The Beginning

"How could you, Sara? We're teammates!" A young man with inky black hair growled in pain, clutching his bleeding stomach as he lay in a pool of his own blood.

"Isn't it obvious? If we go through that gate together, we'll have to share the rewards and lifetimes. But if you die, and I go through alone, I'll gain everything." A young woman with long aqua-blue hair said.

"You bitch!" The young man hissed.

"Language! You're about to die, so think only good thoughts. And don't you love me anymore? If you still do, can you give me your lifetimes?" The woman asked with a smile.

"You—!"

"Okay, okay, let's do this again. Can you please transfer your lifetimes to me?" The woman squatted in front of the bleeding young man, a bloody dagger in her hand.

"I'd rather die than give them to you!" The guy spat at her, which she dodged.

"Don't be a prick!" She hissed, standing up. "If I can't get your lifetimes, I'll take your sister's."

"Don't you dare touch my sister! Cough! Cough!"

"Don't you know you shouldn't yell when you're about to die?" the woman asked lovingly, like a mother reprimanding her child.

"I wonder why I fell for a snake like you!" The guy continued to yell.

"Well... first, I'm beautiful. Second, you're a fool," she said. "Telling you the truth, I never liked you. I was just following you because you could help me get lifetimes. You were a real fool. You worked day and night looking for lifetimes for me and your sister so we could live longer. But look around us, we're the last survivors in the game, and the rewards and lifetimes will be abundant. I don't want to share any of that with a moron like you." She cleaned her dagger on his clothes.

"If there's a next life, I'll make you pay!" The guy said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I think I should get going. There are rewards to claim for winning one of the hardest games in AI virtual reality." After cleaning her dagger and putting it back, she blew a kiss at the young man and walked toward the gate.

"Don't worry, for helping me win this game, I'll leave your sister one day of her lifetime!" she yelled back as she walked toward the gate and disappeared through it.

'Is this how I'll die?'

'All that calculation to escape monsters and other players only led me to my death!'

"Cough! Don't worry, Sara, you'll get what's coming to you!"

"I'm sorry, Mira. You have such a useless brother. I thought playing and winning my first AI Virtual Reality game would earn us more lifetimes. If I'd known it would turn out like this, I would have followed your advice. I'm sorry again."

He apologized, tears streaming down his face, and breathed his last.

The AI Virtual Reality game's voice finally sounded.

_

"Huh? Where am I?" The young man appeared inside an endless, bright space. The first thing he did was look around, totally confused.

'Welcome, vengeful soul.' A voice sounded in his head.

"What in the world?" The young man looked around him, searching for the speaker.

'You can't see me, vengeful soul, but you can hear me.' The voice sounded again.

"Who are you?!" The young man asked.

'The question isn't about who I am, it's about what I am.' The voice corrected him.

"Then what are you?" The young man asked, his brow furrowed. "And where the hell am I?"

'You are in my world, vengeful soul, and I am the ruler of all games.'

"Ruler of all games? Vengeful soul? What the hell are you talking about?!" The young man asked, his frown deepening.

'Some call me the provider, some call me the manipulator, some call me the architect, and others call me the Cheating System. I go by many names and forms, looking for souls who have the potential to wield me.'

The young man was silent for a moment, then asked, "And I am that soul?"

'Yes, you are the only one with endless potential and unknown possibilities to wield me. Even better, you are also a vengeful soul.'

"Why is it better if I'm a vengeful soul? Let me tell you, ruler or whatever you're called, there are a lot of vengeful souls out there. Why did you pick me?"

'You ask a lot of questions.'

"My mom said anyone who asks questions never gets lost, so can you enlighten me?"

'I chose you because of your endless potential, your thinking, and your vengeful nature, which no one knew about.'

The young man was about to refute the voice's words but kept silent because it was right. "So what's our next course of action? I can't be floating here like a mindless fool."

'If you wish, you can.'

"No way."

'Okay, Michael, prepare for your revival.'

"Just wait for me, Sara. I'll show you what a demon looks like," Michael said with killing intent.

{Returning host to one day in the past.}

{Calculating time zone.}

{Successfully revived.}

__

"Hey, Michael, wake up! Wake up, you dumbass!" A man with brown hair, wearing a blue manufacturing worker uniform, was shaking the sleeping Michael, trying to wake him up.

"Huh? Why are you shaking me so much? If my lifetime doesn't kill me, you surely will," Michael said in a low voice, slowly opening his tired eyes.

"Wake up, you dumbass! The boss is around. If he finds you sleeping on the job, he'll reduce your lifetime again," the man said sternly.

"Fine, fine, I'm up," Michael said, slowly getting up from the ground. After looking around, his face changed slightly.

'Wait a second, I've already lived this day!'

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Hahaha, welcome to my third book! I don't know why, but I just love writing. So here I am with my third book. Please check it out and give me feedback. 😁😁

Thanks for reading.

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Check out my new book: Return Of The Supreme Beast Tamer.