When breath returned to my chest, I didn't feel anything great.
I only felt tired.
A heavy exhaustion, as if my body had been used more than it should have, as if my soul itself had returned dragging its feet. My chest hurt—not like a wound, but like a hidden ache resembling muffled crying. I opened my eyes slowly, because I was afraid to open them and find myself still inside the mouth.
But I wasn't there.
I was alive.
Once again.
That realization didn't come all at once. It crept in quietly, carrying with it a strange sense of emptiness. No joy, no relief, no shock. Just an inner silence, as if my mind said: fine… it seems I really do have the ability to return from death…
I sat where I was, my hands trembling for no clear reason. I tried to control them, but they didn't respond. I breathed deeply, then less deeply, then suddenly stopped, afraid that breathing itself might be a mistake.
"I died…"
The word came out as a whisper.
"I died a second time."
Saying it didn't make it clearer. It didn't explain anything. It only made it more real.
I felt a heaviness in my stomach, a sudden urge to vomit, or to sit on the ground and never move again. I thought of my family, my job, the small things I used to think were boring. Morning coffee, the familiar road, ordinary exhaustion. All those details I never appreciated… now felt painfully distant.
I don't want this.
I don't want to understand it.
And I don't want to be different.
I lifted my head slightly and looked around cautiously, afraid of seeing the monster again. My heart was beating extremely fast.
I thought very simply: if this happens a third time… will I endure it?
I found no answer.
I stood up slowly, hesitantly, as if the ground might betray me at any moment. I didn't feel stronger, nor smarter, nor "chosen." I only felt like an ordinary human placed in a place that doesn't suit him.
The question wasn't epic.
It wasn't deep.
It was simple… and terrifying:
How will I live?
I sat where I was, staring at the ground in front of me, as if it might jump at my face at any moment. The idea that everything here could be a trap made my chest tighten. I didn't dare touch anything. I didn't even dare change my position much. I was afraid of making a simple mistake… and that it would be the last.
My legs were hurting. My back was tense. My hands were cold even though the weather wasn't cold. I tried to stand again, but I failed. I fell to my knees, my breaths coming out fast…
I laughed quietly.
A short laugh, meaningless.
"Great… I can't even walk anymore."
The fear wasn't only of monsters.
It was of possibility.
The possibility that everything here is alive. The possibility that the mistake is very simple, and that the punishment for it would be death. A third time.
I swallowed hard.
If I die again… will I come back?
I wasn't sure. And that's what made the fear heavier.
That's when I thought of something stupid.
Something childish.
Isn't there supposed to be a system?
Not because I believe in it, but because I needed something to cling to. Anything. I raised my head slightly and whispered inside my mind, as if I were ashamed of myself:
"…System?"
Nothing.
I waited.
Then I repeated it, weaker: "System…?"
The silence was crude. Almost humiliating.
I felt frustration creeping into my chest. I was alone. Completely alone. No guide, no instructions, no voice telling me I wasn't crazy.
I raised my head toward the sky and said in a hoarse voice: "Why am I here?"
I wasn't asking for an explanation.
I was asking for an excuse.
No answer came.
I breathed deeply, then lost my nerves a little. "At least… give me something."
My voice cracked.
"Anything."
Then, out of desperation, I screamed inside my head again: "System."
Once.
Twice.
Five times.
I stopped counting.
I wasn't screaming because I believed.
I was screaming because I was afraid.
And when nothing happened, I didn't collapse immediately. I just sat there, staring into emptiness, my mind slowly emptying. I thought maybe I had lost my mind. That all this was a natural reaction for someone who died twice.
Then—
Without any introduction—
I felt something very simple..
Just a light sensation, as if my ear got blocked for a moment. I blinked, confused.
And before my eyes…
A single word appeared.
[Activated]
I stared at it for a long time, unsure if it was real. I slowly extended my hand and touched the air. Nothing.
"…Really?"
It came out as if I were talking to myself.
I didn't feel joy.
I only felt that I could breathe a little.
A second sentence appeared, with the same coldness:
[Selection system is running]
I laughed.
Not because the situation was funny…
But because I was on the verge of crying.
I leaned my back against the ground and closed my eyes for a moment. "Alright…"
I whispered.
"At least I'm not imagining this, right?"
I wiped my eyes more than once, because I was afraid the words would disappear if I blinked too much. But the screen didn't disappear.
A small bar, barely visible, moving extremely slowly..
0%… 1%…
I swallowed.
"Move…"
I whispered it, afraid the monsters might hear me.
2%…
It was slow. Illogically slow. My heart began beating faster than its progress. I looked around unconsciously, searching for any movement, any shadow, anything that would show I wasn't alone. The place was still silent, and that was not reassuring at all.
"Please… hurry."
I wasn't asking for a miracle. Just… to be a little faster.
…4%
I stared at it in disbelief, as if the number was mocking me.
"Why are you so slow?"
I muttered with quiet irritation.
"Are you really a system… or just junk?"
My laugh came out short, tense, without any humor.
"Don't tell me you're… joking with me."
No response came.
But the bar—
Moved even slower than before.
Then—
4%
It stopped.
I felt my heart drop suddenly, as if it slid into my stomach.
"No… stopped?"
I screamed the word inside my head before my hands moved unconsciously.
I began punching the air in front of me with irregular movements, aimless.
"Enough! If you can hear me—move!"
Nothing happened.
No sound, no change, not even a small flicker suggesting the call was received.
The silence remained as it was, heavy, indifferent.
Then the fear returned, deeper than before.
It wasn't just the fear of death, but the fear of waiting itself… to remain here paralyzed, watching time pass, while something I don't understand decides when—or if—it will move.
I took a deep breath. Then—without planning—changed my tone.
"Alright… listen."
My voice was low, hesitant.
"I don't know what you are. Or how you work."
I paused.
"But your appearance now… is the only good thing that has happened to me since I arrived here… I'm not a special person. And I don't even know how I'm going to live here…
If you're a system, or a mechanism, or anything… you're all I have now."
A second passed.
Then—
5%
I stared at the number, unbelieving.
"…It moved."
I didn't feel joy.
I only felt the tightness around my chest loosen a little.
6%… 7%…
I sat on the ground carefully, watching the bar without speaking. Whenever I ignored it a little, it moved. Whenever I focused on it, it seemed slower… silence.
10%
15%… 20%
Time passed as if it were slow. My back hurt. My legs trembled. But nothing else appeared. No monsters. No sounds. Just the bar… moving.
30%
The fear began to change. It didn't disappear, but it no longer controlled me.
40%… 50%
60%
True exhaustion began to show. Not only physical… but mental. Waiting drains the mind more than running.
70%…
I avoided thinking about the end. l.
80%
"Ugh… how much longer do I have to wait…"
I breathed deeply, thinking about my situation..
90%
My heart started beating fast again, but this time… not pure fear. It was tension..
95%… 97%…
I stood up without realizing.
My hands were tense. My breathing measured.
Then—
100%
The bar stopped...