The sensations of the living flooded into me as I awoke in a dead body.

I was slammed with a rush of adrenaline as the stiff and unbeating heart in my chest pumped once more.

Suddenly, I jerked up into a sitting position and gasped deeply for air as a white sheet of fabric slid off my upper body.

“HWUUUAAAHHH…” sounded from my throat as foul air filled my lungs.

Death laid neatly around me in even rows and columns.

My eyes widened in shock but not because of the corpses covered in white blankets that orderly filled the stone room. I tilted my head as I lifted my hands, secondly surprised that I found trouble in doing the mere action. My first surprise came from the life-like sensations that I didn’t think were possible in my current settings.

“How unexpectedly real…” I unconsciously said, curiously examining my pale hands like a newborn child.

If anyone saw me checking out my body, they’d think me odd. Run away even maybe, given they’d just witness a freshly risen corpse in a morgue. But who wouldn’t take a closer examination of their body when it was not truly their own? Especially one that was supposed to be dead.

A philosophical thought crossed my mind as I touched and explored this new body of mine. A male one, I might add.

Can a dead body in a game even be considered ‘dead?’ It’s not even real, right?

“Maybe not,” I whispered, answering my own question.

But this game feels too real. Maybe my manager was telling the truth? Maybe dying here would also mean death in real life…

My bleak thoughts suddenly flew away like birds, interrupted and frightened off by the abrupt sounds of creaking metal hinges.

A wooden door swung open, and a peculiar lady, wrapped tightly from head to toe in a bland, black and white religious attire, bursted inside. Scowling brown eyes scoured the room for a victim as the lady shrieked with a shrill voice, “Who?! Who dares disturb the de-!”

Our eyes connected. The lady immediately froze. I froze as well. Well, I was already mostly unmoving anyway.

But then the lady’s jaw dropped while her mouth formed a giant ‘o.’ Even being midways across the room, I heard the air being swallowed down the woman’s throat, likely to be soon regurgitated in a horrid scream.

Panic set in as I remembered the words of my manager during our last meeting in the real world.

“Remember, Kian, if you die in the game, you’ll die in real life. Logout before that happens. Even then, there may be side effects. So use your character wisely. Should your game character die, there’s a lengthy time penalty before we can get you another one. Time is money. For you especially, since your pay is mainly commission-based.”

I began to sweat. It was only my first day on the job, and I may have already screwed up. But my fate had yet to be set in stone. I tried to calm down the frightened lady, manipulating the information provided to me during the mission debriefing.

“Wait, Sister! It’s me, Lucian! Lucian de Volan! I’m not de-“

“HELLLP! An undead arose in the Temple! Help! HELP!”

“Sister! Listen to me! I said I’m not dead!” I shouted to no effect.

At the nun’s shrieking, the stone floor beneath us rumbled with quick repeated thunks, and the nun visibly calmed down some.

I don’t like the sound of that…

And my foreboding instincts were right.

Into the room squeezed a hulking man in clanking silver armor, which was marred with the heavy remnants of battle. He needed to almost kneel and turn his massive body sideways to crawl through the door - a door already wide enough to accommodate two normal-sized adults walking side by side.

His head nearly hit the ceiling as he pushed up into standing, glaring daggers at me with deep-seated hatred unknown.

Oh, shit.

The ominous ringing of an unsheathing sword cut through the air as the man drew his weapon at me.

“Die, you undead scum!”

My eyes widened in utter shock at the sudden events.

Was my first character going to perish already? Am I going to have to wait again for the cool down period? Damn those NPCs. What kind of game starts like this?

“Wait! Listen to me! I said I’m not-!”

Heavy stomps echoed in the stone room as the giant burly man charged full speed at me down the aisles of cadavers. I wasn’t even given time to explain myself.

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?!

I had barely logged into the game to start working, and now I’m going to die already. My fragile, newly acquired character was going to bite the dust once that massive NPC dude decapitated me with his broadsword. I trembled, but not from fear of death. I worried more about being fired.

I needed this job.

Desperately.

But to work, I must first live.

The hulking man was faster than he looked, closing in on my position within a few blinks of the eyes.

With no other choice, I prepared myself and logged out of the game by shouting in my head, “Logout! Authorization level: Sigma! Username: Kian Hue!”

***System Notification***

Request for logging out of New World confirmed.

Authorization verified and acknowledged.

Logging out of the game in 5 minutes.

For immediate logout, request for “Emergency Logout.”

Logging out in…

300 seconds… 299 seconds… 298 seconds…

My eyes widened.

The hell? A countdown? Seriously?! Why didn’t my manager tell me?!

The man on a mission to cut me down was already before me, sword pulled back and swinging. I needed to logout now or it would be too late.

Emergency Log-!

And I was too late. I flinched, wincing my eyes shut as the dangerously sharp edge of the sword cut into the side of my neck. Death was certain when beheaded - if in the real world, that is.

