Chapter 1: You died!

"What do you want!?" I screamed in terror with eyes full of fear at the person in front of me. I'm currently in my kitchen. Legs trembling. A half-empty soda bottle in one hand and my phone in the other. It's about 2 in the morning right now, and there's a guy in front of me holding a knife.

"Heeek!" a spine-chilling sound came out from the guy's mouth. He seems to be scared of me too but AAAAAAAAAAA that was so creepy!

"Leave or I'll call the cops!" I taunted, but the guy just stood there awkwardly, looking around with his eyes wide. He's wearing a black jacket with a white shirt inside. It was all stained and dirty. His jeans were all rugged up too, but that's not important! He won't leave!

Shit! I'm so scared. I just wanted to eat noodles and try to finally play video games since my best friend kept pestering me to play with her. Also, it's the weekend! But this intruder is ruining all my plans right now. He won't leave! He just keeps looking around all frantic and stuff!

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! HELP ME!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, hoping that my neighbors would hear. I couldn't think straight and my hands won't stop shaking. Crying for help is the only thing that I could think of at the moment.

When the guy heard my cry for help, he produced a twisted look of shock, worry, and anger before he dashed to where I was standing. He was so quick and I was too scared to move. And right before I knew it, I heard a strange sound, it sounded like a bag was popped.

Staring the guy in the eyes, I saw nothing but a blank look. Not a glint nor a lick of sanity was present in this man's gaze. It was as if there was not even a reflection of light that was to be seen on this person's eyes.

Feeling a bit of discomfort, I looked down.

There I saw the knife he had in his hands earlier, currently in my stomach. The person then quickly pulled it out, sprinting straight to the front door to escape and dropping the knife on the floor, leaving me to bleed in my apartment's kitchen.

Everything happened too fast, making me unable to process anything for a moment.

But soon enough, I quickly regained my senses. Not because of the pain, but because of a metallic taste enveloping my mouth.

Well, duh it was then followed by an unbearable pain right after.

"Ughmf...!" I clasped the bleeding part with my hands, attempting to slow down the immense blood that was seeping out of my stab wound.

But the warm blood just kept on slipping through my fingers all the time, I tried to capture every mi- what the heck is my brain thinking about right now!?

I quickly walked to the living room, my hands still covering the wound. But no matter how much I tried to apply more pressure, insane amounts of blood just kept pouring out. I was still far from the door but I was slowly feeling lightheaded, making me feel like I was losing consciousness.

And eventually, I fell.

Blood was starting to escape through my mouth now too, and I couldn't do anything. I'm on the floor, crawling. Using up all of my strength, I tried and tried to slide my body to the door.

But it wasn't long before I lost all of my remaining strength. My whole body was becoming numb, but I could still feel the warm blood that was slowly pooling around me.

Is this how I die? Well, this sucks. I at least wanted to try that game...

Why didn't I just call the cops? I'm so stupid. So freaking stupid! This is all... my fault. I don't want to die... I'm too young. I still want to be a doctor... I wanna go to different countries... I wanna achieve my dreams... I don't wanna die here... Mommy... I want you here...

And with my end coming near, I closed my eyes and just wanted to sleep.

...

"Az, she's not supposed to die yet." An old man's voice with obvious authority spoke in the distance.

Wow, his voice... it's echoing.

"I know and I can see that! There seems to be a mistake! H-Her future wasn't supposed to be the brightest but she's still supposed to live!" A young man's voice shouted in the distance.

He's panicking.

"Strange. This is the first time since the beginning of this world that this sort of anomaly has happened. Fate, surely you can change it, right? The past. So she doesn't die?" A woman's calming voice asked, which was then answered by a child's voice, panic audible in its tone.

"I-I can't! It's impossible! It's like something's wrong with my strings! No matter how hard or how many times I try to reverse them back, everything ends up the same! The-There's noth- ...! How is this happening!?" she answered. The child seemed deathly terrified.

"What?" The woman with a calming voice asked. Her tone was a bit shaken.

