Barren land. Dark storm clouds. Cold rain that never stops.
I had no idea where I was.
And I had no time to figure it out.
Because something wanted me dead.
It stood like a human, but its face was that of a goat and its arms were those of a tiger. It hit me before I could say a single word — one strike, and my leg shattered. The pain hit me like a wall, and in that moment only one thing became clear:
This wasn't a dream.
I dragged my broken leg across the ground, the bone barely holding on. Blood poured out faster than I could process it, and the dizziness hit hard. I collapsed.
The creature climbed on top of me.
It tore off my other leg and started eating it.
Then its claws drove deep into my chest.
I screamed. A raw, desperate scream — until it slowly faded, along with the feeling in my body.
Death is inevitable for every living thing in this world. That's just how it is.
But dying *twice*?
That's not normal. And that's exactly what's happening to me right now.
---
All my life, I was miserable. I think I was born that way.
When I was ten, I was diagnosed with Endocarditis. After that, people kept their distance. Nobody wanted to be around a sick kid, and I don't blame them — but it still hurt. Even my parents eventually separated and left me at the hospital. They couldn't afford the bills anymore. I understood their decision.
But there was one person who never left.
My uncle. Jourial.
He was quiet and strict, the kind of man people avoided because they thought he was cold and gloomy. Maybe he was. But he was the only one who stayed by my side — and one day, he gave me something that actually made me smile for the first time in a long while.
A laptop.
I knew a little about open-world games. One of the big ones was called *Pillar of Light*, and I was excited to try it. But while I was browsing around online, something else caught my eye.
*RedEngine.*
I clicked the link. The site redirected me to a page that looked suspicious — the kind of design that screams hacking tool. There was a program called RedEngine, and right below it, a download button.
I hesitated at first.
But I downloaded it anyway.
While I was installing it alongside *Pillar of Light*, a red warning message popped up on the screen. It said the program was unstable and could cause serious damage to my computer down the line. There were a lot of warnings.
Honestly? I didn't care.
The only thing that caught my attention was what it claimed to do — hack applications and games. That alone was enough to get me excited. So I installed it, gave it full permissions, and selected *Pillar of Light* as my test subject.
I launched the game. RedEngine appeared as a floating icon on the side of the screen.
A button labeled *"Start"* was waiting for me.
The game was ready.
But my hand didn't move.
Because something else didn't wait.
Death.
My heart stopped right then and there. The illness had finally won. It was a cruel ending — I never really got to taste happiness, never got to see so many things. But at the same time... I felt at peace. The years of pain were over. And at least now, I wouldn't be a burden on my uncle anymore.
*Thank you for staying with me, Uncle Jourial.*
---
*"Excuse me, nurse. I'm here to check on the boy — Arthur."*
*"Of course, Mr. Jourial. He's in his room. Go right ahead."*
*"How are you doing, Arthur? Mind if I come in...?"*
Silence.
*"Arthur, how long are you going to keep sleeping? Didn't I tell you not to overdo it in front of the computer? Look at your posture — your back is going to start hurting if you sit like that..."*
Jourial looked toward Arthur's face, which was hanging slightly downward.
And then the tears came.
Arthur's eyes were open. And there was a gentle smile on his face.
The expression of someone who was no longer there.
Jourial quietly closed the laptop. He carefully laid Arthur's body down on the bed, then called for the nurses — his chest heavy with a grief he couldn't put into words.
*"Rest in peace, Arthur... I'm your uncle Jourial, and it was an honor to take care of you. You were like a son to me. I hope you finally find the rest you deserve."*
---
Yeah. I thought death was my salvation.
I was wrong.
For reasons I still don't understand, I woke up — if you can call it that — in that strange place. And the monster didn't give me a single second to get my bearings.
As it tore into me, I caught glimpses of something hovering nearby. A transparent screen. Red bars. An HP bar that read 6/210 and was dropping fast.
5... 4... 3...
It hit 2/210.
I barely understood what was happening. But I knew enough to know I was almost out of time.
Then a message appeared.
[A dynamic value has been detected. Do you want to modify it?]
[Yes] / [No]
I didn't think twice.
