2 Is this Heaven?!

Shu stood still, wondering: What the heck happened just now?

[SECOND PARTICIPANT]: [SAFELY CONSIGNED]

[STARTING THE QUEST]: [LIFE CREATION]

Shu turned his back on his frustration and started walking again, ignoring the voice.

[PARTICIPANT - 1]: [MOVEMENT RESTRICTED]

[COMPLETE THE QUEST]

-Huh? You just can't let me move on my accord now, damn you!

[QUEST REQUIREMENTS]: [POUR YOUR BLOOD ON THE SURFACE UNTIL THE REQUIREMENTS ARE MET]

"Huh?!!"

-Are you crazy, Miss System?! What makes you think I will do that?

…

Shu clutched his hands in frustration and stood still, overlooking the quest.

[TIME LEFT: 5 MIN.]

"You are doing this intentionally aren't you, you lunatic matrix?!" Shu said.

[TIME LEFT: 4 MIN. 30 SECONDS]

-Damn it!!

Shu thought and looked at his hand. Trying to wring a few drops of blood from his skin, he bit it with his teeth without a second thought.

There's a very common and famous harmony between the humans, i.e., there is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

According to Shu, this was somewhat resonant with his current predicament, and he was following the quote quite well.

Although he was trying hard to hurt himself, his reflexes wouldn't let him do so.

-Calm down.

As he muttered this, he loosened his grip on the hand and took a long breath. He once again checked his belongings.

First, his cell phone (with a dying battery), his wallet (containing many video rental membership cards), the ramen he bought at the convenience store (Shoyu Tonkotsu), some snacks (corn potage flavored), his beloved gray jersey (unwashed), worn out sneakers (of two years) and more.

"That's that, huh…Why didn't I at least carry a knife? What do I do now?"

He couldn't speak logically because he was too anxious at that moment, so he was spouting whatever he felt.

Suddenly something struck his mind, and he acted spontaneously on it, wasting no time.

Taking out the cup from the poly bag, he pulled out the plastic fork from beneath it, attached with the aid of a rubber band.

-Frankly, I don't want to do this, but I have no other choice. It all depends on luck now.

Taking the poly bag, Shu wrapped it around his elbow as tightly as possible. Soon after, the skin near the poly bag turned red and Shu slowly but strongly pressed the back of the fork to the spot.

"Aaaaaaarrrrggggghhh!!" Shu screamed in agony and looked at the spot where he stabbed the fork. Even though the fork was not inside, the first layer of skin was worn away, revealing the fresh flesh beneath.

"Ah, damn it!!" Shu exclaimed as he twisted the fork with all his might and simultaneously pressed it in.

[TIME LEFT: 3 MIN. 30 SECONDS]

As the fork thrust its way into his hand, accumulating blood burst out of his hand.

"Aaaaaaa…Aaaaaaa…Aaaauuugghhhh…i-it's unbearable!!" As Shu grasped the fork again, he tore the poly bags apart with his teeth, pressing his other hand over the wound.

[TIME LEFT: 2 MIN.]

-Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.

It struck Shu with tremendous pain, and his scream was unbearable, but he somehow held back the rage and let go of his injured hand, holding it horizontally with his other hand.

Blood leaked on to the surface as the time passed, and flow of the red liquid increased.

Each droplet of the blood, when touched the ground, the amoebic creatures absorbed them and the entire area slowly turned into a red field.

Shu stared at the bloodied scene: I doubt I have that much blood within my body, but everything looks as if someone poured a star sized bucket over it. What is going on?

[TIME LEFT: 30 SECONDS]

-Huh? Wait, I did what you told me to, didn't I? Why is your clock still tickling?

Shu panicked since he wasn't able to comprehend his current situation.

[REQUIRED AMOUNT: DEFICIENT]

[TIME LEFT: 15 SECONDS]

-Oh, well. I don't have much of a choice. Damn it!!!

When he pressed his injured hand with all his might, the surrounding skin opened up further, tearing up all the muscle, and destroying all the nerves, resulting in the complete amputation of his hand. From the end of his arm, a gleam supported his elbow, and almost the entire elbow joint was opaquely visible.

"Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh, it's too hot, I can't take it anymore!"

