Thump.
Xin Yi's eyes snapped open.
Green. Everything was green.
Wait.
She blinked hard. Once. Twice.
Still green.
Trees? Leaves? Branches?
What the—
She bolted upright, her hand clutching her stomach. The cramping was gone. The desperate need to rush to the toilet? Completely vanished.
But.….where was the toilet? Where was her bathroom? Where were her walls?!
"Okay, okay, don't panic," she muttered, pressing her palms to her face. "Maybe I fainted. Maybe I hit my head on the toilet and now I'm having some weird fever dream about camping—"
A breeze tickled her skin. A very.….thorough breeze.
Xin Yi looked down.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
She was naked. COMPLETELY. UTTERLY. NAKED.
Not a stitch of clothing. Not even her underwear. Nothing!
Her scream echoed through the forest, sending a flock of birds scattering from the treetops.
"No no no no NO!" She scrambled to cover herself with her hands, spinning around wildly. "Where are my clothes?! Where is my APARTMENT?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
The forest offered no answers. It only offered trees. Endless trees. And the sound of rustling leaves.
And her, standing buck naked in the middle of nowhere like some kind of unfortunate nature documentary.
"This is a nightmare," she whimpered, crouching down and hugging her knees. "I'm going to wake up any second now. Any second. On my bathroom floor. Fully clothed. With my dignity intact—"
DING!
A glowing blue screen popped into existence right in front of her face.
Xin Yi shrieked and fell backward onto her butt.
[WELCOME TO THE BEAST WORLD SYSTEM!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have been selected to survive and thrive in the Beast World!]
[Current Status: EXTREMELY VULNERABLE]
[Urgent Quest Unlocked: COVER YOURSELF, YOU'RE NAKED!]
[Objective: Use available materials to create basic clothing.]
[Reward: Basic Dignity + 10 System Points]
[Failure: Continue being naked and probably get eaten by something.]
Xin Yi stared at the screen, her mouth hanging open.
"...System?" she whispered.
[Yes! I am your helpful guide! Let's get started, shall we? ☆]
"SYSTEM?!" she screeched. "What kind of transmigration nonsense is this?! I was just trying to POOP!"
[Host's previous world activities are irrelevant! What matters now is survival!]
[Hint: Those big leaves above you? Perfect for emergency clothing!]
Xin Yi looked up. Sure enough, massive leaves, easily the size of dinner plates, hung from the trees around her.
"You want me to wear.…leaves?"
[Unless Host prefers to remain naked! But I should warn you, there are beastmen in this forest who have excellent noses. They can smell you from quite far away! ♪]
"BEASTMEN?!"
[Hurry, Host! I detect movement nearby!]
That was all the motivation Xin Yi needed. She scrambled to her feet, jumped up, and started yanking down the largest leaves she could reach.
"Okay, okay, leaf clothes. I can do this. This is fine. Everything is FINE."
[Pro tip: You'll need something to tie them together!]
"With WHAT?!"
[The vines, Host! Use the vines!]
Xin Yi spotted the thin vines trailing down from nearby branches. She grabbed several and started working frantically, weaving and tying the leaves together with shaking hands.
It was the ugliest, most pathetic excuse for clothing she had ever seen.
Two leaves for her chest, tied with vine straps over her shoulders. A larger leaf-skirt situation tied around her hips and butt.
But it covered the important bits.
DING!
[Quest Complete!]
[Reward: Basic Dignity Restored + 10 System Points!]
[Achievement Unlocked: Fashionista of the Forest! (Just kidding, that looks terrible.)]
"I hate you," Xin Yi muttered.
[Host will thank me later! Now, next quest—]
Crack.
Xin Yi froze.
That sound came from behind her.
Something was moving through the bushes. Something big.
[Oh! Here we go! ♪]
"System," Xin Yi whispered, her heart hammering. "What is that?"
[Probably a beastman! Good luck, Host!]
"GOOD LUCK?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN GOOD—"
The bushes exploded.
