"Is this what that old man calls afterlife?"
"Afterlife is just a bunch of weirdos popping messages on a screen before your face?"
"Where's Void? Where can I see Void?" Eric thought to himself.
"It sure is dark in here."
Suddenly, the blue screen he saw earlier appeared before his face again and, without waiting to read the content therein, he swung his hand out to snatch the screen from his face. But each time he tried, he never got hold of anything. His hand went through more easily than a knife through hot butter, yet he tried frantically until the screen popped down.
"Am I seeing things now?"
"I must be seeing things. It's the afterlife after all."
"If this is the afterlife, then Void must be here, somewhere."
"I think that screen was trying to tell me something. But how can I bring it back now that it's gone?"
Immediately he thought about it, the screen popped up again, coming as a shock to Eric even when he'd seen it happen three times already. Before him, on the screen were signs and symbols that seemed to indicate letters but were alien to Eric. It was all just a jumble of carelessly drawn lines.
[Translating System Words to Host's Understanding]
[Translation Complete]
"Woah."
[Welcome to ... System]
[You have been allowed to live a second life due to your strong will to live and be strong. Follow the Tasks listed and make the most of your new vengeful life]
"Oh. Okay. That's some sort of trash talk right there," said Eric. "I only want to know where Void is. Thanks for the help, but just tell me where Void is."
[You Drift in the Silence Between Death and Life. You're in the Void, Host]
"And how am I supposed to look for Void in a void? Please, just let me see him. Just once. Please."
[Do You Not Burn to Avenge Void?]
"I do. I surely do, and I wished it more than anything that's happening right now. But what can I do, uh? I'm dead, see? And why the hell are you calling me Host?"
[Because the System Has Claimed You To Be Its Bearer]
Eric was confused. He blanked out and was lost for words.
[It's time you get your first task underway, Host]
"Which is?"
A list opened up before him and on it was a title "Personal Tasks." There was another section by the side which displayed "Main Tasks," but it was blurred out and, from Eric's game knowledge, he knew it could not be opened just yet. He would have to unlock some previous tasks before he could reach there.
This is kinda interesting. If only this was a thing while I was alive.
[Host Seems Unaware Of His New Existence]
"Huh?"
[Open your eyes, Host]
"It's open, damnit. I can't see anything here."
[Open Your Eyes, Host]
Suddenly, Eric felt like he was in his physical form again, not floating about in a void. He could hear the faint sound of something blaring near him. He could also feel something hot licking at his skin. His back tingled where he lay motionless. Then slowly, he started opening his eyes to a dim light hanging directly above him. He was in a strange room that was unnecessarily too hot for whatever weather the heat was turned on for.
[First Task Has Been Assigned. Host Must Get Started]
Get out of my head.
"I need to get out of here. It's too hot."
He turned around to behold his environment and only then did it hit him where he was. Around him were about five bodies, butt naked and lined on long tables. The light from the room cast an orange glow on the bodies, but Eric knew the bodies were just pale even with the optical illusion.
These are dead bodies.
"What?!"
Am I really alive? This is the crematory. Bad hells, I was about to get burnt.
I need to get out of here.
Wait, where's Void's body?
He looked into the intense furnace through the transparent cover to see if it was Void's body being cremated, but there was no way of knowing. He just took solace in the fact that he was the next in line for cremation, so the current one must have been Void's body.
Eric jumped down from the tall table and scurried to the door in a bid to escape, but the door was locked from the other side. He looked down only to realize he was butt naked as well. He saw a door by his right side which seemed to be a changing room, but when he got there, all he saw were dirty, bloodied clothes of the dead brought here for cremation. He searched the pile of clothes until he saw his own brown sweater.
Since there are no good clothes to wear, I'll rather wear the one I'm most familiar with, even if it's the one with the most blood.
He almost broke down again, remembering how Void was killed like a beast some moments ago.
I'll get them, this time, Void. I promise.
On a separate table were two backpacks which obviously belonged to him and Void. Void's foldable katana had gone missing since he used it against the hunters earlier, so Eric grabbed his own and stuffed it into the pocket of his bag. The dismantled guns followed, and then the dagger. He grabbed Void's black mask and gloves and donned them to hide his face.
They already deleted my files from the colony as it stands. If I'm reported missing here, they should at least have a hard time trying to know what my face looks like before they find me.
Suddenly, Eric heard hurried footsteps coming from the hallway. He rushed out of the changing room and secured a safe spot to hide should that person come in. He bent behind a shelf near the door, waiting.
Soon enough, a burly man opened the door gently and slid into the cremation room with ease. He was on his way to the tables where the bodies were laid. He grabbed some leather gloves on the way and put them on with expertise, all the while whistling a direful tune like he was holding a proper funeral for the dead.
Time to go.
"Hell no," Eric heard the man gasp. "The dead don't walk, I'm sure."
Eric scampered out of his hiding place and immediately dashed for the door. The burly man sensed the sudden movement, so he turned and went after Eric.
"Get back here, walking dead. You can't leave here like this."
Eric tried to open the door by turning the handle in the proper way he knew, but the door wouldn't budge.
What? I'm sure he didn't lock it with a key.
The man closed in rapidly with his left gloved hand outstretched while he grabbed a long knife from his table as he brushed past.
No way.
"I'm not dead!" Eric yelled out, the mask on his face muffling his voice.
"You have been here. You can't leave here until I've secured your ashes in the seal, dead," the man said, his voice deeper and meaner the closer he got.
Eric shook the door heavily to break it down, his eyes growing wider and his heart racing faster with each step the man took. Yet the steel door bowed not.
What should I do now?
He's going to kill me, this man.
Will I die a second time now? From the same weapon?
The odds are not in my favor now. But—
Eric dipped his hand into the bag and brought out the katana just like he did against the three beast hunters who killed his friend.
I better get it done this time around.
Instead of stretching the katana out and setting himself in a position to counterattack his assailant, Eric kept the foldable katana hidden in his palm with his back pressed to the door as if in surrender.
Five more steps.
Four...
The man closed in, wary but steady.
Just then, the holographic screen popped in Eric's face again, displaying more information.
[Chime]
[A New Command Has Been Issued]
[Strike Down The Assailant]
[Reward: 30 points]
[Additional 10 points if killed with a single strike]
[Engage]
30 points of what?
Of course, it won't say. F--king cocky system.