Chapter 153: Ch 153: No way to avoid death

A majestic body with beautiful wings and an enormous wingspan. The divine creature that had hatched was beautiful...and terrifying at the same time.

As expected, Alex had lost his mind after hatching, and he was attacking everyone indiscriminately.

The system looked happy to see the egg hatch.

[You have completed your KPI.]

[Reward: One-time resurrection. Key to a special Skill.]

[Congratulations, Rookie. You made it. Now, good luck surviving the mad guardian. The only way to calm it down is to tame it.]

’Darn it! Now you tell me all this?’

Rin felt like he was about to have a heart attack because of the system. But he calmed himself down and thought about the situation.

Both Albus and Shelly were too far away to help them out, and Rin could see them fighting their way toward him.

Serena was trying to block the guardian, but she was exhausted after fighting for so long. She would not be able to hold on much longer. So Rin had to do something about it—

"Rin, look out-!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Serena yelled, and Rin looked up, only to see the Guardian Deity raising its claws and stabbing him right through the stomach.

It hurt a lot. Rin could tell that his vital organs had been injured.

But he was not dead yet.

So he grabbed the Guardian Deity and reflexively started to use his skills.

[A new familiar has been recognized by the system.]

[The Guardian Deity has currently lost control and cannot consent. Do you still want to try and tame ’the unnamed guardian’ as your familiar?]

The system was asking the obvious.

Rin was currently dying. The familiar had no reason to pull its attack back, and as long as it kept its claws inside Rin, there was no chance for him to survive.

’If this is the only way for me to live, then I need to seize the opportunity.’

What other choice did Rin even have?

So he grabbed the claw impaling him and looked at the Guardian with a heavy expression.

"I would...like to form a...bond..."

Getting the words out was difficult, and keeping his focus was even harder. Rin was in pain, and it distracted him from everything else.

[Please give the Guardian a name. If the name is recognized, the guardian will accept becoming your familiar.]

There was only one name Rin had in mind for this familiar. It was a name this bastard had lived with all his life.

"Alex...come back to your senses..."

Rin tried to speak, but his voice was too weak to come out properly.

[Your words were not recognized by the Guardian.]

’Darn it! I cannot even pronounce it properly. I am going to die at this rate.’

Rin wheezed, but he forced all his attention back onto his speech and managed a clearer pronunciation. He squeezed the claw lodged in his stomach and looked up with a sharp glare.

"Alex, you bastard..."

Rin cursed, and finally, there was a reaction.

The guardian flinched before its claw slowly started to retreat.

[Your words have been recognized by the guardian. You have gained another familiar.]

[Congratulations. You have gained a third familiar. You have advanced in class.]

[A new bonus is being created for your feat.]

The system was saying a lot, but Rin could not focus on any of it. He was too busy trying not to die.

"Rin, hang on-!"

Shelly’s voice was the clearest thing Rin heard, even as his vision faded. He could only see her running toward him slowly, but everything was too blurry except for her pink hair.

There were others around him as well, but Rin could not focus on what they were saying.

’Darn it...you said I won’t die...’

Rin complained to the system with his last breath before he closed his eyes and stopped thinking. His heart stopped beating, and all was quiet.

[Rookie, looks like you landed in big trouble this time...]

[But aren’t you lucky? Even if you die, you will come back this time. If only this senior got the same treatment.]

[Anyway, since this is a one-time-use item, it cannot be refunded. Please enjoy your new life.]

...

’It’s cold. What is going on? I cannot make a sound?’

Rin opened his mouth, but no words escaped his lips. He tried to walk, but his legs would not move either. He was stuck in place with no way to move forward.

Even the system was not there to help him.

But he could hear faint voices calling out to him.

"Come this way. Come home to us."

"You are where you are supposed to be. This world, these people—they don’t matter. All that matters is becoming one."

Rin’s feet moved without his input. He wanted to go toward that voice. So he started walking...only to run into a wall of blue.

[Are you walking home? It would make this senior unhappy to lose its junior. Especially after it worked so hard to get its junior that special reward.]

Rin could not understand what the system was saying, but he could tell that the voices calling out to him were displeased.

"Don’t interfere. He’s finally home."

"We are so close to becoming one. So why are you interfering?"

The system’s response was simple but bone-chilling.

[He is not ready yet. The time for reunion has not come.]

Rin did not know what that implied, but he knew it was not a good thing. He tried to take a step back, only to crash into another blue screen.

[Rookie, it’s time to head back home now. There are people waiting for you to return.]

Hands tugged at Rin, pulling him down and away from that space. He could feel eyes on him, but they all turned away at the last second, unwilling to look at him.

’W-Wait-! I need answers-!’

Rin tried to yell, but his numb body was dragged back by those hands, and he felt his body jolt as his soul was forced back inside.

"D-Dead...He’s dead..."

Someone was sobbing against Rin’s chest, but he could not see who it was. His eyes were open, but all he could look at was the system screen in front of him.

[You have used your one-time reward: reincarnation. You have gained a new skill key.]

Tears streamed down Rin’s face, but he did not even know why. It felt like he had been torn away from something important.

’Where was I...? What was I doing? I...needed to go back home...’