When he came to, everything was black.
Not the usual black you get when you close your eyes, this was total void, a darkness so deep he couldn't even imagine anything existing beyond it.
He tried to move — nothing.
Tried to open his eyes — nothing.
Tried to scream — silence.
He couldn't feel arms, legs, not even a mouth, the only thing he was absolutely sure of, was that he existed, and that this existence was oddly still.
As if he was the environment, as if the medio ambiente was him.
Then he noticed it: something warm, damp, surrounding him, embracing him from below.
Not water, thicker, tarthier.
There was a soft but firm weight holding him down.
Like he was… buried.
Then came the revelation.
"Am I... underground?"
A new, indescribable sensation crawled through his awareness like his soul was stretching out beneath the surface, splitting into countless directions.
Not nerves, something else.
Roots.
—...No. No way... —he thought, every mental syllable soaked in panic. —Don't tell me...
He focused, and that awareness expanded.
He felt the tremble of the soil under tiny insects.
He sensed moisture sliding across what he now knew was bark.
He felt wind brushing across something he definitely shouldn't have: leaves.
And then he knew.
Not by logic, not by deduction.
He just knew, the same way you know fire burns or that the sun gives heat.
"I'M A TREE!"
He wanted to laugh, cry, or faint, but all he could do was feel that vast, slow, vegetative existence consuming him.
"Is this a prank? Some cosmic joke? I died by truck and reincarnated as a freaking tree?!"
The ground quivered slightly.
The air around him shifted.
And then, it came — a presence.
Not a creature, a voice.
Cold, mechanical, emotionless, Like a virtual assistant with dictator vibes.
[DING]
"Welcome, Host."
"You have been selected as the official host of the Supreme Clan's Sacred Spirit System."
"Initializing startup protocols..."
[DING] Loading status window…
[DING] Activating basic techniques…
[DING] Configuring adaptive interface…
"System… is this a nightmare or just bad software design?" The voice ignored his existential meltdown.
Current Status: Activated
Congratulations! You have been reborn as a Mana Tree.
Current Level: 1
Form: Ordinary mana tree (semi-dormant)
Condition: Stable
Initial functions enabled:
Bond Technique: Allows connection to compatible humans to form a clan. (Locked: No lineage detected)
• Status Window: Displays detailed information about self and territory.
• Experience Points (XP): Earned by completing missions, defeating enemies, or expanding territory.
• Trade Points (TP): Generated automatically at a rate of 1 point per second per active clan member.
"Bond technique? Clan? Mana tree? WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS?!"
He was more lost than a lettuce at a naval battle, or worse… a root during an alien invasion.
"Am I supposed to recruit squirrels with magic swords? Train birds in martial arts? Is this Naruto: Forest Edition?!"
He focused, trying to open the status window, and to his surprise, a floating interface appeared in his mind like an RPG HUD.
Status Window: Sakurai
• Form: ordinary Magic Tree
• Age: 1 day
• Height: 3.2 meters
• Trunk Diameter: 0.9 meters
• Root Range: 8 meters
• Lineage: None (awoking at Level 5)
• Level: 1
• XP: 0 / 100
• Trade Points: 0
• Main Technique: Human Bond (Locked)
"One day old? Great. I'm literally a baby with photosynthesis." Sakurai complained in his mind.
[DING] System Tip:
"Negative thoughts reduce the growth rate of spiritual branches."
"Botanical therapy now? Seriously?" Sakurai groaned.
[DING] Sarcasm detected.
Sarcasm is not recognized as a productive resource.
Recommendation: "Stop complaining, your current form is a thousand times more glorious."
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!"
System: "I do not joke, I'm the system, you are the tree, adapt accordingly."
Sakurai, now officially a tree, wanted to throw himself into the nearest river.
But, being legless, he settled for dropping a leaf out of spite.
Hours seemed to pass.
And despite his frustration, he realized his new form wasn't completely useless.
He could absorb mana from the air.
He sensed small presences like squirrels and birds.
He felt the pulse of life beneath his roots — like the entire forest was breathing with him.
There was peace in this existence.
But also, a silent threat: stagnation.
"This can't be it. I'm not spending the next thousand years doing photosynthesis in silence, yes, I have a system, l have a purpose, and if I have a purpose… I can do something."
The wind shifted, he felt something new.
A human presence — faint, but real.
And with it, a surge of data exploded in his mind.
[DING] Human presence detected within sensory range.
Initiating compatibility assessment…
• Bond Potential: 47%
• Target's Emotional State: Desperation
New mission unlocked!
[DING] Mission: Establish contact with nearby human.
• Objective: Attract their attention using natural means.
• Reward: Partial unlock of Bond Technique.
• Time limit: 10 hours
"Bonding? With who?! A real person?! Why do I have to flirt as a tree?! I couldn't even make friends on Earth, and now I have to recruit people as a trunk with plant charisma?!"
But there was no choice.
It was this or spend centuries as decorative shrubbery with deep thoughts.
He had a clan to build.
And so began the new life of Sakurai:
A perfectly average man reincarnated as a future legendary mana tree, cursed with a sarcastic system, a locked technique, and a ridiculous mission…
Get a human to come closer.
Although first…
He had to figure out how to move a damn branch.