The taxi drove away.
Four of them his mother, father, sister and himself turned toward their front gate. Then suddenly —
BOOM!
A deafening explosion ripped through the night.
A sphere of blinding crimson energy burst into existence around them, swallowing the street whole. It was not normal fire, this was something far more violent, far more ancient. It was like a miniature sun erupted on their doorstep.
The heat hit Alex like an iron hammer.
His lungs refused to breathe. His skin felt like it was being torn apart by molten air.
"w-what's happening?!" he tried to scream, but no sound escaped.
Red light consumed everything.
Then—
A cold, mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
The fire swallowed him whole.
<...>
The system kept speaking, but Alex never heard the end of it. His awareness faded, torn away as if someone had flipped a switch.
Darkness followed.
Not the kind that came with sleep, but something deeper. Heavier. A void without edges or direction. Silent. Empty. Endless.
Somewhere in that nothingness floated a small glowing sphere, radiating an unfamiliar yet unforgettable energy. It was the only thing that existed, the only thing that gave the darkness meaning.
Alex felt himself drifting, though he couldn't tell if he was moving at all. He tried to open his eyes, but there was no change. No light. No sound. No sensation. He couldn't feel his arms, his legs, or even his heartbeat.
He couldn't feel himself.
Only darkness remained.
Am… I dead?
The thought surfaced weakly, trembling as if even thinking required effort.
Memories returned in fragments. The party. The taxi ride. The quiet street. The front gate. The explosion. The fire.
And then, the voice.
The one that called itself a system.
As if responding to his thoughts, the mechanical voice echoed inside his mind once more.
The voice felt uncomfortably close, as though it were part of his own thoughts. Yet at the same time, it was foreign, artificial, and completely devoid of emotion. That contradiction unsettled him more than the darkness.
Who… who are you?!
Alex's awareness jolted, not from fear, but from sheer shock.
The response came instantly.
That answer only deepened the confusion.
That doesn't explain anything! What are you? Why are you in me? Where did you come from?!
No matter how he questioned it, the reply never changed. Calm. Mechanical. Absolute. It felt as if the system were deliberately ignoring his panic.
Frustration welled up inside him, sharp and suffocating, but there was nothing he could do. Time seemed meaningless here. It stretched on endlessly until boredom and irritation began to gnaw at his thoughts.
Finally, he asked the one question that felt unavoidable.
What is an Undying System?
The answer was different this time.
Alex felt a flicker of relief. At least it was something new.
Required qualities? What requirements?
<...>
What? My presence caused an error?
Confusion washed over him, thicker than before. Before he could dwell on it, the system continued.
Alex froze.
Cannot die!
The words echoed endlessly in his mind, drowning out everything else. It felt as if time itself had stopped.
Never die? How was that even possible? Every living thing eventually faced death. Humans. Animals. Even trees withered and fell. Death was unavoidable.
And yet this voice was telling him he could never die.
He wanted to deny it. He wanted to call it impossible. But deep inside, he felt a strange certainty, a connection that told him the system was not lying.
Then another thought struck him.
The system had said it connected to him after his death.
Did that mean the system was the reason he couldn't die?
He thought it over carefully.
No.
Earlier, the system had said the energy was already part of his soul. That was what made him undying.
That made sense.
But it also raised another problem. If that energy had already been inside him, how could he have died in the first place?
Maybe the energy appeared after his death. But that didn't fit either. The system had already been connected to him before the explosion. He remembered that clearly.
Which meant he had possessed this energy even while alive.
So he could die.
And yet, somehow, he also couldn't.
The contradiction twisted his thoughts into knots.
What is the explanation?
He asked the system.
The response felt final, like a wall he couldn't break through. He waited, hoping for another change, another update.
Nothing happened.
Eventually, Alex let the questions fade. There was no point forcing answers that wouldn't come.
He sighed, the sound existing only in his mind.
So… I really died.
A heavy ache settled inside him, quiet but painful.
Does that mean I'm not human anymore?
Alex was stunned.
I can do that?
Does that mean I can possess other bodies too?
The implications were overwhelming, but one question pushed itself forward.
How do I gain a human body?
Tasks...What tasks?
***
AN: Hi. I truly hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's my first attempt at writing. If you did, while giving golden tickets might not be possible, I would truly appreciate powerstones or comments. They'll motivate me and also help this story reach more readers. Thank you for reading.