A massive black panther burst through the foliage, its eyes, a bright and brilliant purple, locked directly on her. White and violet spots rippled across its powerful body, and Xin Yi did the only logical thing.
She screamed and ran.
"NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPE!"
Her leaf-skirt flapped wildly as she sprinted through the trees, branches whipping at her arms and legs.
Behind her, she heard the heavy thud thud thud of paws hitting the ground.
It was chasing her.
"SYSTEM! DO SOMETHING!"
[Run faster, Host!]
"THAT'S NOT HELPFUL!"
She felt it before she saw it, a rush of hot breath on the back of her neck, the sense of something massive right behind her.
The panther pounced.
"AHHHHHH!"
Xin Yi went down hard, face-first into the grass, the wind knocked out of her lungs.
The enormous cat pinned her down, its weight pressing her into the dirt. She felt its nose snuffling along her hair, her neck, her shoulders…..
And then it licked her.
One long, wet swipe from her shoulder blade all the way up to her ear.
Xin Yi sputtered. "W-what—GET OFF ME!"
The panther made a rumbling sound, almost like a purr, and licked her again.
"Stop! Stop that! Bad kitty! BAD—"
The weight vanished.
Xin Yi scrambled onto her back, gasping, ready to see the panther lunging for her throat….
But to her shock the panther was changing.
Its massive form shifted, fur receding, bones reshaping with sickening cracks and pops. In seconds, where a giant cat had been standing, there was now a man.
A very tall man.
A very muscular man.
A very, very naked man.
Xin Yi's face burned crimson as her gaze accidentally dropped lower.
She had never been intimate with anyone before, not in her old life. So when she caught sight of the massive, throbbing manhood belonging to the panther beastman hovering over her, a wave of overwhelming panic and dizzying heat crashed through her all at once.
It was…huge. Intimidating. Nothing like the tame, censored diagrams she had glimpsed in biology textbooks back on Earth.
Asides that, he was stunning. Sharp features, wild black hair that fell past his shoulders, those same striking purple eyes. The white and violet markings from his beast form traced along his arms and chest like tattoos.
And he was smirking at her.
He said something, a string of words in a language she had never heard before.
"W-what?" Xin Yi squeaked.
[Language Translation Activated!]
Suddenly, his words made sense.
"Why are you screaming, little female?"
"Why am I screaming? YOU'RE NAKED!" Xin Yi shrieked, covering her eyes with her hands. "PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!"
He tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. "Clothes?"
"YES! CLOTHES! FABRIC! SOMETHING TO COVER YOUR—YOUR—" She gestured wildly, her face burning. "YOUR EVERYTHING!"
He glanced down at himself, then back at her, completely unbothered. "You're naked too."
"I AM NOT! I'M WEARING LEAVES!"
He stepped closer.
Xin Yi scooted backward. "Stay back!"
He crouched down, bringing his face level with hers. His eyes studied her for a brief moment, then he reached out...and grabbed her leaf-top.
"What are you—HEY!"
He tugged experimentally, and the vine strap started to come loose.
"NO!"
SMACK!
Xin Yi's palm connected with his cheek before she even realized what she was doing.
The sound echoed through the forest.
The beastman froze.
Xin Yi froze.
Even the System seemed to freeze.
Slowly, the man raised one hand to his reddening cheek, and his eyes went wide.
And then he laughed.
A deep, rumbling sound that made Xin Yi's stomach flip.
"Wow," he said, his grin widening. "You hit me."
"Y-you tried to tear off my clothes!"
"Those aren't clothes. Those are leaves."
"THEY'RE ALL I HAVE!"
He leaned even closer to her, his nose nearly touching hers.
"Who are you, fragile little female?" he murmured. "Where did you come from?"
Then, before she could answer, he licked her cheek.
"I like the way you smell."
Xin Yi's face went supernova-levels of red.
"You're coming home with me," he declared, reaching for her.
"WAIT—NO—SYSTEM, HELP!"
[New Quest Unlocked: Survive Your First Beastman Encounter!]
[Sub-quest: Try not to die of embarrassment!]