I looked at my hands.
There it was again... The respawning ability/
I was lying on the same worn-out bed in the middle of an empty house. The light bulb above swayed gently, flickering faintly as if undecided whether to die or shine. Each dim pulse it gave off cast uneven shadows against the brown-painted walls, dull and lifeless like the rest of the room. It was the kind of brown that clung to the air—dusty, dry, and tired.
I wiped my eyes, groggy. "I guess I'm back," I muttered under my breath, rubbing harder. The roughness of my palms felt oddly grounding. "Back to the same kind of place again…"
Now I was sure of it.. I wasn't hallucinating. This… was something else entirely. A cycle. A loop. Maybe even some of respawning. Remembering those indie games of me getting killed hundreds of time
"What the heck even happened…" I said aloud, my voice hoarse and far too real.
My name is Adam. And somewhere, not too long ago—maybe minutes, maybe hours—I died.
"I died," I whispered to myself, blinking slowly. The words hit differently now. "That's why I'm in this room…"
I remembered it. The town. The way darkness came, swallowing it all. A rolling wave of void, consuming the streets, the buildings, the people. I remembered standing there, frozen, helpless. And then—nothing.
I sighed, shoulders heavy, eyes drifting toward the open door.
Beyond the threshold: pitch black. The kind of black that made you question whether there was anything at all on the other side. I couldn't see into it—not even a hint of the hallway or another room. It was as if the world simply ended there.
"I guess I'm alone…" I murmured, letting out a dry chuckle. I smiled, though it felt more like a defense mechanism. "I'm really not great at being alone…"
My eyes fell to the small bar glowing faintly in the air beside the bed—like a system UI only I could see. It read:[Time Until Resurrection: 1 Day]
She was still there. The dead girl.
But would she… spawn? Would she just reappear on her own? Or did I have to do something—activate it, maybe? The thought alone was exhausting. I let out another groan, dragging my feet toward the dark hallway. Whatever. I didn't have the energy to think too hard about it now.
As I stepped out of the dim room, the night sky opened up before me.
I found myself on a balcony. The air was cool, tinged with dust and silence. I gripped the old handrail, feeling the chill of metal bite into my palm. Down below, rows of apartments stretched out like hollow husks. Strings of laundry—shirts, pants, towels—hung limply between buildings like abandoned flags. Packages sat unopened at doorsteps. Garbage bags slumped lazily in corners. It was quiet. Dead quiet.
Above, the sky was painted in surreal colors—violet bleeding into red streaks as the sun hovered behind layers of cloud. It should've been sunset, but everything still felt too dark. Like the night had claimed its place early.
I looked down.
That's when I saw her.
My eyelids lifted, widening slowly as my breath caught in my throat.
From the far-off outpost just outside the town's edge, a figure moved. A girl.
Manori.
Wait—Manori?
She was walking calmly in the dawn light, the mist curling around her pale white dress like a shroud. Her red jewel-like eyes locked with mine, even from four stories up. I stood frozen, back against the railing. She… she saw me.
Black-buttoned shoes clicked faintly on stone as she took another step.
"Oh… y-you're the o-one…" she said softly.
My heart skipped. I ducked immediately, head jerking below the handrail, breathing fast.
Manori: -_-...
"Great," I muttered, "just great. That's something I never thought I'd experience again so soon…"
I'd planned to send her the letter—eventually—but i didnt thought it would be like this.
Trying to distract myself, I noticed something strange by the door. A stone block, like a monolith, smooth and faintly humming. I approached and picked it up without thinking.
The moment my fingers touched it, it dissolved, absorbing into my hand like ink in water.
+100 CP
A notification blinked before my eyes.
"Woah," I whispered. "Just a small piece… and that's already a hundred Creation Points?"
I glanced around the doorframe. "If there's one here… maybe there's more inside."
Smiling, I stepped up to the locked door beside me.
I raised my hand and pushed—it opened easily now.
The apartment was pitch black.
I flipped the switch.
The light blinked on.
And there—right in front of me—was a girl. Short hair, pale skin. She stood bolt upright, back arched as if caught mid-motion. She hadn't made a sound. My eyes widened, my face flushed red instantly.
"I—I forgot… I'm not supposed to just open doors like that!" I muttered, panicked. "Moral code—what moral code!?"
I reached for the switch again, intending to apologize—
But the moment I flipped it off—
Her silhouette twisted.
A mouth. A gaping, jagged mouth spread across the top of her head.
I blinked. Switched the light on. Normal girl.
Switched it off. Mouth.
On. Girl.
Off. Mouth.
Back and forth. My hand trembled.
"Can… you please stop that?" the girl's voice broke through the darkness.
I jumped.
"S-sorry!" I blurted out, slamming the door shut, backpedaling away like a man caught peeking into another dimension.
Nope. Not bothering anyone again.
Not today.