He couldn't describe his feelings seeing himself lying on the ground, blood pooling out from his numerous wounds, his face unrecognizable to even be human anymore.
"No hard feelings, right?" A burst of shrill laughter rang out in the night as multiple footsteps moved away from him and faded into obscurity.
He supposed this was the consequences of his naivety, trusting people to a fault. Fake cops outfits ... more like they were real cops.
Thinking to his life was the only thing that rang through his head, unloving parents that he has never seen before, orphaned at a young age, bullied for having dreams of exploring space as an astronaut or even wanting to travel the world to find hidden treasures! Since he was little, he was an easy target thus the Orphanage Mistress turned a blind eye to his suffering as the children from then onwards began to take away any little pleasures he had, till he had enough of being the victim.
Turning around and ruthlessly striking the person that was abusing him, to make it all go away and leave him alone, only for himself to become known as a growing violent psychopath that had attacked the so-called innocent … That made things already difficult to be adopted leading him to be kicked onto the streets once he had turned 18. The Orphanage couldn't afford to give the children schooling, let alone a higher education teaching or so that was what was told to him. With what he had on his back, he set off to carve his mark on the world … That was the plan until interferences followed him.
Applying for a job was a job in itself when labeled by society as vicious without secondary education. Dare he says, these people would describe him as more animal than human if it came down to it.
Even if he had managed to succeed in the interview for the selected job, maintaining his steady work-flow was much harder, more so when others wish to advance in a competitive workplace.
Busking was always the way to go ... Dancing and singing were the some of the skills that helped him get by in life but the days were long and rough, most without any sort of results, others with minimal payment and some days with his hard work being taken as a "security fee".
Perhaps, this was the reason why he was unaffected by the cruelty of society. He was used to being treated at the bottom of the scale, moving from alleyway to alleyway, living under highway bridges in small tents till he could find enough money to debate whether he wished to pay for food or a motel to stay in for the night.
Could that also be another factor to why he chose to do something so risky?
Choosing to become part of the night scene ... Initiating himself of the crime ring as a lowly thug.
Only to end up like this with three bullets in his body— two through his legs and another through his chest— lying dead on the ash pelt floor.
No —this was HIS own fault— He would not blame anyone for his own inaction to his life and his submissive behavior to the obstacles in his life.
Perhaps fate wanted to be cruel to him once more by having him watch flashes of his unsatisfying life in his last moment of life.
If he had a chance to pick the lucky ticket of the draw, He would definitely not waste his second life as he did in his first. At least he would live his life to the fullest, achieve his dreams of reaching the pinnacle of life's blessings instead of lying around like a deadbeat at the bottom, blaming everyone around him for his mistakes, his acceptance to life obstacles and him being just lazy to change his life.
Aoide_System First INPUT FOUND ...
KEY — SECOND LIFE UNLOCKED ...
Exe.// Aoide_System Reconfigure
Reconfiguring and Fitting Host #2 to Aoide Specifications ...
'This again? I am going insane again even in my last moments ...'
Something appeared in front of him as his consciousness began to black out.
Two options — Yes and No were the only ones he could make out in front of him ...
What does this even mean? He had no idea if his hallucinations were getting worse as he was dying.
He could feel his life trickle away as the seconds slipped away from him, if this was a hallucination then the option didn't matter to him or rather it shouldn't affect him.
He reached out with his bloody hand that was clutching his stomach wound in a pitiful attempt to stop the bleeding and press on the option glowing YES.
Aoide_System Second INPUT FOUND ...
Exe.// Aoide_System Loading SECOND LIFE
Aoide_System Third INPUT FOUND ...
Exe.//Aoide_System Connection | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System Functions | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System Knowledge | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System Missions | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System Dimension_Build | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System Guardian | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
Exe.//Aoide_System HOST #2 INPUTS | TRANSFERRING HOST #2
He didn't understand what was going on in his head and didn't care to think too much of it as he dropped his hand and lost his consciousness, his heart rate slowed down and breathing coming to a halt.
