Ravin squinted his eyes as the white light surrounding him faded, and what he saw left him awed.
In front of him, across a lake, stood a massive tower whose top he couldn't see due to the clouds covering it. From the bridge connecting the lake to the tower, all the way to the tower itself, everything was pure white without a speck of dust. Surrounding him was a forest with no end in sight.
He could hear birds chirping strangely and weird animal noises, but nothing compared to the fruits hanging from the countless trees.
He was mesmerized by the various shapes and colors of the fruits, and his entire body was begging him to run over and eat all of them.
He was tempted to follow his urge, but first he decided to do the most important thing.
He decided to check if he had a status.
Raising his hand, saying in a deep voice, "Status."
———
[ Status Window ]
Name: Ravin
Age: 16
Race: Human
Condition: Severely Malnourished, Starving
Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Vitality: 1
Mind: 7
Spirit: 5
Skills:
— Checkpoint
———
"…Yeah, pitiful would be an upgrade at this point," he sighed as he focused on the only skill listed. The panel expanded.
———
[ Skill: Checkpoint
Description:
You who should have died, yet remain.
The universe faltered.
Your existence slipped between its rules, leaving your end incomplete.
When death finds you, it cannot keep you.
When time reaches for you, it cannot claim you.
You who are innocent shall bear the curse of eternity—
paying for a mistake you never made,
living a life that was never meant to end.
Effect:
— Auto-sets a checkpoint once every 72 hours.
— Upon death, return to the exact state of your body at the moment of death, with all harmful statuses removed.
— All beneficial gains, micro-adaptations, and accumulated experience are permanently retained.
— Aging ceases at the peak of your life.]
———
Ravin stared at the skill window, blinked once… twice, and started laughing like a maniac.
Immortal.
Can't age.
Can't die.
Can't stay dead.
Keep everything useful.
"Oh… oh, that's actually kinda sick—cough… cough…" he choked on his words as he continued laughing.
Then he immediately cleared his throat and forced his expression back to neutral, as if he had never laughed like an idiot.
"I mean—yeah, it might be horrible to die, but still, knowing the future would help me not make the same mistakes…"
The more he thought about it, the more excited and happy he became. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He couldn't help it. After everything he went through, after years of waiting for death in a hospital bed… the idea that he couldn't die anymore was… well, fun for now.
He let out a quiet laugh. Not mocking—relieved.
"…I'm alive. Actually alive. And no one can kill me, even if they try. Hah."
He sat down on the soft grass, staring up at the strange trees with a mix of peace and excitement.
"Yeah, okay," he whispered. "I'm just not gonna think about the whole eternity thing. That's a future-me problem. Way, way future. Like… millennia future."
He closed the status window, still smiling like an idiot.
"Thanks, universe," he said, looking up at the sky, which held a faint red tint. "You messed up, but for once it's in my favor. Don't know if I'll regret saying this… but what's the worst that could happen?"
Then, quieter, under his breath:
"…Still hate you for everything else, though."
With that, he stood up, steadied his nerves, and finally decided to fill his starving stomach.
He practically ran toward the nearest tree, plucked a perfectly round red fruit, and took a large bite.
Immediately, his body was miraculously restored to its peak, and something flooded through him. He didn't notice any of it. He was too busy devouring fruit after fruit as his body continued to glow blue.
After finishing every fruit on the tree, he turned his attention to another tree bearing green fruits.
Before he could take a single step—His body exploded into millions of pieces.