Emily was dying, of that she was certain. It wasn't that she couldn't feel a thing, that much she could reasonably blame on being under shock. After all even her head didn't hurt and she was pretty damn certain having someone use their laptop pack like a flail to bludgeon her over the head should have hurt a great deal, especially with the laptop inside the damn bag. Nor the sound she'd expect a broken boiling kettle pot to make, which had taken her longer to recognize than she was comfortable admitting was the wheezing sound of her own breathing. No deep down, something felt irreversibly broken and with each passing moment she could feel herself slipping away further.

So much for the “Stand up to your bully!” advice people love to throw around. It had seemed like the perfect opportunity to follow it too. After graduation day and with all the hubbub over Emily would've never had to see Alicia again. Which had emboldened Emily to finally give Alicia a piece of her mind. By the end of it Alicia had all but cried, publicly too. She'd even run off. It had been grand.

What Emily didn't expect was for Alicia to not only come back carrying her laptop bag but to use it to take a cheap shot at her, that bitch! On a positive note, with so many people around there was no chance she'd get away with it. Emily wasn't a legal expert but she'd wager this would lead to a pretty lengthy stay in some correctional facility for Alicia, which was sure to put a dampener on any future plans she might have had, ha suck it Alicia!

All in all it was cold comfort but all Emily had left to cling to at this point. Of all the ways Emily had imagined dying, this one most certainly had never entered her mind. She had always figured her death would be more meaningful, maybe taking the bullet for her true love as he proclaimed his eternal devotion for her, holding her in her dying moments his tears mingling with the downpour as somewhere in the distance thunder rumbled or maybe just simply die of old age at some point.

Then again, her mother loved to remind her that one can't always get what they want. Which always seemed weird to Emily, because her mother had gotten pretty much everything she wanted and when she wanted it, as far as Emily knew at least. Aside from a daughter that wasn't an embarrassment, a daughter that was more like her.

But hey, at least she now got to finally play dress up with Emily and pick out clothes for a big social event Emily would be forced to wear, something Emily had always resisted. Sure it was a funeral which would likely put a dampener on the overall mood but for once she wouldn't be able to chide Emily for fidgeting. Emily would be as calm, quiet and compliant can be, almost like corpse, actually exactly like a corpse.

A small part of Emily wondered how long it would take her father to even notice she was gone. Her dad wasn't bad per se, just busy with his work, always busy.

Emily didn't have much more time to ponder these thoughts as her introspection was rudely interrupted. With the shock of sudden and unexpected violence rapidly wearing off the first of the bystanders were springing into action. There were cries for someone to call an ambulance and she could vaguely make out Mrs.Young rushing over.

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Mrs.Young, a short brunette in her early forties with a preference for clothing a woman twice her age might find frumpy, showed none of the usually scatterbrained and slightly confused but caring teacher Emily had to come to know and love her as. Instead there was steely determination in her eyes as she hurried towards Emilys side.

“Emily, Emily are you okay?” Of course Emily wasn't okay, what a dumb question! Her initial reaction was to lash out at her teacher, to throw out an acidic and dismissive response as per usual. Emily knew it was irrational, a reaction born out of fear and anger, both misplaced. Mrs.Young hadn't done this to her, she was trying to help and the brittleness of her voice and slight tinge of panic even as she tried to remain calm for Emilys sake only made Emily feel worse about her misguided anger. Luckily for her all she managed to get out was a wheezing croak in response to Mrs.Youngs question anyway.

Death turned out to not be all it was made out to be. In fact it was so unspectacular it had taken Emily a few moments to even notice she had died once it happened. One moment she was lying on the ground, Mrs.Young stroking her hair trying to comfort her as she pleaded for her to hold on, telling her an ambulance was on its way. The next Emily was as far as she could tell dead. No bright light at the end of the tunnel for her.

Emily had never been particularly religious, so death not meaning oblivion had come as somewhat of a surprise to her which might have partly contributed to her being a bit slow on the uptake. At least that would be what she'd claim going forward if anyone ever asked. Then again, there was no angelic choir and pearly gates waiting for her either, luckily also no fire and brimstone either. So as far as being wrong was concerned, she at least found herself in good company.

If there was a religion who believed the afterlife was a endless black void in which the dead drifted aimlessly, that religion would have been the one to get it right. As Emily drifted about, she wondered, if that religion was taking retroactive applications and whether handing one in might improve her situation. Because obviously, proactive options were out the window for her, being already dead and all.

All in all the afterlife was shaping up to be rather disappointing experience, which thinking about it Emily decided was just the story of her life. Or unlife for that matter. Overall Emily wasn't too worried about possibly being stuck here for all eternity. Given what she'd read about the quietest room on earth and how nobody could stand it in there for even an hour. Albeit supposedly hearing one's own heartbeat was a contributing factor, something which Emily now most decidedly lacked. She was reasonably certain she'd go stark raving mad before long anyway.

To Emilys surprise and luckily long before she had any chance to go mad, it turned out that while she had indeed died she wasn't currently dead, at least not anymore. Something the moonlight piercing the thick cloud cover and breaking beyond the heavy but attrited tarp and worn wooden boards shuttering the shattered windows illuminating her surroundings for the briefest moment made her aware of.

[You've achieved sapience!]

[You are now a level 1 Dungeon Core]

[Light Affinity Gained]

[Arcane Affinity Gained]

[Astral Affinity Gained]

….

The dizzying barrage of pop ups flashing by caused Emily to yelp in surprise and almost made her miss the implied insult to her intelligence up until this moment, the operative word being almost. “SON OF A ...!”