Hi! My name is Tiara Arissa but my friends call me Tessa. I know it's weird, but it's just a name I got stuck with... Somehow, but I don't mind it because it sounds pretty cute!

  Anyway, we were about to go on a fun school trip and I sat next to Nur on the bus, swinging my legs as I giggled over some joke I barely remembered. It wasn’t even that funny, but once I start laughing, it’s hard to stop! Nur, as usual, just sat there with that same unimpressed stare, like she's judging my entire existence. Hmmmm she always likes this.

  "You really don’t find that funny?" I whined, nudging her arm.

  She blinked at me. "No."

  "Ugh, you’re no fun" I pouted, crossing my arms. But honestly, I'm used to it. It's like a game at this point—annoy Nur until she reacted. And sometimes, she’d let out the tiniest chuckle. That is my jackpot. My life goal. The greatest achievement possible.

  Before I could pester her more, the bus lurched. Hard.

  A loud boom echoed around us, and suddenly everything tilted. My stomach dropped as people screamed. My heart hammered against my ribs. What is happening?! My hands gripped the seat in front of me as my body got flung forward.

  "N-Nur?!" I tried to call her, but my voice came out wobbly. The whole world is shaking, twisting—oh god, I think I'm gonna throw up.

  I turned to look at her, but my ears were ringing too loudly to hear anything. She's saying something, her lips moving, but I couldn’t catch a single word.

  Then—nothing.

  Just darkness.

  When I woke up, something felt wrong.

  Like, really wrong.

  My body felt tiny, like I’d shrunk overnight. My arms—wait. Not arms. Paws?

  Oh. Oh no.

  I let out a tiny squeak.

  Oh god, oh god, what happened?!

  My heart started pounding—wait, do I even have a heart anymore?! My brain felt like it was overheating. Am I dreaming? Hallucinating? Dead?!

  I wobbled on my tiny legs, my panic setting in full force. "N-Nur?! Help?! Anybody?! What is happening?!”

  I opened my eyes, and—ow. Too bright. Way too bright. I blinked a few times, my vision swimming as everything slowly came into focus.

  Wait… everything looked massive. The ground stretched endlessly, and the towering figures around me seemed impossibly big. My heart skipped a beat. Something is wrong.

  I tried to move, but my body felt weird—small, unsteady. I glanced down at myself and—

  Paws.

  Fluffy little paws.

  I gasped—or, well, I tried to—but it came out as a tiny squeaky yip. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. This had to be a dream, right? One of those weird, ridiculous dreams where nothing made sense?

  Or—wait.

  Is this one of those reincarnation things Nur always talked about?! You know, like in anime, where people die and get reborn in another world? Did I—me, of all people—somehow get caught up in that nonsense?!

  I shook my tiny puppy head, trying to clear my thoughts. Okay, okay, deep breaths—except my lungs were tiny, so that didn’t help much.

  As my vision sharpened, I noticed a huge wolf nearby. Her fur is soft, shimmering silver, catching the faint glow of our surroundings like rippling silk. There's something about her—something calm, warm, motherly.

  Is she…?

  I hesitated, watching as more wolves gathered around her. They were all massive compared to me, standing in quiet formation, their presence steady and familiar. Were they waiting for something?

  For me?

  My tiny puppy brain short-circuited for a second. Hold on—is she my mother?!

  I tried to speak, to ask, but instead of words, all that came out were a series of high-pitched whines and yips.

  Oh, come on!

  If I had my human body, I’d be screaming right now. But since I didn’t, I just sat there, vibrating with confusion and panic.

  And then—warmth.

  I froze as a rough, gentle tongue ran over my tiny head.

  What—?!

  I stiffened, my thoughts spiraling into sheer panic. Am I about to be eaten?! Is this some weird wolf ritual?! Help?!

  But no. The big wolf—my supposed mother—just kept licking me, her presence calm and steady.

  …Oh.

  Oh no.

