2 | Death and Regression

When Sage turned 17 years old, she had thought that life was smooth sailing. Although it was her first time meeting her new classmates in the new school, she had felt the familiarity she had long for a couple of years in the old school. Everyone had the same ideals and principles as her. The only problem was their level of standard. 

She was reminded of the fairytale, The Ugly Duckling; the only difference was instead of a beautiful swan, she was a farm chick. 

Her classmates disdained her for being lazy and useless. Was that even the truth? The only way they could solve every problem they encountered was by money, which she did not have. Because she was a misfit, she had become a clown for her classmates. 

Sage thought carefully about the events that occurred during her senior high school. "Were all of them that bad?" The faces of the very few people who had helped her without asking for anything from her surfaced in her mind. She doubted the authenticity of their kindness. 

"They have never left me alone and supported me… I'm blind, aren't I?" Sage asked the younger version of herself smiling happily inside the photo. "I never knew that I could smile so bright." 

Sage put down the album and went to find a mirror. She rummaged through her things for a few minutes before feeling a mirror. She quickly grabbed it and faced herself. "Wow. I looked so ugly," she commented in surprise. She examined her face and discovered that her eyes looked dead and hollow. 

Most of her days were spent sleeping. If there were a percentage of the routine she had been doing for 14 years, it would be the following:

60% sleep,

25% staring into nothingness, and

15% eat.

But why did her eyes look like she had not been sleeping for a few days? 

Sage blinked a couple of times, trying to get rid of the way her eyes looked. She succeeded in changing it but instead of dying, it looked emotionless and empty. 

Sage felt goosebumps. She, then, tried to smile. Her smile looked stiff and scary. Thus, she quickly dropped her smile. While mocking herself, she caught a glimpse of her hair. It was so messy. Feeling impatient, she finally threw the mirror to the wall and went back to the album.

"Girl, you'll be so disappointed. " 

Sage was a person who especially took care of her appearance. She was still 36 years old but her face looked like she was already 80 years old. Even her bones were weak! Just this day, her mild paralysis occurred more than five times already. "Damn, I seriously need a cane." 

That passing thought urged Sage to come out of her nest. What if she won't be able to walk the moment she wanted to sightsee before death? Should she rot inside the basement and let her sister discover her body after smelling her? Ew. 

Sage found some clothes and changed into whatever could fit her. Then, she stealthily walked upstairs and unlocked the basement door from the inside. Yes, she was living in a basement in her sister's house. It was already past midnight and everyone in her sister's family was sleeping. She had long forgotten how they looked after living like rat for more than a decade. 

A cold breeze of the night wind brushed her face. The icy cold feeling sent shivers down her spine. 

Sage's eyes landed on the cemented ground. The light from the street lamp reflected on the ground which blinded her. She winced from the pain from seeing bright light after a while. She adjusted her sight for more than three minutes before being able to open her eyes properly.

She was surprised to see different structures standing where their neighbor's house stood before. While the house on the opposite side of theirs had disappeared, only trees and wild plants were growing in it. She felt weirded out but brushed the feeling eventually. 

Sage hummed, "A lot of things changed, huh."

Some sort of noise coming from somewhere bothered Sage. She was a bit sensitive to any sounds after living in a very silent environment. "It's already 4 am, and they're still partying?"

Sage continued walking while observing her surroundings. "Were the two schools converted into apartments?" 

"Wow, who owned that now?"

"Did Architects become too common to create a complex-design building easily?"

A thousand-square-meter building with three or four floors was often finished in around 10 years. Using logic and math, a 15 to 20-meter building with a steep design apartment should be done in around 20 to 30 years. But from the looks of it, the apartment already had some people living in it. 

"I'm amazed with the owner." 

Her eyes landed on the large logo engraved in the middle of the building. 

"EVE S. PEAK"

"Kuhhk, HAHAHAHA. What a weird naming sense! That's not how you name a beautiful apartment." Sage rubbed her chest after feeling tightness in her lungs. She might have a heart attack if she kept expressing her thoughts. 

After walking for around 45 minutes, she found a dark place with a small hill. That hill appeared a few years ago because of a strong earthquake. 

Back to the present, Sage enjoyed the cold breeze, the stars, and the gigantic moon. She felt as if she was in the North Continent right now. 

Sage caught a glimpse of something passing by. She looked in that direction and found a meteor shower starting. Her eyes twinkled for the first time in a few years. The meteors looked too beautiful. She was reminded of humans' foolishness to call the meteor shower into a shooting star. The earth would die if a star fell. 

"Why does the meteor look like it's coming towards…?" Before Sage could conclude if it was coming her way, she suddenly felt that her head to her chest had been split apart. She was blinking, still trying to understand what happened to her. Sage heard the following words before losing consciousness. 

[System has found a new host.]

[20 years reset incoming…]