Chapter 1: Does It Look Like?

I am Li En Sudar, not Li Ensu!

I am Li En Sudar, not Li Ensu!

I am Li En Sudar, not Li Ensu!

The mirror reflected the young man’s pale face; his Adam’s apple strained as sweat slid from his temple into his soaked shirt.

Li Ensu Li En stared at his reflection, the incantation-like self-affirmation echoing in the cramped bathroom.

Anyone who has impersonated another knows the easiest detail to betray you isn’t forged identity or altered appearance—it’s the hesitation when someone calls your name.

For the transmigrator Li En, if he was going to steal a face and a name, he had to steal one he himself believed in.

I am Li En.

After finishing today’s practice, Li En wiped his face and stepped out of the bathroom.

Snap!

He dried the water from his face, poured himself a glass of water, replenished his fluids, and reapplied his disguise.

One by one, scales were stuck to his face and arms, resembling freckles—or birthmarks.

A single blue horn, paired with a broken fragment, was planted atop his head, letting the intact portion protrude through his hair.

Forget the tail—yesterday it dragged on the ground and got stepped on by a pack animal; nearly exposed me then and there.

Unless I’m willing to insert myself into some part of it, this external fake tail offers zero control. In a world full of the real thing, it’s too obvious—better to play the unlucky bastard who lost his tail.

Ugh, why do other transmigrators arrive in this world with no language barrier, no appearance issues, no identity problems—and I have to fix everything myself, and nothing’s changed?

Li En looked out the window—at the bustling street teeming with people.

There were people—but they were beastfolk.

There were cars—but they were steam locomotives.

There were horses—but they were racing mares—wait, Kurda people.

Three months ago, I’d have thought this was a film set. This street full of beast ears and tails was too much to believe—made me wonder if it was some mobile game’s live-action cosplay.

Werewolves, catfolk, elves, dwarves, angels, demons—everything you’d expect was here, enough to fill an entire bestiary of another world.

The most common locals were mixed-blood beastfolk, but what Li En couldn’t accept was that despite his own body being unchanged, he saw not a single person of his own kind.

Not entirely none—he’d found in the library a race matching his appearance: a tailless, earless “hairless monkey.” But in this world, it was a super-taboo no one dared acknowledge.

If not for my usual caution, I’d have walked out onto the street and been tied to a pyre by now—maybe even sliced up.

Tap-tap!

A sudden knock interrupted Li En’s thoughts.

Open up! Police inspection!

Outside, muttering—hurried, irritated.

These damn dogs, Li En sighed, picked up his clothes hanging on the rack, and walked back into the bathroom.

The cheap wooden door of the inn rattled under the knocks, but no response came from within.

Now, the female patrol officer Talia S Daer of the local inspection bureau grew impatient.

Short golden hair, a cold, stern face—she looked almost boyish, but below, her vest couldn’t contain her ample curves.

The leopard-tribe female officer, over one meter eighty tall, wore a scowl; her uniform-clad muscles flowed like a cheetah’s, her waist-to-hip ratio astonishing, her curves explosive yet graceful, the tip of her swaying tail embedded with an electric shock ring.

The repeated knocks were ignored because the man inside was “touching up” his disguise.

When the door opened, the female officer saw a sharply dressed gentleman with a sour expression—Li En believed that when you truly had something to hide, being too eager or too weak was worse.

“What’s the matter?” Li En said, brushing his cane.

A troublesome noble? Instantly, the officer recalled complaints and wage deductions; her honey-colored cheetah tail flicked irritably beneath her uniform.

But duty had to be done—she lunged forward, and Li En had no time to react.

Sniff.

Her sudden, close nose brushed his body—an offensive act that made Li En shudder.

He didn’t move. This was how predators mark their targets—precursor to attack.

Only then did he notice: this was a “cheetah”—a rare, powerful race.

“Foreigner?” Her leopard ears twitched upright, her slit pupils narrowing to thin lines—the instinctive alert of a predator. She smelled something off.

“Hmm… how did you know?”

“You smell of dirt, but not enough of the local street’s diesel or fishy odor. Do you have identification?”

Li En quickly handed it over—the photo made the outsider blink.

The moment the ID was presented, the officer’s eyes widened.

“This… is you?”

“Yeah?”

“This is you?! That’s bullshit!”

“Yeah, back then I was still skinny.”

As he spoke, Li En puffed out his cheeks, making a round, plump face.

