Chapter 11 - Return From Death
At the bottom of a great cliffside.
Beneath a vast, seemingly endless sea of green.
Within this place; a place close to, yet ever-distant from, civilisation, and where Mother Nature reigned supreme.
The birds were singing gaily; the cicadas, shrilling ceaselessly; and the sun was illuminating the world from above. Few streaks of light penetrated through the canopy of trees, appearing to the animals below like the light of heaven, and just enough to bestow upon them that pleasant warmth.
Surrounded by such nature in its purest form, coldly isolated from society, there lay a boy.
“......”
For one reason or another, the black-haired youth lying supine on the dirty woodland ground felt emotions in stark contrast to the surroundings.
He scowled terribly at the god-awful light piercing through the sheltering thick foliage as it reminded him of a certain individual, and he only found the incessant noise of twittering and buzzing unpleasantly infuriating.
Jae glared with a gaze of thick resentment towards the sky, loathing the world.
“......”
The princess, who ordered his death.
The knights, who chased and murdered him.
And perhaps most deserving of all, the Gods, who placed him in this very situation to begin with.
Even the world itself―as fantastical as it was―was in the wrong for existing in the first place...
After all, if this world wasn’t something that existed, then so would his suffering dissipate.
Not stopping at mere hatred, he found an odd sense of comfort when truly scorning this new world in which he found himself.
And maybe that is why...
Conditions met
Title 「Apostle of Sin」 has activated
You have acquired a ‘■■■-grade’ skill
You have acquired the Unique Skill: 「Wrath」
What was this, a sick joke?
“...Hell sure thinks it’s being funny, huh...? Cause, this definitely ain’t Heaven...”
Recalling the bone-chilling and immensely nauseating sensation of his neck being cleanly separated from his shoulders, there was no need to question it any further.
Jae definitely died.
That cold, steel sword as it cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter.
It was vividly engraved in his mind even now.
He died then and there, and there was no room for doubt about that.
“Ugh...”
It was not a dream.
His school uniform was all torn up and bloodied; the clothing on one of his legs was completely missing from the knee down.
The details were far too consistent for it to be something like a dream.
Not only was the proof right there in front of him, but the pain he experienced remained faintly lingering in his body; it was all the evidence Jae needed to know that what happened did actually occur.
More importantly, if it wasn’t a dream, then how on Earth did he survive?
“No, wait...”
Technically, that's wrong. I didn’t ‘survive’.
Jae recalled the last thing he saw before he “lost consciousness”; the man who appeared to be the leader of the knights clearly swung his sword with the intent to kill.
It was a scene he could never forget, and even now could he distinctly feel the consequence of that action with his body.
...But then, the sight of his body now―completely unharmed as if nothing had ever happened―was naturally puzzling.
The scrape on his arm was healed back to normal, just as was the injury from slamming his head into the ground. And, most grandly of all, his missing leg and head had both come back from their vacation.
Nuzzling wholly into Death’s cold embrace, he found himself reborn once again.
Is it that I just... Revived...?
And the more important question:
How...? Will it be... a recurring thing, or was it one-time use? Wait wait wait, not just that; there are so many questions I need to know the answer to, but how can I find out?
There was no way to get an answer, or so he thought.
...No, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Suicide was the last thing on Jae’s to-do list, especially after having clearly felt his own burning desire to live, something born out of death.
It was all too complicated for him to think about right now and there was nothing that could give him any answers, but now that he had actually survived the whole ordeal, he had all the time in the world to figure it out later, so he pushed the matter to the side for now.
“Hm...”
With a grunt, Jae raised himself from the ground. He was covered from head-to-toe in dirt, grime, leaves and even his own dried blood in some places, but he felt in his best shape physically since arriving in this world. After dusting and wiping it all off with his hands as best he could, he gazed up.
What he glimpsed poking out far, far above the canopy under which he currently stood, was the precipice he presumably fell from.
“...It sure looks taller from down here than it did... From what I saw at the top, this forest looked... big.”
It’d probably take months, if not years to get out of here. I don’t even know the right way to go or anything, either...
