I woke up to screaming. Not the 'someone burned breakfast' kind of screaming. The 'holy shit, the sky is falling' kind.

My body felt like I'd been thrown off a building and left to marinate in pain overnight. Limbs stiff, head pounding. The worst hangover of my life, except I didn't remember drinking. Last I checked, I fell asleep in my one-bedroom apartment like any other disappointing Wednesday.

Instead, I was on the floor. The carpet beneath me smelled like burnt plastic and copper, and the air carried the distinct metallic tang of blood.

A low, inhuman growl rattled against my skull, too close for comfort.

Adrenaline surged. Danger. Move.

I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. My ribs screamed in protest. My head swam. Something had happened to me. Something bad.

The memories crashed in like a poorly edited jump cut. The midnight storm. The black rift tearing across the sky like reality itself had been unzipped. The unnatural light flooding my room, pulling me out of my body. Falling. Burning.

And then—nothing.

Until now.

I blinked rapidly, forcing my vision to clear. The growling thing was standing by the shattered remains of my front door. It was humanoid, but barely. Six feet of corded muscle wrapped in gray, leathery skin, its mouth split too wide for any natural predator, revealing a row of jagged teeth slick with something I didn't want to think about.

It locked eyes with me, and my brain finally kicked into high gear.

Monster.

Fight-or-flight should have kicked in, but my body felt wrong—sluggish, foreign, like I was still playing catch-up with reality. The creature took a lurching step toward me, drool hanging in thick strands from its broken maw.

I reached for something, anything.

My hand found a chunk of broken furniture, a splintered table leg. Not great, but I'd worked with worse.

The monster lunged.

I rolled to the side just in time, pain flaring up my spine. It crashed into the wall where I had been a second ago, snarling in frustration. Before it could turn, I slammed the table leg into its temple, putting every ounce of my weight behind it.

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The impact cracked like a gunshot. The thing staggered but didn't drop. It turned to look at me, eyes now filled with something far worse than hunger—recognition.

That was when the blue notification flickered into my vision.

SYSTEM INITIALIZED.

Welcome, Survivor. You have been Selected.

Loading Personal Status…

Error: Status Data Missing.

Compensating…

Unique Skill Granted: LAST LIFE

Trait Detected: Persistent Bastard

Respawn Location Set: Home Base (Apartment 404).

I barely had time to process that before the monster tore into me.

Pain exploded through my chest as claws ripped through muscle and bone. My breath hitched. My vision dimmed. Everything tilted as I collapsed backward, blood spraying across the already ruined carpet. My heartbeat staggered. A final, electric jolt of agony lanced through my spine.

And then—

Nothing.

For a moment, I was suspended in darkness, weightless, thoughtless. Cold. Gone.

Then, light.

I sucked in a deep, shuddering breath and bolted upright.

I was back.

Right where I had woken up the first time.

Same carpet. Same apartment. No wounds.

And the monster? Still there, glaring at me in confusion.

I exhaled slowly.

Respawn.

I just died and came back like a video game character.

A grin crept across my face as realization hit. Oh, this just got interesting.

The monster charged again. This time, I was ready.

I ducked under its swing, snatched up the table leg, and smashed it across its jaw. No hesitation. No fear. I wasn't holding back this time.

It staggered, dazed.

I hit it again.

CRITICAL HIT! +20 XP.

A sharp, satisfying crunch rang out as the creature's skull collapsed inward like a rotten melon under a sledgehammer. It collapsed in a twitching heap.

+50 XP. First Kill Bonus.

Level Up! Strength +2, Agility +1.

I let out a breath. The air crackled around me. My body felt different. Better. Stronger.

I looked down at my hands, flexing them. The dull ache in my limbs was already gone. My breathing was easier. Faster. Like my entire body had been supercharged.

I hadn't just respawned. I had leveled up.

I turned to look at the dead monster. Its corpse was already melting, dissolving into a puddle of black sludge. The last vestiges of reality as I knew it were crumbling. Whatever this was, it wasn't just my problem. The world had changed.

I stood up, rolling my shoulders, adrenaline still singing through my veins.

Then I heard another scream—this one coming from outside.

I grabbed the closest weapon I could find—a steel baseball bat lying half-buried under my wrecked coffee table—and cracked my neck.

Time to see what the hell had happened to my city.

And if it was as bad as I thought? Well.

I had infinite tries.

Let's go.