Second Chance: Surviving the Apocalypse with a System!

Chapter 1 : System!?

"OPHELIA!!!" A scream full of anguish ripped through the chaos of the base calling for figure drowning in the pile of rotting and living corpses, as a woman barely into her 20s littered with scars pushed away the ungrateful group of people that flocked to her, a power user for shelter against the creatures that plunged this world into its own hell.
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That was right, we were in an apocalyptic world. Littered with zombies, mutated animals and plants, AND no shortage of selfish humans that did anything to survive. Even pushing their savior into the very 'zombie' horde that she saved them from, was it to have a chance at survival? No, they could've still survived without that sacrifice, they were just selfishly throwing someone down for their benefit...'How unlucky.'

'How unlucky.' That's what Ophelia thought, as she was slowly consumed by the undead. 'It hurts, It hurts so damn much!' First to go were her legs, ripped apart slowly via the tearing of flesh by clawed hands and sharpened teeth from the undead when she tried to escape using her wind ability, next to go were her arms when she enraged the starving horde when she shot blades of wind with her remaining stored energy against the tier 5 zombie in a last ditch effort to buy time for her companions to escape. After all, she was already a lost cause, bites and scratches littered her skin or well...what remains of her mutilated body.

Having an ability was a blessing in this world, but right now Ophelia saw it as a curse. They had long knew that ability users could not die that quickly, only when the crystal core in their head was dug out or destroyed would they die completely. If not, they have the misfortune to be conscious every single second and minute as they were ate alive until nothing remains.

All she could think about now past the melancholy of an early death as she close her eyes in pain is if her team was safe, If her sister was safe from the waves of zombies that infiltrated the base- But then she heard a familiar voice scream her name, eyes snapping open as she struggled through the tears that blurred her vision while fear and despair gripped her heart.

'EVA NO! RUN AWAY! DONT COME HERE!' She wanted to scream at her hard headed sister, But the blood that flowed into her lungs and throat only made her let out a gurgling and muffled sound before her throat was rendered useless with a bite from the zombies. Tears kept flowing down her eyes as fear firmly held a gript over her heart.

Her eyes followed the nearing form of her sister, fire engulfing her arms and sword as she rampaged her way through the tier one zombies, their heads were thrown into the air with each slash of her sword as her flames burned them until nothing was left but ashes, even the crystal nucleus in their brains were turned into nothing except smoke, leaving no chance for them to regenerate.

Despair gripped Ophelia, watching as Evangeline- her little sister stubbornly grew closer into the middle of the horde. Watching how the zombies scratched and reached for her, tears started to appear on her skin, blood dripping down; each drop was like acid dripping into Ophelia's heart.

The enraged horde watching their brethren fall in waves abandoned their obsession for flesh for a moment as they focused attacking Eva, the perpetrator that eliminated so many of them. Yet no matter the injuries, the chunks of flesh ripped off of her arms, she only grew closer and closer until she had reached her...she reached her sister.

The resolute mask of determination and madness cracked as she saw how Ophelia had become so unrecognizable, as tears welled in her eyes as unbridled rage took on her senses. A trait that was familiarly prominent in fire users, a fiery temper that would consume everything and anything in its path.

An almost inhumane roar of anger and anguish was let out from Eva's throat, her flames growing ever brighter and hotter as the anger acted as oil to an already scorching fire. The heat was unbearable to the fleeing humans several meters away, as it burned through the zombies lower tier 3 yet the flames did not harm Ophelia as if they were alive and conscious.

Eva...Ophelia's little sister, blinded with anger and grief threw away all sense of rationality as she attacked the horde yet never straying too far from mutilated body of her sister.

'no...eva, stop please! someone..anyone, please stop my sister" Ophelia knew what eva wanted to do, she wanted to die with her. Only a tier 5 fire user could let out such powerful flames that ate away their prey into essentially nothing at all. But Eva was only a tier 4, the difference in level was too much even to the point of pushing through her limits to the point to obtain a moment of a tier 5's powerful would burn away her vitality along with her crystal core until... she is consumed from the inside out.

Ophelia tried to reach out one of her damaged hands to her, wanting to push her away— away from her, away from the horde that would be their downfall. But she cant, exhausted and swallowed in the harsh yet so gentle flames that protected her useless body.

She could only watch as Eva fought against the tier 5 zombie for a moment, before everytime was consumed by the raging flames that exploded as her little sister's crystal core collapsed.

