Dying is something all humans go through. Even Nexus Beings, who are perceived as godlike beings, also die in the worst ways possible. Many die during events, others at the claws of alien creatures. At the same time, some die at the hands of other Nexus Beings because the system isn’t fair enough to bless only those with noble intentions.

  Death by poison is something I thought I would never experience. The feeling of having your heart explode shortly after every organ has given out is quite excruciatingly memorable.

  To think that that poison was powerful enough to render my “enhanced” body useless.

  Fuck.

  I had died.

  Well…at least that is what I thought until I heard the system announce something about a legendary ability.

  **

  I blinked once, and I was once again standing at the beginning of the field. I feel a little nauseous, and I want to hurl, but I am perfectly fine.

  My wounds are all gone, and I feel strong once again.

  However, despite my great condition, I get a bad feeling.

  How the hell am I still alive?

  I try to remain calm and look for answers through the system. I call for the system wind. But before it appears, another message appears in front of me:

  [You have been Cursed]

  ‘Crap.’

  Then, the window appears

  Name: Astrid

  Species: Human

  Abilities: Dormant

  Nexus Blessing: [The Fire], [Silver Child]

  Nexus Curse: [Unknown]

  Description: [Since Death is Human. You will not have it]

  I linger on the statement for a few more seconds. When I figure out what it means, I cannot help but lose it and scream to the skies while stomping like a whining child.

  These damn bastards have cursed me in a way that entertains them. They saw me die and picked the worst curse you can give to a human. They had turned me into an Undying.

  I am back here because time has reversed to the point where I was about to kill the fifth flower. Like a save point in a game.

  I close the system window and heave out a long-awaited sigh.

  This is a huge setback. I have become an undying through a curse, so I can’t walk out of this whole thing by dying. I could decide to stay in Nether, but I’m not a Nexus Being. If I get killed, I will stay in a loop of dying and returning over and over until I find a soul and get out of this realm.

  Shit. And I don’t want to die. I don’t want to hear that message again or feel the pain again. It would be nice for death to be a one-and-done.

  However, experiencing it multiple times did not sit right with me.

  I close my eyes for a moment to censor out the noise around me. To survive, I need to fight monsters of all sorts and get myself a soul. I’ll figure out how to escape Bloodhaul when I get there.

  “Alright, constellations. It seems I have to participate just like you want me to. Mark my words, you won’t get away with it, you self-centered brats.”

  I notice one of the flowers is trying to attack me. I move, dodging its quick grasp, and use my bone spear to cut it.

  When one of them is down, the other flowers seem to react with violence. They attack me and I spare no second to fight back as though my life depends on it.

  My spear moves through the air like lightning. Its weight is working in my advantage. The pointed and sharp edge severed every tendril with ease as I moved through the field of vicious flowers.

  Yes. I now have a different outlook on them since my first death was from these pretty flowers. Luckily, they were no match for my skill with the spear and eventually they realized they were no match for me and retreated immediately.

  I make it through the field thanks to my somewhat good navigation skills that lead me to a part of the mountain that is mostly covered in white mist and I can barely see a thing.

  I hear some low growling and movements inside the white fog, but I stay calm and continue using my surroundings to favor myself. I hide behind a few rocks, squint my eyes a little, then proceed when I’m sure that there isn’t any movement or a strange shadow.

  Death has really made me more cautious than I thought. Regressing didn’t sound as good as you think. Death should be a one and permanent thing. Experiencing it multiple times can break the mind to a certain degree. Take the Undying, for example. Each one of them was once a Nexus Being with the ability to cheat death. However, that same ability became the reason for their demise. This is simply because humans aren’t meant to experience death multiple times.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  It’s a curse disguised as a blessing to fool mortals like us. This means that if I also experience death many times, my mind too might break into madness like the other undying.

  Henceforth, I have no other choice but to try and stay alive. Death is not an option.

  I peek beyond the rock I’m using to hide. I don’t see anything except white. I’m feeling hesitant to continue. But once again, this is the only way I can survive, by moving forward.

  The further I go, the harder it becomes for me to see. I’m squinting my eyes harder, and I’m soon closing them completely. My steps are silent as they press against the earth. My bone spear is out, ready to strike anything that comes in my direction.

  I don’t have the best vision, but my sharp senses will react in case something changes in the mist.

  After what felt like a couple of hours, the rocks I was using as hiding spots appeared less and less. And eventually, the terrain was flat and covered in white.

  Above me is a small opening. It looks like I’ve walked into a chasm in the black mountains. I keep my breath steady as I navigate the dark territory.

  Everything is the same for a while until I step onto something that alerts me immediately. It clanks right away, and my spear is already pointing at it. I look down and see a broken sword along with other scattered supplies with the special insignia of Bloodhaul on them.

  Without questioning my conscious, my instincts snap and I begin searching around for any real food. In less than a minute, I find some dry, cold bread on the ground. It's dusty and dirty, but I don’t care as I shove it down into my mouth like a hyena and start eating it. It tastes like medicine--just like everything in Bloodhaul--but I eat because I am desperate and hungry.

  All seems well, right? Well. That’s until I am searching through the supplies for water, when I notice a red sticky liquid on the ground. The cold temperature of this mountain hasn’t let it dry out yet, so it's still wet and cold.