“Well, as long as it’s the opposite direction of the palace, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
He marked the country of Seronia as a ‘forbidden land’. There was no way he could ever show his face around there again, so the main objective was to get as far away from it as possible.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Seeing as the knights dumped him down into this forest, it was probably a place not often frequented by humans, so it was safe to assume he would be out of harm’s way in the meantime. Aside from that, though; wild beasts, food and water, shelter―there were many concerns, but they shouldn’t be too distressing to figure out.
As a silver lining, nothing could be as dire as the situation up until now, so things were finally beginning to shape up.
First things first, I need the basic necessities: Food, water and shelter... Problem is, how do I go about acquiring those?
He was faced with his first dilemma: survival.
To start with, Jae didn’t know how to cook; as such, there was a high risk of catching an infection if he tried to hunt an animal and eat it without the proper knowledge of when it was safe to eat. Likewise, berries and fruit are a hard pass; even if he could find any, it’s not like he would know if they were edible or poisonous.
Ah... Now that I think about it, even if I did know what fruits or berries were safe to eat, that knowledge would be useless in another world.
He felt like cursing, but having high spirits was a literal life-saver in situations like this, so he couldn’t afford to put himself down lightly.
“Well... It’s a pretty damn big forest, so there’s gotta be something, right...?”
At the very least, Jae knew that all forests have a lot of biodiversity, and within that biodiversity, edible animals were highly likely to be included. Eating meat shouldn’t be a problem so long as he’s able to start a fire, so at least there was that.
Furthermore, water could be found in naturally occurring rivers, but whether any were around here was questionable. All Jae knew from geography class was that rivers originated from mountains, but he didn’t see any from the clifftop and the closest mountains were at least dozens of miles away in the distance.
Nevertheless, there should at least be some quantity of small streams or brooks in the area, and if there was a water source, then animals were almost certain to gravitate towards it, so that could help greatly.
In that way, the two fundamentals of food and water were deeply interconnected; it would be difficult to obtain one without the other in most cases, and Jae was thankful for that.
Finally, there was the whole 'shelter' part. However, depending on the situation at night, Jae thought it might not even be needed―if the climate and weather were right, then he might be able to survive in the wild even without it.
...Let's just hope that's the case.
Either way, he didn’t know anything about makeshift shelters anyway, so worrying about it was even more pointless.
With extreme optimism and a newfound goal set in his heart, Jae decided to check his Status for the time being, and it was there that he noticed some notable changes.
First off, the most eye-catching change was that Jae's Race had changed.
From [Human] to [Humanoid].
I guess this is because of the resurrection?
“Ha, well, probably. I mean, humans don’t just... Come back to life like that, right?”
Jae thought that was the most likely case, so he tried not to mind it too much. Aside from that, his HP had also increased by 15 points somehow, bringing it to a total of 332 maximum HP. He had no clue why this occurred, but it didn't seem like a bad thing, so he let it go without much thought.
Did I gain HP for dying? Or, for resurrecting, maybe... Is there a distinction there? Well, it’s strange, but more health is a good thing, so it’s probably fine.
He never thought death could be such a salubrious thing, but what did he know?
After that, Jae found he had acquired a new title called ‘Resurrected’, which only strengthened the belief in his theory. Of course, the exact reason behind said resurrection remains to be seen, but there weren’t many causes he could think of.
...No, wait, it must have something to do with one of my other titles, right?
He considered it wrong to assume that all Summoned Heroes would also be able to revive since otherwise the knights likely would’ve known about it and not neglected him after killing him once, so he crossed ‘World Traveller’ off the list.
After all, there’s no way in hell a curse would ever be something genuinely useful, especially in an unfair world like this, so I guess the one responsible is this ‘Apostle of Sin’?
There was nothing else it could reasonably be, so he deduced as much.
Moving his gaze gradually downwards, his brows naturally furrowed as he looked with mixed feelings at the two Unique Skills he had recently acquired; first Envy, and now Wrath.
"......"
They were most certainly not the sort of names that gave him a feeling of something auspicious, but rather foreboding.
