That night, I was hanging out with my friends — Zir, Sho, and Prime — playing our favorite RPG, the hottest game in the market right now. The kind where you slay demons, loot legendary armor, and flex your build in front of strangers online.
Me: "Yo… what if we got isekai'd into this game? Wouldn't that be wild?"
Sho: "Keep dreaming, Reckka. Stuff like that doesn't exist."
Prime: "Yeah, but if it did, we'd be out here slaying demons like bosses."
Zir: "Sheeesh. That'd be epic."
We all laughed. Then we went back to clearing dungeons, unaware that this was our last night as ordinary players.
If only we knew.
---
I woke to the sound of wind. Not the hum of my PC fan, not the faint buzz of my ceiling light — but a cold wind that cut through my skin.
Blinking, I sat up.
No bed. No desk. No walls.
I was lying in grass, in the middle of a forest, beneath a sky far too vivid to be real.
Panic clawed at me. My breathing quickened. I stumbled to a nearby lake, desperate for answers.
The reflection staring back wasn't me.
A massive bear's head — sculpted in white bone, lined with frost — rested on my own like a war headdress. Armor of ice and hide wrapped my body, glinting with faint blue runes. My gloves ended in claws. My breath came out in mist.
This… this was my in-game armor. My Frostbear mantle.
No way.
No. Freaking. Way.
My only conclusion was impossible: I was inside the game.
---
"Are you done gawking?" a deep, rumbling voice said.
I froze.
My eyes darted around. No one was there.
"Down here, cub."
The voice wasn't coming from outside.
It was in my head.
No… it was coming from the headdress.
"W-what are you?" I stammered.
"I am the Frostbear," it growled, calm but powerful. "One of many who slumber within you. You are our heir. Our voice. Our claws."
Before I could respond, a roar echoed through the forest. A demon — all fangs, spines, and black sludge — burst from the trees, charging straight at me.
"I don't know how to fight!" I yelled.
"Then learn," the Frostbear snarled. "I'll guide your hand."
---
What followed was chaos. My body moved faster than my mind — claws slashing, ice forming on my strikes, the demon shrieking as frost consumed it.
When it was over, the creature lay frozen, shattered in the moonlight. I collapsed to my knees, heart pounding.
"You survived your first hunt," the Frostbear said. "Many more await."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to wake up. But deep down, a small, dangerous thought sparked inside me.
If all the beast mantles were really inside me… what else could I do?
If only I knew.
---
✍ Author's Note:
This is just the beginning. Reckka's power isn't about finding the headress— they're all already alive inside him. From the smallest fox to the mightiest dragon, thirty legendary beasts form the Animal Kingdom within his soul.
But the more power he calls upon, the more the world notices.
And not everything that notices is human.
Buckle up — this ride's only getting started.
---