[ GAME OVER! YOU DIED ]

[ NEW HIGH SCORE ACHIEVED: 7000pts

POINT BREAKDOWN:

Hard Mode Activated, Point gain x2

Positive Karmic Merit: 70 (2800pts)

Unfilial (-500pts)

Years survived: 15 (300pts)

Friends: 1 (200pts)

People in love with you: 1 (700pts)

Misc: 35 (3500pts) ]

[ CONTINUE Y/N? ]

What met Kaley as he regained consciousness, was these weird boxes. Besides that, there wasn't really anything else there. Nothing but a vast, black void, stretching as far as he could see.

It enveloped him on all sides, giving him a warm feeling akin to being cradled in his mother's arms.

Feeling nostalgically comfortable, he just closed his eyes and drifted for a while.

An undetermined amount of time later, Kaley's eyes refocused and took in the boxes in front of him.

Previously he hadn't really registered the messages in the box, preferring to just bask in this feeling.

Pointedly ignoring the message about his score, as he was in no way interested how poorly he'd lived, he checked out the last box.

"A game?" Kaley tilted his head as he studied it.

"What happens if I click 'N', will I just disappear, completely erased from existence?"

Rubbing his chin, he contemplated his choice. There wasn't really much to consider though. With frequent beatings from his deadbeat father, bullying throughout his school years, and overall general misery, his life had really been less than stellar.

People also tended to shy away from him. It was like he had some incurable disease. Well, the shying away part was fine. He didn't really like to interact with others.

He also quite liked this void, it was.. nice.

"I've pretty much had it with this whole existing thing anyway. No need to go for round two."

And with those words, he pressed 'N'.

He thought something would happen at that, but all it did was remove the box.

Looking down on himself, he found that his body was in fact still there, fully solid, albeit still naked.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

With a sigh, Kaley closed his eyes and continued to drift in the void, cradled in its embrace.

Time was hard to tell in this place. You didn't feel hunger or fatigue, only a deepening calm.

But after what Kaley thought was close to a week, a new box appeared with its trademark 'ding', prompting him to open his eyes.

[ CONTINUE Y/N? ]

Perplexed at why this would pop up again, Kaley just stared at it. Despite his inability to actually do anything here, he was quite content with just drifting along.

So again, his slightly transparent finger went up to the 'N', clicking it.

"Wait, transparent?! When did this happen?" Kaley exclaimed as he started to panic.

Flailing his arms around and hurling curses at this insidious game, Kaley was interrupted by another 'ding'.

[ Soul Erosion Engaged... STANDBY ]

"W-what? That d-doesn't sound like a good thing." Now slightly nervous, Kaley eyed the ominous message, followed by another 'ding'.

[ COMMENCING IN... 3 ]

"W-wait a minute! Stop, stop, stop!"

His cries fell on deaf ears as the system counted down, eyes watching in rapt horror as it did.

[ 2... ]

"I was wrong, okay. I want to live now!" He cried, regretting his choice. This was definitely not gonna be a pleasant experience.

[ 1... ]

Resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

"Maybe it won't be painful. Maybe it will just be an intensified feeling of before."

Hopeful of his own speculation, the system counted down.

[ 0... COMMENCING ]

Expecting something on the scale of a hellish fire melting his body or a black hole swallowing him, the truth was far more horrendous.

Where there previously was nothing at all, there was now what appeared to be a cloud of white specks surrounding him. A closer look showed him their true visage, tiny insect-like creatures, straight out of a nightmare.

The cloud closed on him, gathering around his legs. He futilely tried kicking them away, legs passing through them like smoke. The creatures settled down and starting crawling over his legs, creating an immensely itchy feeling. It was like ants crawling inside and all over your skin. The creatures all paused, akin to the calm before the storm.

"Please, god, not like this. Not like this!"

Fervently praying, he wished for all of this to be nothing but a really f #ked up nightmare. It wouldn't be the first time.

Then, as the creatures started their feast, Kaley learned what real pain was.

Compared to what he was feeling now, the emotional scars of being abandoned and scorned was akin to paper cuts.

No, this was a pain in his very soul. The creatures ripped his soul into smaller, more manageable bite-size pieces, not minding the suffering human.

Soul-piercing screams broke out of his lungs, as Kaley writhed, desperately swatting at his legs.

His nerves a veritable sea of molten fire, he could still make out the crunching sound of bones snapping. Accompanying that, was the sound of ripping flesh, along with his screams, it created a horrific symphony of agony.

A lull in the storm of agony arrived, as the creatures took pause.

Through the mind-numbing pain, Kaley looked down on himself, getting a front-seat look on the horrific play.

The view was something straight out of a horror movie, a pit-filled landscape of bone, muscle, and blood. The skin on his legs completely gone, exposing the red muscle and white bones underneath. Blood dripped in an unending stream into the black void.

He fervently prayed to any and all gods out there, that it was over, knowing full well that it was unlikely. Then the agony returned, doubling its fervor. Thoughts made impossible, Kaley just flailed, screaming his throat hoarse.

After what could have been an eternity, the pain stopped, the creatures taking flight. Disappearing into the void, all that was left behind was a ragged soul with nothing but a head, torso, and arms.

Blank eyes staring into what he perceived as 'up', Kaley just laid there, twitching. The pain long since too much for him to process, yet still making him unable to pass out.

An immeasurable feeling of rage started building inside him, as he heard that hateful sound of the system.

'ding'

[ Round 1/3 of [Soul_Erosion] has been completed... CONTINUE Y/N? ]