It was no wonder he felt so hot. It seemed his brain had confused 'pain' for 'heat'.

His hand was almost torn in half, only a bit of skin at his back held him together.

In short, it seemed that this was 'checkmate' for him.

The moment he realized this, his consciousness started fading and he fell on the ground with his cheeks against the surface.

[TIME LEFT: 5 SECONDS]

-So, it's already over, huh!

[TIME LEFT: 4 SECONDS]

Even the heat which was making him writhe in agony had disappeared, Even the unpleasant feeling of blood and the sensation in the hand, it was all fading away along with his consciousness.

[TIME LEFT: 3 SECONDS]

This body used the last of its disappearing consciousness to move just a little. It turned its head upward.

Black shoes formed ripples in the pool of blood before his eyes. There was someone there.

Strangely, he didn't feel like looking at their face. He had no clue who they were, but right now he didn't really care about that.

[TIME LEFT: 2 SECONDS]

Blood comprises about 8% of the human body, and it is said that losing about a third of that would be life-threatening, but ― It seemed to him that he'd already lost more than enough.

[TIME LEFT: 1 SECOND]

"―ve me?"

He felt like he heard a voice like the chime of a bell.

He was beyond the point where he could even differentiate his senses, so he didn't mind it.

Despite that, even supposing it wasn't real, he found it extremely comforting.

Suddenly, a fair hand dropped powerlessly and intervened with his.

[QUEST - LIFE CREATION]: [COMPLETED]

[TIME LEFT: 0.01 SECONDS]

[PARTICIPANT - 1: CRITICAL DANGER]

[PARTICIPANT - 2: CRITICAL DANGER]

[TRANSPORTING PARTICIPANTS TO THE VOID]

He forced his disappearing consciousness to return for a moment. The pain and the heat, everything had faded away. It was a meaningless effort, nothing but a loser wasting time.

A short scream, and then the carpet of blood welcomed yet another person.

She had fallen right next to him, exactly where his arm was.

He felt her fingers move slightly, as if squeezing his hand.

While looking at her face, he was able to make out her white hairs a little blurry.

At that moment, Shu lost his consciousness.

*

"Oooaughoaua…Kaaahhkkk…Ugh, where am I?" Shu said as she slowly opened his eyes to the black skies and a different surrounding.

His eyes blinked twice as he grasped reality and touched the ground below to find where he was lying.

-Hmm? Am I lying in my bathtub? Wait, I don't have one at home, though.

Shu snapped back and pushed his hands against the ground to stand up.

His movement caused the water to ripple and splash as the hot steam enveloped his body. His skin was burning as if the mellow droplets were morphing into sharp little blades of fire, but there was a soothing feeling at the same time.

Shu was astonished as he looked at his body, especially his wounded hand.

"Huh? I am fine? But how?" Shu asked as he surveyed his toned body and his repaired hand, which appeared more radiant than before.

Another thing that astonished him was the white haired girl lying unconscious beside him.

"Who is this girl? Hmm…hmmmmmmmmmmm…Ah! It was her that I saw lying beside me as I was almost dead." Shu said.

"So, what are we doing here? Though I won't lie, this place is not bad for a hot spring. The plain ground, natural geysers, and huge volcanoes surrounding it, Is this heaven?" Shu pondered, looking at the scene before him with a gloomy and groggy face.

"Oh, give me a break already. What on earth am I supposed to do here?"

Shu was already at his limit as he muttered complaints. He earnestly wanted to go back, fantasy was best left in the realm of fantasy. It was fun to imagine arriving in another world to obtain incredible power, but to actually end up in such a situation, what could he really do?

-The situation is hopeless. And of course I don't know the source, I don't even have any memories of passing through a mirror or hopping in a pond. Most importantly, where's the beauty who summoned me?

The heroine's absence, by 2D standards, was an act of inconceivable negligence. To summon him and just leave him like that, it was as though he was simply thrown away.

"For now, what's important is survival, but…Will my level 1 communication ability be enough?"

Aside from his family, he only really spoke to store clerks. He'd lived this lifestyle for almost a year now and had long forgotten how to navigate social interactions.

"Even though I can type at speaking speed in online chats...What will I say to this girl when she wakes up?"

Shu moved his fingers nervously as he contemplated his future in despair.