"Father. She's not going to make it past this winter! The doctor said so! Why do you insist on buying her a game set?" a blonde women shouted, her face coated heavily with makeup.

"Winter isn't until another 11 months. Besides, she's the child that your third brother left behind. If she wants to play a game as her last wish, I will fulfill it," the old man said, staring blankly out the window.

"But, Father-"

"No buts. It's the least I could do for him."

"...Yes, Father."

The old man walked out of the study to see his sickly granddaughter sitting there with her fists clenched. He patted her head gently.

"Don't listen to your aunty. If you want to play, you play, okay?"

The girl nodded, her ice blue hair covering her face. Her icy blue eyes dull, void of life, stared back at him. Her hands unclenched and gripped the ends the handles on the wheelchair.

"Take the miss to her room."

"Yes, Master," the maids chorused, pushing their miss back to her room. The maids knocked on the door lightly before entering, revealing a black-haired butler, no older than 21, standing in front of the open window.

He gave them a grim smile before closing it and drawing the curtains. He brushed his hair back with one hand and walked over to the girl. He knelt down one knee and took her hand in his.

"Ceciliani Von Borgh, my mistress," he said. "Everything's set up for you."

"Thank you, Julius," the girl replied, her weak voice sounding no louder than a mouse walking.

In one swift movement, Julius picked Ceciliani and gently placed her in the game capsule. Grabbing the helmet off the nearby table, he set it on her head before closing the capsule. He went around to the back and pressed on the mic icon.

"Mistress, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Julius."

He smiled before muting again. He turned towards the anxious maids and gave them a thumbs up. They let out a sigh, but their eyes lingered on the frail body of their young lady.

Julius motioned for them to walk out of the room and leave her there in peace. The maids followed after him quietly as he was the highest rank in their wing, second only to their lady.

As they walked down the hallway, they could hear the maids from the other wings whispering among themselves.

"Poor young miss."

"It was a misfortune that she was born a cripple."

"Sigh. Looks like the Old Master has no more useful descendants. I mean, the Oldest son is gone and won't be back for at least a year. I've heard that he still doesn't know that she's going to be leaving in 11 months."

"Hey!" Julius barked. The gossiping maids turned towards him with contempt, but their faces soon grew pale as they recognized him. "I don't remember the Old Master giving you permission to talk trash about his family. If you think you're so good, so marry him."

The maids by his side crossed their arms and glared at the other maids around them, scaring them off.

"Young Miss is pitiful indeed. Only if First Master was here," the youngest maid cried.

"Q-quit crying," the second maid scolded, her eyes tearing up. "You'll wake up everyone."

"You're crying yourself," the eldest maid scoffed, her own tears plopping on the ground.

"Now, now, ladies. Let's just... hope Mistress has fun. We still have 11 months with her. Let's do our best to make sure it's the best 11 months of her life," Julius said, soothing them.

