The Great Demon Marshlands Aewolan

I overheard the cries of swamp birds chirping avidly above the treetops, composing a beautiful medley while marsh winds carry their mating call through the green thicket of the bald cypress tree. 

I was sunbathing beneath one of the bald cypress trees in an unconscious state, incapable of controlling my new humanoid body I've recently acquired from the Dungeon Master after he abducted me from my apartment in Niigata. 

He was the scumbag who brought me to this isekai nightmare after he forcibly removed my spirit from my human body and dumped my essence into a random monster's corpse resting on the isekai forest floor.  However, I'll leave his tale for another day. Right now, I'm going to tell you how I found myself waking up in the Great Demon Marshlands Aewolan and how I manage to survive in those fleeting moments.

Yousuke was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a lifeless body given to him by the Dungeon Master. Shortly after, he is abruptly summoned from his apartment in japan by the corrupt administrator who governs the strange world.  Eventually, Yousuke was discarded hideously without remorse and left for dead in the heart demon swamp, filled with wild beasts to come along and make a meal out of a helpless sightseer.  

The only thing Yousuke could rely on was his sensory systems or what people on his planet characterized as his seven senses. Despite that, Yousuke was still unconscious and wide open for any creature and enemy to take advantage of my vulnerability.

The region the Dungeon Master's expelled Yousuke was the Great Demon Marshlands of Aewolan. It is a spacious wetland with endless waterways, diverse jungle vegetation, with an unnatural ecosystem that sits above the magical power spot known as the Dragon's Heart. 

The Great Demon Marshlands of Aewolan is a dwelling place for the most deadly and untamed monsters that can devastate entire countries and drastically erase the existing mountains off the face of a map. Even the most robust overpowered heroes and medieval infantry would be inferior against these bulky behemoths. 

It is a dangerous territory stuck between two major countries, attached to the forests' south and eastern parts. 

The Holy Empire Wraebuthan resided at the bottom of Mt. Zoclagarth, protected by a stronghold called Greenthron from marauding invaders and magical beast from the eastern forest. The Flimmaxar Kingdom nestled in the south, maintained by the Great river of Wracceatall, with many naval fleets safeguarding its waterways.

 However, few trading routes can't penetrate through the Demon swamp dense wooded area, and monsters overrunning trader roadways. Both countries engage with mercenary and adventurers guilds to traverse through the hostile environment, delivering and exchanging goods to lower settlements occupying each country's borders. 

Meanwhile, back at the swamp, Yousuke had already succumbed to the foul gases leaking out of the demon lake. Yousuke's humanoid body was exposed to an unpleasant odor entering his nasal cavity. He felt nauseous, ingesting the impure gasses entering his lungs and bloodstream from the demon lake. 

He coughs hysterically, removing the gaseous residue from his nostril and lungs! The bacteria within gas weakened his respiratory system and gave me unbearable abdominal pain! 

Yousuke tilted his head east while muscles in his eyelids twitched in discomfort as his body continues to cough up some of the harmful bacteria from my abdomen. He violently spits up a translucent liquid from his mouth made out of an unusual amount of saliva and mucus. Yousuke ejects it horizontally, inches away from where his head was resting, remedying myself of my ailment. Because of that, Yousuke unintentionally regained mobility in his hands and fingers thanks to the antibody in his immune system.

While I was recuperating from my illnesses, I started noticing changes in my body. The coldness from my incapacitated body slowly began to fading away as my consciousness started to resurface and took over my limp body.

A few minutes later, I notice I was lying on a foreign land while slumbering calmly on the damp ground, regaining my strength. I realized by the touch of my skin receptors it was cold and moist clay underneath my pores as I dug rashly into the loose mound of earth with my fingernails conjoined to my left side of the arm.

I attempted to open my eyes out without even second thought and felt a slight gush of wind blowing into my line of sight as I opened my eyelids slowly to widen my vision. 

"AARAGRHAH!!?" I roared, feeling dim light tearing my eyeballs!

The sunray pierces through the bald cypress canopy, changing the leaves into decorations above me while it stung my eyes directly! I close them tightly to block out the searing pain of the sunlight. The intense glow of the star obscured my vision, which I found rather difficult to handle even with the foliage of the bald cypress tree concealing my presence underneath its many needled threads.

