“Hah… Hah….”
FWOOSH—
An unnatural blue flame was burning.
It clung to one side of a wall built from something resembling black bricks, flickering so precariously that it seemed about to go out at any moment.
The flame seemed to reflect the life I had left.
Not the last leaf, but the last flame, huh?
“Phew….”
Was that a sigh escaping my parched lips, or regret?
The breath that had risen to my throat dispersed and vanished, leaving only a ringing in my ears.
My feverish body was slowly cooking my fragile brain, and my mind was crumbling as though it were being shattered into pieces.
Trying to forget the state of my body, if only for a moment, I moved my still-functioning eyes and surveyed my surroundings.
A space steeped in silent darkness.
Bleached-white bones lay scattered across the black floor, and around them, a crimson lake rippled faintly.
A lone shadow sat slumped in the middle of that crimson lake.
Yes, that was me, dying at its center.
I'd torn up some clothes and roughly bound my wound, but the blood kept flowing, as though that wasn't nearly enough.
I regretted it, yet I didn't.
Those contradictory feelings soaked me like rain.
It had all started with a spam email that arrived one day.
—Hiring for short-term, high-paying work.
Anyone could tell that the email reeked of something illegal.
But I had no choice.
I was that desperate.
So, grasping at straws, I went to the address written in the email.
What I found there was an abandoned building where construction had stopped long ago.
‘The cleanup's already done. All you have to do is go in and pick up the mana stones.’
That was how the man who seemed to be in charge explained the job.
His explanation was simple, but it sounded fairly convincing.
A large number of ordinary people would search a wide area inside the Gate and sell the mana stones they found, at slightly below market price, to a small number of Awakened who had the means to sell them.
It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, not a contract where one side profited at the other's expense.
That reassured me somewhat. I'd been on guard against human trafficking or a scam, but I agreed to search the Gate….
‘Clatter?’
‘Damn it! Why are there still monsters here?!’
‘Everybody, run!’
‘Aaaaaah!’
Whether it was bad luck or those Awakened bastards had done a sloppy job of searching, a monster left inside the Gate attacked us.
Fortunately, it was a Skeleton Soldier, famous for being one of the three weakest types of monster.
Thanks to that, even an ordinary person like me, who hadn't Awakened yet, could put up some resistance. Somehow, I managed to smash one Skeleton Soldier's skull and send it rolling across the floor over there.
If it had been any other monster, that would probably have been my own head rolling around on the floor.
Well, that didn't mean I could celebrate my good fortune.
I'd probably be dead soon, too.
The wound I'd suffered while dodging the Skeleton Soldier's attack was quite deep. If I didn't receive treatment, I would definitely die.
In fact, it was the kind of wound that could easily be healed with a simple potion or healing scroll, but….
Heh—
If I could afford things like that, I wouldn't have given a job like this a second glance.
In the end, my only options were to wait for someone to come or to escape this place myself and reach the Gate's entrance.
But neither was possible anymore.
Maybe the wound the Skeleton Soldier had inflicted had started to rot, or maybe the muscles had been severed. Either way, my right leg wouldn't move.
My left leg wasn't moving particularly well, either.
There was no way I could walk on legs like these.
Besides, the world had already put me through too much for me to indulge in the hopeful thought that someone would come to rescue me.
Most of the people who'd entered with me were probably dead or waiting to die, just like me.
Even if the Awakened who'd brought us here showed up, it was obvious what would happen: they'd take our mana stones and kill us to keep us quiet.
I was cornered.
I couldn't see any way to survive.
“So this is how I die….”
The words scraped their way out of my throat like metal grinding against metal.
I don't want to die like this.
Dying all alone, somewhere inside a Gate, without anyone knowing? That was the worst.
No. More importantly, there was still something I had to do.
So I couldn't die here.
But how?
I'd fled in such a panic that I had no idea where the exit was, and my legs wouldn't move.
What could I possibly do in this situation?
Nothing.
There was nothing I could do.
“Hahahah!”
I laughed.
It was simply ridiculous.
After fighting tooth and nail to stay alive all this time, I was going to die like this. It was so absurd that I couldn't hold back my laughter.
Clear tears mingled with the bright-red blood.
After laughing for a long while, I closed my eyes.
Once I accepted death, I felt at peace.
‘Heehee! I love you!’
Just then, a smile surfaced from the far reaches of my memory.
That smile seemed to be cheering me on and scolding me at the same time.
