PAMF 01

Chapter 1

Unfair! I’m Doomed!

I was the first human to set foot on this land. And I was also the one whom the gods had crafted with the greatest care.

Everything about me was born beautiful, and I was loved by many.

The love I received overflowed like it could fill a dry riverbed and even embroider the sky.

The colors of love that filled the world were truly beautiful.

At first, I was simply happy to look at it all, but then a thought occurred to me.

“What if I gathered all this brilliance in one place?”

Since it was the love I had received anyway, why not? So, I carefully stored the love others gave me in a treasure chest.

The various colors of “love” were tempting, but the real reason was that I hated sharing it with others.

By the time half a year had passed, the love I had received was enough to fill the treasure chest and then some.

Yet still, I didn’t share a single bit with anyone.

Those who had given me love began fighting among themselves, vying for it.

Around that time, the light that had once shone brightly across the world disappeared, and an eternal night arrived.

Then one day, a god watching us from beyond the world descended to the earth.

“Why do you gather love without sharing it?”

The god asked me a very straightforward question.

“Because I like it.”

I answered like that.

But my response wasn’t sincere. I just wanted to speak nicely in front of a god.

And the god seemed to know that I wasn’t telling the truth.

“How pitiful you are.”

The god gave a sorrowful look, and taking the chest where I had stored all the love from the past six months, said:

“I will give you a problem. If you answer it correctly, I will return this chest to you.”

I was flustered that the god had taken the chest, so I gave multiple answers—but none of them were correct.

“I will wait until you find the answer. No matter how long it takes.”

Eventually, the god, frustrated with my repeated wrong answers, returned to the heavens, taking all other beings with them.

That left only me in the world the god had created.

For the first time, after being loved by countless beings and then left completely alone, I experienced the emotion called “loneliness.”

And as years passed in solitude, I began to resent the god.

In a world without anything, I slowly withered.

At first, I thought I might simply die, but the endless, unpromising time showed no sign of stopping.

So, I wandered in search of the answer to the god’s problem, intending to end this monotonous and lonely life.

Not realizing that I was bound by the “shackle” of immortality.

How many lives had it been?

Once, a child I met on the surface said this:

“Sister, living is like an apple falling from an apple tree.”

I looked at the seven-year-old with a baffled expression.

I was only ten years old, but thanks to the memories of my past lives, I was wise beyond my years.

That child wasn’t in the same situation as me, yet at seven, they were surprisingly profound.

They said our lives could never choose their beginnings—we simply opened our eyes to find ourselves in the world.

Judging by how they compared a philosophical principle to an apple, they weren’t ordinary.

And indeed, they were right—living was exactly as the child had said.

Whether my home was the streets or the life of a dazzling noblewoman, I could never choose my starting point.

“Ugh…”

On a day when warm sunlight poured gently into my eyes, I slowly opened them.

“It hurts.”

The first sensation I felt was pain.

My eyes stung sharply, and I blinked repeatedly. Looking around, it seemed to be daytime, and the warm wind felt like spring. Yet the sunlight pricked my skin like summer’s scorching heat.

“My vision is weird.”

Why was it hard to see? It was faint, as if the lights had just been turned off and on, making it difficult to distinguish objects.

I blinked again. Gradually, my surroundings came into focus, and I slowly opened my mouth.

Ugh…

I tried speaking, but only strange, garbled sounds came out.

“Hmm, a body that hasn’t been used in a long time?”

The first thing I noticed was a fence.

“A fence?”

Curious, I reached out my hand—but my body wouldn’t move as I intended. It felt like I was bound with ropes.

“What is this? A prison, or a slave market?”

I tried to shake my head, but it wouldn’t move either.

“It would be troublesome if I’m truly bound.”

I pondered seriously and recalled my past lives.

I had repeated countless lives.

Sometimes a beggar, sometimes an ordinary person, once a knight, once a noble duchess.

There was a rule in these lives: I never knew when I would open my eyes again.

I called this phenomenon “reincarnation,” and the countless deaths and rebirths I experienced were proof.

At first, I was puzzled by it, but in my twelfth life, a scholar helped me understand that it truly was reincarnation.

Tap, tap.

While I was lost in thought, I heard a dull sound near the fence. I listened carefully, and then it fell silent.

“Who is that? It sounds like human footsteps.”

I became tense, my senses on high alert.

I couldn’t tell if the approaching person was friendly—or an assassin coming to kill me.