  I touch the liquid and bring it close to my nose and sniff. It smells like metal. This is blood. Actual human blood!

  Curious about who this blood belongs to, I take a step forward, and the mist clears slightly to reveal whose blood this is.

  Crap. This is bad. There are body parts scattered everywhere. Hands, legs, arms, and a few organs. Some are fully missing, like hearts, while others are chewed up with a few bits remaining.

  My composure shatters, and my body quivers. I want to vomit, but I swallow it back and keep on moving like a brave idiot looking for death. The smell of blood gets stronger, and soon, I see the owners of these body parts on the ground.

  I'm taken aback by the scene of course.

  Mark, Ronnie, and Victoria.

  Their heads have all been lined up and made to stare at the sky. Each of them wore their final expressions before what appeared to be their gruesome deaths. Whatever had killed them had fun dismembering them and playing with their organs while they were still alive.

  Marc had been a pushover. Ronnie was a headache who made noise all the time. And Victoria was a humble girl who always worked hard to impress Dr. Wall. All three believed in him, and they were now dead.

  Meanwhile, me, the one who doesn’t believe his bullshit, has just become an undying.

  Fate is truly unfair.

  I look at what’s left of them one more time and sigh. Seeing the people you’ve grown up with in this state hits a lot harder than expected. To think that I might see more of this even made my chest hurt a little.

  “I hope you’re at peace, brothers and sister.”

  I pray before grabbing what I can and continuing to move without looking back. I cannot have what killed those three find me, too. I run as fast as I can through the fog, which gets thicker as I continue running.

  I reach an area where I am just relying on my senses alone to navigate. This would’ve been better if I had special vision glasses. You know, like the ones explorers use when navigating cold worlds with saturated humidity.

  I squint my eyes many times. And eventually, I lost most of my visibility. I can only see what’s very close to me, and that’s it.

  The fog is a problem. It makes it hard for me to track my enemies. And lucky for me, it seems my enemies don't see me thanks to the fog.

  My luck runs out fast because suddenly, something shifts, and the fog moves.

  My pulse spikes, and I freeze. My senses twist like a compass under a storm.

  Whoosh!

  My body drops instinctively. A sharp sound cuts through the silence when something slices through the air just inches above my head.

  I don’t see it. But the fog parts again, this time in a vertical slash. My hands move before I can think. I yank my spear forward and brace for the impact.

  CLACK!

  The force jars my arms, and I stumble back. My weapon cracks from the pressure. This was a clean, brutal strike.

  My eyes widen. That wasn’t just a blade.

  It was a magic sword because I could feel the faint star ether on it.

  I stagger, and in that brief second, my attacker slides low.

  My feet are swept out from under me. My body slams into the ground with a blunt, painful thud that knocks the air out of my lungs.

  I curse under my breath.

  Then—

  Steel.

  A silver blade hovers inches from my face, the edge so close I can see my blurred reflection in it.

  My breath hitches. I can barely make out the person behind the blade. He was human. A kid just like me.

  He lowers the sword slightly, staring at me with wide, horrified eyes.

  “Astrid?” he breathes, as if saying my name burns his tongue. “My gods… you’re real.”

  I snarl and shove the sword aside with a burst of strength. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He offers me a hand and pulls me up.

  That’s when I get a better look at him.

  Nico. Another test subject from Bloodhaul. A clone like me. His usually neat gunmetal hair is a mess, tangled with dust and sweat. The round metal-wired glasses he always wore are cracked—fractured like the rest of him.

  “Because this place can play with your mind,” he says, voice trembling, breath ragged like he’s just run a marathon. “I thought… I was the only one who survived.”

  “Survived what exactly?”

  The moment the words leave my mouth, Nico’s breath catches. His eyes go wide with fear. He grabs my arm, hard, and clamps a hand over my mouth before I can say another word.

  Then I hear it. The fog twists. Something shoots out from the grey veil and strikes the wall behind us with a deafening crack.

  Stone shatters.

  We don’t move.

  Not because we’re trapped. No.

  We’re too petrified to move.

  And then come the sounds—clicking noises from the fog. Like bones tapping against marble.

  And then I feel it, the bloodlust. It's bloodlust so thick it feels like it’s crawling into my skin. My heart plummets to my stomach. Sweat beads down my temple. My pulse is pounding, too fast, too loud.

  Click!

  The sound grows louder. Closer. My instincts scream to run. To reach for my spear. But what can I do?

  Then I see it.

  Just a glimpse—its hand emerging from the mist. Gnarled, bark-like fingers that look like roots from an ancient, withered tree. At the tips, black, curved claws. Everything about it feels wrong, as though it's rejected by nature.

  I flinch. I almost move, but Nico holds me tighter, shaking his head slowly, eyes wide. They were a warning telling me:

  If you move… You die. Just like the others.

  Click. Click. Click.

  It’s here.

  A meter away. And then I see its head.

  It has no eyes. Just a long horizontal slit across its face—a grotesque, oversized mouth, stretching into a sickening smile. Above that maw, I see vines. Wriggling, twitching tendrils covering its head, like hair that’s alive. Searching.

  Searching for us.

  I really don't want to die a second time. I don't even think an entire day has gone by since I last died.