I'm A Red Panda In A Beast World And Everyone Wants To Be My Mate!{BL}

Neve’s consciousness hung suspended in the space between worlds, looking down at his own sleeping body in the hospital bed.

His original body had survived the fall in the zoo. It had survived the head trauma. It had not died. It had just fallen into a coma. A deep, unresponsive sleep where his body lived on but his consciousness had traveled to another world.

But how was that possible?

How could his consciousness have traveled to the beast world if his body was still alive? How could he have taken over Neve’s body, the red panda’s body, if his original form was still breathing in a hospital bed thousands of miles away?

The questions swirled in his mind as he floated there, trapped between two worlds, unable to reach either one.

"Would I be able to return to this world if I get better?" he asked himself, reaching out his hand toward the sleeping body on the hospital bed.

Just when his fingers were about to make contact with the body, the same snapping sound came again.

The whole scene changed instantly.

He was in a different place now. A place that looked like a control room. A camera room. Monitors and screens surrounded him showing different images. He floated in the center of the space, looking around at all the technology.

"Where is this place?" Neve asked aloud, his voice echoing in the empty room.

"Welcome Neve," a voice echoed back. It was masculine and deep and seemed to come from everywhere at once.

He looked around desperately to see if someone was going to appear in the room. He searched for the source of the voice. But there was no one. The only living thing visible was him.

The cameras were showing different places. Different worlds. Different dimensions. But he did not recognize a single place on any of the screens.

"Who is it? Who is speaking?" Neve asked, panic rising in his voice.

"Do not panic, Neve," another female voice added. It was calm and soothing but carried an undertone of amusement. "Seems like the system was useless in the end."

A third voice laughed.

"Ha! What do we do now?" the new voice asked. "I was enjoying the show till it got disconnected. The real owner of the body wasn’t dead like we thought he was."

Neve’s blood ran cold.

"What? Show? Disconnected?" Neve asked, still looking for where the voices were coming from. "Who the hell are you people? Have you been... watching me?"

There was silence for a moment before another female voice spoke.

"Neve, you’re in this world as an entertainer," the voice said matter-of-factly. "Your purpose is to entertain us. Do your best to complete the missions given to you and you’ll be granted your former life back. You’ll be allowed to return to your original world."

Neve felt his entire being collapse under the weight of those words.

"I don’t understand," Neve said, his voice shaking. "Did you kill me on purpose? Just for this? Just to create some kind of entertainment? Or were you going to kill Rena on purpose?"

The voices went silent.

Neve could hear nothing but the sound of his own breathing and the hum of the machinery around him.

"Let’s send him back," another voice finally said. It sounded tired and bored. "This is the first entertainer we’ve summoned to the watch room. It’s getting complicated now that the original owner has woken up."

"Of course," one of the original voices agreed. "Neve, do not forget that if you fail to entertain us, you’ll die. Your body will shut down. Your consciousness will scatter across the dimensions. You will cease to exist. Failure is not an option."

"I’ll die? Wait, if I...?" Neve started to ask, but he was cut off.

"Goodbye, Neve!" all the voices said together in a chorus.

And then everything went black.

.

.

Neve found himself back in the body. The red panda’s body. His body now. He did not know what to think. He did not know what to feel.

He grabbed his chest and slid to the floor, his legs no longer able to support him.

He looked around at his surroundings. The unconscious guard was still lying on the ground. Soren was still wincing and clutching his damaged genitals. The sharp weapon was in Aldric’s hands, pointed directly at him.

Aldric’s eyes were filled with fear and suspicion.

"Aldric?" Neve called out, his voice weak and uncertain.

"Shut up. You... give Neve back!" Aldric yelled, his grip on the weapon tightening.

The bear beastman was clearly not convinced that this was the real Neve. He thought Skarr was still in control. He thought Neve was trapped somewhere, helpless.

"It’s me, Neve," he said, his voice carrying the desperation of someone trying to convince another person of the truth.

Aldric shook his head violently.

"You can’t fool me," Aldric said, his voice firm. "You might sound like Neve, but I know you’re not. I know Neve is still in there somewhere. Give him back to us."

Neve parted his lips, trying to think of something to say. Trying to think of a way to prove that he was who he claimed to be.

But how could he prove it?

Neve’s mind raced as he sat on the floor, staring up at the sharp weapon in Aldric’s trembling hands.

He had just learned that he was an entertainer. A puppet for unknown entities that watched his every move. He had learned that his original body was in a coma in a hospital. He had learned that if he failed his missions, he would die. Truly die. Permanently.

And now, on top of all that, the person he trusted most in this world did not believe he was himself.

Aldric was right to be suspicious. Aldric was right not to trust him immediately. Aldric was protecting Neve the only way he knew how.

What could he say that would convince Aldric that this was really him and not some impostor wearing his body?

’How am I to prove that I’m Neve?’