Chapter Prologue

Birth

Where is this?

What spread before me was darkness . And inside me the creaking sound of hunger echoed .

Hunger? No . Rather than call this hunger, it’s more like ‘starvation’ .

“Gigi . ”

I’m, hungry .

I couldn’t’ even say it properly . What came out of my mouth was something reminiscent of a cramped and blurred shriek .

I close my eyes .

The pangs of hunger continue to attack me, but opening my eyes is also troublesome .

“Gagururu!

I hear some sort of noise from a place not too far away .

“Gi?”

That noise got closer as it stopped before me . And then some kind of meat with a repugnant smell was thrown in between my eyes .

Without even stopping to think what kind of meat it was . I put a part of it into my mouth .

Delicious!

Fuhahaha! Delicious!

I don’t know what kind of meat this is, but I’ve never known that meat could be so delicious .

I put it into my mouth, bite a part off and then chew it .

Without any hesitation, I even bite into the bone of the meat .

“Gigi–––gigigi!”

Before I knew it, the meat that was before me had already disappeared within my stomach .

–––More! I want more!

It’s not enough! I want more! More! More! More! This swirling craving within this body is becoming more and more voracious for meat .

All of the sudden the back of my neck was grabbed and I was lifted up with great strength .

“Gi?”

If I were to look up I would see myself being held by a huge hand as the figure walked .

I can feel the wind .

Gradually… the light filled my sight .

And just as it did, my eyes narrowed .

It’s too bright . As if I had been living in a cave my whole life, that light entered my eyes like a flood of light burning the retina of my eyes .

I narrow my eyes . If I slowly let my eyes get used to it, then…

“Gigi?”

What was there was a great thick forest .

It was at that, that I first realized that my field of vision was shaking .

I wonder if it’s been around 20 years since I’ve been born that I’ve carried something in that way .

No, even as a baby you would carry things in a more normal way . Humans from the start…

Wondering exactly who it was, I moved my eyes . But what was dangling me around was something that I couldn’t have thought to be anything but a joke . A creature with a huge green build .

“Gi?”

No, no matter how you look at this…

This isn’t human .

In other words, it’s that .

Because of my limited knowledge I don’t know any other words for it, but…

Goblin .

Right, with that monster-like appearance, there’s no other way around it .

As I was muttering, that thing that couldn’t be expressed in any other way except as an ugly face twisted by hate, looked at me .

Not good . I’m going to die .

Just being looked at was enough to make me prepare for death .

However, it only glanced at me, and then it continued to walk again .

And then after leaving the thick forest I was lightly thrown to the shore of a lake . That kind of beautiful lake was something unusual nowadays .

“Feed . Catch . No good, then die . ”

After it told me that one sentence, it then turned its back on me and walked away . Looking at it I noticed that the green monster had a lethal weapon that looked like a one-handed club on its back .

Get feed . And if it’s no good, then die?

Feed?

Is she talking about the meat from a while ago? But that… exactly what kind of meat was that?

I don’t really feel like going against what that monster said, so for the mean time let’s at least drink some water from the lake .

This can be drunk, right?

Looks like even with water I can distract myself from hunger .

Should I try to run away? But the problem is that I don’t understand what kind of situation this is . I look at the surface of the water while being unusually calm, when all of the sudden, my thoughts stop .

“Gi?”

Ah?

It’s reflecting . On the surface of the water, the appearance of that hideous green monster is reflecting .

“Gigi?”

Aah?

Seeing that, I turn my hand . The reflection copies me and also cheekily turns its hand .

Unbelieving, I touch my face several times . And just as I did, the reflection did so as well .

I put my hand into the water . And as I do so the waves made by the water cause the reflection to disappear .

“Gigi? Gu?”

Me? A monster?

Still not believing, I look down on my hand .

That ugly green color . If I were to insist on this being a human’s hand, then I guess a dog’s hand and a pig’s hand should also be a human’s .

I touch my face with that hand, and look at the reflection on the water .

“Gigi . ”

–––Monster .

