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This is the end. Aila stared blankly in front of her. The green forest was below and beyond the rocky cliffs where she was. The sky seemed to be so close to her at this altitude. Her eyes devoid of life. There was only one thing that had been circling in her mind: She must end this life that she had loathed for thirty-six years. She had already made her mind and steeled her resolve before hiking to these mountains. She just wanted to disappear with no one finding her remains. Aila removed her backpack and threw it at the bottom of the cliff. Thud. That sound was like a comfort to her tired soul. She inched towards the end of the cliff. Turned her back to it. There was no one around but rocks and sun-dried grass. She spread her arms as if they were wings to get her to where she wanted to go. Her feet let go of the ground. And then she was falling... She could see the bright summer noon blue sky above. A group of small birds was flying in a pack. One could think that this was only one of those normal days. It's not so bad to be the last scene to see. She smiled bitterly. She closed her eyes and waited for her back to smash the ground. Bzzttt. She heard that sudden noise that was just like that of a television with a poor signal. Her forehead crinkled as it was ruining her mood. She was ready to die. In fact, she will be dead a few seconds from now. Why does she have to hear this sound in those last seconds? Bzztttt. Bzzttt. Ding! A sharp sound like a mechanical phone notification sounded in her ears after the irritating sound, along with the sound of breaking glass, making her open her eyes. A floating black screen with white writing was floating in front of her face. [Chaos has descended to planet .] Ding! [Congratulations! The system has acknowledged your existence. You have been awakened!] What? Now that she was dying, she was being plagued by hallucinations. Maybe it was a lie when others say that your life flashes before your eyes when dying. But she didn't have time to think about it. Ding! [Job: "Master of Fire" has been acquired.] Along with the sound of her crashing to the ground was that new 'notification' popped up in the air. She breathed her last breath as a sign of relief. Before her mind blacked out, a new notification 'ding'-ed. [Skill: "Phoenix rebirth Lv 1" has been acquired.] [Skill: "Flare Lv 1" has been acquired.] [A new title has been acquired! ] This hallucination. Just shut up already and let me die in peace. Ding! [The Awakened has died. Activating Skill: Phoenix rebirth.] **** Aila was in a dark place that seemed to be endless. So, this is what it looks like when you die. There's nothing. Just dark emptiness. There was a little bit of fear arousing in her chest, but she consoled herself that she could finally rest, so there was nothing to be afraid of. She just needed to let this darkness engulf her. However, a spark of light disturbed her. This spark lit up a fire that immediately spread. She panicked. Wait, am I going straight to hell now? Can you erase my consciousness first? Damn it. She always believed that there was nothingness after death. Are heaven and hell real? And she's being thrown in hell right now? To think that after suffering in life, she would still be suffering in the afterlife. If she had known, she wouldn't have taken her life. But it was already too late for regret. The fire started to burn her. She could feel the intense heat permeating her soul. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, hoping the pain would not last for long. She didn't even know why she was still feeling pain. Ding! She heard that familiar mechanical sound again. Her eyes flew open, and she saw that floating black screen again, but now it was blinking. [Skill: Phoenix rebirth Lv 1 has been activated. 3:00:00 before rebirth...] What the hell? Was this a continuation of her hallucination before she died? And rebirth? No. She wanted to die. She winced at the pain of herself burning. Did she really want to die? If she were going to hell? Why would she even have to go to hell and suffer? She had already endured enough. Those vile bastards who drove her to take her own life are the ones who deserve to be thrown into hell! Why her? Why would she die like this? "Ahhhh!" As fire and despair consumed her for hours, the timer before her counted down its final minutes. The word "rebirth" was flashing in front of her eyes. "I will live again." Yes, that's right. If she truly had a chance for a rebirth, she wanted to live on her own terms, doing what she loved. She would live for herself, not for anyone else. It was time to stop shrinking in fear—whether from people or from fate. She had to live again in order to change her life. "If there is a God, please let me live one more time." [Skill: Phoenix rebirth Lv 1 has been activated. 00:00:00 before rebirth...] The screen suddenly shut off, and flames consumed her vision. She had no time to scream or react. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the ground and gazing at the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff. She lifted her wide, startled eyes to the towering cliff from which she had just leaped. The sky above seemed darker than she remembered. Ding! [The Awakened has been granted a new life. A penalty has been imposed. Penalty: 50% reduction in Life, 50% reduction in stats.] [Warning! Awakened is only Level 1. Stats cannot be penalized. The penalty has been revised.] [Penalty: 50% reduction in Life, -50% experience accumulation debuff for the next 720 hours.] "Penalty? Debuff?" These floating black windows made her hallucinations real. There might be something wrong with her head due to her fall. Or... "Am I... not hallucinating?" She remembered what happened after she died. Yeah. She was supposed to be dead, but she was brought back to life by this floating window and skill. "What is this?" she murmured to herself, staring at her hands. It was only then that she noticed the embers flickering around her, the scorched ground beneath her. She remembered reading "system" in the previous notification. She looked up at the black window again. "Is this... the system? Like a game? Will something happen if I say status window--" Right after she said that, a new window appeared. The sharp notification sound had not echoed again. Maybe because it wasn't a notification. The new window was read as follows: [Name: Aila Jade Sacramento Age: 36 (penalized: 18) Level: 1 Job: Master of Fire (SS) Title: Phoenix descent, Someone who lived again HP: 100/250 MP: 50/120 XP: 0/10 (penalized: -50% accumulation 719:58:26) STR - 10 (+15) AGL - 10 (+15) VIT - 10 (+15) INT - 10 (+15) Free SP: 0 Skill: Fire manipulation (B) Lv 1 Phoenix rebirth (S) Lv 2, Flare (E) Lv 1] "What on earth--?" Was she even still on Earth? For some reason, the first notification window came to her mind. [Chaos has descended to planet .] "Ha ha." She must have really lost her mind.