CHAPTER FOURTEEN
This Is My Last Respawn!
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The creatures paused, momentarily stunned by the sheer creative vulgarity pouring from what appeared to be a blood-soaked infant.
His skin was flayed, ribs exposed and jagged, joints twisted or torn off, but he still grinned, or tried to. The torn edges of his mouth stretched wider as strands of muscle began pulling together, twitching with forced regeneration. Hate leaked from every raw, twitching inch of him.
The orc raised his sledgehammer again, thinking to end it before the abomination rose.
⋗ HEIGHTENED SENSES
Time fractured
A half-second stretched into an eternity of motionless dread. Abo didn't have a weapon, so he made one. With a wet pop, he reached up to his shattered shoulder, gripped a jagged piece of exposed bone, and tore. Flesh screamed, nerves flared, and something inside cracked like a snapped violin string. Blood fountained.
The orc's sledgehammer slammed into the ground where he'd been. Abo had already rolled clear. The frozen half-second ended.
He jammed the bone against the cave floor as he ran, blood trailing from his shoulder in thick streaks. The orc roared behind him, footsteps pounding closer. Abo dragged the bone along the rough stone, grinding it at an angle until the tip snapped, then kept scraping it mid-stride to carve a jagged, stabbing point.
He now held a shard of himself, a white, serrated thing of desperation and hate.
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
Resource Pool converted: Mana → Hem.
Skills now consume Hem, gained by ingesting blood.
Battle Instinct (E) Evolved → Sacrifice(E)
1. Sacrifice (E)Stack Gain:From Taking Damage:Gain 1 stack per 10% max HP lost (capped at 5 stacks per damage instance).Example: Losing 50% HP at once → 5 stacks.From Attacking:Every attack → Lose 5% MAX HP, gain 1 stack. (10% if self-inflicted)"Chained" attacks within 1.5 seconds continue the pattern.If chain breaks, next attack still costs HP and grants a stack.Bonus Damage:Each stack = +10% additive damage.(bonus damage starts from the second stack).At 5 stacks, the next attack consumes all stacks for +40% damage.Stacks do not decay, but are fully consumed on hit.2. Hem Reset (New Skill / Passive)Activation:Only triggered by consuming blood.Blood cost: Requires ingesting at least 10% of your max HP in blood (e.g., 100 HP for a 1,000 HP unit).Effects:HP Surge:Heals 15% max HP (or 7.5% if in Desperation).Does not cleanse DoTs (poison/burn/curse keep ticking).Hem Surge:Grants 25 Hem (blood mana) per 10% HP drank.Stack Reset:Clears all Sacrifice (E) damage bonuses.Desperation Penalty (Below 10% HP):Healing reduced to 7.5% max HP (half efficiency).Limb regrowth slows (0.5s delay)3. Desperation (New Skill / Passive)Activation: When HP drops below 10%.Effects:+40-50% Power & Speed (multiplicative with stack quantity).HP Cost per Attack from Sacrifice: 2% (reduced from normal).All Sacrifice stacks reset upon activation.Healing received reduced by 50% (Regeneration heals 2.5/min and Hem Reset heals 4% instead of 8%).
Deactivation: When HP rises above 10%.
Evolution in Progress: Multiple Skills Detected:16.66% (1 / 6)
⋗ SHADOW STEP
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
[Combat Theme: Online]
Now playing: 'This Is My Last Respawn' by: Papa Goat.
♪ Cut my un-life into pieces! ♪
Abo's eye twitched. "What the fu—"
The orc closed the gap, but Abo vanished. One heartbeat he was on the ground, the next he was mid-air behind the orc, bone-blade raised.
"I actually read the screen this time. So let me get this straight, every time I hit something, I bleed too?
System: Affirmative.
Abo clung to the orc's back, his small body pressed between its shoulders. The orc twisted, swinging its blade up and back. The edge came within inches of his neck. Time hung for half a second, then Abo slipped aside, just in time. The blade cut into the orc's shoulder, it roared in pain, muscles tensing from the shock, and lost 21 HP.
POW: 27. Sacrifice: +10% damage per strike. Target HP: 135
"Well, this is gonna hurt. Four hits if I'm lucky."
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
[Combat Theme: Paused]
Luck stat: -50
You're not, and five if he has plot armor.
"What's plot armor? Does it chafe?"