"This is odd. Very frickin' odd. Fate's strings imply that this ending is absolute. Yet why does it show in her designated lifetime that she'll live?" The young man's voice mumbled.

"Can't she just proceed to the afterlife just like any other soul after death?" Another woman's voice asked with a cold tone.

"That's impossible. If she goes now, she'll be stuck in the middle realm, unable to enter the afterlife. It's not her time yet. And not only is reincarnation impossible, but she'll also be torn apart by the demons dwelling in the middle realm. Or worse, her soul could collapse the realm of the living and the dead with the imbalance it will create. Ultimately destroying... everything." The young man's voice answered in alarm.

So noisy...

"W-What? We'll die?" the child asked sounding like she was about to cry.

"Yes, Fate. It seems that unfortunately, we'll die if that happens. So change the past already!" the cold woman snarled which finally made the child cry.

"Hnggg...! I can't! I don't know what's going on with my strings! Please! I'm trying my hardest! I-...! Uwaaaah!" The child cried even harder now.

So freaking noisy...!

"It appears that Fate truly is incapable of doing anything. Then... what if...!" the old man's voice suddenly said.

There was silence for a bit.

"Are you insane, old man?! Drain all our power just to send her soul to another dimension?! Plus, if we do that, we wouldn't be able to erase her memories because we'd be too exhausted. That world is doomed, consumed by dark entities. It's hopeless!" the woman exclaimed, her voice laced with anger.

"Wait! It might work! Even if she can't be reborn here, her soul could find a place in the other world. We have no other choice, and time is running out. It's either exhaustion or death! And I do not take the word "death" lightly. Besides, that world is crumbling due to its inhabitants' foolishness. Imagine the impact of someone like her, with memories from this life, entering. She might save them. And if she fails, at least she'll finally find peace." the young man shouted back.

"You always have so much to say, Az." The woman with a calm and soothing voice said before chuckling, albeit slightly nervously.

The cold woman wanted to retaliate but the guy was right. It's the only choice they got. And the guy was making a fair point.

"...Ugh! Fine! Just be sure that we will all talk about this later." the cold woman finally said, agreeing.

After a bit of pause, someone finally spoke up.

"Well then... Vita, dear?" the old man's voice calmly said.

"Yes, sir." the woman with the calming voice answered.

"Honey, what is it that you most desire right now? Tell us." the woman with the calming voice asked. I don't know why but it just felt like I was the one being asked. And so I thought of the thing I most desire right now.

What do I want right now? I just want to see the fireflies by the river at my old house just once again, just like when I was with mom... just like before... when she was still here.

"Fireflies..." I answered. That's the only word that got out of my mouth when I answered her question. And after I told her what I wanted, there was silence.

The old man, the calm woman, the child, the young man, and even the cold woman looked at one another, seemingly startled by what I answered.

"Did she just say...!"

The old man said, audibly shocked.

"Oh, dear..."

The calm lady said sadly, it seemed like I struck a memory from them.

"Very well. We'll gra-"

*Ding!*

The calm woman was cut off from speaking.

Turning her head to where the sound came from, the woman saw the TV. There she found a notification from a game that was fully on display.

*Your game is automatically paused due to your AFK behavior. Press any key on your game console to continue playing.*

"Hmm is that a game on your television? Well, you just gave me an idea. How about I give you a little gift?" The woman said.

"Are you sure about that, Vita?" The guy asked the woman worriedly.

"She gave us a unique experience, let's just give her something unique in return." The woman's calming voice vibrated throughout my body.

"Let's do this then." The grandpa said, readying himself.

Shortly after, a warm feeling rushed towards me. It engulfed me. Yet it didn't feel bad at all, it felt very calming. It was so calming that my consciousness slowly drifted away within a few seconds, making me fall asleep.

"May you Create unbreakable bonds within that world." the old man's voice serenely said like a grandpa.

"May Death not follow you on your journeys." the young man said.

"May Life shower you with its purest energy." the woman with the calming voice said kindly.

"M-May Fate always be on your side!" the child's voice shouted.

"And may the Darkness not hurdle your path to success." the woman with her usual cold and monotonous voice said.

