Part 8: When Death Knocks Twice

Connie barely had time to process what had just happened.

The wreckage of the fallen ceiling fan still lay across the classroom floor. Her classmates were still in shock. The teacher had rushed in, demanding answers. The boy she had saved stood frozen, staring at the mess that had nearly killed him.

Her heart pounded.

She could still feel the way her phone had vibrated in her palm.

[Death Flag Resolved. Points: 19.]

Another three points.

A reward.

A reminder.

The System wanted her to know she had done the right thing.

Or, at the very least—the expected thing.

But she couldn't even focus on that.

Because just as the panic started to settle—

A sickening wave of dread slammed into her.

Another one.

Her entire body stiffened.

Another death flag.

Immediately after the first one.

This had never happened before.

She swallowed hard, eyes darting across the room.

Where? Who?

Her skin crawled with the feeling of wrongness settling over the air.

The classroom wasn't safe yet.

And this time, she had even less time to react.

Her breath came in quick, uneven gasps.

This wasn't normal.

The first two times she had experienced death flags—the train incident and the home invasion—they had been spread apart.

Even the bus incident had given her at least a few hours to recover.

But this?

This was immediate.

Which meant—

Death flags can be stacked.

Her stomach twisted.

The System wasn't just forcing her to play—it was actively increasing the difficulty.

"Connie?"

She barely heard Ayaka's voice.

Her fingers tightened around the edges of her desk as she scanned the room, desperate to find the cause.

What was going to happen? Another freak accident? A medical emergency?

Or—

Her heart stilled.

Her gaze locked onto the window.

A student had just gotten up from his seat.

He was walking toward the open window, stretching lazily.

The second his hand gripped the ledge, Connie's blood turned to ice.

She could already see it.

The way his balance would shift.

The way his foot would slide against the floor.

And the way he would plummet three stories down.

She didn't even think.

Her chair scraped against the floor as she bolted forward.

"Wait—!"

The student turned at the sound of her voice.

And then—

His foot slipped.

His expression twisted in shock. His arms flailed, trying to grab hold of something—

But there was nothing to hold.

Connie's heart stopped.

Her fingers barely grazed his wrist before—

The world blinked.

She was back.

She was currently standing near the seat where the fan had just fallen.

The whole classroom was shocked at the scene that unfolded before their eyes.

The student hadn't moved toward the window, yet. He was looking at the fan that had just fallen on the empty desk, with a somewhat surprised expression.

Maybe he didn't think much of it, or he was the type to not think about possible outcomes, because he stood up and started walking towards the window as if nothing out of the norm happened.

Connie's hands were shaking.

This was different from the last resets.

This was faster.

The moment she had failed, the System had immediately restarted her.

There was no delay.

No hesitation.

No time to process the loss.

It had forced her back before she could even feel the impact.

Because it didn't want her to fail.

It wanted her to fix it.

A sickening thought coiled in her mind.

What if she kept failing?

Would the System make her relive this hundreds of times?

Would it trap her in this moment forever until she got it right?

Her lungs tightened.

She couldn't let that happen.

This time—

She had to be faster.

The student had just pushed himself out of his seat, heading to the window.

Connie moved first.

She launched herself forward, shoving desks aside.

Her classmates barely had time to react before she grabbed the back of his uniform and yanked him backward.

Hard.

He stumbled, cursing. "What the hell—?!"

Connie's chest heaved.

The whole room was staring at her.

She didn't care.

She couldn't let another death flag restart.

"Don't—" Her voice was hoarse. "Don't lean on the window."

He gave her a weird look. "Uh… okay? Chill, I wasn't gonna jump or anything."

Her fingers clenched. You were going to fall.

But of course, he didn't remember.

None of them did.

Her phone vibrated.

[Death Flag Resolved. Points: 22.]

She exhaled shakily.

It was over.

But as the tension left her body, something else settled in.

A cold realization.

The System had forced her to deal with two death flags back to back.

This wasn't random.

This was training.

It wanted her to get used to this.

Because in the future—

It wouldn't be just two in a row.

She sat alone on the school rooftop during lunch.

The weight of the last few hours had settled deep into her bones.

She had stopped two deaths today.

But she didn't feel relieved.

She felt like she had just passed a test.

And that meant there would be another.

Her phone was still open to the last message.

[Death Flag Resolved. Points: 22.]

Twenty-two.

She didn't know if these points did anything, but if they did, she would surely need more than just a mere twenty-two.

When will the moment to use them come?

Would she finally get answers then?

Or would she just be pulled even deeper into the System's control?

She clenched her fists.

She wasn't being given a choice.

The only thing she could do—

Was keep moving forward.

Even if she had no idea where the road was leading.