Novels2Search
System Crash: Awakenings
Chapter 2: I'm awake... again.

Chapter 2: I'm awake... again.

Name: Not set

Species: Human

Class: Caster

Level: 0

Location: E̸̢̪͓̫͚͓̤̘̗̫̳̞̅͋ͅr̷̦͕̤̯̠̩̝̟̖͔͙͖̬̀̉͗͂̈͆̌͐̈́́̓͝͠r̴͈̹͙͚͑͑ö̶̲͉̳̩̯́̊̂͠r̷̢̢̛̖͈͚͙͈̻̤̯̬̞̦̹̬̈́̅̂ ̴̭̰͔̺͚̤̯̠̼̠̻͝ͅP̸̨̺̠̱̗̗͙͎̦̱͚̖̦̭̙̒͒̍͠ḽ̷̤̟̘͖͍̺̝͂̐͒̎͆͂̃̋̽̔͒̋ẽ̸͙͕̬͇͍̐̊͌̃á̶̡̡̱̤͓͙͖̖̹͕͙̞̳̜́͌̿͌͐̍͜͝s̶̛͓̦̯̝̱̺͇̈́̉́͊̌̓͗͝ė̵̢̼͙͚̞͎͍͚͎̟̘̤̜̱͉̓̈̂̏͛̒̎͊͂̚̕͝͝ ̷͈̰̞͙̉̈̕͘̕ḧ̵̨̪̙̤̫͎͖̳̗́̊̈́͊̍͊̐̆́͝ȩ̷̛̬̰͚͕̰̌̋̂͂̉́̉̇͛̈́͂͠l̶̤̀͒̍͊̒̔̕͝p̷̛̯̞͓̱̺̜̞͈͕̒͂͒͒͑̍́͂̀̚͝ͅ ̴̨͇̦̠̪̙͚̮̠̦̟̱̣̥͆͛͛͜m̵̡̨̟̥̳͔̫̺̩͔̑̅̔͊̇e̸͎̙̭̹̣̪͙͉͉̔̄̆͜͜

When I opened my eyes this time, the first thing I saw was her. Second thing I saw was the text in a curious box. I ignored that for the moment as I reached up to place a hand on her cheek... or would... but I quickly discovered that I was restrained.

Panic quickly overtook me as I realized the situation, and it looked like a nightmare out of a game of Call of Chthulu, complete with candles, robed cultists and sacrificial altar.

One guess where me and her were in all of this.

Words were spoken in a language I didn't understand as a prominent figure stood over her with a raised dagger and my heart dropped.

No... no no no. I screamed past the gag in my mouth and struggled against the bonds holding me down, overcome by fear and instant rage as I saw what was about to happen.

Spell "Unbound Movement" Aquired

Spell: Unbound Movement cast.

Suddenly I threw myself on top of her. She may be bigger than me by half again, but I wasn't a small guy myself... besides...

Occult Sacrifice inflicted.

Status Effect: Death.

The last thing I saw was her eyes looking up at me, before everything went dark.