“It’d be pointless to die as soon as I regain consciousness.”

I reminded myself of my curse—and my ability.

I awaken only in a body that has died.

Any body that has died—child, elder, or adult—can be mine.

Sometimes, unlucky, I awaken in a horrific body that had been dead for three days, going through terrible times before dying again shortly after. Each new body required me to assess the situation carefully.

Fortunately, the body I opened my eyes in now was weak, but not foul-smelling.

It hadn’t been dead for long—or perhaps I awoke in someone who was comatose, on the brink of death.

Swish…

Soon, I felt someone lifting me. They gently held my neck and back. It felt familiar—like when I had been born as a dog.

“Could it be that I’ve been born as a beast again?”

A bad thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it off. Being reborn as a beast was extremely rare.

“Oh my, how pretty!”

I heard a voice above my head.

“Wait… that sounds just like when I was a dog in a noble household.”

Am I really born as an animal?

Usually, being born as a beast happened only if one had committed a grave sin in a past life.

“Did I commit a sin in my previous life?”

I swallowed the confusion and slowly recalled my life just before this one.

“Ugh…”

I had been…

A king.

Not just any king, but an emperor who turned a country into an empire.

A conqueror emperor.

There’s a bit of a sad story here.

Among my recent past lives, a friend knew my circumstances.

“What? You died and came back?”

Her name was Ulrika.

She had killed her siblings through bloody purges to become king.

“Perfect timing! I have no daughters!”

Seeing me, once a knight and now reborn as a young noblewoman, she was delighted. She even tried to make me her heir since she had no husband or children.

“So… don’t you want to be king?”

“No.”

I had a god-given puzzle to solve. I couldn’t waste my life on being a king.

I rejected her countless times.

“You must have a child, Ulrika.”

“I married the country, not a person.”

“I understand your sincere request.”

“And?”

“I politely refuse again today!”

Yes, I had refused.

“Long live the new ruler! Hurrah!”

Yet Ulrika’s kingdom had no heir, so I ended up on the throne.

At first, I considered fleeing, saying, “Let anyone be king!” but then realized becoming emperor might help me solve the god’s puzzle.

“I can gather wise scholars with power and find the answer.”

But my expectations were completely off.

“Damn, being king is too busy!”

Fairy tales make it seem easy, but reality was chaotic. The king had to care for citizens, handle diplomacy, defend against invasions—there was no free time.

I marveled at Ulrika’s abilities and sought ways to live comfortably—then abandoned the thought.

“Foreign invasions and diplomacy issues? Let’s just smash the neighboring kingdoms.”

“Long live the victorious ruler!”

I continued until several kingdoms united.

“Long live the emperor!”

My realm became an empire—but then I grew old and sick.

“You lived your whole life for the country.”

I stared at the ceiling, feeling empty.

“Damn it. This life is a bust.”

I had died after endless work—never before had I experienced such a life.

Next life, I promised myself, I would focus solely on the mission and solve the puzzle.

“Duke Pickerdilly.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

His loyal, strong gaze wavered like reeds. I smiled weakly.

If Ulrika had her loyal Duke Tevern, I had Duke Pickerdilly—a boy I rescued from a ruined kingdom who became a brilliant man in his thirties, watching my life’s candle slowly flicker out.

“It’s decided. You.”

Sadly, I was too busy to have children or a husband, much like Ulrika. I traced distant relatives, but they all died in war.

Ulrika and I had led eerily similar lives.

“I will pass the throne to you.”

Duke Pickerdilly looked stunned.

“What? Your… Majesty?”

It was surprising, right? I had reacted the same way when Ulrika passed the crown to me.

“But what choice do I have?”

Without a leader, chaos would ensue.

“Take care of the empire…”

I was about to warn him not to flee, even though I refused the throne.

“Your Majesty!”

My life as a conqueror emperor ended with the alarmed cries of my loyal subjects, particularly the young and strong Duke.

Recalling my previous life, I suddenly remembered something.

During the empire-building, wars never ceased. I remembered that taking lives on Earth meant I might be reborn as a beast. Some considered it superstition, but I played it safe—achieving victories with minimal threat, force, and casualties.

“Auuugh!”

Unfair!

“Bwaaaah!”

I’m doomed!

No wonder my voice sounded weird—it was a beast’s cry.

Strange sounds continued to escape my mouth. I reached a single conclusion:

“It seems I’ve been born as a dog in this life!”