Death by Truck. Rebirth as a Tree.
Rooted in Resistance
I didnât expect to die this way. Not that anyone expects to die, but⦠getting steamrolled by a delivery truck while running to grab my cat from the street felt extra dumb.
Everything went black. And then, white.
Floating. Empty. Quiet.
âWow. She really does look like Sis.â
âIs⦠that a problem?â I asked, or maybe thought. The rules of body language were unclear in the void.
âNo. It means Iâm in a good mood,â she replied. âOne favor. One wish. Then I reincarnate you wherever I want.â
My brain spun into action.
Not panicked, not emotional. Focused.
This was a familiar setup, classic Isekai structure. Reincarnation with a wish from god was the standard.
âDo I get any context first?â I asked. âWorld setting? Magic system? Monster danger levels?â
âNope,â she said, clearly amused.
âFigures.â
I crossed my imaginary arms. âAlright. If I don't get any world data, I need a wish that's universally effective, regardless of the magic system, culture, or power structure.â
Now she looked curious.
âIâm listening.â
âI wish for complete resistance to every possible status effect. Known or unknown, magical or biological, physical or psychological, permanent or temporary.â
Her smile wavered for half a second. âAll of them?â
âYes. Including but not limited to fear, tierdness, confusion, charm, mind control, poison, disease, aging, madness, elemental burns, memory loss, sleep spells, existential dread, and social anxiety.â
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âI feel like that last oneâs personal,â she muttered.
âYouâd be surprised how disabling it can be.â
She exhaled. âGranted. Just know⦠that kind of protection will isolate you.â
âBetter lonely than dead.â
Her eyes glinted with something ancient. âYouâll see.â
And then, without fanfare, the void dissolved.
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[System Initializingâ¦]
Welcome, Entity 001-A.
Species: Highly resistant mana Tree (Seedling Tier)
Racial Trait: Total Status Effect Resistance ... Active
Evolution Path: Locked
Environment Detected: Proto-continental biome (Class: Pre-Life)
Tectonic Plate Activity: Extremely Unstable
I became aware of myself⦠slowly.
Not with eyes or limbs, but through vibrations, heat gradients, soil saturation levels, and atmospheric pressure.
In other words, I was a plant.
More specifically, a tiny, sapling-like seedling with a primitive system⦠and a ridiculously overqualified mental processor.
âOkay,â I thought. âI can work with this.â
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The area was barren. Massive flatlands of cracked stone stretched out from my tiny root zone. Towering cliffs and proto-mountains stood in the far haze, occasionally spewing gas or ash into the low, red-orange sky. Lava was still a thing in some places, but water had carved itself into the crust. This world was young.
There were no creatures nearby. No insects. No birds. Just heat, silence, and ... mana. Faint, ambient mana, drifting upward like mist from the tectonic wound I seemed to be planted directly inside.
That part concerned me.
[Core Environment Instability Detected]
[Geological Intersection: 3 Plates Converging]
[Mana Flow: High but Chaotic]
[Warning: Seed Core may experience stress or fragmentation with growth.]
âInteresting,â I thought. âSo Iâm not only the first intelligent life on this planet, but Iâm rooted at a geological disaster zone. Sounds like a setup for something⦠plot-relevant.â
I focused inward, finding a strange warmth at the center of my being. My core. It pulsed in sync with the tectonic tremors.
I didnât feel painâthanks, immunityâbut I sensed pressure building. A kind of arcane tension. Something was going to happen.
Just not yet.
So I did what I always do when Iâm overwhelmed.
I started calculating.
Growth rate. Sunlight angles. Soil nutrient density. Mana absorption efficiency. Environmental modeling. Probability forecasts for plate collision. I turned my anxiety into analytics.
The system pinged softly in the background, offering minor updates. I was aloneâbut I was not helpless.
And if my instincts were right, something inside me was going to break. Not in the painful sense. In the âmultiple instance runtime forkâ kind of way.
I didnât know when. But I knew it was coming.
And when it did, Iâd have to be ready.