Impossible . I pinch my face, I pull on it, and I even do several other things just to prove that this isn’t real . But no . No matter what I did, I couldn’t get anything to prove that conjecture .

“Gugugugu . ”

–––kukukuku

“Gya–gaggugugu!”

–––ahahahaha .

I can only laugh . What kind of joke is this? Someone please come out and explain .

Why am I?

I should have been raised up without any problems .

In a few years I was going to find a job .

And yet, why?

A monster? Why? Is this a dream?

As I kept laughing that parched laugh, what erupted within me next was anger .

Why? An anger no one should have to answer to . I turn my eyes away from the surface of the water and strike at the ground .

The feeling of the ground . The sensation of the grass .

And even the juice of that biting louse I had just crushed . All of them is thrusting into me the truth of this shitty reality .

“Gigurua!!”

I wanted to scream . And yet what came out of my throat was but a sour sound that had no meaning and couldn’t even be called a word .

This can only be called the cry of a beast, or perhaps, it’s no different from the wails of a new born .

Right after that scream of reason . There was also a scream of instinct .

I’m hungry .

I had just consumed that meat a while ago, and yet… what is this craving?

While keeping my eyes away, I submerge my face in water and vigorously gulp it down .

My throat beat as I drank until I filled my belly . And then I separated myself from the lake and lay down on the ground .

The rays of light that are burning my body, and those rays of light from the sun that are burning my eyes are annoying .

Fuck, I feel like an idiot .

I’m going to sleep .

I entered the shade of a tree, and although not by much, it lessened the annoying sunlight, and I closed my eyes .

Looks like even that insatiable hunger was somewhat lessened by all that water . Thanks to that, I was able to quickly fall asleep .

△▼△

When I opened my eyes, that place that was certainly the shade that I had I slept in, had already become dark .

“Gi . ”

Shit .

I opened my eyes as I cursed .

The voice that came out was as expected, nothing but an incomprehensible groan .

I tried to raise my hand, and naturally, it was that ugly green hand . Having some bumps here and there, it was absolutely not something that you could call pretty .

“Gi–––?”

–––Hey?

As I left the shadow of the tree, and looked up at the night sky . Boom! It was as if I had been hit by lightning .

Up in the sky was the bright full moon .

But what hang there in the sky was far bigger than what I remember . Moreover, there were two of them .

Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, I recall what I had read once in a light novel .

A different world .

However in that story, the people that were transported gained special powers, became heroes and subjugated the demon king . It was one of those cliché happy endings .

I don’t remember even the contents but…

But because of this similar situation, for the first time I had cold sweat .

Still, to actually not even be human . Is this one of god’s pranks?

Ridiculous .

Ridiculous . Right… even if I think that, in the end I’m still an ugly monster .

I’m hungry .

While I was thinking, I was again attacked by sudden pangs of hunger .

Without being conscious of it, that hunger paralyzed my mind to the extent that my eyes started swimming around, looking for food .

For the meantime, let’s go drink water from the lake again .

I drank until I filled my stomach, and then I stood up .

Looks like this is enough for now .

As for the current situation, and whether I can go back or not can be put aside for now .

Right now, I want to eat meat .

Meat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat .

I want to eat!

I could see uncannily well in the dark .

I guess this is one of the advantages of being a monster .

My eyes swim around, looking for a prey in my surroundings .

The moment a moving shadow entered my field of vision, I immediately ran off .

“Guruaa!”

Moving in the bushes, it was a rabbit .

As soon as it noticed me it tried to run away . But, shockingly, I was able to jump and corner it . And then in one breath, I strangled it to death . I put its head into my mouth, and with one gulp I ate it .

As the blood dripped down its fur from where I’d sunk my fangs . I licked that line of blood lustfully as I savored every part of this beast . Ah, I’ve become completely enamored .

I crunch the cranium . And slurp its delightfully delicious spinal fluids .

As I stave off my hunger for a bit, I remember something .

In the past, wasn't there this story of a man that became a tiger?