Suzu (You)

Darkness. Not the darkness of a closed room. Not the darkness behind closed eyes. Something deeper. Something endless. For a long time, I could not tell whether seconds or centuries were passing. The last thing I remembered was the plane. The distant hum of engines. The glow of city lights far below. A notebook resting on my lap. An idea. No... Not just an idea. A story. A strange fantasy world that had appeared in my mind with unusual clarity. A world of magic, monsters, and a gentle pink-haired girl whose smile somehow refused to leave my thoughts. Then came the impact. The deafening sound of metal tearing apart. Fire. Water. Pain. And silence. ... Yet somehow, I was still aware. Still thinking. Still existing. That realization should have terrified me. Instead, it only left me confused. Am I dead? The question lingered unanswered within the void. Then, for the first time, another voice spoke. Calm. Neither male nor female. Neither distant nor near. As if it had always been there. "Your previous life has ended." I wanted to ask who was speaking. I wanted to ask where I was. But before I could form a single thought, the voice continued. "You have successfully undergone reincarnation." Reincarnation? That was absurd. Impossible. And yet... Something about the voice made arguing feel pointless. A brief pause followed. Then came the next statement. "You are currently classified as a slime." ... A what? Silence returned. The voice offered no explanation. No comforting reassurance. No grand prophecy. Only those few words. And somewhere within the darkness, I felt something unfamiliar stir. A body. Small. Soft. Strangely fluid. For the first time since my death, I realized I could move. Slowly. Tentatively. I began to open my eyes.