I opened my eyes in the ruined remains of my bedroom. The light of the stars was a welcome and peaceful sight after whatever the fuck just happened.

Wait a second... I don't got a skylight.

Peering around the zone of destruction that used to be my room, it was clear that something had attempted to violently dismantle it. What used to be my window was now a huge fucking hole.

Great. Just fucking great.

Every inch of my body felt like I'd tried to lift a house and succeeded, and for a moment I couldn’t even move I was so sore. It felt like my mind was still swimming in whatever abyss I'd been in, like I was trying to move my body without actually being connected. The sky was clearly visible through the massive hole in the side of the house. It was night. Real night, with stars and shit, not goddamn black holes of nothingness.

Not a moment later, a semi-transparent orange rectangle blocked my view of the sky.

Congratulations! You have met the requirements to reveal your Key Ability!

View Ability Checkpoint?

YES

NO

Oh gee, thanks. Great timing.

I managed to raise my shaky finger just enough to tap the Yes button.

Key Ability

Checkpoint [Resurgence]

Allows the user to set a checkpoint at a point in space. After reaching 0 HP, the user will return to the most recent checkpoint. Upon respawning, all stats except endurance will be reset to the last hard checkpoint state.

Soft Checkpoint: A quick and temporary checkpoint.

Can be created an unlimited amount of times and is instantaneous. After respawning, a soft checkpoint is destroyed. Soft checkpoints cannot be created unless a hard checkpoint exists.

Hard Checkpoint: A mostly permanent checkpoint.

A hard checkpoint is automatically created when the user sleeps for over 5 hours, unless the user decides otherwise. There can only be one at a time. The user respawns with extreme fatigue. Can only be destroyed if the user decides to or if the location in space is impossible to respawn in. If the user reaches 0 HP without a hard checkpoint available, they’ll die permanently.

…

This's my key ability? ... Well, at least now it makes sense why it took this long.

A key ability usually allows people to do things they'd never even dreamed of, sometimes stuff that goes beyond science and common sense. And it's not just for players, either. Everyone has a key ability. When you're born, you've got a key, even if you don't know it yet. Keys are hidden until they meet some unknown and usually strange requirement. A lot of people say keys are unique, but there's definitely some overlap between 'em. Common stuff, like minor telekinesis, varies greatly in power and restrictions, so it's only technically unique.

One of my childhood friends, Mira, revealed her ability when she was just a mere three years old. One day, in her infantile wisdom, she decided that it would be fantastic if her room was painted pink. But how, you may ask, is a toddler supposed to achieve such a feat? Well, after much serious deliberation, Mira decided that pink markers were the perfect tool. Much to her parent's chagrin and surprise, she actually managed to pull it off. The walls were perfectly painted a brilliant hot pink, and she even went above and beyond and colored all the furniture. Not a single spot was missed or blemished. And thus, it was revealed that Mira's key allowed her to change the color of objects.

Obviously, some abilities are easier to reveal, while others might just require a bit of luck. In my case, I guess the requirement was dying. What happened to me couldn't be anything but.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

After staring blankly at the orange revelation for a while, I tried to sit up.

Shit, when the skill says “extreme fatigue” it really ain't fuckin' around!

Still, somehow I managed to stand on my own two feet. Looking down, my clothing was basically back to being thread at this point. It looked like the only thing that was recovered was my body.

From the giant, gaping hole in the wall, it looked like one of those... things stepped right through our house. Gingerly leaning against the remaining wall and peering out onto the landscape, I could see giant circular depressions that could only be footsteps littering our fields. The rubble that used to be the barn was right below my new window.

Rest in peace, Stacy, Brenda.

The mind-wrenching pain that I'd experienced only moments ago began to feel like a different life as I started to put myself together. The less I thought of it, the better. I dug through what was left of my closet and put on a relatively intact pair of jeans and a red flannel.

Hobbling to what was left of the stairs, I started to make my way through the ruins of our home. Photos, furniture, walls, anything physical was destroyed. I wanted to lie down beside the caved-in wood that used to be our living room. To wallow in the cold night, forgetting what happened, maybe dream about something nice. Escape.

I had to leave. I didn’t know who else had survived.

Dad...

Trudging through the ruins of the barn for a working vehicle didn't get me anything besides nausea. I'd guess it'd been a decent amount of time since I'd "respawned", as Stacy and Brenda weren't smelling that great. Sorry gals.

One of the cons of living in a small town is that everything's stupidly far apart. Driving is a necessity, and folks 'round here don't have the money to be buying fancy shit like autonomous cars. If I had to guess, I'd say the main stretch of town was around three hours away by foot in my sorry state.

The walk went by quickly, my mind barely holding itself together.

C'mon, keep going. Dad's okay. He's okay.