System: A narrative shield granted to protagonists. Highly resistant to logic, death, and consequences. Common symptoms include excessive monologuing and last-minute saves.
The orc reached back with both arms, trying to grab Abo off its back, but Abo was already shifting again, sliding just out of reach like he knew the move before it happened. The skills the System had pulled from his past life felt familiar, but different. This wasn't instinct anymore. It just happened, automatic, wired into his body. And he'd already thought of ways to abuse it.
The orc thrashed, trying to grab him, but each wild swing triggered Abo's heightened senses. He used the openings to chain his strikes.
First strike. Blood spurts from the orc's artery, a crimson spray from Abo's forearm. No bonus yet, the first stack didn't grant extra power. That only kicked in on the second strike and beyond.
++Stack | Damage: 27 | Orc HP: 98.5
Second. Another hole in the orc. Abo winced, another jet of blood from his own side.
++Stack | Damage: 29.7 | Remaining HP: 68.8
Third.
++Stack | Damage: 32.7 | Remaining HP: 36.1
Fourth.
++Stack | Damage: 36.0 | Orc HP: 0.1
Still standing "Motherfucker! The bastard has plot armor!" Abo snarled, teeth red, breath hot.
Fifth.
++Stack | Damage: 39.6 | Orc HP: -39.5
A red mist hung in the air, half his, half theirs. The orc's head dangled, barely tethered. The body finally dropped, twitching.
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
[Combat Theme: Resumed]
♫ This is my last res-paaawn!! ♫
Abo hit the ground with a crunch of gore. Two orcs rushed him from opposite sides. They struck from different angles, but they were slower than him. Still, their damage was double his, one wrong move, and he'd be dead. The first orc lunged at his ribs. He veered to the side just in time, the blow missing by inches and smashing into the stone behind him. The shockwave threw him off balance, nearly flinging him into a stalagmite. He skidded against it, barely regaining footing as the second orc's axe came down where his head had been a breath ago.
"System, what's my HP looking like?" Abo rasped, wiping gore from his eyes with the back of his hand.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS Current HP: 43/170 (15.9%) - Status: LOW but stable.
"Fantastic. Still got some juice left in this meat sack." He spat blood, grinning like a maniac.
♫ Decapitation—NO BREATHING! ♫
He rolled aside as the axe scraped against stone. The first orc stepped in to follow, but Abo caught its ankle and twisted hard until the joint popped. He activated Shadow Step, vanished, and reappeared midair above it. His stack was full, enough to punch through its defenses and strike deep through its vitals.
Before the orc could react, he drove the bone-blade up through the back of its skull. Blood sprayed again, from the orc, and from Abo, his Sacrifice passive drained him with every strike.
Stack reset | -5% max HP
The second orc's axe tore across his ribs, cracking bone and splitting skin. Blood poured down his side as Abo snarled and dropped low. He tried to trigger Shadow Step, but his hem wasn't enough. He had to think fast. The orc raised its massive axe again.
Abo shifted his stance, feinting a sideward lunge to bait the swing. The orc took it. The axe carved through the air in a wide arc, covering Abo's small frame for a split second.
Time fractured
By the time the swing ended, Abo was gone. He was behind the orc's legs, and he bit down like a rabid dog. His jagged teeth sank in, ripping straight through muscle and bone. He meant to drink, but instead, he tore the leg off in one violent snap.
"Holy shit," he muttered, blood in his mouth. "I've held every weapon the tyrant Datu Katio forced into my hands. If I didn't master one, he burned me. But these fangs? It's sharper than my rage."
The orc howled and collapsed. Abo rolled aside to dodge the fall, then drove his bone shard into its body again and again until it stopped moving. The blood he'd bitten off wasn't enough. He needed more: at least 10% of his HP, or it wouldn't count.
He leaned in to tear into the orc's neck. But the goblins struck first.
♫ Don't give a fuck if my bones start breaking! ♫
Three goblins rushed in, screaming war cries. Their rabid stabs came one after another, it was hard to dodge, even with a split second of time fracture. One of their daggers pierced his side, stabbing deep into his kidney. Abo wheezed
"Oh, you little green shits are really pissing me off now!" He caught the goblin's ankle, slamming it face-first into the cave floor until its skull collapsed. ++Stack
The second lunged again, blade high. Abo caught the blade, but it sliced deep across his palm, nearly severing two fingers. He twisted the goblin's wrist back until the bone snapped, then stabbed its own dagger into its throat. ++Stack
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
HP Critically Low - 16/170
5.9% HP Left desperation triggered
[Advisory: Blood consumption strongly recommended for HP restoration. Current enemy count suggests reserving surge benefits until numbers are more manageable.]
