The sky split with a deafening crack as darkness bled across the battlefield. With a lazy snap of its fingers, the abomination in human skin raised the dead.
Dozens of hands clawed out of the blood-soaked earth and mud. Faces Zack knew too well. Classmates, friends and people he despised. A girl with red hair and a crooked smile, who once clung to his back, approached.
"M-Momo...?"
She responded by opening her cracked jaw. The bones unhinged as black flames gathered rapidly, before her cheeks swelled, and it burst from her throat. The fire swallowed Zack whole, and just like that... His fifth life ended.
Crack!
The irritating sound of something shattering dragged his ass back to reality, back in the same classroom as if nothing had happened. It was the sixth time. And nothing had changed because he couldn't summon a Soul Crystal.
He swore Momo wouldn't die this time. To change anything, he needed a skilled partner. So he focused on someone he knew well. Kozuki Yukino, his teammate from the kendo club, and his first love.
A familiar scream tore apart the room.
Momo's chair tipped. Her face hurtled towards the stone table.
"Ugh..."
The image of watching her fall stabbed through his chest.
He moved before thinking. Magic or not, he could still run and at least try.
"Hold on!"
Zack dashed towards her, throwing himself forward. He wrapped his arms around her waist and braced for impact using his back. They slammed into the ground, making him breathless.
"Z-Zack…?" she whispered in a daze.
Panting from the sudden rush, he closed his eyes, listening. The students reacted the same, shouting and crowding closer, but Zack ignored them. For the first time in six lives, he stopped Momo's fall.
'Maybe this time...'
The days passed, and he moved differently. He paired with Yukino, fighting against goblins and mangy wolves in the first wave. Even without a Soul Crystal and mana, he helped her grow stronger.
On Day 8, the tutorial changed completely. A boss monster spawned in the halls much earlier than normal and caused chaos. Its presence empowered the goblin and hobgoblin warriors who attacked from the darkness, smashing through the wooden barricades.
The panicked shouts of students lost in fear echoed as their reckless actions brought the battle to impossible chaos. The goblins poured into the camp and tore through the final defence... a barrier cast by the blonde priestess.
"Everyone, fall back... I will hold them."
Despite her bravado. Yukino's left arm dangled beside her, lacking power and dripping with blood. She held her trembling katana low in one hand in desperation.
Zack continued to fight with bruised hands and heavy legs. 'No Soul Crystal. No mana, just a human with a blade.' He swung anyway, cutting down a goblin from behind.
"Zack look out!"
A jagged blade ripped through his lungs and chest with ease.
His mind went blank from the searing pain.
'No... not again...'
Darkness flooded his vision. The last thing he saw was Yukino's hopeless face covered in tears as the tide swallowed her.
'Even when I change everything, I still die.'
He floated in the formless dark...
Then the sound of shattering glass chimed once again.
'Please... Just let me die.'
***
The same sound chimed for the seventh time as Zack opened his eyes, covered in sweat and pushing himself from his seat.
He didn't hesitate or think, and just like before, he caught Momo.
"Kyaa!"
He hugged her tightly from behind, the warmth of her body a reminder he was alive. 'She's so soft...' Yet, strangely, he found himself with more leeway.
"Z-Zack?"
She turned around, looking at him with a pale face. The fall probably scared her witless, but that wasn't something he cared about. 'I've tried my best, why do I keep returning to this point?' Lost in thought, his hands drifted while holding Momo close.
"Hnnngh... w-what are you doing?!"
"Huh, what's wrong?"
Zack snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the bright red Momo in his arms. Although a little shy and introverted, her large breasts gained Momo a lot of attention.
Squish~
Zack clenched his fist, enjoying a soft, squishy mass in his palm. 'Oh... damn.'
"H-Hey, what's that guy doing?"
Before she cried or made a sound, he pushed Momo away and pulled back. Soon, everyone would forget about him fondling her.
