You can see the chemistry, right? Though you might wanna move away…soon

My brow furrowed, my heart pounding against my chest.

Fuck you!

Yeah, fuck me later. Escape. NOW.

What?

My eyes shifted toward Aoi-san as I heard her sigh. She rolled her eyes, her grip on the spear tightening till her knuckles turned white.

She glanced toward Arashi and curled her lips till her eyes narrowed into slits. I blinked at her, looking back up at the favorability.

How is it still at 4…? Is this dude blind?

I was pulled from my thoughts as a prickly pressure dug into my neck.

I felt a sharp, searing pain tear through my neck, warm liquid flowing out. Hot blood gushed out, flowing down my chest.

I gasped, unable to breathe as I choked. I turned to Aoi-san, clutching my neck, feeling the slick liquid spill between my fingers, staining them red..

Shit.

Life Threatening Injury!

My eyes widened as I stared at her, my mouth gaping as I tried to scream out my frustration.

The world started to spin as I struggled to move my gaze toward Arashi. He looked down at me with pursed lips, blankly staring at me.

Warning! Warning!

He just looked up at Aoi-san and shook his head. ‘Eh? You weren’t gonna kill him?’ she asked him flatly.

What?! Slit first, ask questions later? Excuse me?!

Danger!

He sighed. ‘...yet. Information.’

‘Oh. We can take his body back…might help.’ she offered as my vision slowly darkened.

A chill spread through my body and the blood flowing down was the only warmth.

Fatal Condition!

‘I suppose…’ he said, his voice fading further away.

Heal-

Fuck yo-

YOU HAVE DIED.

Everything went black.

Pain pierced through my skull as my eyes shot open. I was back in that strange darkness, the words floating above me.

FAILURE

…Dude, it’s been 5 minutes. Are you for real?

How was that my fault?! That damn bitc-

A stabbing pain ripped through my chest, and coldness spread through my paralyzed body as I tried to scream out.

You had been warned.

NO CURSING IN THE SYSTEM ZONE.

Be a good boy now. Okay~

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Ugh, f-...I mean, what now? I’m dead. It’s over. Why am I even still here? Just…go find someone else. You don’t have to rub it in.

Who told you it’s over?

Didn’t you say…Failure means death?

Yes, indeed failure does mean death. But death does not mean failure.

What? I’m dead…what else can I do?

Not very bright are you?

Excuse me?!

Sigh…You will be brought back to life. No death is permanent since your soul still lives on.

The hell does that even mean?

Humans…placing so much importance on the physical body.

What do you-

Anyway…Failure is arriving at the wrong ending.

That again…what is the right one?

Figure it out~

If you do, you live. If not…you die~

What the f-I mean, isn’t that unfair?

No? Is it? Well, probably not ~

Tip: Try talking to the protagonists. If you get an idea of their motives, you can probably figure it out.

Excu-

Good luck! Bye ~

----------------------------------------

I shifted, forcing my heavy eyes open. It felt as if a weight was pressing down on me.

My muscles stretched, sharp pain shooting up the nerves of my numb body.

Everything felt horrible—my body ached, my head pounded, and the cold, damp air filled my lungs, making it hard to breathe.

My chest slowly rose in ragged breaths as I struggled to move my leaden limbs.

I blinked, my vision blurry as I tried to make sense of what was going on.

The ache behind my eyes throbbed with my pulse, nausea rolling through me as the smell of smoke filled my nostrils.

The faint taste of iron on my tongue—blood, or maybe just the memory of it.

Dying sucks.

A crackle filled my ears, cutting through the fog clouding my brain.

I struggled to turn my head to the side to see an orange glow filling the surroundings.

My eyes scanned the place—a wide hollow space with jagged rock littering the ground, protruding from the rough walls.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water steadily dripping down.

Why am I in a cave?

My eyes moved toward the source of the glow to see logs and branches stacked upon each other, flames blazing.

A bonfire and it’s them…

A few feet away, the flickering light cast long, shifting shadows across the stone walls. The air was thick with smoke.

Two figures sat near the fire, their silhouettes blurred by the spreading smoke.

Aoi-san and Arashi.

Aoi-san was crouched low as she prodded at the fire with a stick. She was pouting as she did so, sneaking occasional glances at Arashi.

The firelight flickered across her face, highlighting her furrowed brow.

In front of her Arashi sat cross-legged, arms folded across his chest, his eyes shut.

Should I hate them for killing me or let it go since I’m still here…and they’re just fictional characters.

I shakily tried to sit, pushing myself up, but a wave of dizziness slammed into me.

My arms trembled as I propped myself up on my elbows, and a faint groan escaped my throat.

‘Who’ growled Arashi.

I took a deep breath, weakly turning my head in his direction. His eyes widened, eyebrows raising as I gulped.

They are…aren't they? They’re…just fake.

Sure, if that makes you feel better~ But should it? Because that would mean you’re the loser who got killed by fictional fakes ~

I’ll kill you one day.

You can try ~

Aoi-san followed his line of sight, turning her head in my direction, and froze.

She blinked before jolting as she jumped up, throwing the stick to the side.

She raised her palm as the familiar spear materialized in her hand above the flames. She tightened her grip on the shaft, glaring at me.

‘What are you? Who sent you? Are you a puppet? Necromancer? Immortal? Zombie? Minion?’

She kept dropping question after question, her voice growing louder until Arashi sighed. Her words abruptly came to a stop as she glanced at him.

Arashi stared at me with a raised eyebrow. His arms unfolded, and he straightened, slowly standing up.

His gaze sent a chill down my spine.

‘Speak’.

I managed to sit up with a gasp, panting at the fatigue and nausea. My throat was dry, feeling as if the walls were being scratched. My heart raced, palms sweating.

The fire crackled loudly in the silence, staring at me.

I looked down, mind racing.

What do I do now? He can tell when I’m lying…I’ll probably end up dying again if I do. Should I just tell the truth?

Aoi-san yelled out. ‘He said Speak!’

I flinched, nodding my head as I slowly turned to face Arashi.

Can I?

Sure ~

Finally, I spoke, though my voice came out hoarsely.

‘I…am-was a normal person but someone or something sent me a link, when I clicked it there was a video of you dying.'

What the fuck am I saying?!

'It asked me if I wanted to save you and I said yes. I then found myself transmigrated into a novel I don’t know with you as the main characters and I have to help you reach the ending. Till then I can’t die but if I fail I will.’

I explained in one breath, each word feeling absurd after saying it out loud.

I cautiously glanced at them to see Aoi-san wide-eyed, darting between me and Arashi.

Arashi faced down with closed eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly looked up. His eyelids opened, making contact with my pupils.

He nodded. ‘I see.’

I see?! That’s it?! You crazy fucker…

To be continued...