With a voice barely above a whisper, I said: *"Yes."*
[Confirmed. Enter the new value (V = ....)]
With the last breath left in my dying body, I spoke a random number.
*"3000."*
[Please wait 3 seconds while the value is modified…]
And then —
Something impossible happened.
A strange warmth spread through my body. Then a faint pain. And then — I was fully conscious again. My limbs were back. The pain was gone. The creature that had been devouring me stumbled backward like it had been hit by something, eyes wide with shock.
I was just as stunned as it was.
The transparent panel reappeared in front of me, showing a stat screen like something out of a game.
[HP: 3000 / 210]
[ATK: 120]
[DEF: 112]
[Mana: ××]
The whole thing was absurd. But what I couldn't stop staring at was the HP.
Two seconds ago it was 2/210.
Now it was 3000/210.
The exact number I'd said out loud while I was dying.
I started analyzing the situation.
Which, looking back, was incredibly stupid of me. I should've been running.
The monster had already started winding up for another attack.
It came at me again — fast, relentless, with strikes that were clearly meant to kill. I checked my HP.
1350/210.
*Okay. If I keep taking hits like that, I'm done.*
I started dodging. Managed to avoid a few. But then the creature did something I didn't see coming — its claws shifted, reshaping themselves into something like blades. Sharp, thin, and silent.
Then it launched them.
Like bullets.
---
*"Are you serious right now?! I can't keep dodging these things forever!"*
Arthur took hit after hit, and his condition deteriorated fast. The monster caught him in the leg and shoulder this time. And those blades weren't just sharp — they were poisoned. His HP made that clear, bleeding down steadily even between strikes instead of only dropping on impact.
*"This is bad... my HP is actually collapsing."*
The bar darkened to a deep, ugly crimson.
[HP: 230/210]
*"I need to figure something out right now — or I'm actually dying this time!"*
While desperately trying to avoid the attacks, I spotted something in the distance — what looked like an abandoned house. I made a run for it. The thick shadows inside seemed like the perfect place to disappear.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
I pressed myself against the wall and carefully tried to peek outside to find the monster's location —
*Drip.*
Something wet and sticky fell onto me.
My eyes went wide.
Slowly, I looked up.
The monster was right there. Crawling across the ceiling. Silent. Staring straight at me.
Then it lunged.
It burst through the roof and hit me with a perfectly timed strike that sent me flying straight out of the building. I crashed into the ground hard.
[HP: 102/210]
*One more hit. That's all it'll take.*
I tried to run again, looking desperately for somewhere else to hide. But the moment I moved, the creature launched its bladed claws — and they drove straight into my leg, pinning me to the ground.
I wasn't going anywhere.
It walked toward me. Calm. Unhurried. Like a hunter that already knew the hunt was over.
In that moment, I remembered what had happened earlier.
I started muttering like a madman.
*"Modify — modify — modify the value—! 3000... 4000... 700!"*
Random numbers, one after another, like some kind of idiot who thought repeating a miracle would make it come back. Deep down, I already knew the truth.
It wasn't happening again.
I closed my eyes.
The monster stomped down on my injured leg with everything it had.
The scream that tore out of me didn't even sound human. I cried — genuinely cried, like a child — the physical agony tangled up with the helplessness and the fear until I couldn't tell them apart anymore. I wanted to call for help. I wanted someone to hear me.
But my voice was gone.
All I could do was accept it.
And then — right as I was staring down death for the third time —
A massive explosion split the air.
I forced my eyes open.
A spear, glowing with bright white light, had pierced clean through the monster's body. The creature started burning — and within seconds, it crumbled into ash that scattered into the wind.
I just lay there, completely stunned.
*...Did I actually survive that?*
Someone descended slowly from the sky. At first I couldn't make out their face. But from the silhouette alone, I could tell —
It was a girl.
Her face shone with a blinding light.
After that, I don't remember anything.
My strength finally gave out.
---
*"Are you okay?"*
*"What are you doing in a place like this?"*
Those voices echoed faintly somewhere in the back of my mind...
While I floated in a silence so complete it felt like nothing at all.
[End of Chapter 1]