The First Trial: Death

[Third Death]

I woke up underwater.

The icy grip of the sea clutched at my lungs as they screamed for air.

Arms flailed, desperate, but chains weighed them down. I sank deeper into the abyss.

Light faded.

Pressure crushed my skull.

Then—darkness.

---

[Eighth Death]

Fire.

Searing flames devoured everything.

My skin blistered, peeled, melted.

I screamed until my throat burned to ash.

The smell of charred flesh was all that remained.

---

[Fifteenth Death]

A battlefield.

Arrows rained from the heavens like locusts.

One pierced my eye.

The world split in two before going black.

---

[Twenty-Seventh Death]

The sound of laughter.

High-pitched. Maddening.

Children surrounded me, their faces warped into monstrous grins.

They tore me apart with their tiny hands.

---

[Thirty-Fourth Death]

I starved again.

This time, there was food—just beyond my reach.

For days, I crawled. Fingertips brushed stale bread.

But my strength failed.

I died staring at salvation inches away.

---

[Forty-Second Death]

Crushed.

A mountain collapsed atop me.

Bones splintered.

The weight of the world pinned me until my breath ceased.

---

[Seventy-Ninth Death]

A beast's den.

This time, I fought back.

With trembling arms, I swung a stone at its head.

I missed.

It didn't.

---

[Ninety-Seventh Death]

Silence.

I froze to death in a white wasteland.

Eyes wide open, staring at falling snow.

It was almost peaceful… almost.

---

…And then came the final one.

---

The void welcomed me once again.

[99 Deaths Complete]

Death isn't something a human is meant to endure more than once. Yet here I am, forced to face it over and over until I've become something unrecognizable—something I was never supposed to be.

Each death chipped away at me. Some shattered me completely, leaving nothing but fragments of who I once was. Others… foolishly sparked hope, a cruel trick I should've known better than to believe in. In the end, all of it—hope, fear, pain—blurred into the same gray haze.

It's strange. It feels like a piece of me is missing. Something vital. But I can't even tell what it is anymore. I've stopped searching for the answer.

What else can I do?

Everything feels muted now. Dull. Hollow.

When my eyes opened again, I didn't flinch or gasp. There was no panic left in me. Slowly, I stood and looked forward, waiting. Whatever was coming next, I'd face it.

If I could resist, I would.

If I couldn't… I would accept it.

This trial—it has carved something into me. I'm still me, in some sense, but I've been altered. Reforged. Molded into something that might have a chance in this brutal world. It's given me a gift I never asked for.

And though I despise it, though it disgusts me to admit it… I feel gratitude.

To the unseen, merciless thing watching me from the shadows: thank you.

The world around me shifted.

A vast field spread out beneath a pale blue sky, flowers of every color swaying in a gentle breeze. Petals danced in the air, catching the light like tiny, fragile sparks.

For a moment, it felt beautiful. Almost painfully so.

I waited. Waited for the familiar claws of death to tear into me again.

But nothing came.

I stood there, surrounded by impossible beauty, and there was no pain. No hunger. No fear.

Just… silence. Peace.

The hundredth death never arrived.

I closed my eyes and let the cool breeze wash over me, inhaling the sweet, delicate scent of the flowers.

A soft breath escaped my lips.

"Pfffuu…"

[You Have Overcome the First Trial.]

[Congratulations.]

"…Ahh." My voice cracked with disbelief. "I did it."

Relief didn't come instantly. Only a hollow astonishment, as if my body refused to believe that death had finally loosened its grip.

Maybe this was the lesson all along. Or maybe it wasn't. I couldn't tell. It was just a faint, unshakable feeling buried deep inside me—an understanding I couldn't yet put into words.

But the moment didn't last.

[Second Trial Initiated: An Act of Desperation.]

The white light returned, wrapping around me like chains, dragging me away before I could take another breath.

This time, I didn't resist.

If this was the next step, then I would take it.

---

This time it was different.

I didn't wake up in a fragile body choking on its last breath.

No.

It felt like I'd been dragged—teleported—into an entirely different space.

A pristine white marble hallway stretched endlessly before me. Massive pillars lined both sides, each one towering like the legs of some ancient giant. Compared to this place, I felt like nothing more than an ant crawling in a world built for gods.

The air was heavy. Silent.

I turned my head, scanning the overwhelming vastness. That's when I saw it.

A blade.

It was stuck in the marble floor several meters ahead, its presence almost unnatural in the sterile perfection of this hallway.

My body moved cautiously, each step echoing like a warning through the empty space.

Desperation.

The word burned itself into my mind. It could mean anything here. But deep down, my instincts whispered the truth.

This wasn't about willpower anymore.

This trial… would demand my body.

A different kind of struggle entirely.

When I finally stood before the blade, I could make out its details.

It wasn't a typical knight's sword. No.

This was a katana. Its obsidian-black hilt glimmered faintly, as if it was alive, pulsing with a sinister light. The blade itself… it looked like a river of blood, congealed and forced into a form designed only to split more of it.

There was something terrifying about it.

And yet—

"It's… kind of cool," I murmured under my breath.

Without thinking further, I reached out. My fingers curled around the hilt, cold and unyielding beneath my palm.

Nothing happened.

So I pulled.

One moment, the blade was buried in the floor. The next, it was in my hand.

It felt… perfect.

Alive.

My eyes couldn't tear away. The weapon wasn't just beautiful—it was mesmerizing, like it was whispering to me, promising power if only I'd listen.

While I was still staring at the blade, that familiar, suffocating feeling suddenly hit me.

Death.

It was here.

Before I could even register what was happening, my body moved on instinct. The katana shot up to shield me just as an immense force slammed into me, sending me flying down the marble hallway like a ragdoll.

The impact rattled every bone in my body. My feet barely found purchase as I skidded backward, the blade in my grip trembling violently.

I forced my gaze forward, struggling to make sense of the threat.

And then I saw him.

A knight.

He stood there, towering and immovable—at least four heads taller than me—his presence like an executioner summoned straight from hell. His black armor devoured the surrounding light, and in place of eyes, two burning red flames glared at me with one intent.

To kill.

My body froze for a heartbeat, instincts screaming. The weight of his presence was suffocating, an invisible pressure that tried to crush me where I stood.

That feeling… Death.

I knew it now. After the first trial, I could sense its approach. I didn't fear it anymore—no, fear felt distant, hollow.

But my survival instinct…

That was sharper than ever.

The knight's massive katana gleamed as he shifted his stance, lowering the blade with deliberate, terrifying calm. His posture was relaxed, fluid—like he'd done this a thousand times before.

And I… was holding a child's weapon in comparison.

We locked eyes—or rather, I stared into the twin pits of fire in his helm.

And in that instant, the pressure around me deepened. The air turned heavy, thick with something worse than death.

Hopelessness.

A wave of utter desperation crashed through me like a storm.

This wasn't going to be easy.

But even as the weight tried to crush me, I felt it—the corners of my mouth twitching upward.

A smirk.

Small, unbidden.

"...So this is the Second Trial, huh?"

My knuckles whitened around the hilt as I raised the blade into position.

Fine.

Let's see how long I can last.