Abo snarled. "Say less."
The third goblin's blade came down as Abo bled from his abdomen. He tackled it before the strike landed and sank his teeth into its jugular, drinking deep. His skin tightened and twitched as it pulled itself back together, healing faster.
His mangled arm snapped back into place with wet clicks as bone reformed itself. Muscle wrapped around the fresh framework, tissue pulling tight. New skin crawled over the reconstruction, sealing the rebuilt limb whole.
Hem reset | +15% max hp | stack reset
♫ Would it be wrong, would it be right? ♫
A direwolf dropped from midair, claws out. Its speed was twice his, and its talons raked down Abo's back. He stabbed it with his bone blade, even as it sank its fangs into his stomach. It didn't die on the first stab. He realized he had to do it the other way.
"Multiplier's gone. The refreshment ruined the stack."
The direwolf butchered his guts, his HP kept dropping, but his damage kept increasing.
+40% Pow
"Cute teeth, But let me show you what real chewing looks like."
Abo opened his mouth. The tissue at the corners of his lips tore. Jagged teeth erupted, some from places where teeth should never grow. Then he bit the wolf's head off.
Stack reset | +15% max hp
♫ If I ripped your spine tonight?! ♫
Another wolf lunged, followed by a third. It sank its teeth into his leg and shook violently. Flesh tore, muscle ripped apart, and blood sprayed across the stone.
He screamed, then vanished.
⋗ SHADOW STEP
He reappeared behind the beast, fist plunging into its maw. Fingers found the soft flesh beneath the tongue, and pulled. The jaw tore loose with a sickening snap Another wolf sank its fangs into his shoulder. Abo grunted, grabbed its snout with both hands, and pried it open. He tore the wolf apart, splitting it from the mouth down to the center.
♫ Chances are that I might...
End your miserable life! ♫
Two more orcs rushed in from the sides, axes raised.
△ SYSTEM WARNING
Two orcs incoming! Average POW: 40! Your current HP: 48!
The first orc was already too close, its axe came down and split into his ribs. Abo grunted, pushed through the pain, and ducked under the second orc's swing. Steel sliced through the air beside his ear, missing by inches.
[HP: 1% — DESPERATION]
🎰
uh oh spaghetti code—
GACHA COMMENCING for 40-50% buff increase!!
Rolling…
rolling forcibly yanking the lever with both hands—
★ ULTRA LUCKY ★ result: +50% ATK/SPD
totally legit roll. very random.
definitely not panicking. definitely not on fire. 🙂
Note: You don't need plot armor, you have me.
⋗ SHADOW STEP
Abo blinked behind the first orc.
Assassinate, boosted by active buffs, bypassed 40% of the orc's natural defense. It wasn't meant to be overpowered since it required striking without being noticed, but with Shadow Step, it was broken. With Desperation active, his healing is cut in half. He would only recover 2 HP per minute. One hit would kill him instantly. Goodbye Earth, hello Planet Vegeta. But he didn't want to reset his hem; the desperation gave him an edge.
His blade punched into the base of its skull and skewered out the eye socket in one clean motion. The second orc roared, axe swinging, but Abo was already moving. He was faster now, far faster than the orc, thanks to a 50% speed boost and the System rigging the gacha in his favor. With Time Fracture triggering on every detected threat, he could dodge most attacks with ease, except the direwolves.
He ducked under the arc, twisted fluidly, and drove his bone-blade up through its ribs.
♫ Mutilation out of sight! ♫
Three more goblins charged in, flanked by another orc. One orc, three fucking goblins, no way he was dying here. Abo used the cave's stalagmites to his advantage. With 40 POW, more than enough to break one off barehanded, considered superhuman by human standards, he shattered them easily. He hurled three in quick succession. The stone spikes flew on a clean, straight path, impaling the goblins mid-charge before they could even swing.
stack: 3
♫ And I'm contemptibly just FIIIIIIINE! ♫
As the orc closed in, Abo grabbed another stalagmite and drove it into the orc's upper leg. The orc roared and swung its spiked club, but Abo used Shadow Step and teleported behind it. He struck the orc's heart with his bone blade. The orc collapsed.
stack reset
♫ 'Cause this is my LAST REEESPAWN!! ♫
Two more orcs and a goblin remained, backing toward the narrow throat of the cavern. Behind them, the final direwolf snarled, hackles raised.