  This is real, isn’t it?

  But then—wait.

  The warmth, the way the big wolf licked me—it's not scary at all. It is actually… kinda nice?

  I let out a tiny huff, then a giggle—wait, can puppies even giggle?! Well, whatever sound I made, it came out as a high-pitched yip instead. Before I knew it, I was laughing.

  Because, honestly? This is kinda nice.

  “Okay, okay! I get it! I’m part of the pack now!” I thought, still grinning like an idiot—or, well, however puppies grinned.

  Not that I knew what is happening, but hey, no point in panicking anymore, right?

  …Okay, actually, there are a lot of reasons to panic, but my brain is still catching up.

  Just as I settled into that totally not concerning thought, Mama Wolf finally pulled away, giving me one last nuzzle before lifting her head. I blinked up at her, then followed her gaze.

  Oh.

  Oh.

  Three wolves were approaching, their eyes sharp and focused. Two of them were dragging something huge behind them—a buffalo? No, wait, not a buffalo. A not-buffalo.

  I gulped.

  It's massive, way bigger than anything I’d ever seen, and it looked like something straight out of a fantasy game. Its skin is weird, all thick and rough, like layers of bark and vines got tangled together and decided, “Yep, let’s be an animal.” And the horns? Not just horns—they were branches. Twisted, ancient-looking branches, all gnarled and creepy.

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  I did not like it.

  One of the wolves let go of its leg and barked at Mama Wolf, who responded with a low growl. Were they… talking? Is this, like, a dinner conversation?

  Wait.

  Dinner.

  I glanced at the giant weird tree-buffalo. Then at the wolves. Then down at my tiny puppy paws.

  …Oh.

  Oh no.

  I'm definitely not on Earth anymore.

  As soon as one of the wolves let out a long, echoing howl, the whole pack snapped to attention. Their eyes locked onto the massive, not-buffalo creature, and one by one, they started moving toward it. Even Mama Wolf, who had been right next to me, stood up and took a step forward—but not before nudging me with her nose.

  Uh-oh.

  I tilted my tiny puppy head at her. Am I supposed to follow? Is this, like, an important wolf moment?

  Mama Wolf nudged me again, and okay, okay, message received! I scrambled up on my little legs and trotted after her, trying not to trip over myself.

  The second the wolves reached the strange creature, they pounced.

  Teeth sank into flesh. Skin tore apart like paper. Bones cracked under pressure. It was—oh gosh, it was so messy.

  I tried so hard not to gag.

  Even Mama Wolf got in on it, her powerful jaws tearing out a huge chunk of meat before turning back to me. She walked over, then—with the gentlest, most motherly motion—dropped the bloody hunk of raw flesh right in front of me.

  I blinked.

  Stared at the meat.

  Then at her.

  Then back at the meat.

  …Uh.

  Am I supposed to eat this?

  I mean, sure, wolves eat meat, but I am a puppy! Shouldn’t I be drinking milk first? That’s how it worked in the real world, right?!

  My tiny heart pounded as I kept staring at the meat like it was some kind of riddle I had to solve.

  But then, reality hit me like a ton of bricks.

  I'm not in the real world.

  I'm in a fantasy world, where logic apparently went out the window.

  I swallowed nervously. Okay. Fine. When in doubt, just roll with it because that's how I did in the past life—and it worked.. somehow.

  Cautiously, I leaned down and took a tiny, hesitant bite.

  And—wait a second.

  It is… good???

  Like, actually good???

  Juicy, tender, not overly chewy, and—hold on—where is the weird iron taste? Shouldn’t raw meat taste gross? Why is it so weirdly perfect?!

  I blinked in shock as I chewed. Mama Wolf watched me closely, her expression unreadable—until she gave a small, approving nod before going back to eating.

  Oh.

  Did that mean I did it right?!

  Feeling oddly proud of myself, I took another bite. Then another. And before I knew it, I am happily munching away, just like the rest of the pack.

