I died...
Strangely, it wasn't as terrifying as I'd imagined. I lived a decent life helped those who needed it, stayed true to what I believed in. Funny thing is, I don't even remember the name I had back then. My first life feels like a distant dream now.
I was a typical fan of anime and web novels just another face. So when that figure appeared before me, cloaked in light, and told me I'd earned a chance for a second life, I figured I was hallucinating. They offered me a second chance in life.
Right before I could respond, I swear I heard it mutter something under its breath.
"…Oops."
"What do you mean 'oops'?"
But before I could ask again, a blinding light swallowed me whole.
Sixteen years passed. I was reborn into a fairly peaceful world.
Life wasn't so bad. I grew up in Japan again. Familiar enough. Nothing seemed out of place. And I wasn't alone I had my childhood friend, Mutsumi Oribe, growing up alongside me.
Mutsumi was… strange. In a good way. While other kids liked dolls or video games, she was obsessed with insects. She'd catch bugs, name them, study them. The others bullied her for it.
"Bug Girl," they used to call her. Even the teachers snickered behind her back.
But she didn't cry. She just kept drawing in her notebook, ignoring them.
I couldn't ignore it, though.
One day I stepped in and grabbed one of the boys by the collar. "You got a problem?"
Mutsumi didn't say anything. But from then on, she always stuck close. Always walking beside me, always talking about bugs.
In junior high school, I joined the kendo club. She'd often wait for me after practice, notebook in hand. Then one day, on the way home, she stopped under a vending machine's flickering light and said, "I like you."
Just like that. No stuttering, no hesitation.
I remember freezing, my sports bag slipping off my shoulder. "Wait… seriously?"
She nodded. "I mean… you're like a beetle"
"Did you just compare me to a beetle?"
"Yes," she said, completely straight-faced.
I laughed. "That might be the weirdest confession I've ever gotten… but I'll take it."
We started dating after that. All I can say it we did a lot of things in those 5 years.
But our second year in senior year brought the beginning of the end.
---
It was supposed to be a school trip. Just a routine flight to Okinawa. Everyone was excited.
Then came the turbulence.
At first, it was a little shake. Then a violent jerk. Everyone was screaming. Luggage starting to crash from the overhead bins. The intercom buzzed uselessly as it tried to calm the passengers.
And then darkness.
I woke up on a beach. My uniform soaked, half my body buried in wet sand. The waves lapped against my feet, dragging at my shoes. My head throbbed.
I looked beside me.
"Mutsumi!" I scrambled to her side and pulled her out of the surf. "Hey wake up! Mutsumi!"
She groaned and blinked, brushing her damp hair from her eyes.
"My notebook… where's—ah!" She reached for her bag, clutching it to her chest. "Gomaotto Thank God…"
"You're okay…" I exhaled.
We weren't alone for long. A familiar voice called out.
"There you are!" Ayumi Matsuoka came stumbling through the trees. "I've been looking for survivors for over an hour."
Ayumi was covered in dirt and panic etched across her face.
Later that afternoon, we found a hand.
A severed human hand, bloated and waterlogged, half-buried in the sand.
Mutsumi screamed. She grabbed onto me like her life depended on it, trembling.
I wrapped my arms around her. "It's okay. I'm here. We'll be alright..."
But I wasn't sure anymore.
We tried sleeping in shifts, but no one really rested.
---
The next day, we found more classmates.
And then we found the butterflies.
Huge. Freakish. Their wingspan was wider than my armspan. Mutsumi's eyes widened in horror.
"Papilio maackii," she whispered. "But… this size is impossible. It's not natural."
They weren't just pretty insects anymore. These things attacked. Sucked blood. Their legs pierced flesh like spears.
Ayumi screamed as one of them latched onto her. Her knife broke when she tried to stab it.
Mutsumi threw a bottle of bug spray and a lighter.
FWOOOSH.