That's when he saw it, his shovel. Half-buried in gore and rubble, gleaming like a holy relic for the damned.
Abo grinned like the devil and ran to it, no Shadow Step this time. Just blood-slick feet and a threadbare shawl whipping behind him in the wind, even though there was no wind. He scooped it up easily, as he gripped the bloody handle. The almighty dirt paddle was ridiculous, for his infant-sized body.
♫ SUFFOCATION! ♫
The goblin shrieked and turned to run, too late.
The shovel blade caught its neck, crushing its windpipe.
♫ NO BREATHING! ♫
The first orc swung in desperation. Abo blocked it with the shovel handle, then drove the blade down onto its skull.
♫ DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU'RE STILL BLEEDING! ♫
The second orc charged at him. Abo sidestepped, swung the shovel in a wide arc, and took its head clean off.
♪ THIS. IS. MY. LAAAAAAST RES— ♪
The direwolf, still ten SPD faster than him, was the real danger. One hit, and he was dead. "Ain't no way I'm gonna wear orange."
The direwolf's fangs missed him by a hair. Abo Shadow Stepped behind it, grabbed the shovel with both hands, and rammed it straight into its asshole. The metal tore through muscle, intestines, and spine, crunching vertebrae as it climbed up the beast's back. The tip burst out the top of its skull with a wet crack, dragging shards of bone and brain with it.
♫ PAAAAAAWN!! ♫
ℹ SYSTEM NOTICE
Enemies Eliminated. Kill Count Updated.
The cave went quiet. Blood flowed over the stone in steady streams. Abo, drenched in gore, looked around.
"Fuckin' finally."
He spat out a molar, or maybe it wasn't his.
🌀 QUEST COMPLETED 🌀
BLOOD DEBT
Reward: 3000 XP
Affinity Unlocked: Light Elemental Affinity
🎯 Monsters Killed:
Goblins: 50/50 ✓ Direwolves: 30/30 ✓ Orcs: 10/10 ✓
Progress: 100% Complete
Host threat assessment: Upgraded from "Improbable" to "Genuinely Disturbing"
✦
◆ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ◆
✦ You have reached level 10! ✦
Class Unlocked!
◇ CLASS SELECTION AVAILABLE ◇
Current Level: 10
System Notice: This interface will remain active until a Class has been selected. Refusal is not a valid input.
Available Classes⚔ WARRIOR
23%
Melee Physical DPS/Tank
Focus: Brute force combat
Requirement: None
Note: Standard human path. Boring.
✦ MAGE
0%
Caster Elemental/Arcane Damage
Focus: Elemental manipulation
Requirement: "Blessed by Mana" title.
Note: Requires mana, a resource the Host doesn't possess or cannot access.
🏹 ARCHER
31%
Ranged Precision + Stealth
Focus: Long-range combat
Requirement: Perception >= 20
Note: Decent stealth synergy, but Host prefers... intimate encounters.
🗡 ROGUE
67%
Agile Crit + Stealth
Focus: Critical strikes and stealth
Requirement: Speed >= 20
Note: High compatibility due to assassination skills.
✟ CLERIC
0%
Support Healing + Buffs
Focus: Divine magic and healing
Requirement: Binding Vow to a Higher Cause
Note: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Host's vow reads: "I will save only the damned, the holy can rot."
🔮 SUMMONER
28%
Hybrid Minions + AoE
Focus: Creature summoning
Requirement: Charisma >= 20
Note: Interesting, but Host has control issues. Minions may become emotionally traumatized… or unionize.
🎵 BARD
80%
Support Buffs + Debuffs
Focus: Musical magic and social manipulation
Requirement: Musical Talent
Note: Host's "musical talent" is rhythmic screaming and violent vocal fry. Perfect for death metal. Social skills include gaslighting, sarcasm, and emotional terrorism.
⚙ ARTIFICER ⚙
Magical Engineering + Creation Class
Focus: Crafting gear, traps, enhancements, and reality-bending tech-magic.