The female officer burst out laughing, snatched the parchment, and held it up for direct comparison.

Left: lizard head.

Right: human head.

“This isn’t you at all!”

The portrait comparison wasn’t about resemblance—it was about species!

Instantly, Li En wore a wounded expression but said nothing.

“He’s a tuì’ěr,” his colleague quickly said, pointing to the mismatched, deformed stumps on the man’s head.

“Degenerate race—sorry, I’m not being discriminatory. Uh, I just couldn’t find the right word.”

In this world, beastfolk appearances, due to mixed ancestry, mostly resembled each other—usually just one or two extra human traits (beast ears, tails).

But some lucky ones, the more beast-like they were, the stronger they became, often revered within their clans as innate evolved races (atavistic), starting out far stronger than their kin.

Yet some unlucky ones—those injured, ill, or cursed—lost their racial traits and became known as degenerate races.

Such people were often banished from their clans.

“They say degenerates’ ears keep shrinking until they’re just half-circular ear arches!”

The colleague’s explanation startled the leopard officer; blunt as ever, she blurted it out.

“Those super-short half-ears? That’s ugly as hell!”

“Don’t point! Don’t point! Boss, you wanna get another racial discrimination complaint?!”

That accusation carried weight—it jolted the female officer.

“This is my clan crest,” Li En sighed, pulling out a lizard-head chest badge scarred with knife marks.

Possessing such an item also implied status.

“Noble? From where?”

“Former noble—third son of the Sudar Count family, from the Storm Archipelago.”

“Southern desert lizard—sorry, sorry, I’m not being discriminatory toward desert races. Were you exiled?”

The imposing officer seemed too blunt; her colleague tugged her repeatedly until she realized her mistake.

With that minor incident, the inspection proceeded smoothly—in truth, from the moment Li En opened the door, there was no real issue.

The leopard’s sense of smell was excellent, especially when targeting specific individuals.

Li En smelled clean—at least, he thought he did.

After a quick room inspection and confirming no irregularities, the officers prepared to leave.

“Be careful—the serial killer ‘Tail Collector’ struck again. Uh, you don’t have a tail? Lucky you—you won’t be targeted.”

(His colleague dragging her away: Sister! Sister! No no no! Watch your wording! Don’t you have enough complaints already?! )

Though this degenerate had faint traces of catfolk bodily fluids typical of nightspots, they differed entirely from the canine victim’s scent—probably a hotel catmaid.

Vice raids weren’t her department—she was assigned to major cases.

The two officers had barely left when Li En exhaled in relief.

Snap!

The door banged again—opened to find the round-faced cat officer who’d been smiling earlier, and the impatient leopard woman down the hall.

“Oh, we forgot something—routine notice: you should know the current Heroine, the one called the Kingdom’s Light.”

“Heroine? Never heard of her. I’m from the desert, just arrived two days ago.”

“No problem—it’s just routine. Heroine Laina is the kingdom’s strongest guardian, but she went missing recently. Things are chaotic; all nations have issued search notices. We’re to distribute them to travelers.”

As she spoke, she shoved a reward poster into his hands and was dragged away by her impatient partner.

Li En exhaled again—then his eyes snapped wide open as he glanced at the poster.

He checked outside—no one around—then hurried into the bathroom.

He opened a worn book tied to his waist, murmured two lines, and instantly, a tiny portal appeared in the cramped space.

It was a long corridor, leading nowhere he could tell; he walked for two full minutes before reaching the end.

There stood only a metal chair, bound with a person.

Tightly secured—blindfold, handcuffs, leg irons—all present. The chains wrapped around a graceful body; the gag dripped fluid steadily, the iron throne beneath already soaked.

“Hair color’s a bit similar.”

“Eye color’s a bit similar too.”

“The glare—sharp as a blade—yeah, that’s similar too. Very similar.”

He picked up the portrait again, comparing the painting to the face, examining it closely.

“It’s like, so like, incredibly like—the face shape matches, and there’s the same beauty mole right below the right eye, the gem in the Hero’s Crown is identical, and look at this scar! It’s exactly the same!”

Li En gave a dry, forced laugh.

“No way, this is literally the same person!! Hero, what happened to you?!”

Uh, we’re back.

Uh, this is the first fantasy novel after The Mad Lich’s Experimental Log, a return to my most familiar genre—I hope you like it.

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(End of Chapter)