Chapter 01
Breath rushed up to the tip of my throat. My pounding heart felt like it was screaming. As I sprinted along the dirt path, my ankle twisted sharply, and my body pitched forward.
Just before I hit the ground, a firm arm caught me. My body was lifted cleanly, and my vision flipped upside down.
“You thought I’d let you go just because you died and ran away?”
Purple eyes glowed faintly with something unsettling. Unlike the man who had always been gentle and considerate toward me, his breathing was rough. His completely different demeanor from what I remembered made me shrink my neck and shake my head.
No, that’s not it. I wasn’t trying to run away. Well, I did run just now, but it wasn’t like I was trying to disappear for good.
As I struggled to find words to calm his anger, another large hand grabbed my left wrist.
“You said you’d die together with me.”
I don’t want to die together with you!
I wanted to shout that, but seeing his forearm thicker than my thigh made my heart shrink in fear. I hadn’t realized it before—he had never frightened me, so I hadn’t understood it. How threatening a man this huge could be, his shadow large enough to swallow my entire body.
Perhaps sensing my fear, his grip loosened slightly. I slapped his hand off my wrist, and he obediently let go.
But before I could even break free from his arms, my ankle was grabbed again.
Dragged by my ankle, I was laid flat on the ground. Then elegant long fingers brushed up and lightly closed around my neck.
It wasn’t pressure. I wasn’t being strangled. And yet I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I had been caught by a giant serpent.
I lifted my head desperately, looking upward, and saw his face looking down at me with a sorrowful expression. I was clearly the one in danger, yet tears filled his eyes.
“Have you ever thought about how I felt when I lost you right before my eyes?”
Yes. I have. I’ve thought about it a lot. I’m sorry.
I would apologize properly and beg, so could you just let me go? I’m scared now.
Before I could even plead, his long fingers tightened around my neck and pressed down. I gasped, my chest heaving violently.
He looked down at me indifferently and spoke.
“I belong to you. So if you intend to leave, take my life with you.”
I’ve said it so many times—I didn’t choose to disappear in front of you!
Between three men who looked like they would kill me and then take their own lives, I writhed in frustration.
I’m the victim here. It’s all because of that damn system window.
Someone, please stop these insane men!
Becoming a hero had been my lifelong dream since childhood.
A hero who saves people in danger, then leaves without even looking back, heading off to save someone else. That dignified back view had always looked so cool.
I was an ordinary person, so I could never become such a hero. But if I had some hidden special ability, maybe I could save people in danger.
It might have been a childish fantasy I carried in my heart for twenty-six years.
But I didn’t mean I wanted to save someone and die in their place.
Screeeeeech!
I never thought I’d die after saving a child who fell onto the train tracks.
I had thought I had enough time to dodge when I saw the train coming in the distance, but when I came to my senses, it was right in front of me.
My whole body was torn apart, and I didn’t even know how I died. Still, the child survived, so maybe I’d appear in the news as a brave citizen.
They say a tiger leaves its skin when it dies, and a person leaves their name. If my name, “Seong Joo-in,” was left in a newspaper article, that wouldn’t be such a bad end.
I couldn’t become the hero I dreamed of, but as an ordinary human, I’d done quite well.
Everything around me was pitch black.
In movies, when you die saving someone, a grim reaper comes to take you away, but I couldn’t see anything.
‘So there is no afterlife.’
Just as I thought that, a mechanical fanfare sounded and a system window appeared in front of me.
Pathetic Sacrifice Lv.1
Congratulations! You are a righteous person who saved another’s life.
A new life is granted to a righteous person who dies before completing their natural lifespan.
Do you accept the life reward?
Yes / No
…If I press “Yes” here, does that mean reincarnation?
So there’s no afterlife, but there is a reincarnation truck.
Well, I was hit by a subway, not a truck.
I stared at the absurd system window more unbelievable than any grim reaper.
“Pathetic Sacrifice,” huh. I mean, I’d get a bravery award if I were alive.
I reached toward the window. It was strange that I still had arms and legs after being completely mangled to death.
[Yes]
Naturally, I clicked “Yes.” I couldn’t imagine anyone choosing “No” unless they had a death wish.
A small hourglass spun, and a window appeared: “Loading…”
So slow. Hurry up!
Give it to me quickly. New life! New body, new life!
Preferably like those romance fantasy novels my friend reads—reborn as a rich villainess who dodges death flags while casually charming the male lead.
But the next message shattered all those expectations.
Beginner Bonus
In 30 days, you will save one person and die.
Excuse me. Could you explain where exactly the “bonus” is in this?
I died after saving someone, and now I only get 30 extra days—and I die again after saving someone? Are you kidding me?
I rarely ever cursed in my life, but I couldn’t help it.
“This is f—…”
But I couldn’t finish.
My vision blurred, and it felt like something was pulling my body away.
Where I was going, I didn’t know—but if it was a world sent by that damned system, it probably wouldn’t be a pleasant one.
The feeling turned out to be correct.
“Ugh!”
I dropped from midair and hit my back on the ground. The stone floor hurt quite a bit.
“Ow… ow ow…”
I’m still young—I can’t ruin my back already.
As I rubbed my aching back and sat up, I saw tall trees.
One tree, two trees, three trees… anyway, a lot.
A forest? Or a mountain?
Judging by the rocks and steep slope, it was likely a mountain.
Is this Korea or another world? Just trees and rocks everywhere made it impossible to tell.
I looked at my clothes. They were still my body, but not the work clothes I wore before dying on the subway.
Not a flowing dress like in romance fantasy novels either.
It was travel gear suitable for hiking—thick outerwear, gloves, pocketed pants, and tall boots. Not ancient or medieval, at least.
“Where the hell am I…”
I needed to get out and figure out my location.
I started climbing upward rather than going down. It seemed better to observe from above.
When I finally cleared the trees, the view opened up.
“…Wow…”
Even from a mountainside, it was breathtaking.
A vast mountain range stretched endlessly.
This definitely wasn’t Korea.
Maybe I really was in another world?
I tried to recall games or novels I knew. None matched this kind of vast mountain setting.
‘So it really is dimensional travel?’
If it were a game or a book, I could use prior knowledge—but this was just mountains.
Before sunset, I needed to find a way down. But there wasn’t even a village in sight.
A miserable second life.
“Even if you reincarnate me, at least make it decent…”
As I muttered, a holographic screen appeared.
Pathetic Sacrifice Lv.1
Remaining lifespan: 30 days [Beginner bonus active]
You will save one person and die in 30 days.
Party members are being recruited.
Current queue: (0/2)
Party members?
So I’m supposed to escape this mountain as a party?
So… is this a game?
I had never played anything like a survival party game like this.
“No wait. If I have to recruit party members…”
It wasn’t giving me items or objectives—just party members.
That meant something required cooperation from multiple people.
Like hunting monsters you can’t defeat alone.
‘Wait… is there a monster world here?’
Just as I realized that, a distant roar echoed.
It sounded less like an animal… and more like something from a horror movie.
‘First, I need a safe zone.’
The spawn point. That’s always the safest place in games.
I should go back and look for beginner items.
Without a tutorial, at least starting gear should exist.
I quickly headed back into the forest.
But someone was already there.