  Okay. So maybe being a wolf puppy wasn’t so bad after all.

  Well, I guess I am a wolf now.

  Then time passed.

  Life is… simple.

  I'm not sure how much time had gone by, but honestly? It didn’t matter. Every day I followed the same rhythm—hunt, eat, sleep, repeat. A steady, predictable cycle. And you know what? It's not bad.

  At first, I mostly just watched. Observed how the pack moved, how they worked together, how they lived. But little by little, I started joining in—learning how to run, how to fight, how to track prey.

  Was I good at it? Eh.

  I wasn’t the strongest. Definitely not the fastest. And I tripped over my own paws way more than I’d like to admit.

  But I could keep up.

  And for a wolf pup? That is enough.

  What really fascinated me, though, is how they communicate.

  Oh! At first, I thought it was just growls and barks—like, typical wolf noises, you know? But nope! There's something else, like a whole other layer of sound hidden underneath. And then it hit me—after all the howling and barking and whatever else they do, it sort of... changed! Like, they turned normal wolf sounds into something totally different! And guess what?

  Magic. MAGIC! Can you believe it?!

  Apparently, magic is a thing here, and the wolves used it as part of their language! It's not complicated—their vocabulary is pretty basic, no fancy grammar or big words. Which, honestly? Thank goodness! I wasn’t exactly the brightest student in my past life though, so having a language that is simple? Definitely a win in my book!

  But Mama Wolf—she's different!

  She's smarter. More aware than the others. She understood things on a level the rest of the pack didn’t.

  And she could use magic in ways that went beyond just talking.

  I saw her heal wounds before, this soft golden glow weaving through torn flesh, stitching it back together like some kind of living thread. It is incredible. IT IS MAGIC.

  It also made me wonder—just how intelligent is she?

  And… did she know I wasn’t really a wolf?

  I never got an answer to that.

  When it came to hunting, the pack had this cool system. Three wolves would go out at a time, usually led by Papa Wolf(who I just learned who he is), while the rest of us stayed behind. Well ehh, not exactly an extraordinary or complex system but it's still a cool one!

  Anyway, since I'm still growing, I slept a lot. And sometimes, when I slept, I dreamed.

  Most of the time, they were memories—fragments of my past life. School, classmates, and, of course, the three rascals Nur and I used to hang out with.

  But mostly…

  I dreamed of her.

  Nur.

  I wondered how she's doing right now. If she's here, in this world. If she had reincarnated too.

  A part of me hoped she had. That maybe—just maybe—we’d meet again.

  And then there was the other dream.

  The weird one.

  It wasn’t like the others—less of a memory, more like… a place.

  An endless white void.

  I had no idea what it meant or why I kept dreaming about it, but something about it felt… important.

  I never mentioned it to anyone. Not that I could, considering my wolf-language is still a work in progress.

  But then—completely out of nowhere—Mama Wolf looked at me one day and said:

  "You had the dream, didn’t you?"

  I froze.

  How did she know?!

  I hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Yes."

  Mama Wolf’s expression shifted—pleased, but also… serious.

  She explained that the dream is called Lucid Reflection.

  A special kind of dream. One where you can check your skills, your magic, your health…

  And even—

  Evolution?

  I'm not entirely sure I understood how to use it yet, but one thing for sure—

  It is a very strange and useful dream.

  It also means I have one more thing to figure out in this new life.

  Mannn I wished I had something like that in my previous life. Back when I was human, I never had a built-in way to check on my progress—no inner status screen to tell me if I was growing stronger or if my skills were evolving. Now, even as a clumsy little puppy, having this ability feels like a blessing I never knew I needed. If only I had that in my past life, maybe I wouldn’t have been so clueless all the time! Hmph!

  Then again, time passes.

  Also again, I didn’t know how much time had passed—days, weeks? Time is not exactly something I kept track of in this new life. The best I could describe is that it had been like two sleep cycles since things had been normal.