By some miracle, the sword not only stopped upon drawing blood but bounced back, reflected by some strange, shimmering golden force.

Immediately, the room returned to how it was once before - dead silent. My two, new unfriendly acquaintances were speechless like the cadavers lying neatly in the morgue. But the short-live peaceful silence was again interrupted by the shrill voice of the lady nun.

“By the Heavens! What have we done?! Goddess Atlanta, forgive us!”

I wondered if it hurt, seeing the lady drop her knees and hit the unforgiving stone floor. She clasped both trembling hands in devoted prayer, lowering her head and seeking clemency. I, too, would like an apology - best paid to me in dollar bills.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The giant man grunted, gripping hard to the pummel of his weapon that ricocheted off me like a rubber bouncy ball against a firm rock wall. However, lesson not learned, the hulking muscles on the man’s arm contorted, and he yanked back his sword, pointing the angry tip at me.

“Speak! In Goddess Atlanta’s name, what are you?!”

I looked at the man who threatened me and returned his fiery glare with an eye roll.

I scoffed, “Oh, now you ask?”

Voice lowered an octave, the man rasped, “You test my patience, foul creature. My oath to the goddess prevents me from killing the living, but bruises and broken bones I can do a plenty.”

Yeah. I didn’t doubt that, coming from the guy twice my size and of sheer muscle. But his attitude didn’t sit right with me.

“Didn’t you just answer your own question, Mr. Smartypants? Didn’t your goddess also just show you by smacking away your sword? Or do you really need me to spell it out for you?”

I suddenly flinched at the grating noise of metal being stabbed deeply into the stone floor. Air spewed from my lungs, gasping as I was shoved hard, back slamming against the ground. My eyes spun, seeing a blurred figure towering over me. I tried to breathe but a massive hand choked my airways.

“Sir Gale!” The lady exclaimed, scrambling to my rescue. Or maybe to the man’s rescue. Her concern centered on him and not me.

The man turned and looked at the nun who rushed to his side. “I know, Lady Fern. I am ever faithful to Goddess Atlanta. Worry not. What you surmise cannot occur, and therefore, will not happen.”

Not going to lie, I worried. First day on the job, and I nearly died. And now, I might get the beating of a lifetime. At least now, I probably won’t die. Probably. Good, because I needed to work.

Tightening his grip around my neck, the supposed knight hissed at me with vengeance yet again unknown. “Be there one thing I detest more than the undead, and you, puny creature, reek of them both. Now speak, what are you?”

The annoying guy was full of contradictions, demanding the impossible while suffocating me. My face was likely turning blue as I uselessly smacked his hand to loosen the grip on my neck. Suddenly, I choked as I swallowed down too much air.

With tears in my bloodshot eyes, I felt anger rise to my head, and I reacted irrationally, throwing a punch at the man’s face. “Screw you, dumbass!”

My actions hurt me more than it did him. I hit what felt like a rock.

The man did not budge an inch, but his face blackened with an expression that made me shudder. “You need more training, pathetic young master. Spoiled nobles. Life-sucking parasites of the people and the lands.” Pulling back his arm, he clenched his massive fist before reiterating, “Last chance, vile thing. Speak now, or may Goddess Atlanta hold me back. Lady Fern, prepare a Heal Spell.”

“Damn you, bastard! You didn’t bother listening earlier before trying to kill me, and now you’re going to beat me when I spoke plainly?! Fine! Listen well, dumbass, I’m obviously ALIVE!”

“Because you are an undead!”

“No, I’m not! You should know better than anyone having nearly choked the life out of me! Zombies are not warm blooded, are they?!”

The nun made a face like she made the biggest mistake in her life. And yeah, she kinda did. Kinda. “Are the words of the young man true, Sir Gale? If so, we truly may have made a serious blunder.“

“Well… Yes, Lady Fern, but- No! You saw just as I did, my Lady! We witnessed this spoiled brat die in the infirmary a little under an hour ago! I personally took him here with the other fallen. And for certain fact, I know he died; his face was cold to my fist!”

The room felt more chilly than normal as the nun reprimanded the knight.

“Sir Gale, need I remind you we NEVER desecrate the bodies of those who passed. Never. Even those who wronged you, which this young man did not. Do you understand me?”

“Yes…my Lady…” The knight quietly responded.

Serves him right. How could he hate a person so much to attack them even when dead? What did I ever do to him? Or more correctly, what did Lucian de Volan do to him? From the mission debriefing, the two did not have history or contact before this point.

But the man held grudges. Why me though?

“However, my Lady! That thing now lives! It is unnatural. Unholy! Only the undead come back to life after dying!”

The nun shook her head. “Our Goddess does not think so. You should know firsthand, yes, Sir Gale? When your fatal attack just now was repelled by the oath you undertook? Life cannot be taken by your hands, which were blessed by the Goddess. Or are you now questioning your faith and our Mother who has shown us her benevolence through darkest of times?”

