that instant, I realized.

I finally understood my current situation. I didn't want to believe it, but it happened.

All the clues connected, forming pieces, which quickly fit together and formed a puzzle.

I answered a strange questionnaire, which almost always appears in novels where the protagonist is teleported or reincarnated to another world after answering. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and fainted, then I woke up and came across a reality that was simply different from anything I had seen.

I don't know what exactly happened or how it happened, however, one thing became abundantly clear to me: I am in another world, with a new body, and a new life.

From a powerful person of the land, to probably a mere slave.

"'Better life than your current one' is my egg."

As soon as I realized this, my heart sank with hatred. I had worked very hard to go from a mere “man who lives well” to one of the rulers of the world. Even though luck was essential and I was not dishonest enough to not admit it, I still worked very hard to climb the ranks and achieve a prestigious position.

I lost everything because of a random questionnaire sent by a friend, even though that son of a bitch wasn't even my friend.

"Damn.... Hell. Hell!!"

I mumbled. I wanted to scream, break everything around me, just create chaos around me, but I couldn't. More specifically, I couldn't because I didn't want to lose everything again.

Now, I had a new life. Even though it wasn't any better than my old one, I had to get used to it and keep living, even if it didn't bring back what I lost in my past life.

The only thing I can do now is accept my situation, because that is the most rational choice I can make. Wallowing in frustration will only bring me more suffering.

I have to be stoic. Accept what I have no control over and cannot change and focus on what I can control.

"... Impossible."

Just sighing and accepting that everything I worked to achieve in my previous life has been lost is not an easy task. I have accepted it, however, not completely.

It would take a while, but by then, I will probably have recovered what I lost in my previous life with achievements in this new world.

In any case, for this to come to fruition, I have to find a way to get out of this current situation I find myself in, but before that, I have a brief monologue to mentally convey a message to the inhabitants of this world.

It will take time, but I will be able to establish myself as a person of power in this new world. No matter how long it takes, I will achieve this! No matter what methods or how many people will have to be sacrificed to achieve this, I will become one of those who rule this world.

Inhabitants of this alien planet! I have a message for you: I will be one of those who will rule over you!

I'm going to be part of the elite... no, I'm going to be one of those who command the elite.

"Ha...hahahaha."

I started laughing. The other slaves who had previously looked at me strangely because of my mumblings, now began to be sure that I was not mentally well.

For me, their reaction. No one could blame them; only I knew what I was laughing at; I laughed at my own unattainable goal. I laughed at myself, and at my own misery.

Hell!

I can only curse. To believe that I will evolve from a mere slave to one of those who rule the world is simply the height of absurdity. How will I achieve this feat? Will I gain some magical power or something? Will a noble lady fall in love with me and bestow upon me a title of nobility? That only works in fairy tales!

Woe! Woe! I would rather return to my world than live as a mere slave! Cosmic entity that brought me here, take me back to my world!

Please.....

[Welcome to the brutal world of metaphor! Your first mission is to survive the tribulation entitled 'green waters'.]