(The Day I Died Was Honestly Mid)
I died on a Tuesday.
Not dramatically.
No truck-kun. No lightning. No god with a beard.
I slipped on a wet stair in my apartment building while carrying instant noodles and hit my head so hard my last thought was:
Man… I didn't even add the seasoning yet.
Then darkness.
Then—
"—Summoning successful!"
I opened my eyes.
First impression: ceiling too high.
Second impression: chanting cultists.
Third impression: Okay, yeah, I'm definitely dead.
I sat up so fast my neck cracked.
"Whoa—HEY—why are there candles?!" I yelled.
Around me stood robed figures in a glowing magic circle. The floor was carved with symbols that screamed fantasy budget. Blue light pulsed under my palms.
A man with a ridiculous hat pointed at me.
"O Chosen One! Hero from another world! Please save our kingdom!"
I blinked.
"…You got the wrong guy."
Silence.
The hat guy frowned. "Impossible. The spell is absolute."
"I was literally eating noodles five minutes ago."
Gasps rippled through the room.
I rubbed my face. Still had skin. Still breathing. No halo. No wings.
Great.
Isekai.
"Okay," I sighed. "Before we continue—status window?"
Nothing happened.
"…System?"
Still nothing.
I looked back up. "See? Budget hero. No interface."
The robed people panicked.
"This has never happened!"
"Is he defective?!"
"Should we summon another?!"
"HEY," I snapped. "I'm right here."
That's when she spoke.
"Please don't."
Everyone froze.
A girl stepped forward from behind the mages. She wore a simple blue dress, silver hair tied loosely, eyes calm in a way that didn't fit the chaos.
She looked straight at me.
And smiled.
"…Jj," she said softly.
My blood went cold.
I had not told anyone my name.
"Who are you?" I asked.
She tilted her head. "Normilyn."
Then she leaned closer and whispered, just for me:
"You finally made it. You're three minutes late this time."
This time?
Before I could respond, the magic circle exploded outward.
Alarms. Screams. The room shook.
And Normilyn grabbed my hand.
"Run," she said, laughing.
"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" I yelled as we sprinted through collapsing corridors.
"Because," she replied, eyes sparkling,
"this version of you survives past Chapter One."
(Apparently I'm Not the First Jj)
We ran.
Not the heroic kind of running where music swells and capes flap.
This was the oh-god-the-castle-is-exploding-and-I'm-in-slippers kind of running.
"LEFT!" Normilyn shouted.
"I DON'T KNOW THIS PLACE!" I yelled back.
"Exactly why you should listen!"
We skidded around a corner as a fireball obliterated the hallway behind us. Heat blasted my back.
I tripped.
Of course I did.
I braced for pain—but didn't hit the floor.
Normilyn had stopped, holding my wrist with impossible strength for someone who looked like she still got asked for ID at taverns.
"Don't die here," she said calmly.
"EXCUSE ME?"
She yanked me up, and we kept running.
We burst through a door and tumbled into open air.
I screamed.
Then—thud.
Grass.
Soft. Green. Very alive.
I lay there gasping, staring at the sky.
Two suns.
"…Okay," I wheezed. "That confirms it."
Normilyn collapsed beside me, laughing like she'd just watched her favorite comedy.
I sat up. "You. Blue dress. Future stalker energy. Explain. Now."
She wiped her eyes. "You're alive longer than expected."
"That is NOT an explanation!"
She studied me—really studied me—like she was checking if something was broken.
"Huh," she murmured. "You still joke at this point."
"AT THIS POINT?"
I grabbed her shoulders. "You said my name. You said 'this time.' And you ran like you've done this before. Start talking."
She didn't pull away.
Instead, she said softly:
"You're the seventh Jj."
My brain shut down.
"…The what."
She smiled apologetically. "Seventh version. Same face. Same name. Same world.
Slightly different personality each time."
I laughed.
I couldn't help it.
"Haha—okay—wow—great prank—where's the camera?"
Normilyn's eyes darkened.
"The first one died screaming."
My laughter died with him.
I swallowed. "Explain. Slowly. With less murder."
She sat cross-legged on the grass. "This world summons a hero every time it's close to collapse. Always you. Always twenty years old. Always from another world."
"Why me?!"
She tilted her head. "We don't know. But you always arrive with potential."
"Do I get powers?"
She hesitated.
"…Eventually."
I groaned. "Of course."
I looked at my hands. Same hands. No glowing. No sword. No system.
"So what happens to the other six?"
Normilyn hugged her knees.
"They die."
Silence stretched between us.
Wind passed through golden trees.
Somewhere distant, something roared.
I forced a breath. "And you? You just… watch?"
She looked at me then—really looked—and for the first time her smile cracked.
"No," she said quietly. "I fall in love."
My chest tightened.
"With each one?" I asked.
"Yes."
"That's messed up."
"I know."
She met my eyes. "But this time is different."
I snorted weakly. "You say that every loop, don't you?"
She smiled.
"…No. This is the first time you grabbed me and demanded answers."
I froze.
She leaned closer, voice low.
"And it's the first time you survived the summoning hall."
A distant horn echoed from the castle.
Normilyn stood, offering her hand.
"They'll be hunting you now."
"Great," I said. "Do I at least get a weapon?"
She placed something cold in my palm.
A dagger.
Black metal. Etched with symbols that pulsed faintly.
"You didn't have this before," she said.
I stared at it.
"…Why do I feel like this thing recognizes me?"
Normilyn smiled—wide, dangerous, affectionate.
"Because," she said,
"you were the one who forged it."