Even still... It's not like I have anything else going for me.
A crazy, overly optimistic idea popped into Jae’s head.
...Such a pair of alarmingly-named skills; could they actually be helpful?
Frankly, it was because there were no other available options that he had to rely on them. He saw the size of the forest from above—it stretched all the way to the horizon and merged with a mountain range in the east.
The only thing he could do in this situation was pray for a chance that these absurdly sinister skills could somehow save him.
Right. Besides, aren't abilities related to something great like the cardinal sins usually overpowered? I should instead be thankful.
Well, the cliché was either that or they were considered a tremendous curse; either way, what difference would it make at this point? Jae's phenomenal coping skills and (false?) optimism were working overtime to carry him to victory.
I'm already cursed anyway, so what's seven more? I should be fine. More importantly, how do I activate them...?
Just thinking wouldn’t get him anywhere, Jae concluded, and so he strained himself to focus on the space in front of him. Honing his concentration, he consciously thought to himself about activating the first of the two skills, Envy.
Whether or not it worked, he heard the same creepy voice from before in his head again.
[That's not correct, you fool.]
“Ah!? O-oh, fuck. I forgot about you...”
[Hah. I suppose I am allowed to speak now since you have successfully escaped? I never thought a kid like you’d be able to do it, but here we are. Anyway, you need to specify a target first.]
Placing a hand on his chest to calm down his rapid heartbeat that had spiked from the jumpscare, Jae’s eyebrows raised.
“Oh? So, it does have a use... Thanks.”
Jae exclaimed, but Envy didn’t seem to be so upbeat about his choice of words.
[Of course I am, you ungrateful brat!]
Maybe it would be worth it, after all? He tried using it again after focusing on a bird he saw sitting on a branch.
Skill 「Envy」 has activated
“......”
A moment passed.
“...Hey. Why is nothing happening?”
[Kuhaha, my goodness, have some patience. I need to give you my permission, restless boy.]
“What? That sounds like bull-- No, can I just use it? Please.”
[...Hah. Let’s call it a reward for your escape. I considered you pitifully unworthy, but I shall permit it.]
Following his words, a notification appeared.
Usage of the 「Soul Discernment」 System is authorised
Soul Discernment? Sounds cool, I guess...
And the result…
Skill 「Envy」 has activated
Soul State - Bird
"...Huh?"
Wait, no way, is it broken or something...?
'Bird'? Yes, well... That was obvious, was it not? Jae thought he might have simply used it wrong, so he tried again; alas, the result came unchanged.
“Is... Is that it?”
He blinked.
...No. It must be broken somehow... Right? I must be using it wrong... Let's see. Can I use it on myself?
Testing it out, nothing happened.
"......"
Maybe he would need to try it again, he surmised, and so he used the skill for a third time. This time, however, it was on a completely different species of bird.
Skill 「Envy」 has activated
Soul State - Bird
“...No, really...?”
There truly was nothing more than that. Nevertheless, to keep himself from falling down into the dumps, Jae shook his head and corrected his thinking.
This can’t be all there is to it; that's impossible. It’s way too trash for this to be it. Surely it gets better after levelling up, right? Yes, it has to. That’s common sense.
He didn't think it was just him coping but was rather certain that must be it.
[...I said it sarcastically at first, but you truly are foolish if you believe such power comes so easily. Well, are you?]
Surprisingly, Envy’s words supported his thinking.
“No, you're right. One must go through difficult trials to attain true power, yes, yes. That’s exactly what I’ve been enduring all this shit for, right? That’s right. I know I was right. I'll become strong soon thanks to that, so let's keep it up.”
...But, haven't I gone through a hell of a trial already...? It's been a lot of hardship in a short amount of time, so don't I deserve something more than this pittance of a skill...?
Swiftly discarding thoughts about the depressing stuff, he felt a rush of desire to improve it immediately.
It can’t take that long to level up from Level 1 to Level 2, so let’s do it quickly.
Skill 「Envy」 has activated
Soul State - Bird
And so he did.
By using it on everything in sight, one thing at a time.