But deep down inside, he knew that he was just as worried as them. The only difference was that he couldn't cry. Not here, not now.

~~~~~~

Ceciliani opened her eyes to see a vast open-world around her.

"Wow..."

She tried reaching up, only to realize that she was sitting down. In a wheelchair. She let out a bitter laugh.

"Even games are limiting my ability to move now."

A screen popped in front of her along with a beauty. Her flaming red hair was past her shoulder, she looked young, about no more than 22. She was barefooted and only wearing an ancient toga.

{ Greetings to you, Traveler. Please start customizing your character }

Ceciliani looked through the options carefully. If the doctor was right and she only had 11 months left, she might as well choose a character that's pretty healthy.

"Um, miss..."

"Call me AI or system. Whatever you prefer. I'm connected to your system as your guide," the girl said, bowing.

"Alright then, Ai," she said, smiling at the girl.

"It's AI, not Ai..."

"Which of these characters are the healthiest?" Ceciliani asked.

"Of course. Starting from the left is the demon race which is the strongest-- wait. Healthiest?!"

"Yup!"

"..."

Ai was dumbstruck. Not once has a system ever been asked this question. How was she supposed to answer?

"Is... there no answer?" Ceciliani said, looking down upset.

"Um. Well, there are the Fae and Elves which can live the longest," Ai said after a moment of thinking. "You could also pick both and combine them if you wish."

"Okay!" Ceciliani said, pressing on the two names. "I trust you, Ai."

Ai felt something warm blooming in her chest but...

"My name's not Ai! It's AI!"

"All done! Huh?"

Ceciliani looked at the girl laying on the floor curiously. Is... that healthy?

"Never mind. The next step is to choose a name and put in your stat points," Ai said, getting up and rubbing her forehead. This girl might just give her a headache.

Ceciliani wasted no time in putting in a name, a name that only she remembered.

{ Name imputed: Cecilia }

{ Yes/No }

She clicked yes and saw her status pop up. She looked closer at the board and saw that everything but Vitality was at 15. Vitality was the only one higher at 30 points.

"You have 100 points to allot so choose wise...ly?" Ai trailed off, seeing her click on a button rapidly.

"GAH! WHY ARE YOU PUTTING EVERYTHING INTO VITALITY?!"

"Because Vitality is life right?" Cecilia said, tilting her head in confusion.

She spent days researching the game after her condition worsened. She didn't even have the energy to go to school anymore, nonetheless play and live as a healthy person did.

"It is b-but why?" Ai said in disbelief.

"It's because it's the one thing I don't have," she said, finally stopping.

Ai looked at her player with pity in her eyes and opened her mouth to start the game until she was interrupted by a squeal.

"I got an achievement!"

"Yes, yes... Now, Traveler-- Wait, what?!" Ai pulled up Cecilia's interface and her jaw dropped.

~~~~~~

[ 1 new achievement ]

* Life Lover *

Psh. Who needs atk and def when you could just live through it?

Effects:

- Boost Vitality up by 150%

- Up all the other stats by 25 when in battle

~~~~~

"I... This shouldn't be possible!"

"But it's right here in front of your face," Cecilia said, tilting her head.

"Forget it. Enjoy your time, Traveler," Ai said, waving her hand.

"Bye-bye, Ai! It was nice meeting you!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, IT'S AI, NOT Ai!"

Cecilia chuckled. This game was certainly interesting.

{ Creating Account... Authorizing... Complete }

{ Welcome to Second Chance at Life }

A bright light flashed before her eyes, making her wince in pain. Cautiously opening her eyes, she realized the light was gone and replaced by a forest. There didn't seem to be any humans around, just trees, animals, and plants.

Cecilia rolled forward slowly, taking in the scenery before her. Being sickly meant that you could only imagine touching and seeing many beautiful forests in your imagination or books. This was a new experience for her.

Slowly getting used to the gaming world, she discovered four things.

One: 4 hours in-game was equivalent to 1 hour in real life.

Two: She had an item storage for her wheelchair and other miscellaneous items.

Three: There are 2 in-game timers. One for personal use and one for how long you've been in the game.

Four: She got a new skill for trying to stand up from her wheelchair.

~~~~~

Standing Ovation | Lvl 1

Having trouble standing? We'll help!

Effects:

- Ability to stand for 10 hours (Can become permanent once reached max Lvl 10 )

~~~~~

Cecilia slowly got up out of her wheelchair, using her legs for the first time since she was first diagnosed with her illness. Filled with hope and joy, she began walking around a tree until she got dizzy. Using her item storage, she stored away her wheelchair and started a 10 hour timer on her screen.

She walked around the forest blindly, picking all the fruits and herbs she could find on her way when she felt a wave of pressure. Her eyes widened as she crossed her arms in front of her in an attempt to lessen the pressure.

Despite her efforts, she couldn't hold on and was flung back into a tree. Coughing out blood, she noticed that her hp had dropped.