And before I even knew it, I lost the last bit of consciousness that I had left.

**************

*Thud!*

"Ow! What the hell! Tsk... where in the heck am I?" I blurted out when I felt something hit my head. It was quite painful to the point where it made my head kind of numb. Ugh, how hard did I hit it?

Tsk, my head hurts now- Huh? Where am I???

Am I... still alive? Did I survive?

No shit, did I really survive?

Oh my god, someone must've heard my scream! Oh, thank heavens!

Oh my god, oh my God, oh my God!

Heavens, if you can hear me, thank you! With this proof of your existence, I now believe! Thank you!

I can jump in joy right now if I can.

But, ughmf, weird. If I'm at the hospital, why does it feel like I'm tucked inside a casket?

Haha, that would be super weird... yeah...

Was I...

buried alive?

...

Oh, come on! Let's not think that way right now. I'm sure they would confirm me dead in the morgue!

Yeah! Hoo, let's calm down our racing nerves for now.

If I'm not inside a casket, what the fuck am I in right now? It's kinda hard to move. It's really stuffy in here.

Wait, what is that glowing thing near me? Weird. What the heck this is so weird. Am I really at the hospital?

Fuck, I can't think straight. Tsk, why does it have to be so cramped in he—

*Crack!*

"Woah!" I gasped when the thing that I was tucked in, broke just above my head. Was it concrete? It didn't feel like concrete. It's pretty brittle! Woah, I can break free from this?

*Crack!*

Yeah, it seems so!

I slowly chipped off this weird capsule that I was in. It was fairly easy to break. Just a strong push and it would fall off. But I feel something odd... it's like I've got multiple hands.

This is probably the effect of the anesthesia they gave me. I heard it makes people go high and numb and stuff.

*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Thud!*

Oof! Is this ground?

No, I landed on something... but under it is the ground! Oh my god, I'm finally free!

I stood up from where I landed and gazed around. But when I looked, I was left shocked by what I was seeing.

It was a forest!

A freaking forest!

And it wasn't like a normal forest either, the trees were big! Like, super big! Woah! The night sky above me is just as amazing.

As if it was a photo taken by a professional photographer. Billions of stars as bright as the city lights were gazing upon me. A mixture of various colors was present in the beauty of the space above me. I was left stunned. It's so beautiful.

Hm? Wait, what are these things surrounding my body? Why does it look like I'm in a... cornfield? Wait... no? Upon closer inspection, it's grass!

Grass? Why would there be grass? Not to mention, as large as these? A single blade looked as big as the head!

Fuck, how much anesthesia did those people give me?!

Looking down, I found that the thing that I landed on had an odd shape.

Like a leaf or something. But damn, if these are real, these are some huge ass grass around me. Someone hasn't mown their lawn- hm?

I tried to grab the vegetation that surrounded me when I suddenly noticed that there was some kind of stick that was stuck to my body.

Wait what the hell is this? I tried to grab it but it moved! Woah! I looked to the other side, and I found another stick. I tried to grab it again but it moved just like the other one! I tried to grab both and they both moved again as if they were grabbing something- wait. Don't tell me... no, I better check.

This is scary. I somehow got the feeling that these two sticks were my arms.

No way! I looked downward and found that my body was white!

My stomach was packed with folds of flat skin, like that of a centipede. Attached to my chest area were six stick-like arms sticking out of my body. Three on the right and three on the left. Right behind me, I saw something glowing. It emitted a white color.

Looking at my body, I was starting to panic. No, no, no, no! What sorts of experiments did they do to my body!? Why am I a glowing worm-like creature?

Did I die? Am I dead? Is this a dream? Am I schizophrenic? Am I still high on anesthesia? Did I hit my head too hard when I fell on the floor and now I'm having hallucinations? What is happening!?!?!?

And amidst my screams of panic, a sweet chime disrupted my thoughts.

*Ding!*

[Congratulations! You have died and have been reborn as a firefly larva! As compensation for your untimely death, the Gods have given you a second chance at life in this new world! You've also received two gifts! A game system! And a title! Live your new life to the fullest~!!]