He woke up. Stayed flat.
Most people on you. Waking up after dying? That's some next-level nightmare fuel. Body freaks out no matter what.
This kid just... lay there.
Eyes open. Staring up like the sky personally owed him answers.
Not peaceful. Not thinking straight. Just locked up. Like his brain blue-screened and couldn't pick which process to kill first.
I watched the breathing. Slow. Jagged. The way you breathe when your lungs forgot they need permission.
Huh. Interesting.
[HOST CONSCIOUSNESS: CONFIRMED]
[VITAL SIGNS: STABILIZING]
[CURRENT STATUS: ALIVE — BARELY, BUT HEY, COUNTS AS A WIN]
Ping.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FIRST AWAKENING]
[You died. Got back up. Most stay down.]
[Reward: +1 to all stats.]
He stared at the text floating in front of him. Waited for it to go away. It didn't.
Lips parted. Nothing came out.
Tried again.
"What."
Voice came out wrong. Rough, scraped-up wrong. Heart going like it forgot how to be quiet. Both hands pressed flat into the grass — not panic, just needing something solid under him.
It was.
[YOU'RE WELCOME, BY THE WAY. SERIOUSLY.]
He pushed up.
Way too fast. Head spun — he braced on one arm, chin down, sucking air through clenched teeth. Held it. Then straightened.
Hand went to his side. Right ribs. Where it happened.
Pressed.
Smooth. Shirt ripped, grass stuck to dried blood, but skin? Nothing. Like the knife never touched him.
Pressed harder. Harder.
Jaw locked tight. First real emotion on his face — not terror, not confusion. Something quieter. Angrier. Like part of him wanted that hole back... because if it was gone, then yeah, all this bullshit was real, and that hurt worse.
Hand fell away.
[FOR THE ALIVE PART, OBVIOUSLY. YOU WERE DEAD. BLADE BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTH RIB. LIGHTS OUT BEFORE YOU HIT DIRT.]
[NOT THE WORST EXIT. SEEN UGLIER.]
He read it. Twice.
Eyes flicked to the stream.
Ten meters off. Dark water between reeds. Same spot. Grass still crushed flat where he'd bled. Saw the exact second it hit — stare snagged and held. Three seconds. Maybe four.
That's where she said meet me.
He tore his gaze away.
"Am I dead," he said. No question mark. Just words.
[TECHNICALLY NO.]
[SOUL GOT PULLED BEFORE REAPERS FINISHED PAPERWORK AND SHOVED BACK IN WITH... EXTRAS.]
[SAME SKIN. DIFFERENT EVERYTHING ELSE.]
Silence.
He patted his pocket. Again. Again. Third time he stopped. Phone gone. Empty fabric.
She texted 5:43.
Left home 5:51.
Walked grinning like a moron. Seventeen and stupid-happy because bio girl finally messaged. Four minutes to reply — didn't wanna look thirsty.
Now? Grass soaked in his blood. Phone missing. Girl missing.
"Who are you," he asked. Low.
[LONG STORY.]
[CALL ME THE SYSTEM FOR NOW.]
[AND YOU'RE BREATHING BECAUSE OF ME. SO... THANKS ACCEPTED.]
He stood. Slower. Legs shaky but holding.
Looked around. Empty path. Trees swallowing light. One streetlamp buzzing orange awake. Still evening. Same damn evening. World didn't give a shit.
"Which god," he said.
No freakout. No "this isn't happening". Just sharp question.
Most would take hours.
[THE ONE WHO DREW THE SHORT STRAW.]
Tiny flinch. Heart jumped. Dropped back.
He got it.
[IRONIC, ISN'T IT?]
"Can you read my mind."
[NOT REALLY.]
[BODY. PULSE. LITTLE TELLS.]
[YOURS JUST SOLD YOU OUT.]
[YOU'RE NOT THAT HARD TO READ.]
[MOST PEOPLE AREN'T. SORRY.]
"Bit offensive," he muttered.
