:Death

When cornered by a formless hollow resembling a thick, black, gigantic octopus with an eye and testicles sporting curved blades, Jack's eyes narrow on his crush, whom he had thought was his classmate.

"What... What is that thing?" asked Jack, obviously confused, as he crawled backwards on his butt.

The presumed classmate gritted her teeth, clenched her dark scythe tight, and wordlessly stared at the viscous monsters, begging for food.

Before she locked eyes with the formless being, she let the words escape her lips. "Formless, they feed on newly arriving souls."

Jack's eyes widened as he realized he had really died and none of this was a nightmare.

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-[One Hour Earlier]-

Bam!

Accompanying the sound of a boy being slammed against the locker, the surrounding students laughed in unison, the noise echoing through the hall of lockers.

"Next time, watch where you're going, hehe," said the bully, dropping the skateboard heavily on the floor.

"Maybe you should watch where you're walking, half-teeth."

The beaten boy rose up as he spoke, wiping a small blood stain from his lips. His response caused the bully to pause, cracking his knuckles.

Boom!

Crunch... Crunch... Crunch.

He slammed Jack hard against the locker, increasing the pressure and blocking the air from entering the boy's torso.

"That's enough..."

Luckily, a senior arrived, separating the two. Jack fell to his knees, gasping for air, but he didn't take the loss lightly.

"Hey..." Jack yelled, and as the bully turned around, bam! he slammed the skateboard into the bully's face, leaving a bruise and a resounding "Ooooh..." in the hall.

"I said that's enough," repeated the senior, a red-haired boy with glasses, dispersing the nearby students.

Before the bully left, he gave Jack a wicked glare, holding his face as he walked away with his clique.

"I had that sorted out."

"Yeah, I saw that... You trying to breathe was part of your big idea."

Jack picked up his skateboard and put it in his bag. As they both started walking away, he replied:

"Exactly! Epic moments only happen when the MC is getting his ass kicked and suddenly, bam, god mode."

The senior adjusted his glasses, sighed, and gave a nonchalant response to Jack's statement.

"You've filled your head with anime. Now, go home and get something to eat, lil' B."

Having heard that, Jack stopped. Both of them stood at the school's metallic gate exit.

"Aren't you coming?"

"In a few minutes."

Without further discussion, Jack watched as the senior returned to the school. Pressing his bag against his shoulder, he sighed and kicked the ground as he walked.

The sun was setting, and there were barely any cars zooming past him, nor were there many pedestrians on the sidewalk—a quiet, peaceful walk.

However, the tranquility only lasted for a few minutes.

"Ready for round two?" asked the bully from before, this time surrounded by three more students.

"Nope... Gotta eat. See ya."

As soon as he said that, Jack threw his backpack at them and sprinted past quickly, the goons following close behind.

They chased him relentlessly down the narrow path where Jack had seen men unloading goods from a truck blocking the road.

With great reflexes, he stepped on the trash disposal and leaped over the truck—an act one of the goons tried to imitate but ended up falling into the dumpster.

"Slowpokes," said Jack. "Wait, weren't there just four of... goodness me!"

He narrowly avoided a student who cut across his path with a knife slicing through the air aimed at Jack's throat, sliding on his knees just in time.

"Don't let him escape!" yelled the leader.

However, Jack was just a few steps away from crossing the road, out of their reach.

"Oh no-"

His eyes widened as he saw a truck appear out of nowhere and *bam!* it hit him so hard Jack coughed up blood and slammed against the tarred road, lifeless.

"Damn!... We gotta get the fk out of here"

Seeing this, the bullies finally stopped chasing him and hid before any witnesses noticed.

"Oh my God, the boy is bleeding badly!"

"Someone call an ambulance, quick!"

"These kids nowadays, they don't look before they leap."

"Where the heck is the driver? He ran away!" yelled another.

They crowded around the scene of the accident, the driver's door left open in his haste. Some covered their mouths in shock, others recorded the scene.

"It's too late... The boy is dead," said one among the crowd of bystanders.

Above all, a girl with short white hair stood on the opposite side of the road, wearing the same black and white school uniform as Jack. She just stood there, staring at the pool of blood with an emotionless expression.

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Jack let out a deep exhale as he quickly rose from the ground, his uniform stained with blood. His bewildered eyes scanned the area.

No one was around anymore; it was the middle of the night, with only the distant sounds of billboards.

"Ouch... That hurt pretty bad." He looked around, then helped himself up. "Derek's gonna kill me; I've got to come up with a believable lie."

"Got it, I'll say I ate in a store instead and couldn't pay the bills so I ended up watching the dishes... No darn it, that's stupid".

He continued down the road, gradually feeling something moving beneath the surface, something big, something that made his chest pound.

Before he could guess wrong, *kaboom!* The road exploded, revealing the most terrifying creature he had ever seen emerging from the rubble and dust.

Thud...

He fell back onto the ground, paralyzed with fear by whatever that thing was—suppressing his ability to move. It was a formless hollow resembling a thick, black, gigantic octopus with an eye and curved blades on its testicles.

The hollow lunged with an attack; one of the curved blades sped towards Jack. However, just as it was about to strike his head—

Slash!

Out of nowhere, a girl jumped in, slicing off the testicle first and landing perfectly on the ground as the severed testicle turned to ash.

But upon closer inspection, the cut-off testicle regenerated almost instantly.

"What... What is that thing?" asked Jack, obviously confused, as he crawled backwards on his butt.

The presumed classmate gritted her teeth, clenched her dark scythe tight, and wordlessly stared at the viscous monster, begging for food.

Before she locked eyes with the formless being, she let the words escape her lips. "Formless, they feed on newly arriving souls."

Jack's eyes widened as he realized he had really died and none of this was a nightmare but maybe, his re-death.