“…Yeah. I can't give up like this.”
If only because it would be a waste of all the years I'd fought to survive, I couldn't give up now.
Forcing my screaming muscles to move, I raised myself off the ground.
I pounded my log-like legs and took one step after another.
THUMP!
“Urgh!”
But I didn't get far.
How many steps had I taken? Even my left leg, which had barely been moving, stopped working altogether.
Are you going to give up because of that?
No.
Of course not.
I recalled her face and steeled my resolve once more.
My legs won't move?
Then I'll crawl.
Surely that was why God had given human beings two arms.
SCRAAAPE!
My body scraped against the floor, opening more wounds.
SCRAAAPE!
Wounds that had begun to close split open again and grew worse.
SCRAAAPE!
The skin peeled off my hands as they pressed against the ground, leaving bloody marks behind.
SCRAAAPE!
Even so, I didn't stop.
Life is about moving forward.
The moment you stop, you die.
Holding on to that thought, I kept crawling.
If someone saw me, they might laugh at me for crawling like a caterpillar.
They might despise me for being ugly and pathetic.
They might click their tongues and call me a fool.
So what? This is my way of doing things.
I'm not going to stand still and die.
Even if I have to lie facedown and crawl pathetically through the dirt, I'll survive no matter what.
That was my resolve.
DING!
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ takes an interest in you.]
Something translucent appeared before my eyes.
For a moment, I thought I'd Awakened, but it was just a notification from the System.
After a brief pang of disappointment, I began to think.
It was extremely rare for the System to appear before an ordinary person who hadn't Awakened.
And then there was this ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ who'd taken an interest in me.
I'd heard of her before.
She was a goddess said to appear before people at the very end of their lives and offer them one last chance.
Nobody knew whether she was a Constellation or something else entirely, but quite a few Awakened had testified to meeting her.
However, most of the Awakened who met her met their ruin within three months. Even those who lasted longer were all ruined within six.
That was why she had such a poor reputation among the Awakened.
—Here's the thing about the Damn Goddess: Abandon all hope, ye who meet the Damn Goddess.
—Isn't the Damn Goddess secretly just a voyeur who enjoys watching people struggle while pretending to give them a chance? Otherwise, how come not a single Awakened has survived the cursed six-month mark?
—Honestly, I'd rather just die than accept the Damn Goddess's offer, suffer, and die anyway.
“Hahahah!”
I couldn't help laughing at the thought that such a being had come to me.
Just how much of a ruined life must I have led for her to take an interest in me when I hadn't even Awakened yet?
I laughed for a long time, overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.
“Cough! Hey, Goddess….”
Blood sprayed from my bone-dry mouth instead of saliva.
“A chance… Give me a chance.”
But even if ruin was guaranteed, a chance was still a chance.
I had to seize this miracle.
Even if I lived for just one day and suffered for a year, I had to take it.
“I'll do whatever you tell me. I don't care if I'm doomed later. Just give me a chance….”
Ah, my consciousness is fading.
Well, I'd crawled across the ground with a body that was already wrecked beyond repair.
Maybe some chemical reaction involving dopamine or whatever had kept me going while I crawled, but now it really was over.
The stench of blood filled my nose, and the agony of my entire body being torn apart returned with terrible clarity.
It hurts.
It burns, stings, aches, throbs, suffocates, and feels as though I'm on fire.
“Urrrgh….”
The pain was so terrible that dying right now would be easier, but I couldn't die.
A red carpet made of blood stretched far into the distance. It wouldn't be strange if I died at any moment.
But I couldn't die yet.
So please.
If there is a god, if you are a god, give me a chance.
You're the Goddess of the Doomed, aren't you? I don't care if I fall into despair or meet my ruin.
Please.
Give me a chance to live….
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ makes you an offer.
Party A, the ‘Goddess of the Doomed’, shall grant Party B a second life.
Do you accept?
-Yes / No]
As my consciousness slowly slipped away, I smiled at the window I could barely make out.
[You have accepted the ‘Goddess of the Doomed’s’ offer.]
[The contract is being executed. (0%)]
That was the last and only memory I had of ‘myself’.
***
Crackle, crackle.
The sound of a burning campfire slowly brought my sleeping consciousness back to the surface.
It felt as though I'd merely dozed off for a moment.
I distinctly remembered accepting the ‘Goddess of the Doomed’s’ offer….
But whether I'd fainted immediately afterward or something else had happened, I couldn't remember anything beyond that.
