It was the same familiar bed and the same familiar ceiling.
The same white ceiling that I gazed upon as the blood drained out of my body.
It seems I'm back.
And my death-seeking plan was thwarted once again.
How annoying.
I used my hand to examine my neck.
There was no hole once again, and time had been reset.
I was confused.
What am I meant to do now?
Live to fight it out?
Is there some cosmic phenomenon that insists upon my life?
Why?
I certainly despise my life, so why on earth is this happening?
It's preposterous.
Truly infuriating.
Oh well—
Then let's play this game.
Let's see who ends up the winner.
Oh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.
It really would be a thrill to know that the day would continue to loop.
Hopefully, I come out the winner in all this.
Who am I kidding? I'm the master of my fate, and I think my fate is to die.
I had a crazed smile on my face as I continued to play games on my console.
Then I heard the screams.
And I knew the game had begun.
Long story short, I was attacked again, and then I was on the bed alive.
...
Interesting.
The switch from death to life feels like a replay button.
Well, my first strategy is to be passive.
Movement itself is very bothersome with all the aches and pain that come with it.
So I decided to lay there enjoying my time.
Ah, right. I have snacks—forgot about that.
I stretched my hand to the school bag I brought, which was beside my head on the bed.
I took out some oil-friendly foods and started munching.
It's kind of sad that I don't get to experience high school, and the world ended on my first day.
But oh well.
You win some and you lose some.
My motto is that life is meant to be lived to the fullest, because I'm going to die soon enough.
Actually, that last part is a personal addition of mine—
But the first part about living to the fullest is sound.
You gotta enjoy it while you can.
Of course, you shouldn't use that as an excuse to commit crimes.
Life is also about taking responsibility.
Look at me, I'm taking responsibility by earnestly seeking death.
Though it's not my fault that I'm sick, my parents think so.
So I don't get involved with them, and we cross paths the same way strangers do.
Plus, I wouldn't survive in prison—because they wouldn't even send me there.
Heck, they'd take one look at my condition and build a private hospital prison.
Can't have me dying on their watch now, can they?
I was interrupted from my mental babbling by a zombie.
......
Once replay was activated, I curiously checked my bag and found the same snack unopened.
So does that mean that everything reset?
And that means I have an unlimited supply of snacks.
Cool.
Unfortunately, I didn't bring my favorite ones because that stupid driver was in a rush to drop me off.
Thinking about it made me pout.
So I silently sent a curse that he would be eaten by zombies.
I reluctantly reached into my bag and took out the snack.
I sighed and began to munch—
Whilst my other hand was playing games.
It's kinda hard to lay down and hold the console up so the screen is facing me.
So I took a short break.
My eyes turned away from the screen to see the zombie that lunged at me.
........
I screamed and moved back.
That scared me.
I rubbed my chest in anger.
Now I'm vengeful.
How dare that stupid zombie scare me—so annoying.
Wait, then was I actually scared to death?
Stupid replay didn't even let me succeed in that.
Now I'm going to take my anger out on that zombie.
I guess being passive isn't in the cards if I want to relieve my anger.
I slowly sat up, trembling.
Stupid body.
But I managed to do it.
See, unlike the first time, I was slow and careful so it didn't hurt as much.
That time I sat up too quickly.
Then I surveyed my environment, looking for something within reach to hit the zombie with.
Now someone might wonder why I don't ask for help.
And the answer is because obviously no one would believe me.
Plus, it wouldn't matter.
The school would probably be hell, and the students in here are already dead men.
Besides, there aren't that many people in here.
Most of them left for class after the first bell.
But what the heck—
There's nothing better to do right now, and I'm vengeful.
So asking for help doesn't sound so bad.
I called out to the nurse who was bustling about.
"Do you need anything?" she said this politely, but I could see she was stressed.
Poor woman, who has died so many times.
Sigh. She can't even abandon them because the background of these students is higher than hers.
The ones who are lower in status were directly ignored.
At least she let them stay in here.
"I know what's wrong with them." I decided to help her since she was distressed.
"Really?" She was doubtful.
Honestly, if she believed me, I would wonder how she got her nursing license.
I mean, who would believe a random student that just transferred a few weeks after the session began?
"Yes, it's because they are turning into zombies," I said this honestly.
Her face went from doubtful to angry, and she glared at me.
Tch. The fable of females being scary is true.
Even though I'm also a female.
Wow. So scary.
The nurse snorted at me and was about to reprimand me when someone jumped her from behind.
It was a zombie.
Eh, how unfortunate. And when did the school bell ring?
I must have been too busy trying to get up.
Then another zombie lunged at me.
I swung my bag at it, but it dodged.
Huh? They can dodge too? And damn, it was faster than me.
....
Ah, I'm so pissed.
What do you mean a zombie can dodge?
Tsk, what happened to the classics?
Green skin, foul odor, and slow movement.
Emphasis on the snail-like movement they made.
Am I cursed to be the slowest human being who couldn't even outrun a zombie?
Ah, the shame.
Luckily, I have no real friends or gaming friends.
My parents strictly made sure that I broke all ties with my gaming party.
They also made sure I only played games that were solo play.
In fact, if the game I wanted wasn't single player,
Then they would make the company responsible for the game turn it into solo play.
Anyway, I'm a single girl alone in the world.
A single girl with movement slower than a zombie.
This can't go on.
From now on,
I'm going to be an active player.
I'm going to fight to the death.
With a surge of determination, I began to rise up so that I could sit up.
Then I grabbed my bag.
I was actually frail and sickly, so my bag wasn't heavy.
It had no books and only contained my console, some cash I stole from my parents' house, and snacks.
I ended up eating the snacks because those horrid people refused to feed me.
Now it's only one left.
Then I waited for the zombie.
I didn't wait long, and the chaos occurred again.
Just as the zombie lunged at me,
I used my bag to swing it from right to left.
That stupid zombie dodged.
So I reversed the direction of my swinging and aimed it forward.
The execution of this set of actions was flawless.
But I was too slow.
....
Gah, now I'm officially slower.
I don't believe I'm not smarter.
Game on.