Title at the end of chapter
Ever since then, Victims continued to appear throughout the world. The death count started to pile up exponentially. Within five years, Seven Billion lives were lost. Their bodies were cremated in a vacuum-like environment, and then their ashes were sent on a one-way trip towards the sun.
A decade later the world population dropped to a staggering fifty-two million. Governments Around the world became extremely weak, their military might becoming nonexistent. The remaining survivors gained natural immunity to the virus bringing what became known as the 'Bio calamity' to an end.
It's been thirteen years since the last confirmed casualty, now twenty-two years old, Caeruleum thinks about his desolate surroundings. Sometimes he fantasizes about what life was like before the Bio Calimity, the bustling crowd, the endless stream of cars, the wandering pedestrians.
If only he could immerse himself in such a hectic atmosphere.
Looking at the time, Caeruleum quickly takes account of everything in the store, Locks up all the doors, and leaves. Putting an end to another uneventful day. Entering his apartment room, Caeruleum heads to the bathroom to take an evening shower and brush his teeth. Finishing up, he jumps onto his bed and quickly falls asleep.
As the night progresses, Crackling sounds resound in the air. A noxious and unpleasant smell, akin to old plastic and burnt leaves permeates the halls along with every room in the apartment. Intermittent glows of orange and red illuminate the walls. The Decorative furniture plastered on the upper portion of the walls or hanging on the ceiling slowly fades away, being engulfed in smoke and falling ash.
Caeruleum Wakes up with a cough, as soon as he opens his eyes, a burning sensation fills his senses. He hurriedly scrambles off his burning bed and begins rolling on the floor to douse his already burning clothes.
Ignoring his eyes that are already tearing up from the smoke, Caeruleum hurriedly looks around for an exit, being on the 7th floor, the windows are not an option.
Unless the fire started on his floor, Caeruleum can only dread the situation downstairs. but without any other viable options, Caeruleum begins crawling out of the room, quickly but carefully making his way downstairs. Leaning over the edge and looking down at the 6th floor, a hollow look appears in Caeruleum's eyes.
A scene like a purgatory depicted by religious scriptures appears before him, fire till the eyes can see, greedily devours every inch of space below. Coughing, Caeruleum lets out a sigh. He turns around lying on his back and closes his eyes waiting for the flames to engulf him.
1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes
Caeruleum's body drenches in sweat as he waits in nervousness for the pain to come
4 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes
Not feeling the expected pain, Caeruleum slowly opens his eyes only to see himself lying naked in a vast white space.
suddenly the space morphed back into the burning apartment. Caeruleum sees himself lying with his back on the floor, eyes closed in resignation. He watches as the fire slowly encroaches on him, closer and closer it creeps. now merely an inch away from his body...
Finally reaching him the fire first gently licks his hair, then as if meeting a can of gasoline it quickly spreads to his sideburns trailing its way toward his pathetic excuse of a beard.
strangely enough, Caeruleum's eyes remain closed, still maintaining a resigned look on his face as if the fire that currently melting through his flesh charring his tissues and melting his eyeballs is just an illusion
Suddenly everything stops, the world turns into a dull gray, and as if composed of sand, It breaks apart and scatters away, bringing Caeruleum back into the white open space
a slightly dazed look appears on Caeruleum's face emphasizing his lack of understanding of the ongoing situation.
as if responding to his doubts a blue panel suddenly appears in front of him
[Caeruleum died by fire]
[Respawn]
[Y/N]
His dazed look vanishes, masking his ever-growing doubt
"what the actual fuck"
Caeruleum blurts out.
"Could I have transformed into a player from a certain sandbox game?
Caeruleum quietly mutters in a joking tone in an attempt to hide the panic and unease that slowly beginning to settle.
with a 'eh... I'm dead anyway' mindset, Caeruleum lifts his hand to click yes when a sudden feeling of dread, one unlike any he's ever felt before engulfed him, from his body to his very soul.
Stopping his hand in midair Caeruleum's pupils dilate in horror as he struggles to understand what he's feeling.
Caeruleum swipes at the panel, his hand passing through it causing it to disappear.
beads of sweat trickles down His face as Caeruleum lets out a gulp in nervousness attempting to rack his brain, thinking of a way out of this odd situation.
[Caeruleum died by fire]
[Respawn]
[Y/N]
the panel reappears before him like a persistent stalker refusing to go away
He swipes again, this time running in a random direction
the only indication that he's even moving in this monotonous space is the strange panel that's growing more and more distant with his every stride.
[Caeruleum died by fire]
[Respawn]
[Y/N]
the panel disappears from its previous location and reappears in front of him causing Caeruleum to stop. A sudden surge of anger makes its way onto Caeruleum's face, his eyes begin to glow with a majestic blue hue. His aura previously dull and unassuming morphed into one that of a sovereign demanding obedience from all before it. A transparent silhouette appears behind him. the silhouette resembles a slightly closed eye, its eyelids composed of fleshy tendrils.
the tendrils begin to squirm moving further apart from each other causing the eye to open. As more of the eye can be seen the aura starts to grow stronger and stronger.
with a 'woosh,' the panel suddenly disappears from in front of Caeruleum and reappears before the eye
[detected low-grade energy source]
[initating consumption]
a black hole-like substance appears behind the eye slowly sucking it in
"what the..."
A majestic voice begins to reverberate from the eye in a tone of incredulity, but before the voice can continue to express its doubts, the silhouette is swallowed by the substance behind it.
[consumption complete]
[energy 78,443,962/100]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 1,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[upgrade complete]
Version 2.0
---
[energy 78,442,862/1,000]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 10,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[upgrade complete]
Version 3.0
---
[energy 78,431,862/10,000]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 100,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[upgrade complete]
Version 4.0
---
[energy 78,321,862/100,000]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 1,000,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[upgrade complete]
Version 5.0
---
[energy 77,221,862/1,000,000]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 10,000,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[upgrade complete]
Version 6.0
---
[energy 66,221,862/10,000,000]
[upgrade Y/N]
[Detected host with insufficient authority]
[consuming 100,000,000 energy to bypass authority]
[Bypassing...]
[Bypassing failed]
[insufficient energy]
---
the panel suddenly disappears and reappears in front of the once again dazed Caeruleum.
[Caeruleum died by fire]
[Respawn]
[Y/N]
Whilst maintaining a blank look Caeruleum numbly lifted his hand. The strange feeling of fear seemingly disappeared with the strange eye.
Slowly yet indifferently his hand approached the panel and clicked 'No'
Then with a 'do you think I'm stupid' look on his face Caeruleum lets out a scoff and lays on the ground waiting for whatever this bullshit is to end.
[Are you sure you would not like to respawn]
[Y/N]
With a casual glance, Caeruleum reached out and clicked yes.
[confirmation received]
[consuming 100,000 energy to bypass the host's choice]
[Respawning in 3… 2… 1…]
Caeruleum's eyes widened
"WHAT THE FU…"
then he blacked out.
—
Title:
Respawn