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Chapter 1

The star-filled sky I saw from the bottom of the ravine was more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen. Which only made it all the more absurd, given that I was currently sprawled atop a mountain of illegally dumped garbage, having just tumbled down here.

(What a pathetic way to die… Really doesn’t suit my name at all.)

I let out a bitter chuckle comparing my name, Misaki Hanazono, [1] to the pitiful state of my life. I grew up in an orphanage, never knew my parents’ faces, got fired from a job where harassment was the norm, and now here I was, clinging to someone’s offhand comment that 「climbing a mountain will change your life.」 Sure, my life changed—it’s just that now it’s about to end.

No family, no friends. No one would even think to look for me. I must have injured something important in the fall; I can’t move, and the pain is awful. On top of that, the cold is seeping into my bones, and my consciousness is fading. At this rate, I’ll probably just be found as a skeleton someday.

(God, please… if there is a next life, let me at least be a… beautiful flower or something…)

No wait, a flower’s life is too short. That’d suck too. That was the last thought to cross my mind before my consciousness faded.

―――――――――

My awareness drifted upward, gently. It felt like waking up after a deep, dreamless sleep. But I couldn’t move my body. My mind was clear, yet I felt as if my entire body had been encased and immobilized.

I struggled for a while, but it was useless, so I gave up. I couldn’t move, but I could breathe. It was warm, and oddly comforting. Strangely enough, I even felt 「full」 despite doing nothing. Apparently, I was still able to eat somehow.

(Is this what heaven’s like? Not what I expected…)

A state where I didn’t have to do anything to stay alive. No work, no responsibilities. It was easy, sure, but terribly boring. I had no idea how long that time dragged on.

I was just so bored. If only I could move my limbs and run around freely—

「Ninaaaaaaaaaa?!」

It came out of nowhere. Like someone yanking on my hair, I was suddenly torn out of that warm place by some unknown force.

Shocked, I screamed at the top of my lungs, panicking. Even I was surprised by how loud my voice was. Amid the chaos, I thought I heard a faint 「pappaparapaaa!」 from a trumpet—maybe a hallucination? I had no clue what was going on.

I was briefly airborne before thudding to the ground. Above me stretched a bright blue sky. I realized I was outside and lying on the ground.

(What the heck was that…?!)

I pushed up with my hands and slowly rose. I was about to be relieved that I could move when something green entered my field of vision and made me freeze.

It was a person. A giant—easily three times my size—lying prone with green skin.

「KYAAAAAAA!?」

I screamed in terror and bolted as fast as I could. Even the trumpet-like melody echoing faintly from somewhere scared me enough to sob as I ran.

Flailing my limbs, I pushed through the giant grasses surrounding me, running further and further away. Where even was this? Towering plants taller than I was—this place was strange. Maybe this wasn’t heaven at all. Maybe it was hell.

(Someone, anyone—please help me! Can’t anyone hear me?!)

Louder, stronger—until someone could hear me. I ran with that hope in my heart. Among the continued trumpet sounds came another, sharper 「beep「 like an electronic chime, but I had no time to care. The grass gave way to a forest of massive trees.

Still running and screaming, the melody began to fade, then disappeared. No more weird sounds, either. Calming down, I staggered toward a spring I’d spotted nearby.

(I should drink some water and calm down… I wonder if it’s safe to drink?)

Peering into the spring, I froze. Staring back at me was a brown object—something like a clay doll with round black eyes—and growing from the top of it was a bizarrely beautiful flower. The contrast was absurd.

I looked down at my own body. My raised hand was the same brown as my torso. So were my legs. The easiest comparison would be a daikon radish with limbs—but stubbier and rounder, like a turnip.

「No… NOOOOOO!!」

I screamed again. I wasn’t human anymore. Misaki—that person—would never have screamed like this. Not even after being punched or pushed down stairs; I always bit my lip and kept quiet. So whoever I was now, I wasn’t Misaki anymore.

Still sobbing in confusion and terror, something suddenly dropped next to me with a soft thud, making me shriek again. It was a bird, twitching spasmodically.

(Did it… die? Or just faint? Was it because of my scream?)

A screaming plant that causes death or unconsciousness just by its voice… only one creature came to mind.

(Don’t tell me… I reincarnated as a Mandragora…?!)

So the plants weren’t unusually big—I was just small. Mandragoras aren’t very large, after all. That green-skinned 「giant」 might not have been a giant at all.

Apparently, I had been reborn in another world—as a Mandragora. And in a world where Mandragoras exist, who knows what the ecosystem is like? How was I supposed to survive in a place like this?

(God, I did wish to be a beautiful flower before I died… but I never asked to be reborn as a Mandragora…!)

Thus, full of despair, I cried out again—just like a Mandragora should.