F̵̫̳̀a̴̧̠͈̹͈͕̺͓̣̫̥̖͌̌̏͐̀͜͠ͅt̸̬͖̮̝̾̌͛͗͑̆̂̃̽̈́̊̾͊̽̅a̷͖̱̟̖̗̎̀̅̏̋͌̌͘͝͝͝l̷̟̫̚ ̸̧̱̳͖̝̣͔̂͆̌̽̏̃̽͝͝ȩ̵̢̬̙̰̥͂͐͐̑͝r̸̢͓̻̰͍͗̿̑̒̃͂͛͜ͅŗ̴̮͍̻͂ȍ̴̘̬̤̳̺͍̟̮͕̼͉̄̇̐͐͐͆̊͐̈̈̚͝ř̸̢̢͚̱̪͍̞̲̜̬̭͕̽̊̏́͐̒̊̈̽̔̕͜͠ͅͅ ̶̠͌͛̉̎͑̽͂͐́͠͝͠d̸̢̢̨̢̟̳͎͍̤̹͖̦͑̈͆͌́̈́̈̉͋͗̈́͐è̸̡̥̗̱̼̭̠̖͉̭̺̫̥̣̲̂̏͒̇̍͒͠ţ̶̧̰̦͙͍̬̓̽̎͗̈̎̓̾́̊͛͐̾̆̀͜͜ȩ̴̻͚͕̭̹̮̺͙͗̏̇̇͆̈͒̎̎̏̇͑͂͒̕ć̸͓̙̞̺̘͇̪͛̊͌͐̈́̄̍̇̀̋̿̚ͅt̸̺͉̲̮̙̹̦̔́̌̿̑̊̄̊͂̀̅ẻ̸̹̼̥̥̗̜͙͙̘͕͙́̄̿̍̇̇͒̿̕͜͠͠ḑ̵̛̝͔̟̙̗̌̈́̃̇͗̾̋͌́͝͠͠͝.̴̡̘̯̗̬̤͖̲̔̀́́͛̓͝ ̴̝̲̼͕̅͊͋͝͝N̶̪̰͓̗͓̞̣̫̗͉̯̲̫̾̊̂̿̽̐́̔̄͜ǫ̵̧̛̱̜̦̻̙̹̫̝͔̌͆̇̌̈̿̀͆̓̇,̷̨̧̳̫̞̼͔̮̦͑̐́̈́̃̆́̅͜ ̷̛̘͓̈́͐́̽̓̈́̅̒̈̅̔͛̀y̸̨̳̘̖̯̜̞̮͌̒̓́͐̉̕͜ͅǫ̸͔̺͓̭̈́͌̏̈́̿̄͘͜u̵̬̫̟̬͕̣̣̫͇̓̔̾͐͑͂́̎͘͜͠ͅ ̴̧̟̹̣̮̫̰̭̗̖̙̗̈̎͆̑̂̃̍̕͜ͅc̶̨̡̰̯̳̰̜̤̰̱̭͓̍̎̑͛̾̈́̏̓̍̓ͅą̴͙̹̍̎̍̀̄̉̇͠͝n̸͔͔͓͓̰̝̯̋̓̀ͅn̷̗̱̙̪̩̞̬͓̅̔͋̀̈ở̷͍̜͖͖̝͘͜͝t̵͇̘̩͙͎̰̹̮̥̳͕̱̞̭̱̒̈́̋̔̋͐̐̾̋́̚̚͝͝ ̴̮͍͎̪̥̼̮́̇́̈́̋̊͒́̌͘͝d̴̨͍̱̺̃͜i̴̖̭̦͌̒̏̈́̈́̈́̊̕̕͘͝e̵̛̛͓͖͕̣̦̾̊̾̊̓̆̾͝.̴̧͓̹͈̠̪̰̗̃̈́̓̌͜͜ ̷̢̬͈̻̱̻͚̝̥̤͎̣̺̪͛̇́͂͛̉͜͝Ī̸̡̪͉͍̤̤̗ ̷̧̦̘͇͙̥͓͈̦͙͓͎̘̽͌̐̅͑͆͠͝w̵̙͖̮͂͌͌̔͛̆̅̈́̓͝o̷̺̩̻͎͎͐̾̈́͑̍͛̐̈n̴̹̤̯̅̽͐̒̏͒̇̀'̷̧̛̞̙̜̹̯̘̣͙̹͕̮͊̑͂̈́́̅̍̊͌̈́̂̈́̊̚t̷̨̨̮̤̯͖͕̯̭̱̪̹̱̭̆̐̎̚͝ ̵̨̘̺̼̫͙̘̤̲̬͚̲̝͈̿̏̏̂͂͑̉͗̍̎͝͠l̴̲̺̝͔̥͉̭̜̀̐e̸̗̪͈̞̪̬͗̆̒̐́̆̕ͅt̴̨̤̯̫͍̦̰̯̗̞͈̝̊́̀͛̈́͂̚͝ͅ ̶̬̘̘̣̺͓̈́̐̿̿͊̉͑́̒̕̚͝ý̴̢̳͕̭̱͈̠͊̀ō̸̗̩͌͘ü̶̖̣̇͊̅̄̓́͒́̕͘͠͝.̸̧͈̘͇̯̹̥̗͓̮̙͆͒̎̎̒̊̌ ̵̤̗̤̰̗̭͙̖̥̰͔͕̟̕͝ͅI̷̢̛͈͚͇͕̒̍͑̂͒͝ ̵̹͖̳̰͕̮͈̱͇͔̘̹̻̙̽̈́̓̀̆̑̕̕n̸̮̹̍̅̆̓̅͌͗̍̿e̸̢̫͎̱̣̺͖̭̖͇̳͓͙͓͊͌͐̒̓̇̎͒̀̓͌̏̉͜͠e̴͔͐̓́̈̊̏̉̂̿͘ͅd̶̡̺͍͖̪̬͐̔̐̃̆͊̓͂̐͘͘͝͝ ̶̳̐̓̑̑̐͊̃̾͌͆̓͊̐͋y̷̢̭̾̓͂̌͊͆͐̅̆͑́̈́̚ͅo̸̠̯̤̜̜̺̳̭͎̩͇̪͈͕͒u̴͈̰̹̍̿̚.̵͈̞̉́̔͌

