(I Died and got Reincarnated) My New Life as a Saltwater Crocodile Begins

CH•03 - "In the Eye of the... Waterfall?!"

Haaah~...... meat. Fresh and raw meat. I savor the taste of flesh and blood as it enters my mouth and down to my gut. And, when I say "I", I mean... the feral crocodile that's inside me! I am currently in the middle of ripping, chewing, and swallowing the humans that fell to their deaths the other day. Have I no conscience? I am eating humans, for crying out loud! I just... can't stop myself.

Are these... tears? Am I crying? Am I actually showing sadness and pity to the humans who I wished for their doom? And, woah! These tears aren't stopping! They're overflowing in my eyes! Hang on... I don't know why, but I can see clearer now. Are these tears cleaning my eyes? No, wait a minute... nevermind that, with all this water in my eyes, everything looks distorted now! Although it's clear, but it's distorted!

Minutes later, I stopped crying and I finished eating the three human boys. These tears really did make my eyes clean. My vision is more clearer now. Though, my eyes still feel soggy, but at least everything looks a bit like higher definition.

I wonder if more humans will come. Not that... I want them in belly......maybe... No! Definitely not that... I think... No way! I shouldn't let my desires get the best of me. I need to attest my situation with them. Not like I can even talk to them. And, they definitely won't want to get near me. Maybe I can show myself to them, let myself get captured, and get taken to a zoo or something. That way, I can be around with humans as an attraction, and the zoo keepers will take care of me, check on me, and maybe I'll find someone who isn't afraid to touch me.

...... Right... like that'll ever happen. The first part is already flawed. Worse case, a person with a gun sees me approaching them and attempts to shoot me on the spot. Seeing the luggage those three had with them, I was able to at least confirm that I'm in the modern world. I wouldn't know what I'd do if I ended up in a fantasy world of swords and magic as a normal animal.

Putting that aside, if I'm still in the modern world, what country am I in right now? I could be anywhere. I haven't studied botany yet, so I can't tell what plants and trees these are. But, from the looks of it, I'm probably in a rainforest. So, I guess that means I'm in a tropical country. And, looking at the sunrise and sunset, I'm guessing the way up the waterfall is southeast. Then again, without actual confirmation, I'm stuck with guessing games.

Still though... for a rainforest, this place rains a lot. And, I mean a lot. It's been pouring since yesterday and hasn't stopped since. The water level is rising, but it hasn't risen so much that it's flooding the forest. I guess there really is a hole leading to another water source somewhere underwater. Otherwise, this lake would be overflowing by now. I mean, a river upstream leads to a waterfall down a deadend lake. What explanation, other than a hole underwater, do I have that this area in the forest isn't under the sea now?

I head towards the waterfall. Since it's raining, the water's falling even faster and harder than normal. There's a whirlpool at the base of the waterfall. Could that be where the hole is? But, that's kind of strange. I don't get how a lake was even made if there's a hole below the waterfall that leads somewhere else. I thought the water would just keep falling downwards since there's a hole and all. Maybe the hole isn't big enough for all the water that's falling to fit in, and that's why a lake was made from the water overflowing from the hole? I don't know. I'm not sure. I dive underwater to take a peek.

I never should've done that. Like a vacuum, the closer you are, the stronger the force. I was sucked in the whirlpool just by diving a few meters down. It pulled me down deeper and downwards. While I struggled against the flow, I glimpsed the hole at the bottom. I was right that it was small. But... I didn't think there would be four of them!

There are four twisters right before me. And, I'm being sucked in by one of them. Who knew the base of the waterfall was this deep and wide. Since it's raining, the sky is covered by dark clouds, so there's not much light here underwater, but at least I can somewhat see in the dark. I don't know how long I can keep swimming up when I'm not even getting close to the surface at all.

Eventually... I gave in and was swept by the current.