The last thing she felt was the horrifying pain of numerous infected teeth tearing into every part of her body.
Hana had spent her entire life learning that trust was a death sentence.
As a child, she had been the shadow to her sister's light, the one ignored until she was useful, and finally, the one left behind as literal bait for the undead so her 'family' could drive away.
It was cruel and painful, but she had survived that betrayal and grown to be hard, cold, and efficient. In the wasteland, they called her the Wicked Survivor because she didn't hesitate to push someone else down if it meant she stayed on her feet.
It had worked for years. Until today.
Gritting her teeth against the agony, she looked up through the swarm of grey zombie hands reaching to dig into her skin to see who had pushed her. There, at the edge of the pit, stood her sister. The 'kind' one. The one everyone loved. She was the one who had organized the others, whispering that the 'Wicked' one was too dangerous to keep around.
The betrayal wasn't a shock because she believed betrayal could come from anywhere. But it was the scale at which the betrayal took place that shocked her.
They had ganged up together to ensure she couldn't claw her way back this time.
As the zombies ripped the life from her body, her final thought wasn't regret for the people she'd stepped on. It was a cold, silent vow that if she ever breathed again, if she ever had a next life, she would never be that vulnerable.
'I swear, I will stab them in the back before they can stab me in the back.'
Then, the world went black, and she died.
But Hana didn't stay dead and woke up with a snap.
She sat up immediately, her hands flying to her throat, her stomach, her legs, to all the places the zombies had eaten.
"This… I had died, right? The zombies…"
She was confused.
She expected to feel shredded meat and exposed bone. Instead, her skin was smooth and warm, having such a healthy glow. Wait, skin?
In the apocalypse, it was a death sentence to go around with exposed skin due to the radioactive gas in the air, so why was she so scantily dressed? She was wearing a simple, rough-spun tunic, and her body felt... whole.
"Ah, is this a dream?" she thought and finally looked around.
What she saw made her eyes widen and her breath hitch. The world was green.
Not the grey, ash-choked green of her dying world, but a vibrant, aggressive lushness. Massive trees towered above her, their leaves so thick they blotted out the sun, and birds flew so freely. The air didn't smell like rot or the radioactive substance she couldn't stand without her gas mask; it smelled like damp earth and blooming flowers.
"Where the hell am I?" she whispered. "Heaven?"
She shook that thought out of her head. There was no way she had gone to heaven after all the things she did when she was still alive.
And just when the confusion was bleeding out, a sharp ding echoed in her head, and a translucent blue screen shimmered into existence in front of her eyes.
> [USER DATA INITIALIZED]
> Name: Hana (The Wicked Survivor)
> Current Location: Beast World - Northern Emerald Forest
> Soul Status: Transmigrated (Penance Protocol)
> [KARMIC DEBT]
> Balance: -1,250,000 Points
> [MISSION] You have been judged for the cruelty and selfishness of your first life. To remain in this body and avoid soul erasure, you must reach a balance of 0 within 30 days.
Hana stared at the number. Over a million.
"A million?" She let out a harsh, dry laugh. "I killed to survive. I didn't start a world war. How is it that high?"
The system didn't answer. It simply pulsed a deep, warning red.
> [CURRENT GOAL: REDUCE DEBT]
> Immediate Task: Save the dying lifeform nearby.
> Reward: +500 Karmic Points.
> Failure: Cardiac Arrest.
Before Hana could make sense of it, a deafening roar split the air, followed by a crash that made the ground beneath her feet shudder. Something heavy had just fallen from the sky, carving a path through the ancient trees less than fifty meters away.
"What was that?" It couldn't have been a plane crash, right? This place didn't seem like it had planes.
She was curious, and so she moved. She had no idea the dying lifeform she was supposed to save was the 'thing' that just fell out of the sky.
She pushed through the thick ferns and stopped at the edge of a fresh crater. In the center lay a man. Or, what looked like a man at first glance. He was massive, with jet-black hair and skin covered in patches of shimmering, obsidian black scales, and on top of his head were two obsidian horns. Thick, dark blood pooled under his side, staining the vibrant grass.
"This…"
> [Save the dying dragon beastman to receive your reward]
The system reminded her, and she blinked.
"A dragon beastman?" she muttered, surprised. Yes, she believed in zombies because she had seen them with her own eyes, but dragons?
Where even was she?
"Guess I'm not in Kansas anymore."
She had a lot of questions, but she knew she wouldn't get the answers just by moping. She had to be swift and efficient. First, she needed to get supplies to treat him.
She checked her system shop, but everything was locked. Bandages, medicine, and even a simple knife—all required positive points, and she only had negative points. In other words, she was stone-cold broke.
"Fine. Do it the hard way." She clicked her tongue and then saw a small icon that didn't seem locked. She tapped on it and saw it was labeled Basic Herbology Knowledge. It was free.
"I guess I can start with this if I have to save him." She tapped on it again and suddenly, a rush of information filled her mind. The forest that seemed like normal greenery in her eyes a second ago immediately transformed.
What looked like weeds suddenly stood out as anti-inflammatories and coagulants. It was a paradise of rare magical herbs.
"Ah, I guess I'm in luck," she said to herself and moved quickly to gather the herbs she needed to save him.