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Reinitializing.

Lifetime counter: Error.

System error detected. Tutorial incomplete. Life termination impossible.

Life termination confirmed.

Tutorial completion: False.

Critical error detected.

Error logs sent to Admin.

...

Average wait time for ticket resolution: 9999 years.

In this place of nothing I saw a little ball of light appear before me.

"Oh, hello there! It seems you died! That wasn't supposed to happen! We are so sorry for this terrible inconvenience! You were supposed to be able to finish the tutorial before you were even ABLE to encounter anything life threatening!"

This little... fairy? Pixie? Thing... reminded me immediately of a certain incredibly annoying paperclip... then again, if it ever started shouting 'Hey listen!' I might just try and kill myself... uhm... again.

The little ball of light seemed to twirl happily in the air, "I am the System Interface Assistant!" The ball said in a very corporate enforced robotic cheerfulness. Like an underpaid secretary who had to record a friendly message at the end of their shift.

Even felt like listening to a recording.

"Since your death was due to a System Error and not any direct consequence of in world phenomena... the System is going to give you a second chance. The system is all about fairness, and this wasn't fair at all!" The sprite said.

"So you are being given two choices. First, you can go the way of all life in the system and reincarnate. New life. Fresh start. No memories." It said and shrugged. "Everyone gets that option, and it is usually the only option, however you get a special option." It said with a bounce of pre-programmed joyfullness.

"Your second option, which is the recommended one, is to take a 'Chosen One Rebirth'." It said as it brought up a window in front of me to show math and numbers I didn't care about.

"This choice will let you be reborn WITH your memories in a new world, as well as having a terrific headstart on life. Downside is that this will take time while the system allocates the resources needed for your Rebirth. It might take years, but you will sleep for that so no worry!"

My heart sank as realized both those choices... she was lost to me. I would never see her again.

"Is there any way you can send me back to where I was?" I asked, feeling like my heart was going to shatter as I held on to one thread of hope.

The pixie twirled slowly in the air and I got the feeling that it hadn't expected this answer, "One moment please. Processing." This was the first time it had said anything that seemed like an actual response to me. The voice flat and emotionless.

"Response pending."

I waited for what felt like forever before it spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, I will need to send this request to my superiors for a viable solution to your request. I am not capable of handling this process." It said in the same vacant way.

After some more time passed it spoke again, "Solution discovered. Third option presented." The flat tone spoke before the Sprite became happily animated again.

"Option three! This is not recommended, you might call this the 'Hard-core mode." It said as a red screen showed in front of me.

"Life expectancy low, the System can Rebirth you with intact memories, but if you wanted to be reborn as soon as you can, there just aren't enough available resources to give you anything more than the most basic avatar." It said, "If you take this option the System can provide a reward at a later date, assuming you survive... however you run the risk of permanent deletion." The Pixie said with a cheer.

Why the fuck did it sound so happy about that? Probably happy is the default emotion.

I needed to find her. She needs me. She is my heart. The world isn't worth it without her.

I took a deep breath and felt... filled with determination.

"Put me back... now." The cold chill in my own voice seemed to echo around this nothingness enough that even the Picmxie seemed to be pushed back a little bit.

"Alright, can do! Just to let you know, even this option might have some time pass, but you will be back anywhere between moments and a few days of your death. Good luck!"

The little pixie darted at me and the nothing overcame me before I got the vague feeling of vertigo before I just was entirely covered in a fuzzy static feeling across my entire body.

Before I could say anything else I was waking up.

Again. Goddammit this was getting old.