'Keep calm, although I' upset if I die...' The moment his mind went in that direction, a raging inferno of emotions burst from his chest. 'If I die?' These words triggered his anger, rage and frustration... jumbled in a swirl of irritation growing in his stomach.
He knelt with one knee on the floor, both hands clenched tight enough to draw blood, and yet only a sharp pain spread from his fingertips.
Momo's footsteps came closer, her face a little pale. She lowered herself to his height and brushed her hair back. Then, while smiling awkwardly, she comforted him. "Uh... Zack, since you helped me, don't worry. I know you're not like that."
'How can you be so naive?'
To stop himself, he sank his teeth into his lip.
'I let you die... repeatedly and abandoned you to survive.'
Her awkward smile couldn't affect her charming sex appeal.
"Momo, come here. It's not safe, his dirty hands might defile you further." One of Momo's friends called out while joking around.
'It almost feels...'
His thoughts almost dared to speak of the faint hope that lingered inside his heart. Maybe this time, there would be no monsters, no fighting or failure.
But that's exactly what it was.
A Dream.
[Welcome to the Tutorial]
[Task One • Survive 30 days]
[Reward: ???]
Familiar blue screens opened up in front of each student, filled with their names and various strange terms that you could only find in a game.
"It's happening again... well, I should make a plan since I won't have one."
Zack stroked Momo's cheek before standing up and returning to his desk. One last action from his lingering affection for her.
'Since I can't even save myself, how can I be arrogant and try to save others.'
He looked back at Yukino, then Momo, and finally the blonde priestess whose name became vague after six deaths. No, it would be more accurate to say that most of the people here felt distant.
Like characters from a game.
'How can I become stronger?'
With each step away from her, he contemplated how and what he could do. That's when his body froze like a statue at the sight of something that shouldn't have happened. 'How can this be... this has never happened before!'
"Is this a joke?"
[Welcome to the battlefield of death, detected severe damage to your soul...]
As the classroom filled with the usual sounds of people shocked, delighted and confused, Zack couldn't help but cover his mouth, trying to avoid people seeing his twisted and deformed smile at the neon blue screen before him.
[Error — Soul Crystal Shattered!]
"Of course," His shoulders dropped, and he lost all sense of hope completely. "What did I expect?'
[Attempting to salvage Soul Crystal...]
[Success!]
'Wait... what?'
His heart almost exploded as the notice echoed in his mind. An earnest desire he'd just given up on immediately revived itself like a zombie.
[Soul Crystal Awakened]
It was the first time that Zack had ever seen those words, words he'd begged, pleaded and hoped for from his second life. Countless emotions swirled inside his chest, causing an ache like heartburn and trapped wind.
[Suitable Trait found... activating system]
The sudden pain forced Zack to close his eyes tight.
He clenched his fist to endure the violent urge growing within. A darkness that clawed at his innards, different from being gutted, burned or crushed. This exhilarating pain gathered in his chest... cool, refreshing and hot as something hard formed inside him.
'What the...'
"Hrrk..."
[Converting heart into mana organ... Creating Mana Core]
A swirl of something throbbed inside his chest, a hard sensation that felt strange each time his heart pulsed, and yet, he became less aware of it after each heartbeat.
[Success!]
Then he opened his eyes.
"Eh?"
'Was the world always this beautiful?'
Chromatic colours glistened in his sight, red, blue, green, and gold.
All the colours he knew formed a strange wispy mist that flowed through the air. It danced around before each colour entered a different classmate.
'What is this?'
Zack looked at his palms before noticing that the blue screen that hovered in front of everyone became more detailed than before and turned ruby red.
[The Apex System Activated]
[Host: Zack Wolf]
[Detected Unspent Bonus Attribute Points — Distribute points?]
[Y / N]
"Hahahaha... is this why I suffered?" Zack muttered to himself while fighting back the tears that welled in his eyes. Regret, anguish, and loss overwhelmed him the moment he found some sort of crutch.
"Apex, huh?" His sharp eyes locked on the blood-red screen. "Then I'll climb and crush whoever made me suffer this hell... and make them beg for death."