The knight lowered his head, but his eyes full of grievance were still unwilling.

“…”

Ha. That shut him up.

The nun turned to me, and although she said all that stuff to the knight, hints of suspicion still lingered in the words she asked me.

“So what happened, young noble? Life does not return to those who have already died.”

She stated a general fact that was true.

Probing me, is she?

I looked her straight in the face and said, “Words spoken true. However, I never truly died, Sister. If that is what you’re asking.”

The knight, unhappy with my existence, mocked, “Ha! Lies befitting an appalling wretch. You were cold exactly like a corpse. And you shall address an appointed Holy Lady properly, spoiled brat!”

Starting to understand the two’s identities and relationship, I cheekily quipped, “Oh, so you now acknowledge me as a noble, Sir Smartypants? You’ve elevated my status from ‘foul creature’ to ‘vile thing’ to ‘appalling wretch’ and now ‘spoiled brat.’ That’ll do, I suppose.”

The knight gripped my tattered tunic that I now noticed was caked in dried blood, yanking half of me off the ground, ready to swing but abruptly stopped.

“Sir Gale, cease your actions immediately! That is unbecoming of your status and of mine! We are recognized by the Temple as a Holy Lady and Holy Knight. The nobility of the kingdom ridicules our titles, but they will not ridicule our actions as well.”

“I-“ the knight stammered, gritting his teeth before relenting, “Apologies, my Lady.”

With a thud too many already, the hold on my tunic was released and my back once again hit the stone floor.

“Young noble, please explain to us once more. What did you mean by not truly dying?”

I spoke slowly, carefully selecting my words that would dictate my future. My eyes locked firmly with the nun, never giving her any impression that I twisted together truth and lies.

“Hmpf. I did not die, but teetered near death, Sister. Don’t misunderstand. Cold and weakened, the king of the afterlife almost took me. However, I fought, unwilling to go. I survived. I should be resting on a soft bed and recovering. However, someone did not take their work seriously - to stay with me and the others to confirm whether we truly died or not. Instead, I was neglected and furthermore punched in the face only to be left to die. With all the harm done onto my noble body, it is a miracle of the Goddess that I lived.”

Finally, I glanced away, wronged and resentful. “And after all of that, I was vilified as an undead and nearly beheaded in cold blood. Maybe the nobles were right about the ‘Holy’ ones from the various temples.”

The nun swallowed hard at my sharp accusations. Public image was important to politicians and to the religious factions. And I made sure to rub where it hurt.

The nun tried to hide her faltering composure, but her disturbed state of mind showed in her frazzled voice. “Y- Young noble. I- My judgment and actions were wrong, placing you in a precarious situation.”

“My Lady! Don’t apologize to that heathen!”

“Hush, Sir Gale! You must also apologize. When we are wrong, we must admit and amend our mistakes!”

The knight clenched his fist but did not abide. However, he did he refute the nun’s reprimand or my damning words either. Stubborn mule was that man. But I guess he really did punch the dead Lucian in the face. I noted to myself that not all details of the game were given - something worth investigating later.

“Please accept our deepest apologies, young noble. Your poor treatment was a failure on our behalf. Please don’t think unkindly of the Temple of Atlanta. The way we treated you does not represent the Temple.”

I only listened, looking on emotionlessly. And the nun sputtered more and more.

“We are chivalrous, good Noble. I assure you. The Temple of Atlanta charges the least for services. We heal first and get paid later. Many times not getting paid at all. You’ve witnessed our compassion yourself when you were brought in. Remember?”

I snorted, “Words are cheap.”

“Then…?”

“No, my Lady!”

A smile crept up on my face. Curling my thumb and index finger, I made the sign of a circle.

“Money. If you want to ease my terrible experience here and keep my mouth shut, then give me money or something of value. I’ll settle for future favors or-“

Before I could finish two things came into my sight.

The first, a blue screen that I completely forgot about.

***System Notification***

Time left until game logout:

3… 2… 1…

Logging out user: Kian Hue

No! I was about to get some extra cash!

And the second, a massive fist that shot through the air...

“Oh, crap! Wait! Let’s talk this out!”

…and smashed my face, lodging into flesh and bone.

Unbearable pain burned and radiated from a likely shattered nose. For the next few moments, I faded in and out of consciousness until all my senses became distant, slowly taken by darkness.

“Oh my goodness! Sir Gale! What did you do!?”

The last I saw was the damn knight, eyes sharp with disdain before spitting at me.

“Ptooey. Serves the wretched noble spawn right. Heal him, Lady Fern. Greedy bastard is just like the rest of them. But he will get nothing. In fact, the miscreant owes us. I will make sure we are repaid in full with interest. And worry not, my Lady, he will not dare expose us after I am finished with him. One way or another.”