Chapter 2: It is a baby

I woke up slowly. Like coming out of anesthesia – I felt groggy, heavy and confused.

What first came into view was a white ceiling. Fluorescent lights. Definitely a hospital.

I was in a plastic box. A crib. A baby crib.

Also: pink bodysuit, pink blanket, and on top of my head were fuzzy triangles– not a hat. Are these ears? They twitched when I touched them.

A tail too. Small, white, with a gray tip. It flicked.

Okay, I thought. I'm an Uma Musume.

And the belly I was trying to claw out of until now was an actual belly, but not a monster belly. It was a mama belly.

I looked down. The bodysuit was loose. Nothing there.

Well. That's new.

I didn't panic. Panicking is for people who aren't Still Stronger.

But I was annoyed. Currently, I am lying in a baby crib in a pink onesie. Right now, I am very annoyed. Because if I am not crazy, then it looks like I reincarnated into the game I was about to play.

As much as it excites me to experience such a supernatural phenomenon, it also annoys me that the game I reincarnated into was a horse girl game.

I mean, if we count the 900 million dollars I lost, then this is a losing deal for me. If I was going to reincarnate into some game world, it should have at least been an action RPG or something. I could have gone on an adventure. Or if I became some crippled or weak character, then I could just go beat the crap out of the big bosses and say "still stronger." There aren't even mechs here.

Born too late to roam the seas and born too early to pilot a mech. So, it's basically all just a downgrade.

The last thing I remembered was a loading screen. Then darkness. Then a C‑section. Then gripping a doctor's finger and screaming. Then a needle.

Right. The rematch.

I tried to get up. But I just flopped back down. I tried again, but I realized that I seem to have a noodle core. The effort to get up annoyed me even further. So I just curled a leg and barely sat up by using the arm on my knee as support.

"She's awake."

A nurse peered over the crib. Round face, kind eyes. She looked at me like I was a cute puppy.

I frowned at her.

https://freeimage.host/i/CCCE8xt

"Oh my," she said. "What a grumpy face."

I'm not grumpy. You are just being annoying.

Just give me a minute to process this reality.

She picked me up. I let her – weak body, no better plan. She carried me down a hallway, past doors, into a small room with a bed.

A woman lay there, propped on pillows. White hair. Ice blue eyes. Horse ears. A tail.

It's the monster belly – crash! – uh, I mean. My mother.

I mean, I was kinda expecting a stranger, whom I would feel guilty towards for stealing the life of their baby or something. But the person I saw was my mother.

I mean seriously, it's my mother. My mother from my past life but with a different color scheme. If you ignore the white hair, she just looks like my mother I saw in her photos from her younger days.

No wonder it's a monster belly – crash! – uh, I mean tough belly.

 Look, I am not an idiot. I know it's a good thing to have a tough belly. Also, why do I keep calling it "belly"? That just sounds childish.

Anyway. My mother. Same face. Same eyes. Same way she tilts her head when she's curious. The only difference is the white hair, the horse ears, and her younger look.

But wait, I know my point of view makes her and everything else look gigantic. But I can tell – in comparison to the surroundings, she is short. I mean, she used to be 175cm. Did she perhaps have a growth spurt after giving birth to me in our previous life?

Either way, it's her. What are the odds? Out of all the wombs I could have dropped into, I got the one attached to my own mother. Even if it's an alternate universe version.

She smiled at me. Gentle and soft. The kind of smile that says "I have no idea you're a twenty‑something gamer with 900 million dollars and a grudge against a horse."

"Hi, baby," she said. "I'm Lily. I'm your mom."

Lily, I thought. Not the same name. But okay.

She reached out and took me from the nurse. Her hands were warm and careful, like she was holding something precious.

She's gentle, I thought. Really gentle. But as someone who had a lot of hobbies in my previous life, I can tell that the way she's holding me is wrong. The way she is holding me and the awkward way she is exerting gentle force as if not to crush me screams 'young mother who has no idea how to raise a baby but is still willing to try her best.'

She held me against her chest. Warm. Soft. She smelled like flowers and something clean.

I am not gonna lie, it was so comfy that I almost fell asleep right then and there.

But then my stomach growled. Loudly. Even the nurse raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's hungry," my mother said.

She reached over to a small table and picked up a bottle. Warm formula. She brought it to my mouth.

I hesitated. I'm a grown man. I've beaten a horse. I've beaten a level 99 boss with a fishing rod. And now I'm about to drink from a bottle like a helpless infant.

My stomach growled again.

Fine. Compromise.

I latched on and drank. It wasn't terrible. Tasted like warm milk with a hint of "you have no dignity left."

My mother smiled down at me while I fed. "There you go. Good girl."

Girl. Right. Still getting used to that.

The bottle emptied way faster than I expected. I felt full – annoyingly full. This is what my life has become. A full stomach and a pink onesie.

"There's my little monster," she cooed as she pulled the bottle away.

Monster again. I'm starting to think it's genetic.

I frowned at her. She laughed.

"She's so expressive," she said to the nurse.

The nurse nodded. "Very alert. And she walked already – did you see the report?"

"I saw. My little genius."

Genius. Sure. I'll take it. But I prefer "monster." It adds a touch of mystery and power.

She rocked me gently. "You need a name," she said. "Any ideas?"

I gurgled.

"Right. We'll work on that."

The door opened and a man walked in. Tall. Blond hair. Nervous expression.

My father. Same face. Same slightly awkward way of standing in a doorway like he's not sure he's allowed to exist.

But wait, did he get shorter too? I remember he was at least 190cm tall.

"Lily," he said, "is she...?"

"She's perfect," my mother said.

He walked over and looked down at me. His eyes widened.

"She's so small," he said.

'You try being born,' I thought. 'See how big you come out.'

"She walked already," my mother said.

"What? Already?"

"Uma musume. They're different."

He reached out a finger. I stared at it.

Don't grip it. Don't grip it. He's not the doctor. He's dad. Different species.

I let him touch my hand. His finger was warm. I did not break it.

Progress.

"Hi, baby, my name is Alan Sparr" he said. "I'm your dad."

Whoa! Dude, who the hell are you? I thought. Where is my dad who brought home a girlfriend every week?

I guessed that some things would be different because of my alternate universe theory. But this is too much contrast. And this is all going way faster than I can keep up with.

Anyways, I need to give him a response. So I gurgled again.

"She's going to spoil you rotten," my mother said.

She's not wrong, I thought. But I've got 900 million dollars of my own. Well. Had. It's gone now.

I wonder if we are in the rich category in this world as well.

My father picked me up. He was less gentle than my mother – a little stiff. His hands were a little shaky. Does he think that I will break if he exerts more force?

I won't break, I thought. I've had 52 fractures. I'm basically made of rubber.

He held me at arm's length. "She's frowning."

"She's always frowning," my mother said.

"Hey baby, why are you frowning?"

"Probably because you're holding her weird."

He adjusted. I frowned harder.

This is my family, I thought. It seems like I won't be able to escape this family in any universe.