I gave myself a bit of time to recuperate, and I try again after I gather more endurance. This time I opened my eyelids a tad slower and gave them enough time to adjust to the brightness. The daylight beams into my cornea, and I instantly repelled it with the flick of my right hand covered in dirt from the soil below, deflecting the overwhelming fireball. Upon doing so, I gasp in disarray and stare directly at my pale skin color in horror.

I saw that the skin on my hand; was utterly grey with onyx pointed nails on each finger. The same could be said about my right arm as it extended down toward my uncensored body! Yes, that right I was utterly butt naked from the pelvis down to my grey legs and black toenails on my feet. 

Including an unerected penis draping helplessly in the center of my pelvis for the whole world could see for their amusement!

I rushed to get up, but my mind was still incapable of piloting my new humanoid body as I struggled to sit up while balance myself on my hindquarters, shuttering in skepticism by the sight of my inhuman hands and limbs.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME!" I yelled in frustration staring at my grey fiendish hands. All I could see was grey covering every crevice of my newly obtained humanoid body.

Suddenly, a familiar odor ruptures my snout once again, as I quickly, without fear, covered my delicate nose and mouth with both my demon hands drowning out the repulsive foul gas coming from the demon lake. 

My eyes were shedding droplets of saltwater from each tear duct as I frantically turned over onto my posterior, curling up into a human-sized boulder shielding my airways from the putrid sewage water!

"GOD, DAMMNIT! This shit reeks," I mumbled, desperately holding my breath, trying not to vomit in disgust. In that instant, I decided to do the unthinkable since I couldn't walk physically. 

Yet, I chose to crawl on all four like a hog and flee from filthy water, exposing my anus to the birds and heavens above. This walk wasn't very respectful, dragging my unprotected body through the brown sludge and grime of woodland carpet.

I tumbling helplessly in uneven mud wallows as I haul my hand and knees further away from the foul swamp water, cutting and jabbing my limbs randomly, shrubs and jagged rock embedded into the soggy soil banks. I hurt so much it made it difficult for me to escape the deadly smell of the methane marsh behind me.

A few hours passed after the dashed for my life. I started to feel sluggish after making my way to a clearing in the demon forest. I stumble upon a single rowan tree surrounded by shallow pools of rainwater, shielded it from the prying eyes of others. It looks like an excellent spot to rest and treat my wounds. I could also breathe properly again and have enough room to shelter myself underneath the large rowan tree.

I rest my head against the base of its trunk while breathing in soothing swamp air while covered in a brown, hard mud suit that completely fastened to my skin. 

I began to regain my composure from the ridiculous performance I did earlier, parading my body around like a wild animal through the brushes. I was about twenty meters away from the demon swamp, and I was too weak even to move my fingers, so I decided to conserve my strength by taking a short nap underneath the rowan tree before teaching myself how to walk correctly.

My eyes lids grew heavy as I drift off into deep sleep, and suddenly I begin to hear a faint noise as I rested under the rowan tree, but I was too exhausted even to attend to the matter. I woke up an hour later, and it seems the marsh's temperature became quite gracious when I fell asleep. Suddenly, I notice all the scrapes and cuts that form on my body earlier had healed entirely and vanished, leaving only the dry-up mud suit still attached to my humanoid body.

I squinted my eyes observantly and gave myself a slight patted down with my hands to check to see if I had any more injuries while giving myself a proper physical. Like magic, I recover from injuries with no sign of dysfunction or tiredness.

"So I'm really in an isekai world," I answered coldly, clutching my fist, observing my nervures pop out of my wrist joint as I flexed my tendons in my left arm. I could feel as do my strength had developed during my leisurely downtime, along with self-regeneration powers.

I turned my eyes entirely to observed my new surrounding. My eyes widened when I looked back at the shrubs I cross after fleeing from the deadly swamp. It took me to an unfamiliar sight; however, my vision was still obscure and immature to make out specific landmarks.

I gaze at the blue midday sky above and notice the sun beaming down from the heavens through the overgrown rowan tree while its branches were dancing freely in the dense winds. The sun that was obstructing my vision cast its reflection on what appears to be several watering holes occupying the forest floor.