  Like usual, Papa Wolf went out hunting with two other pack members. Recently, I also had learned that they weren’t just any wolves—they were family! and it is Uncle Wolf and Brother Wolf. The realization had been a little surprising. I had gotten used to seeing them as just part of the pack, but knowing they were family made me feel… different. Warmer, I guess?

  But that warmth turned cold when only two of them returned.

  Papa Wolf and Brother Wolf came back, but something is wrong—really wrong. Brother Wolf was barely standing, his fur matted with blood, deep wounds slashed across his body. Papa Wolf had injuries too, but nothing compared to Brother Wolf and Uncle Wolf is nowhere to be found. My heart dropped at the sight.

  Mama Wolf didn’t waste a second, rushing over and pressing her nose to Brother Wolf’s wounds before casting healing magic. A faint glow pulsed from her snout, stitching the wounds together, but even I could tell—it wouldn’t be enough.

  Then she turned to Papa Wolf and asked what happened.

  “Hunting went wrong,” Papa Wolf growled in Wolf Language. “Green Stalker.”

  At those words, I felt a chill creep up my spine. My fur bristled instinctively.

  Green Stalker... I didn’t know much about it, but I knew enough. Mama Wolf had mentioned it before—something dangerous, something that never let its prey go once it had marked them. And now, all three of them had been marked.

  I swallowed hard as Mama Wolf’s expression darkened.

  “My Brother,” Papa Wolf continued after a pause, “stayed behind.”

  I felt my breath hitch. Uncle Wolf... Stayed behind? No—he sacrificed himself.

  A heavy silence fell over the den. Brother Wolf whimpered slightly under Mama Wolf’s healing magic, but no one else made a sound. Even I, the ever-cheerful one, couldn’t find the words to break the suffocating weight pressing down on us.

  Uncle Wolf is gone.

  And the Green Stalker is still out there.

  Brother Wolf, still weak but no longer on the brink of collapse, let out a heavy breath before speaking up.

  “We should leave,” he growled, voice rough but steady. “Papa and I will split up—lure the Green Stalker away.”

  The moment the words left his mouth, Mama Wolf’s fur bristled, and a sharp growl rumbled from her throat.

  “No.”

  Brother Wolf flinched slightly, but Mama Wolf wasn’t done. She stepped forward, her eyes burning with something fierce.

  “It won’t guarantee the den’s safety.”

  That made Brother Wolf hesitate. “But—”

  “Green Stalkers are plant creatures,” she cut in. “They don’t hunt like normal predators. They don’t see—they sense.”

  I swallowed hard, ears pinned back. I had a bad feeling about what she was about to say.

  “They mark their victims through spores,” Mama Wolf continued. “Once marked, they can track you by your mana frequency.” Her gaze swept over all of us. “And since we’re a pack, we share the same mana frequency.”

  Oh. Oh, that is bad.

  It meant that no matter how far Brother Wolf and Papa Wolf ran, the Green Stalker would still find its way here. The den wasn’t safe.

  “And if that wasn’t enough,” Mama Wolf added, “it can track by scent too.”

  I felt my stomach drop. That meant every single one of us in this den—me, Mama Wolf, Brother Wolf, Papa Wolf—had the same scent tied to the ones already marked.

  Oh no. Oh no no no no no.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying really, really hard not to panic.

  It's fine, Arissa. It's gonna be fine.

  But was it?! Was it really?! Because right now, it definitely didn’t feel fine!

  My heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode. I mean, this is bad. Really bad. Like, worse-than-dropping-your-food bad. Worse-than-tripping-in-front-of-everyone bad. This is we’re-all-gonna-die bad!

  I barely even got used to this whole second-life thing, and now some scary plant monster was coming to eat us?! That wasn’t fair! I didn’t even get to learn cool magic yet! I didn’t get to see all the fun parts of this world! And I definitely wasn’t ready to be eaten!

