Chapter 349: The Gambler’s Mercy [6]
"Ah... it looks like time’s up."
Zaho Yuren’s voice was calm, almost regretful, as if we were simply parting after a short lesson rather than standing on the edge of death.
"So you’re really not going to use Fusion?" he asked.
I shook my head.
"If I use that, I won’t be able to move properly for a while. I won’t activate it unless this turns into a real emergency."
He clicked his tongue softly.
"That still sounds better than losing your composure and fighting until you die again."
...He wasn’t wrong.
To be honest, that part worried me too. Losing control once was already more than enough.
But for some reason—no, for a clear reason I couldn’t explain—I didn’t think things would spiral the same way as before.
It felt different this time.
As if something inside me had shifted.
—One Coin?
The moment that thought surfaced, the space around us subtly trembled.
The preparations were complete.
The coin responded immediately, as if it had been waiting for this exact moment, urging me forward—pressing me to fulfill the contract once more.
"Tch," I muttered. "This damn ’One Coin.’"
As I focused, sensation gathered in my palm.
A small coin materialized there, warm and faintly pulsing, its surface catching light that didn’t exist in this mental space.
Zaho Yuren looked at it, then back at me, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"It’s a shame," he said. "If we had more time, I could’ve trained you properly here. Training within the mental world is... quite special."
Ah.
That thing manga protagonists always did—training in a place where time flowed differently.
The idea was tempting.
Very tempting.
And even if it hadn’t been, considering what awaited me outside, I’d probably need that kind of experience sooner or later.
"I’ll ask you next time," I said. "After we deal with this incident."
Zaho Yuren nodded without hesitation.
"Alright. I’ll be waiting."
With that, I flicked the coin upward.
The world shattered.
The mental space collapsed in on itself, and I was forcibly expelled, like being thrown out of a dream mid-breath.
Defying death was... strange.
It was nothing like the sickening emptiness I felt when all my innate qi had been stripped away.
This was the opposite.
The severed connection between body and soul reattached itself, as if fate itself had been overruled.
Cold limbs twitched.
Blood surged.
Life slammed back into my body.
Stiff muscles loosened, shattered vessels repaired themselves at terrifying speed, and the blood I’d lost returned as if time were being rewound.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
—You have bypassed death through an unusual means.—
"...Huh?"
—Repeated exposure has allowed you to faintly perceive the nature of death.—
—Damaged blood pathways have regenerated and grown sturdier. All mana-based actions will receive a temporary enhancement.—
I frowned.
I didn’t know that would happen.
—The ability "Undying Will" has undergone advancement. Its previous effects have been amplified.—
Before I could react, my body lifted off the ground on its own.
Light spilled out from beneath my skin, soft but undeniable, bathing everything around me in a pale glow.
"What... is this?"
—An additional effect has been generated due to the ability’s advancement.—
—However, your understanding of death remains incomplete. The new effect cannot yet be identified.—
The light slowly faded, and my feet touched the ground again.
I clenched my hand, feeling strength—no, density—that hadn’t been there before.
"...Well," I muttered, exhaling slowly.
They didn’t sound like bad developments.
If anything—
It felt like death itself had taken one step closer to becoming something I could grasp.
Leaving those notifications behind, I slowly opened my eyes.
For a brief moment, my vision was blurry, as if a thin layer of water covered my sight. Then the world came into focus.
The first thing I noticed was the silence.
No—more accurately, it was the weight of the silence.
Every gaze in the room was fixed on me. It felt as though I was standing alone on a stage, while an audience stared up from below, afraid to blink in case they missed something.
Their expressions were strange.
Shock, disbelief, relief, fear, astonishment—everything was mixed together in a way that made it hard to tell what they were thinking. It was as if they had just witnessed something that absolutely should not have happened, yet undeniably did.
"...What?"
My voice came out hoarse, but it echoed clearly in the quiet room.
I cleared my throat and let out a small laugh, trying to ease the tension.
"What, is this the first time you’ve seen someone come back to life?"
It was meant to be a joke. A light one.
No one laughed.
No one even reacted.
They just kept staring at me.
"...Seriously?" I muttered.
Were they that shocked?
Well... I guess if I were in their position, watching someone get torn apart by that black thing and then wake up like nothing happened, I’d probably react the same way.
My body was still floating in midair. I only noticed it when I tried to take a step and failed.
"Ah."
The levitating sensation faded, and my body slowly descended until my feet touched the floor. The moment I landed, a strange warmth spread throughout me.
No—warmth wasn’t the right word.
It was more like fullness.
Compared to before I died—yeah, died—my primal qi had increased tremendously. Not just a little, either. It was overflowing, dense enough that it almost felt foreign.
If I judged by quantity alone, I felt like I could stand shoulder to shoulder with long-lived species and not feel embarrassed.
"...This is insane."
I clenched my fist, then relaxed it. The flow of qi responded instantly, smooth and obedient, as if it had always been this way.
And that phrase—understanding death.
I still didn’t know exactly what it meant, but whatever it was, it had clearly given me more than I expected.
Unintentional or not, it was a huge gain.
I lifted my head and looked around again.
Still staring.
"Hey," I said, waving a hand. "You can blink, you know."
That finally seemed to snap someone out of it.
"Rin...?"
Ryan was the first to speak. His voice wavered, like he wasn’t sure whether calling my name would make me disappear.
"You’re... alive?"
"Last I checked," I replied, glancing down at myself, "yeah."
Leo suddenly rushed forward.
He stopped just short of grabbing me, fists clenched at his sides, eyes wide and red.
"You—do you have any idea—" His voice cracked, and he shut his mouth hard, turning his head away.
"...Idiot," he muttered.
I blinked.
"Is that your way of saying you’re glad I’m back?"
"Tch."
He didn’t answer, but his shoulders relaxed just a little.
Only then did I notice Lena.
She stood a short distance away, staring at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Unlike the others, her shock wasn’t loud or obvious. It was quiet, restrained—almost analytical—but her hands were trembling.
Our eyes met.
"...Professor Lena," I said.
At the sound of my voice, she seemed to finally regain her senses. She inhaled sharply and stepped forward.
"...Rin," she said slowly, as if testing whether my name was real. "Are you... conscious? Fully?"
"I think so." I tilted my head. "Unless this is some extremely vivid afterlife."
"Sob..."
And then she started to cry.
...Was she more surprised than I thought?