There was no longer a zombie horde or a tier 5 zombie wrecking havoc onto the safe base and...no more are the two sisters.

'Forgive me eva...Forgive big sister for being so useless' That was the last thought Ophelia had when Eva collapsed beside her, Tears and a smile on her lips as her lifeless eyes stared at Ophelia, arms reaching out to hold her, just like the way she did growing up when she wanted comfort from a bad dream. she was satisfied that she got to get rid of the horde that hurt her older sister before the flames engulfed them both into darkness.
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[Trial mode complete!] A beeping sounded into the darkness. as a ticking of a clock halted after a moment.

[Analyzing host's performance and achievement...] Another round of beeping sounds came up along with the mechanical voice that slowly became more human like.

[Analysis complete! Binding...20%...49%...51%.. 100%

Successful binding! Congratulations host for binding with Second Chance System of world 1! The Bureau of Systems welcome you!]

With the loud noise of congratulations slowly made the dizzy Ophelia open her eyes in a daze, bits of information continuously flowed into the woman's mind as she continued looking at the glowing blue screen infront of her that wrote out "Assessment Complete!".

[...Transferring test info...Complete!]

"what.." Ophelia's voice trailed off as she stared at the screen in confusion and bewilderment, her expression darkening with each second passed with unfamiliar information seeped into her brain before a beeping sound came up again.

[Welcome back host!, we know this must be new to you afterall you had survived for 5 years in the novel "Apocalyptical domination with my-] Before the beeping voice that sounded like a small child could finish their statement, Ophelia had raised her fist to punch the blue screen infront of her only to slump down onto her knees, startling the newly binded system.

"What in the seven levels of hell is this!!!" Ophelia screamed, fingers going into her hair as she yelled in frustration. As the system was about to start the natural protocol that happens after a host breaks down once they are out the trial mode to be rehabilitated, they heard the sounds of sobs so clearly in the empty void they stood.

"Is this a joke?..all of the suffering, the fighting...my sister's death was all a test?.." Anger and grief was heard in her voice, tears flowed freely down as sobs racked through her body. A smile full of mockery filled Ophelia's face for a moment before scrunching up into a pained expression as she clutches onto her heart.

'it hurts...it hurts so much' Her heart felt like it was bleeding, the cruel reality hurts more than the time she had to burn a wound on her leg to stop an infection, more than the time her friends betrayed her one after the other, and it hurts more now that she knows no matter what she did...her sister— Her sweet little Eva was bound to die a horrid death for the main characters of her world and worst of all her world was just a novel! All that suffering written down for someone else's entertainment!

The System quietly stood still, watching as their new host drown in their sorrows, punching and hitting the ground as sobs and screams of frustration echoed through the timeless void.

For a period of time, only the cries and wails of a heartbroken woman filled the darkness. Slowly it died down into muttering, then onto quiet crying, and now to a total silence as Ophelia stared blankly at the blue screen hovering infront of her.

[Have you calmed down host?] The system inquired, a beeping sound came right after. making Ophelia snap out of her train of thought as she looked around at the emptiness.

Noticing Ophelia's actions, the system proceeded to continue its welcoming protocol as a bright flash of light forced Ophelia to close her eyes as it dyed the dark void into a land of color. The ground beneath Ophelia slowly transformed into a field full of lush flowers and grass, taking her attention for a moment as her eyes shine before the thought of Eva who would love to see this field came into her mind which slowly dimmed that light in her gaze.

Fortunately another set of beeping sounds diverted her attention, a boy that looked to be at the age of 8 appeared in front of her. Silver hair that looked like soft moonlight as well as eyes colored with the most beautiful amethyst stare at her. The colors of his hair and eyes did not cause a shock to Ophelia, as the world she had just lived in had people who's hair and eyes were different colors from birth, but the boy's appearance did bring a surprise.

He was beautiful and fair, to the point it wasn't humanly possible. As well as....The almost glowing markings on the boy's body, the most noticeable trait on the boy was the different phases of the moon on the side of his legs that glowed with a blue light.

"What...what are you?..." Ophelia's hesitant voice came out, She had seen different power users that had similar body changes as the boy as well as different monsters in her years in that world— But none of them had the otherworldly feeling that the boy naturally exudes.

[I am your system host! Second chance system, it is nice to meet you] The boy cheerily replied, smiling as it welcomed this story's heroine.