  I took a deep breath. Calm down. Calm down. I repeated the words over and over in my head, but my tail was stiff, and my ears wouldn’t stop twitching. How am I supposed to calm down when Uncle Wolf was gone and Brother Wolf was barely standing and the Green Stalker was still out there?!

  Nope. No way. I'm not okay.

  Mama Wolf was talking, and her voice was steady, but there was something serious about it. Serious in a way that made my fur prickle and my stomach feel all twisty.

  "Green Stalkers are very dangerous," she said. "Even if all of us fought together, we wouldn't stand a chance against just one."

  I gulped. Oh. Oh no. That was really bad. Mama Wolf was the smartest, strongest wolf I knew! If even she thought we couldn’t win, then—

  I think I might have whimpered. Just a little.

  "We have to go to the Third Zone."

  Huh? The what now?

  I blinked. That was new. I’d never heard of a Third Zone before! Where is that? Was it safe? Is it scary?! Oh no, what if it was scarier than the Green Stalker?!

  Mama Wolf kept talking before I could ask. "The Third Zone, especially the deeper parts, is home to Myconid colonies. Their spores can help mask, overwrite, or even eliminate the Green Stalker’s spores. If we make it there, we might be able to escape its hunt."

  Wait—Myconids? Like… mushroom people?! Like the little funny ones in that game I played before?!

  …Oh. Ohhhh.

  I think I got it now. If we ran to the Myconids’ home, then the Green Stalker wouldn’t be able to chase us anymore, right? Because the Myconids would hate it. And they’d be all rawr! Take that, stupid plant monster!

  Oh! Ohhh! Mama Wolf is so smart!!

  Relief crashed over me so fast my legs almost gave out. We weren’t doomed! We actually had a plan! A real, working plan!! My tail wagged just a little.

  Papa Wolf let out a low growl, serious and sharp. "Then we move. Quick."

  Mama Wolf nodded, then threw her head back and let out a call—yips and growls that I didn’t quite understand but totally sounded important. Within moments, Big Sister Wolf and Bigger Sister Wolf came trotting in, looking all serious and focused.

  Mama Wolf wasted no time. She told them everything. The failed hunt, the Green Stalker, how we were all in big, big trouble. I watched their expressions turn dark, and—

  Oh no. If even they were scared, then we were really in danger.

  "We must go to the Third Zone," Mama Wolf finished. "Now. Gather food. Any rations we have. We leave immediately."

  Big Sister and Bigger Sister Wolf didn’t even hesitate. They ran off to gather stuff while I just… stood there. My legs felt all shaky, and my ears were pinned back, and ohhh, this is really happening. We were leaving. We were running away from home because some terrifying plant monster wanted to eat us.

  Mama Wolf turned to Brother Wolf, her gaze sharp. "Can you run?"

  Brother Wolf took a deep breath. "Yes. Thanks to your healing, I can move."

  I could still see the pain in his eyes, but he sounded so strong about it. I wished I could be that strong.

  Big Sister Wolf and Bigger Sister Wolf came back fast, carrying… bags?

  Wait. Bags?! Like, actual leather pouches?! Since when did wolves have bags?!

  My head tilted in confusion. "Where did those come from??"

  Big Sister Wolf huffed in amusement. "Human adventurers. Dead ones."

  Oh.

  …Oh.

  Oh no.

  I didn’t like that. That is scary! That meant humans came here before and died. I swallowed hard, my tail tucking between my legs. I really, really don't like that.

  "Is everyone ready?" Mama Wolf’s voice snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts.

  "Yes!" came the response from everyone else.

  And then—

  I yelped as teeth latched onto the scruff of my neck and lifted me off the ground.

  Oh no. Oh no no no no NO.

  "M-Mama!! I can run on my own!!" I wailed, kicking my little legs in the air. But she ignored me and took off running.

  This is so embarrassing.

  And just like that, we left our home behind.

  End of Chapter 13