[Using Passive Skill: Resurrecting]
The first thing Elian felt was the cold. It bit and crawled up his pale skin, curling up like rot behind his ribs. His eyes snapped open, and the ceiling greeted him with familiar cracks in unfamiliar silence.
His kitchen ceiling.
He jolted up, pushing himself off the ground, slow and stiff. Like something was dragging against his spine with every inch of movement.
His head throbbed in delayed agony, but there was no blood. No scent of it. Not a single drop where his skull had smashed into the floor.
He was whole.
He was alive.
[Resurrecting... Complete.]
[Guess who’s back? Back again. Ugh, never mind.]
[You were dead for 1 minute and 42 seconds. Do better next time.]
Why is it so rude? Is this how the system acts after assigning a class?
[Bite me. Now, get your butt back up.]
Huh?
He stared at the blue-colored system screen. Blinking rapidly to check if all these were real. He watched his own reflection stared back at him in the black surface of the microwave.
He couldn’t remember breathing. Had he been holding it this whole time?
It’s all confusing.
"Why me? Why am I alive?"
[Error 019: Information restricted.]
[...or maybe you’re special. Pick a lie.]
He ignored the system glitch, checking on himself.
His hands were clean. His shirt, bloody. Knees scuffed. The knife wound that carved through his head was gone. Although he could still feel the excruciating pain, his head looked... fine.
He could have sworn his look-alike killed him.
And a Resurrecting skill?
He was still wearing the same clothes from last night. Dried crusts of ant fluid and sweat. His heartbeat came slower now, but every beat felt wrong.
"I died." His voice cracked. "I was dead."
Wasn’t I?
His body didn’t ache like it should. There were no wounds to stitch, no broken bones. The world hadn’t paused for him as the time had rolled forward like nothing happened.
He looked at the table. The one he’d slammed into. The corner was still there. Sharp and clean. Not even a smear of blood on the edge.
A breath shook out of his lungs, and he staggered toward the window, wrenching the curtain open.
Cars moved down the street like they always did.
A dog barked somewhere.
The world hadn’t changed.
But he had.
He opened his system panel.
[Name: Elian Talon]
[Rank: E]
[Class: Pawn]
[Skills Unlocked: 0]
[Hidden Skills: 5 (Locked)]
[Potential: ?¿]
[Trait: Passive Resurrection – Divine Variant]
[Please keep this a secret. Seriously.]
He blinked twice at the trait line.
Passive Resurrection.
Not even a listed Constellation name. He doesn’t have a divine sponsor, nor a prophecy. Nothing worthy of a resurrection flag. What sub-class of a pawn did he belong to?
He checked the skills again. Five, written in red and locked.
[Requirements to Unlock:]
→ Reach Level 10
→ Complete Class Promotion Quest.
→ Survive Five Fatal Encounters
[Progress: 1 / 5]
"Five?"
[Yup.]
[Better start dying faster. Or, I don’t know, maybe learn how to not suck.]
He closed the screen. His breathing hadn’t evened out. His head still spun.
This wasn’t a dream. If it was, it was the kind that stole things on the way out.
His mother was dead.
His whole family were replaced by a bunch of graybloods dopplegängers.
Wait.
My sister!
He didn’t hear the soft groan from the passageway until he was halfway to the sink.
"Elian...?"
His body stiffened.
He turned slowly, pulse held hostage in his throat.
Rin.
She was slumped near the doorframe, her hair matted to her face, clothes wrinkled and torn at the hem.
She blinked up at him with a dazed expression, hands bracing against the floor like she was dragging herself out of someone else’s nightmare.
His feet moved before his brain caught up. He dropped beside her, fingers under her chin, scanning her eyes, her pupils, the rhythm of her breath.
"S-say your cereal. Right now. What’s your favorite cereal?"
Her brow furrowed. "What...?"
"Cereal. Favorite."
"Cindy Bites?" she rasped. "Why—why are you—?"
"Which type did you hate?"
"The chocolate ones. Why all these questions?" She stared at him like he’d lost it.
"Elian, what happened—?"
He hugged her, crushing her to his chest so hard she wheezed. "Okay," he muttered. "You’re real," his breath choked in his lungs. You’re real.
His younger sister, Rin. 18 years old. D Rank. Class status yet to be obtained, and the family’s only hope.
Most females ranked from A-D classes are either [Queen] or [Knight]. Pinning hopes on her if she were ever to be realized. And she only has a year left for the effect to take place.