Dropped onto bench. Not choice. Legs quit. Elbows on knees. Staring at nothing.
Four seconds he looked like any pissed-off seventeen-year-old.
Then eyes up.
"What now," he asked.
[NOW YOU LIVE.]
[YOU GET STRONGER. SYSTEM DOES THE NUMBERS.]
[HOST: NOAH ARDEN]
[AGE: 17]
[LEVEL: 1]
[AUTHORITY: 0.7% — UNDERWORLD SEED]
[STR — 11. Fixable.]
[AGI — 13. Decent.]
[INT — 15. Solid.]
[VIT — 12. Don't bleed out again.]
[UNIQUE SKILL: ACTING (DIVINE VARIANT) — LV. 1]
[Description: Sell the act. Fool mortals. Make gods pause. For now.]
Stared at that last line like it slapped him.
"Acting," he said. Almost laughed. Didn't.
[YOU DID THREE YEARS OF DRAMA. NEVER GOT LEAD.]
[IT WAS... HANDY.]
Mouth twitched. Not happy.
"What the hell do I do with it."
[WHATEVER YOU FUCKING WANT.]
[HUNT. CLEAR GATES. MAKE CASH.]
[FIND WHO STABBED YOU. MAKE THEM PAY.]
[I DON'T CARE HOW.]
Quiet.
Not scared quiet. Heavy quiet. Something sank deep. Waiting for pain.
"Find who killed me," slow.
[Yes.]
Silence.
Stream bubbled. Dog barked twice far off. Streetlight hummed full on. Shadows moved.
"She might not have known," whispered.
To himself. Testing words.
[Maybe not.]
"Or she did."
[Maybe.]
Hands squeezed knees. Knuckles pale.
[YOU WON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU CHECK.]
[THAT'S WHAT'LL FUCK YOU UP MOST. RIGHT?]
No answer.
Didn't need one.
"And you," low. "What do you want?"
Long pause. He noticed. Eyes straight into text.
[OLYMPUS.]
[ASHES.]
[EVERY COLUMN. EVERY THRONE. EVERY ARROGANT FUCK WHO LAUGHED AT MY REALM.]
[TEN THOUSAND YEARS. YOU'RE THE FINAL MOVE.]
Read once. No blink.
[OUR PATHS LINE UP. FOR NOW.]
[ENOUGH.]
Long breath.
Stood.
"Alright," he said.
[THAT'S ALL? JUST "ALRIGHT"?]
"Someone sent a knife to end me before eighteen." Glanced at the gate. "Want answers. Then want them begging they finished."
Started walking.
[FIRST GOOD THING YOU SAID.]
"Been awake fifteen minutes."
[YES.]
[TWELVE ON BENCH.]
[STILL PROGRESS.]
Almost at the gate. Text flashed.
[ONE MORE THING.]
Stopped.
Something shimmered in the grass. Slow. Like it had always been there.
Knife.
Small. Plain. Blade clean. No rust. Waiting.
Stomach twisted.
Knew it.
Not the brand. The shape. The angle. Light off the edge.
Crouched. Picked it up. Felt the weight.
[IT CAME BACK.]
[HAPPENS SOMETIMES.]
Didn't ask. Gripped it.
[AND THIS.]
[SKILL GRANTED: SHADOW STEP — E RANK]
[Jump shadow to shadow. 3 meters. Seconds only. Not safe inside. Don't linger.]
[YOU'LL NEED IT TONIGHT.]
[DON'T FUCK IT UP.]
Looked at the knife. Then the shadow stretching from the lamppost.
"You planned this."
[I PLAN EVERYTHING.]
[TEN THOUSAND YEARS.]
No reply.
No look back.
That's what I didn't predict. Most look back. Last look at the blood, the stream, the before.
He didn't.
He just kept walking.
The path curved. Trees swallowed him.
Didn't slow.
Then a low growl echoed from the dark ahead — not dog, not animal.
Something older.
[DAILY QUEST: SURVIVE THE NIGHT]
[Time remaining: 11 hours 47 minutes]