I looked around indiscriminately, squinting my eye, realizing that I was near an open body of rainwater by the rowan tree I was nesting underneath. How I got here was a mystery? But I know I had to do something to survive in this hostile environment.

Dungeon Master's might have brought me here for a reason, or maybe he threw me away because I wasn't any use to him and left me here to die! But I know I'm not on earth anymore and won't go back to having peaceful life ever again. As I question myself, I adjusted my surroundings and then turned my attention to several waterholes next to me and the rowan tree I was lodging. 

I overlooked it for a while, busy trying to figure out where I ran off to when fleeing from the poisonous swamp.  

A suggestion pop into my goblin brain to drag myself over to one of the rain puddles and look at what kind of creature Dungeon Master turned me into out of curiosity. 

Afterward, wash the hardened muck off my naked body to move better in my goblinoid body. I squirmed over to the rain puddle, looked at the rippling pool below, and tried to make out my image. I heave in terror at the creature looking back at me! "No way, this can't be me-!" I spoke in disbelief while gazing at the murky rain puddle on the woodland floor infested with earthworms and insects crawling along the filth mud plots filled with murky rainwater.

"THAT BASTARD, TURN ME INTO A GOBLIN!?" I yelled in anger, staring aggressively at that reflection through the rain puddle! I saw an image of an imp-like monster with grey color skin and golden reptilian eyes resembling that of an alligator eyeball, gazing back at me from the muddy liquid. My ears were pointed like a leprechaun but much large earlobe and protruding outward from my head.

"I'm a Goblin," I quivered as I slumped over onto my rump in the middle of the lush canopy of the demon jungle. I was thrashing my hands irregularly through my short black hair, shaking my neck horizontally in disbelief, exposing my naked body to the forest elements while looking at the reflection in the water. 

Out of all the monsters, I got the most hated and undesirable creature in all of the fantasy games and isekai genres. Also, it seems that I've shrunken to the size of adolescent youth! I was about 106 centimeter (3.47 feet) and weighed about 29 kilograms (63.8 lbs).

Any adventurer knows that goblins are the weakest and most troublesome monsters to exterminate! They are vulnerable monsters on their own but are more dangerous when in a group. Also, they're hideous as fuck when it comes to the appeal department.

I stare at my goblin face from the pool of contaminated water again, pleading that I don't have any hideous warts covering my monstrous face or nostril. I touch myself with my troll-like hands, afraid of what I would find on my large cranium. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be; even if my face looks repulsive, it's not as ugly as I thought, or a least to my perspective. But my face was clear of any unwanted blemishes.  

"I have to live with it." I sigh in defeat, accepting my goblinoid body. There was nothing I could do about it. Instead of complaining about my appearance, I should be working on regaining my ability to walk appropriately like a regular person and figure out a way to survive in this harsh environment.

Simultaneously, I decided to take a soak in one of the several rain puddles occupying the woodland enclosure where I was staying. I found one rain puddle that was large and deep enough to fit my goblinoid body without running out of rainwater. It was freezing to the touch when I enter the cold water with my exposed body. I shivered as I sat in filthy water as it shaped itself around my navel area and concealed my lower body. 

The rainwater smells sour as I started to wash away most of the hardened clay from my hairless body. I scrub around my goblin neck and torso to removing dead skin and muck off with my bare hands. While soaking the rest of my posterior in natural rainwater below to loosen up, the mud suit stuck to my pubic hair attached to my genitals. The challenging part is washing my shoulder blades with my short goblin arms.

It took a lot of perseverance to grapple with my new vertebrae and maneuver across my spinal column with thin arm muscles to clean the rest of my backside. It made me wish for the convenience of a modern-day shower or even an open bath with clean, heated bathwater and a bar of ferment soap to ease my distress in this uncivilized bathing ritual. 

It was unusual that I discovered so many rain puddles that were big enough to fit me even in this dense jungle. However, I chose a waterhole that closes to ferns and trees to keep me hidden from predators. Still, I yet to comprehend that I was bathing in a forest Giant's footprint. After few minutes, I started to get used to the rainwater scent and continued to clean off most of the dirt from my body.