She blinked again. "Why wouldn’t I be real?"
He let her go. Backing away and pressed his palm into his forehead. "I..."
She stiffened, standing up. "What’s going on? Why’s your cloth covered in blood? Where’s mum and Milo? I— I could have sworn... I was— was just standing here, then I fell—"
"They were... replaced." His voice dropped to gravel, biting his lips as he avoided her gaze. "The doppelgängers... they got them."
Rin’s knees gave out. He caught her, dragging her to the ground with him. Her breath hitched, once, then again. Like a dam cracking.
She flinched. "No. No, this is a dream. This isn’t real. I thought we got separated from the historical lesser world! Where’s mum? She’s out working overtime right?"
Tears welled up his eyes.
"... Right?"
Her eyes trembled, lips quivering, biting back tears and the urge to scream.
He pulled her in, hugging her as tightly as he could while she cried, wailing so loudly, clutching his blood-stained shirt.
He bit his lips, refusing to cry. But the ball in his throat only tightened up. He stroked his sister’s hair. "Shhh. It’s okay. I’m still here, aren’t I? Your big brother is still alive. Everything will be fine."
Seconds later, her breathing returned back to normal. Even though his shirt was now mascara-stained, foundation-stained, lipstick-stained and tear-stained. He found the little joy from her warmth.
Eventually, she’ll be forced to suck it up. Death simply means being erased out of this world. No one bats an eye to it.
But...
Why hadn’t they taken her?
Did her own lookalike forget? Or was she just lucky? Is there a chance mother would be alive too?
[That’s a stupid question to ask. Everyone knows if you meet your doppleganger... it’s an instant death!]
[Especially with the one of a higher class! Does dumbness run in your family?]
For goodness sake! Shut up!
[Sheesh. You ain’t this awful to me.]
"I got assigned a class today." Elian tried changing the subject.
"Pawn," he said quietly. "That’s my class."
"...That’s not so bad. You can level—"
"No. It is that bad. You don’t understand." His voice shook. "Pawn class means I’m at the bottom of the system. I’m meat. I’m backup. I’m the class people inherit when they’ve got nothing to offer. Even a D-rank Knight can get recruited. Even an F-rank Bishop can fake it. But a Pawn?"
His hand clenched. "They laugh at Pawns. And my Rank’s E. That’s worse. That’s a walking grave." But he did survive a fate worse than death.
Maybe his class changed.
He checked his system again. Just to be sure.
It hasn’t changed a bit.
[Class: Pawn]
[Rank: E]
[Potential: ?]
[Status: Undesirable]
[But hey, chin up. There’s nowhere lower to fall.]
Yeah, fine. There is nowhere lower to fall. But Elian swore today.
Those dopplegängers, dustwalkers, graybloods— whatever they were called.
They’ll pay.
He’ll find every single one involved in his family massacre. And he’ll kill all of them.
Even if they bore the same face as him.
With his new resurrection skill, if he has to die a hundred times to get his revenge, he’ll die one-thousand miserable deaths.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled, like an earthquake was about to occur. The building shook, causing both of them to fall to the ground.
The system notification pinged again.
[Alert: New dungeon break! Find somewhere safe to stay.]
It looked like a general notification, taking a glance at Rin, she also got the same notification.
But only that his own system continued.
[Well, that’s what I’ll say... but sike on you!]
[New Quest: Die A Hero Reject.]
[Survive Five Fatal Encounters.]
[Progress: 1/5]
[Reward: New skill?]
[Penalty if failed: A Day In The Forgotten Tomb.]
[Tip: Trust me, you don’t want that. Well, my role is done. Go be a Hero or whatever.]
Elian stood there shocked. What the hell is this bullshit? He can’t just throw himself in danger without any weapon. He only has a wooden ass stick to his name.
And zero skills!
[So the whole monologue about dying Ten thousand times was a lie? Welp.]
What?
Hey suckerbot! Why would I do something stupid like that? And what the hell is a ’Hero Reject’. I can’t do this!
The ground rumbled once more, and from the road side, a new monster emerged, it was a red caterpillar about the size of a truck. He should fight that thing?
[Excuse you. Suckerbot??? I SAVED your life. Now if you don’t want to lose anymore lives AGAIN. Go out there.]
[Time Duration: 15 minutes.]
[HP: 260/260]
[Mana: 70%]
[Goodluck!! I Am DEFINITELY Rooting For You.]