Fire engulfed the creature, and it shrieked, backing off.
Mutsumi pulled Chitose to safety. She was still breathing. Barely.
"I thought you hated killing bugs," I said.
"I hate losing you more," she replied quietly.
But it wasn't over.
A sharp buzzing cut through the air. We looked up, hoping... praying it was a rescue chopper.
Instead, it was a wasp.
No, not a wasp something worse. Giant. Steel black. Its abdomen pulsed with venom.
It dove.
Mutsumi tackled me. "Down!"
The class president screamed behind us then nothing. When we looked back, the wasp was flying away… with her.
We found the nest later. Bones. Bodies. The feeding grounds of monsters.
Still, some of the others didn't take it seriously. They bickered over who was in charge, who should get more food. They dismissed Mutsumi's warnings, called her paranoid.
A few days gone by as we were trying to find any supplies. We heard trees topling down in the distance. Then came the centipede.
A nightmare of segmented armor and gnashing mandibles, easily ten meters long. It crashed through the forest, chasing us down like prey.
Mutsumi stumbled. I caught her. Then the centipede slashed at us.
Its claws tore into my back.
I didn't cry out. I held her close, blood dripping from my shirt.
"I'm fine," I lied. "Keep moving."
Eventually, we found a woman she was wearing a coast guards uniform
She told us there's ships in the harbor but as we went there all of the ships have been sank by giant barnacles.
We then went to her patrol ship.
When we reached it, our hearts dropped.
The ship was wrapped in something. A giant shape, like a living cable.
The centipede...
"It crushed it," Mutsumi whispered, falling to her knees.
"No," the officer said. "The lifeboat might still work!"
We scrambled to help. Mutsumi tried to prime the engine. The others fought to remove debris.
The centipede returned.
Mutsumi turned to me.
"We'll draw it away."
"No."
"I have to. You can't move like this. I'm faster."
"I'm not letting you die!"
She stepped forward and kissed me.
"I love you," she said. "More than I love bugs."
That made me laugh through the pain.
"Now go," she said, running.
I saw her and the others disappear into the trees. The centipede followed, roaring.
As we arrived on the ship we immediately tried to put the supplies inside the life boat. As I turned around I saw another centipede trying to approach the ship.
I then looked at the broken gas line. It was leaking. Fumes filled the air.
I staggered to my feet, struggling to maintain my balance. The others were frantically working to lower the lifeboat, pulling at the lever, but it was moving too slowly.
I gritted my teeth, knowing time was running out.
"Go," I said, my voice barely a whisper, though I tried to sound stronger than I felt. "Get on the boat. I'll catch up. I'll jump down once it's ready."
They hesitated, but my resolve must've been convincing. One by one, they climbed into the lifeboat, their faces filled with fear and uncertainty. I kept my back turned, pretending like I wasn't aware that the centipede was closing in on us. I needed to buy them time.
I continued lowering the boat, every second feeling like an eternity. Just as it was almost within reach of the water, the centipede burst from the trees with a deafening roar. It was too fast.
I reached for the wire and cut it with the axe, one swift swing. The lifeboat plummeted into the water, splashing violently as it hit. Without wasting another second, I turned to face the beast.
The centipede's massive body loomed over me, and I gripped the axe tightly, ready to face it. My only weapon left. With a roar of my own, I swung the axe at its head, but the creature was fast, dodging the blow with surprising agility.
It was too close. The beast coiled around me, its exoskeleton too tough for my blade to pierce. Desperation clawed at me, and I knew I had only one last chance. I swung the axe once more, hitting the ground near the engine's leaking fuel line. A spark flew from the contact, igniting the fumes rising from the gas.
The explosion was deafening. Flames consumed everything in an instant, the force of it throwing me back. I felt the heat sear through me, but I didn't flinch. I had no regrets. I had done what I could. The last thing I saw was the fiery explosion swallowing the centipede whole, and then everything went dark.