Exe.// Aoide_System Startup | Taking HOST #2 to Life Rift ...
hehe, an early update ... i have been stressed out a lot during this week so letting my frustration out in writing is kind of motivating in a way? ah, whatever ... hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Awaiting in an empty and blank void, was this what his personal hell was like? Just nothing? Perhaps, his Boss wasn't so heartless and spared his life ... No, he would be kidding himself if he believed that.
Maybe this is one final trip for his hallucinations to act up before he really dies ... Did he fear death? Of course.
Gazing around himself, his eyes leaped onto anything that would catch his attention in the dark.
Nothing. Not a single thing could be found within the abyss he was in.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, to sleep until he would eventually pass away, a small purple light lit up with a few embers floating from it, it was cute in a silly way as the embers looked like it resembled fluffy ears of an animal.
He eyed the very thing warily looking closely at it, not able to comprehend what it was or what it had wanted, but it did nothing but stay still with the embers twitching every so often.
He hadn't even noticed when he had reached close enough that the purple light was reflecting onto his skin. Now that he was up close and personal, the purple light dimmed noticing the light had shaped and formed into an animal, a cute little fox with big ears, a Fennec it had shaped itself.
His lips curled into a half smile, he couldn't remember the last time he had even tried to smile. He reached his hand out wanting to touch the shape of the purple ember and his fingers barely brush onto the top of the animal before it raised its head and stared straight at him.
He felt his breath hitch, an ache in his chest and a sudden banging at his head rushed him all at once and almost overwhelmed him with the pang of pain. He yanked his hand away from it and clutched his head, closing his eyes.
A few moments after, the pain stopped.
He slowly let go of his head, after the throbbing pain stopped and taking in heavy breaths. He opened his eyes to look around him, startled.
The void that he was in before had changed, the abyss had stayed but now there were countless glittering lights in different colors within the sky. There was barren terrain of solid land below him covered in fields of flora, stretched out across his eyes. He hesitantly looked around him for that purple creature that caused this down below on the ground, at least he assumed it was that creature.
He slowly felt himself descend down onto the ground, feeling the plushness of the grass take his weight like a soft landing. He looked around him for a sign, anything, just something to be there with him.
He saw a flash of purple zip past him quickly, almost ramming him over as it zoomed past him, turning around and coming face to face with the little creature from before. Only this time it was the only one floating out of the two. He could see the features of the animal with its eerie eyes, it's coat was flaming with dark purple like embers drifting off into the air.
" ... Hello?" He hesitantly spoke, this time he knew not to reach out and touch it in fear of the pain from before once more attacking him.
He saw in the corner of vision that something was flashing, blinking at him.
=== 1 new notification ===
He focused on it, not a clue in mind on how to actually open it, only for the bar to close and appear in front of his vision with a new interface opened up.
[MISSION — The Basics]
Open Notification Interface …
Difficultly : Tutorial-based
[Reward : None]
[Congratulations Host #2! You have been selected by the Aoide System to participate in our trials of changing the world's fate. You are currently stationed in the Rift.]
[You have successfully opened part of the main interface. Please continue to work hard.]
[MISSION — The Basics 2]
Open Mission Interface …
Difficulty: Tutorial-based
[Reward - None]
'Interface? This seems more like a game than anything ... even a tutorial based difficulty is within this section.'
He attempted to reach his hand out and try to touch what was in front of him but he didn't feel anything nor did anything trigger on the screen.
'How do I even get to the main interface?'
This time the interface layout had changed and multiple icons appeared in his vision.
[Host Stats] [Second Life] [Rift] [Shop] [Notifications] [Missions]
He blinked multiple times, 'So .. It is linked to my thoughts. Missions.'
The tab zoomed into the mission section and opened the interface.
[You have successfully opened part of the main interface. Please continue to work hard.]
'These missions seem easy enough.'
[MISSION — The Basics 3]
Initiate bond with Aoide Guardian …
Difficulty: Highest Difficulty
[Reward - Aoide Guardian, Basic Chest]
sorry this is a bit of a late update whoopsies...
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