“Clatter, clack.”
‘Anyway, where am I?’
I looked around for a moment and realized something had changed.
I'd definitely lost consciousness in a corridor lined with black bricks.
But this was a round chamber that seemed to have been built from gray marble.
Remnants of statues and various structures were scattered everywhere, as though a temple had weathered and crumbled over the course of many years.
And the blue flame burning at its center seemed to confirm that this was somewhere else entirely.
“Clatter?”
‘It's not like someone could've carried me here….’
…?
“Cl-clack?!”
‘Wh-what?!’
I was clearly talking to myself, yet instead of my voice, all I heard was rattling and clacking.
Panicking, I looked around and only then noticed the pure-white bones.
No, that was my arm.
“Clack?”
‘???’
And it wasn't just my arm.
There was a gaping hole where my chest had been, leaving my white ribs fully exposed. My legs and face were the same.
“Clack….”
‘It's almost like I've become a Skeleton Soldier….’
An ominous feeling suddenly swept over me.
Just then.
DING!
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ greets you warmly and says hello!]
“Clatter! Clatter!”
‘Forget the greeting! What's going on here?!’
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ gives you a pathetic look, pointing out that you're the one who accepted her offer.]
“Clack?”
‘Offer?’
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ sighs and shows you part of the contract.]
Another window appeared before my eyes alongside the System's message.
[Party A, the ‘Goddess of the Doomed’, shall resurrect Party B as a Skeleton Soldier, and Party B shall devote the rest of their life to serving as an Apostle of the ‘Goddess of the Doomed’.]
***
“Cl-clack! Clatter!”
‘Th-this is a fraudulent contract!!!’
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ pretends not to hear you, saying it's your fault for agreeing without properly reading the contract.]
Well, that was true, but….
Even so, resurrecting me as a skeleton and making me spend the rest of my life as her Apostle?
No matter how I looked at it, this was ridiculously unfair.
No wonder the other Awakened called her the Damn Goddess….
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ gets angry and tells you not to call her by such an irreverent nickname.]
Then do a better job!
I asked you to save me! Who asked you to resurrect me as a skeleton?!
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ angrily says it's your fault for only falling into despair when you were on the verge of death, and that she was too late because of you.]
Then you should've come sooner!
Why are you blaming me for your own lack of ability?!
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ points out that you're still the one who accepted the contract.]
That's….
Damn it. She was right that I hadn't read the contract properly, so I didn't have much of a comeback.
Th-then why did it have to be a Skeleton Soldier of all things?
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ shakes her head, saying that resurrection naturally requires a price of equal magnitude.]
At the word ‘price’, the anger that had filled my head over being resurrected as a skeleton instantly cooled and settled.
Wait. Don't tell me there's another price to pay?
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ says you're annoyingly quick on the uptake and tells you to open your Status Window.]
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
Well, I didn't have any skin left to sweat with, but still.
Either way, I couldn't help feeling anxious at the realization that there was something more.
“Clatter.”
‘Status Window.’
So I cautiously opened my Status Window.
[Name]: None
[Class]: Skeleton Archer
[Stats]
-Stamina: 10
-Agility: 15
-Mana: 5
-Strength: 10
-Faith: 1
[Skills]
[Archery] - Lv.1
[Bone Manipulation] - Lv.1
[Bone Replacement] - Lv.1
The Status Window, something I'd never seen while I was alive, displayed pitiful stats that laid bare exactly what I had become….
And an empty name field.
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ says that is the price of resurrection.]
What do you mean? How can I not have a name?
I'm….
I'm….
….
A meaningless emotion lingered in my mouth.
I wanted to open it and spit that feeling out right away, but there was nothing inside my mouth to spit out.
[The ‘Goddess of the Doomed’ says that isn't all, and that your memories won't be intact either.]
“Clatter, clatter.”
‘H-hahahahaha!’
It was true.
I really couldn't remember anything.
Other than the memory of being wounded and dying inside the Gate, I couldn't remember who I was.
When I'd been born, or what I'd done with my life.
I couldn't even remember why I'd fought so desperately to stay alive.
“Clatter! Clatter!”
‘Hahahahahahaha!’
Fuck, what is this….
I'd lost everything.
All I had left was a body made of rattling bones that couldn't even laugh properly.
So I laughed.
At this point, I wasn't even sure whether I had a mouth anymore….
Because laughter was the only thing I could do now.