When I finally arrived in town, I couldn't see a single person. The stores were completely ruined, and crushed pieces of what I can only assume were once people littered the ground. The stench was almost overpowering. I couldn’t help but retch, but there was nothing in my stomach to throw up.

I stumbled my way over the uneven ground and desperately tried to clear away some of the rubble. Out of breath, panting, it made the smell of rot and decay strong enough to knock a dog off a gut wagon. Hiccups raked my throat as my hand grabbed something cold and slimy. From the red sludge poked a tiny white splinter.

I guess I could throw up after all.

Through my blurry vision I spotted some lights in an open field. I told myself I couldn't dig any longer. I was exhausted.

I don' wanna see d-dad like that...

My body somehow managed to right itself after ejecting what little liquid I had left in my stomach. I tried my best not to look like a corpse fresh from the grave as I approached the blindingly bright encampment.

Some of those shitty tents were set up to cover a pitiful folding table with some water bottles on it. A couple of camping chairs, some people I didn't know. The cleanup crew? Unfamiliar and unconcerned voices came to a halt when they saw my figure.

“Goodness me,” exclaimed a plump woman in dirty clothing. “Is that my little Kian?”

I stared at the trampled grass under my feet and nodded. “H- He- Hello, I--”, I started coughing before I could finish. My voice was raspy and dry, like coarse sandpaper.

The woman rushed over and wrapped me up in her arms. “Honey, you look like ten miles of bad road. Lord, how're you standin'? C'mere,” she beckoned to me as she pulled a folding chair out.

The others swarmed to us, staring at me like an animal in a zoo.

“You know 'im Heidi?” came a gruff voice.

“Aye, this is Geon’s son, Kian. I didn’t think… Richardson said you was with your father when it happened…?”

A man handed me a cup of water, which I readily gulped down. I nodded. “I… w-was.”

“You were in that mess and you made it out?” questioned the man who gave me water. “How’d you do it? An ability? None of the Wargs were dea--”

“Aaron, hush! The poor boy’s just gone ta' hell and come back, let him rest!” she exclaimed while stepping in front of me. Mrs. Fields, or Heidi, was one of the school teachers here, she’d taught me from kindergarten until I went to high school.

She shooed off the others and handed me some soup, which I ravenously shoveled into my gullet. I was so desperate to get something in my stomach, I think I might've eaten the north end of a south bound cow.

“Oh honey, I’m so glad you’re alright… almost half the town is destroyed, not to mention the people. Oh, darlin'-- I'm so sorry...!"

I coughed, something caught in my throat. "M-- my dad?"

She wrapped me up in a warm embrace; I felt her nod her head. "He's alive, sweetie. ...A-a bit battered, but still kickin'."

My throat closed up as wells of water started to blur my eyes. Despite my best efforts, water and snot came pouring outta the holes in my face. The poor sleeve of my flannel was quick to try and wipe it all away.

“They said it coulda been much worse, y'know. Somehow most of the town was outta the stampede, thank the lord. Still, I don’t know what little devil convinced that horrid streamer to come here, of all places. I don’t know about all that Cosmo-whatever bull crap, but it’s no good, that much's clear,” she rambled on.

“W-where’s my dad?” I croaked out.

“Oh sweetie, your father’s been lifted to Cornerstone Hospital. I'm sorry, I don’t know anything more than he was injured. Most everyone's over there. I stayed behind, to help... identify people with the c-cleanup… my-- my Darren…” she quickly gasped and looked away.

I nodded solemnly.

“Anyway, I… don’t have anyone to wait for anymore, so at the very least, I thought I’d do what I can to help.” She tightened her arm around my shoulder, and then placed her hands in her lap. “Well, I’ll see if I can borrow a car from one o' the city folk. There's not much I can do round here anyways.”

I watched her stand up as I finished my soup. Her face was smiling, but I could see little wet lines streaking down her cheeks. The others here didn't seem all that interested in me anymore. I didn't know what they were expecting a survivor to be like, but I don't think I was the example they were hoping to see.

Mrs. Fields' hand gently touched my shoulder. “Do you wanna go now, or do you wanna rest for a bit?”

I shook my head. “I’ll go now. Thank you.” I couldn't wait no longer.

She grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze before leading me to a fancy car parked in the dirt. It was a large sedan, looked like it'd pooped straight out of an ad. It'd be mercifully comfortable for the upcoming drive.

“Alright sweetheart, we’ll be driving for 'round an hour, so you just settle in and relax. Oh, well lookie here! This fancy bug's even got warmers for your tush! Here, I’ll turn that on for you. Oh, isn’t that nice. You just settle in and relax now, take a nap, alright? I’ll handle everything else."

Her pitifully perky face faded into darkness as I couldn't keep my eyes open a moment longer. The sharp, cold air was slowly replaced by the soft warmth emanating from the air vents. The aching and tension gradually dissipated as I started to melt into the fuzzy seat covers, giving into the darkness of my unconscious state. Gone again.