I blinked… once, then again.
"H–… Huh?"
Air rushed into my chest all at once, and I gasped hard as I opened my eyes.
I'm… alive?
But the memories of the monster killing me hadn't disappeared. They were still stuck in my head with painful clarity, until I could no longer bear them. I bent over unconsciously and vomited, while my heart trembled violently, as if my body itself rejected those memories.
I began to feel my body frantically. I ran my hand over my chest, then my shoulders, then my arms, then my neck… searching for any wound.
But there was nothing.
As if everything I went through had never been real.
My head was spinning violently; I felt like I was about to explode. I grabbed my head with both hands, clenched my hair, and pressed hard against my temples in madness.
"Wake up… wake up… wake up!"
I screamed it over and over in a hoarse, desperate voice, striking my face with my fists without awareness. The blows were random and harsh, one after another, until I tasted blood in my mouth. But I didn't wake up, no matter what I did…
I finally stopped.
I lowered my hands slowly as I panted, looked at my blood‑stained palms, then at the ground beneath me, before lifting my gaze again to the same gray sky.
And in that moment… realization slowly crept into me.
A possibility I tried to push away the instant it appeared, as if merely thinking about it might make it real.
Did I…
Did I move to another world?
A ridiculous idea… or so I wanted to believe. An idea that belongs only to games, novels, and comics, where the hero dies and then wakes up in a strange place to begin a "new adventure."
But if this is another world…
Doesn't that mean I died when that monster killed me?
And if I died…
How did I return to life?
The thought was confusing, heavy, colliding inside my head, until another idea crossed my mind—one far more dangerous:
Is it possible that I possess an ability that allows me to return from death?
My heart began to race.
I felt a faint excitement, despite myself. How could I not?
Returning from death… an idea powerful enough to shake anyone…
But my breathing suddenly stopped.
An ability… to return from death?
I felt my mind slam its doors shut all at once, refusing even to discuss it.
Such an idea couldn't be accepted without everything I believe in collapsing—everything I've built throughout my life… even if it was a simple life, without great meaning.
I am not special. I never was… I don't believe in miracles, nor chosen fates, nor heroes who are granted supernatural powers just because they are "different." I wasn't someone who stood out, nor someone events should revolve around. I was an ordinary person… ordinary to the point of boredom. I wake up, work, return, sleep.
I was lost in my thoughts for a long time before a sound coming from ahead reached my ears.
It was faint at first, barely noticeable, but clear enough to silence my thoughts instantly.
A sharp shiver ran through my body… and before I could fully process it, I saw it in the distance.
The monster.
It was approaching me slowly…
The moment my eyes fell on it, I ran, without a single further thought.
"Haaf… haaf…"
I ran for a short time, but exhaustion hit me with unnatural speed, and my vision began to waver.
Don't stop…
Don't stop…
Don't stop…
I kept repeating the words in my head nonstop…
Then I saw it.
A massive rock.
I didn't think. I rushed toward it and slipped behind it in the moment.
I panted madly. My chest was burning, and every breath was a battle on its own. Slowly… painfully slowly, I began to regain my breath.
Moments passed.
Then I looked cautiously.
"I… survived."
But at that very moment, I felt something cold touch my skin.
A drop.
I raised my gaze to the sky, but there was no sign of rain.
Slowly…
Very slowly…
I lifted my head higher.
And then I saw it.
The rock I was leaning against…
Wasn't a rock.
It was a mouth.
A massive mouth, wide open, lined with sharp, irregular teeth—some broken, some too long. Thick saliva slowly flowed, dripping onto the ground… and onto my skin. A foul stench hit my nose so hard my stomach turned.
The blood froze in my veins.
My body moved instinctively backward… but I was slow… terribly slow.
The "rock" lunged at me. I felt teeth clamp down on me with unimaginable force. In a single moment, half of my body vanished. Pain exploded through me all at once…
"Ahaaaaaaaaaaa!" I screamed with everything I had, my body being crushed and ground mercilessly. My breath was cut off suddenly, everything sank into darkness… and then I died once again.