Not only did Nekohiko die the moment he became the Emperor of his crumbling empire, but he also didn't realize at first who killed him. And for what reasons.

But when he did realize, it made even less sense to him. He might have died the second time from sheer frustration.

Unable to find the answers to his many questions, he slipped into oblivion with such a lost, bitter yearning to understand the reasons behind his murder that instead of dying he simply... didn't. Yet it was too early to thank the gods and spirits for being gifted a second chance because the new life he was given wasn't that of a human. Or of a beast. Or of anything that could move, or speak, or even perceive the world in a comprehensible fashion.

It was the life of a cut tree. Of a wooden log whose biggest dreams would only reach as high as to become a floorboard, or a table, or – if particularly lucky – a bookshelf mercifully left alone.

Or maybe, instead, a mannequin. A human-sized doll. A dummy – though wooden, but no longer as naïve and trusting as he'd been in his previous life.

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I will release a chapter every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The story is a slow burn with plenty of twists and turns and will involve a lot of mystery-solving to understand the motivations and goals of different characters. Action sequences will happen when the plot calls for them, but they will all require buildup to greater impact. The main themes are emotional and psychological explorations of identity, desire, fate, and intent. Characters will grow and develop across present arcs, but some flashbacks to provide context and mystery clues to their behaviors will be in order, yet without overpowering the present narrative.

[This is an Adventum Contest Entry and fits the themes of:]

1) Reincarnation Into Something Non-human (a wooden log).

2) The Building of an Empire (unfulfilled goal of the Main Character from the previous life that he carries onto the current one even though he is no longer qualified).

3) The Fusion of Magic and Technology (Japanese islands during Bronze Age (Yayoi Period), but advanced far beyond it due to magic).

\(^o^)/