Reincarnated as the Weakest Magical Beast-Chapter 118: It was a dream!

The quietness inside the bedroom of a small apartment in New York was suddenly shattered by a loud ringtone.

A cheerful anime song blared through the dim room.

"Uuurrrghhhh!!!"

Claire groaned and blindly reached for her phone on the nightstand. Her arm flopped around for a moment before her fingers finally brushed against it. She dragged it closer and squinted at the glowing screen, the brightness stabbing painfully into her sleepy eyes.

Her vision slowly focused.

10:00 AM.

Her heart nearly stopped.

"Oh fuck! I’m late for work!"

She jerked upright, then paused as she saw the other word on the screen.

Sunday.

Her brain caught up a second later.

"Aahhh... safe!"

Her body relaxed instantly. The mattress felt soft beneath her, and the faint hum of the city outside the window was distant and harmless. She turned off the alarm and curled slightly onto her side, hugging the pillow.

I’m way too tired to function right now, she thought lazily. Maybe I’ll just sleep a little longer... then log into Arventia later.

That sounded like a perfect plan.

With that comfortable decision made, she closed her eyes again and allowed herself to drift.

...

"No! Wait a fucking minute!"

Claire jolted upright in bed, suddenly wide awake as a memory crashed back into her mind. The sleepiness vanished instantly, replaced by a sharp, electrifying awareness.

She had just remembered something important.

Very important.

With rising panic, she threw the blanket aside and hurriedly examined herself. Her hands trembled as she looked down at her arms, then her legs, then the rest of her body.

"Oh my god..."

Her breathing grew uneven.

There were no more soft, beany paw pads at the tips of her limbs. No retractable claws hidden beneath fur. No brushy black tail flicking behind her. No triangular ears twitching atop her head.

Instead, she saw long, slender fingers.

Human fingers!

She spread them wide and turned her hands back and forth in disbelief, flexing each joint slowly. Opposable thumbs. Smooth, hairless skin. Perfectly shaved legs. No fur anywhere.

She reached behind her instinctively.

No tail.

Her hands flew up to her head.

No twitchy ears.

For a moment, she simply sat there, staring at her own hands as reality settled in.

Then it hit her fully.

"HECK YEAHHHH! I’M HUMAN NOW!!!"

Her diabolical scream echoed through the apartment, loud enough that it was a miracle no neighbor banged on the wall in protest.

The joy that exploded inside her was indescribable! After everything, she was finally back!

Back in her own body!

Back in her own world!

And so, laughing breathlessly, Claire grabbed her phone again and stared at the dark screen, her fingers traced her own cheek. Her reflection stared back at her: a young blonde woman with faint dark circles beneath her eyes and messy strands of hair sticking out in every direction from sleep. She looked tired, slightly unhinged. But still undeniably cute!

"Daaamn..."

Claire collapsed back onto the bed and released the longest sigh of relief she had ever breathed. Her entire body felt drenched in sweat, as though she had just run a marathon instead of waking up from sleep.

"... that was such a weird dream! Ahaha..."

She pressed a hand over her face and let out a shaky laugh.

Yes, a dream.

It had to be. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Perhaps, it’s because she had been gaming too much lately. There was no other explanation. Spending endless nights grinding in Arventia Online had clearly messed with her brain.

But still, reincarnated into Arventia... and not even as a human, but as a freaking Noctifelis, one of the weakest magical beasts in the game?

Haha, what kind of nonsense was that?

And yet the dream had felt so detailed, so vivid, she could still remember everything clearly.

Finding such an amazing master,

Meeting Siamelumis and Marshmallow...

Obtaining a divine flame....

Fighting side by side, tearing through countless monsters together...

Attempting the dungeon of the Corpse King Amaras...

And then, somehow, it turned into a secret quest where her master was chosen as the new king of a lost kingdom... only for an evil version of that same king to appear and try to interrupt the trial.

Claire stared at the ceiling, replaying the scenes in her head.

"Oh damn... I could literally write a novel out of this."

She laughed softly to herself, still half in disbelief at how elaborate it had all been. It felt less like a dream and more like she had lived through an entire lifetime.

Though...

She let out a quieter sigh this time.

"It’s kind of fun though..."

She did not expect to admit this, but a small part of her actually missed it.

Being a cat had been strange at first. Waking up with paws instead of hands, fur instead of skin, a tail that moved on its own... It had been completely ridiculous.

But once she got used to it, being small and fluffy had its perks.

She had been adorable, objectively adorable.

And honestly, was it really so bad when she had the most beautiful master ever and unlimited, top-tier head pats?

"Hehe."

Claire rolled onto her side and buried half her face in the pillow, her cheeks warming slightly at the memory.

Still... I’m awake now.

Back to reality.

She stretched lazily, her human muscles responding in a way that still felt oddly foreign after that dream.

"Guess I should grab something to eat," she muttered to herself. "Then log in and continue grinding."

After all, Arventia was still waiting.

And who knew?

Maybe tonight she would dream of it again...

Either way, the very first thing Claire thought about after calming down was cup ramen.

There were still a few stacked near her desk, and the electric kettle beside them was already half filled with water from last night. Perfect. Breakfast of champions.

She shuffled out of bed, hair still messy, and pressed the kettle’s button. The soft click was followed by a faint hum as it began to heat. While waiting, she grabbed the cup of Korean spicy noodle soup and tore open the lid halfway. Out of habit, she used her teeth to rip the sauce packet open.

"Ah, this smell..." she muttered, already imagining the salty, spicy kick.

Then her gaze drifted to the corner of her desk.

A chocolate bar.

And next to it, a half-finished can of energy drink.

Claire blinked.

"Oh, right..."

A strange thought struck her.

In that dream, she had not been able to taste sweetness properly. As a cat, her senses had been sharp in many ways, but sweet flavors had been almost nonexistent to her. And it was a freaking disaster.

She had completely forgotten about that.

"That was actually insane," she murmured, a small laugh escaping her.

Without another thought, she set the ramen aside.

Forget spicy soup.

I really want to eat some chocolate now!

And that meant dessert before breakfast. But who the fuck care? I can just have a second dessert later!

She snatched the chocolate bar from the desk and peeled the wrapper open in a single motion. And after that, brought it to her mouth and took a big, confident bite.

Crunch!

The sound was satisfying.

But the taste—

Claire froze.

Her expression slowly shifted.

"...Eh?"

She chewed once more, just to be sure, only for her eyebrows to be pulled together further.

"Why... the hell is this so bitter?"