Blink.
Blink.
A faint light stirred within me. My vision cleared, and for the first time since my death, I opened… well, whatever counted as eyes.
"Where am I?" I muttered, my voice echoing strangely.
Before me stretched a massive glowing screen. Text shimmered across it: LOADING…
Wait. Wait. WAIT!Am I inside a computer screen?!
Panic rushed through me as the loading bar crept forward. I tried to move my arms, but I had no arms. My legs, gone. All I could feel was a strange, sharp body, triangular and glowing.
Then it happened.
Click.
A booming sound cracked through the void. My whole body jolted as if lightning shot through me. My form jerked forward without my permission, sliding across the screen.
"Wha—what's happening to me?!" I shouted.
It was then I realized the truth. A giant hand, somewhere beyond this world, was holding the mouse. I was not in control of myself. I was nothing more than… a cursor.
I tried to scream, but another click shook me. The world blurred as the unseen human guided me into a browser window. The interface loomed around me like a towering city, icons lined up like soldiers, and then the page opened.
A webnovel site.
My glowing eyes widened. Not an official one either. An illegal website plastered with ads.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, this is rich. In my old life, I used to read webnovels all night. I wanted to be like those protagonists, getting reincarnated into fantasy worlds with cheat skills..." and then reality clicked to me (pun intended). "...and now? I'm here. Stuck as a cursor. The irony is killing me."
Before I could enjoy the joke too much, the hand dragged me toward something flashing on the side of the screen. A pop-up ad opened, blindingly bright:
"HOT SINGLES AROUND YOUR AREA!"
"No. No no no! Don't click that!" I begged, thrashing against the pull.
Click.
The moment contact was made, the page cracked open like a nightmare dungeon. More pop-ups swarmed me, screaming with neon letters.
"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WON 100K$!"
"DOWNLOAD NOW!"
"YOUR PC IS INFECTED!"
I was surrounded. My first day as a cursor, and I was already fighting for survival.
"Of all the worlds to be reborn into," I groaned, ducking under another flashing window, "why did it have to be this one?!"