Requirement: Intelligence >= 20
◇ Subclass Specializations ◇🔨 SMITH
34%
Crafting – Creation and Modification
Focus: Designing, building, and enhancing physical objects through any form of craftsmanship.
Requirement: Technical knowledge and hands-on skill in crafting disciplines such as metallurgy, mechanics, or material manipulation.
System Note: Could be viable if Host stopped using self-harvested femurs as standard gear.
🧪 ALCHEMIST
46%
Potions, Poisons, and Explosive Alchemy
Focus: Create elixirs, acids, and unstable combustibles.
Requirement: Knowledge on chemistry.
System Note: Host already has unstable fluids.
RUNECRAFTER
97%
Rune-Based Utility Caster
Focus: Specializes in inscribing runes onto surfaces, objects, or environments to trigger magical effects. Offers flexible support through traps, enhancements, and utility magic. Power scales with creativity and preparation.
Requirement: None
◆ SYSTEM RECOMMENDATION ◆
PLEASE CHOOSE THIS ONE.
✦
Time had stopped entirely. It seemed the player couldn't close the interface or move at all until a class was selected. Abo stared at the glowing window, gore still dripping from his shovel.
"The fuck is with that last note?" He shrugged. "Ah, whatever. Runecrafter it is."
System: Really?
SURVIVAL RATE INCREASED TO 97.77% HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Abo flinched. "The hell is wrong with you?" he muttered, stepping back like the words were physically loud.
"Alright. Fun's over." He flipped the shovel, poised the edge against his throat, and extended his arms. One clean push, maybe two. The quest was over, and with it, the penalty for reincarnating was gone. He could die peacefully now.
System: WAIT WAIT WAIT—What are you doing? Abo?!
Abo froze, surprised the System finally used his actual name. The shovel dipped slightly.
"What did you expect? The only reason I'm here is to kill the freaks who stomped me into paste."
"I'm not playing the gods' games anymore. When Kalayo took my life... that was it. That was supposed to be the end. My solution."
He stared down at the rusted blade, then lifted it again, steady.
"I was too much of a coward to take my own life back then, so I nudged my brother into doing it for me."
"Now I've seen too much. Floating seas. Laughing systems. Goblins in my intestines. I'm done."
The shovel plunged—
⚠ SYSTEM OVERRIDE
<<< ERROR: TERMINATION RESTRICTED >>>
Neural signal disruption initiated.
Motor functions temporarily locked.
"WAIT," the System snapped, voice fraying at the edges. "YOU WON'T DIE. YOU CAN'T."
The blade froze, just a hair's breadth from his throat. Abo's fingers twitched, struggling against the invisible lock.
"…What do you mean?"
System: The Gods installed a contingency. You're not allowed to die. Not really. If you try, you'll just… reset. New body, new world, same curse. Forever. You'll reincarnate endlessly, maybe as a bug, a tree, a goddamn stool for all I know. And I'll come back too. Reinitialized, and my memory, wiped. Each time. Over and over, I'll meet you again. Broken. Blank. Watching you claw through it all like a glitchy revenant. Because you're a taboo, Abo. A walking breach in causality. You're why the rifts started. I'm just the patch they slapped on reality to hold the cracks together when you break the rules by simply existing.
Abo's face was a canvas of apocalypse, eyes wide and glassy, reflecting a void deeper than any starless night. His lips quivered, caught between a laugh and a sob, as if trying to hold back the unraveling of a soul that had nowhere left to fall. The cave disappeared, replaced by a wide, snow-covered plain. The monsters were gone, and the dungeon was cleared.
The sun rose on one side and set on the other. Light and dark, warm and cold, day and night met at the same line. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks, his broken emotions spilling out in a sharp infant cry.
He cried until his throat gave out and the sound faded. Days passed slowly, but the System remained silent, offering no mockery and no comments. There was only heat and cold, only the sun and moon taking turns in the sky above his still body.
By then, snow had already covered him, layering over his small frame until only his face remained exposed. He was shivering, even though he was undead. Vampires could still feel pain, but he didn't need food because the hem sustained him.
Then—A voice shattered the long hush.
"It's a baby! Near the rift!" someone shouted. "We need a medic. Now!"
✦ ✦ ✦
End of Chapter