~~~~~~~~~~~

[ Player Status ] Level 1

Name: Cecilia

Vitality: 95/325 (25)

Intelligence: 10 (25)

Strength: 10 (25)

Defense: 10 (25)

Mental: 10 (25)

Titles in effect: Life Lover

Skills:

Standing Ovation Lvl 1

~~~~~~~~~~

Her ice-blue eyes widened as she noticed the 25 in parenthesis. She scrolled down her screen, fearing for the worst.

"Damn it. Life Lover is active. Which means..." she said, looking at the now destroyed forest around her and the two people in the middle. "I'm engaged in a battle with two monsters."

She quietly crept closer to the scene, only to realize that she didn't have a single weapon on hand nor armor.

"You dare seduce and kill my junior sister?" the Taoist roared, lunging forward with his sword.

The clang of metal resonated through the silent forest but it was loud enough for her ears to ring.

"I told you I didn't kill her!" the demon hissed, leaping back and clutching his injured arm. "I loved her with all my heart. We were supposed to get married!"

"Married?! She's dead because of you!" the Taoist scoffed, all traces of kindness void from his eyes.

The two enemies faced each other, filled with hostility until a tiny sneeze broke the silence. They looked the direction of the noise, their swords filled with power.

"C-could you guys turn down the power? I'm kinda on low health here," Cecilia said, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Elf?" the demon said, his eyes widening.

"Fae?" the Taoist exclaimed at the same time.

"How could you get here?" the demon said, looking at her suspiciously.

"Dunno. I came here to live a nice long life peacefully, you know?" she shrugged.

"What does that mean?" the Taoist said, slowly lowering his sword.

~~~ 15 minutes later... ~~~

"T-that's the saddest story I've ever heard," the Taoist wailed, blowing his nose with a tissue.

"You don't deserve this kind of injustice," the demon said, crossing his arms, his face filled with killing intent. Too bad he was crying.

The two enemies looked at each other before coming to a silent agreement.

"We've thought it over and we'd like to move on now," the Taoist said, looking up into the clear sky.

"What does that mean?" Cecilia asked. Somehow, she felt like something troublesome was going to happen.

"It means that we've lived for too long in the world, little human," the demon chuckled.

He and the Taoist both pressed a finger to her forehead before their images started fading away. Her hand flew up to her forehead as the symbol disappeared.

"Seniors!"

"I leave you my badge..." the demon said, his voice getting quieter and quieter.

"I as well..." the Taoist said, bowing to her respectfully.

"Please take care of..." The rest of their sentence disappeared in the wind along with their ashes.

Cecilia looked at the two medals on the ground in front of her, puzzled. She picked them up and turned them around. The white medallion had a phoenix symbol in the middle while the black one had a dragon. She brought her hand back up to her forehead but felt nothing. She stored away the medals and started building a safe shelter with the pre-chopped wood from the battle.

~~~ 500 miles south... ~~~

"Demon Ancestor's life pedestal broke!" a demon shouted, holding pieces of a jade tablet in her hands.

She walked out to the balcony with the shards and held it above her head mournfully as the crowd below her started sobbing.

"Rest in peace, my king. My liege. My ruler," the crowd chanted.

"We will find your successor soon," the girl said, looking up at the black sky above her.

"So everyone..."

~~~ 500 miles north... ~~~

"As many of you have probably guessed, Ancestor Yu has passed on, leaving behind his successor. We must do his best to find the remains of his legacy," an old man said, his words slowly sinking into the massive crowd of thousands below him.

"Everyone..."

~~~~~~

"Look for a person with a--"

"White Phoenix Jade Tablet."

"Black Dragon Jade Tablet."

"That is the successor we're looking for."

~~~~~~~~~~

Cecilia relaxed in her tiny hut, not knowing that there were thousands of people and devils alike looking for her.

Ploop. Ploop. Ploop.

She sat up quickly, reaching for her tree branch, the only weapon available in the forest. A tiny blue slime hopped into her hut, heading in her general direction.

She faltered, seeing the cute slime hop towards her. Mistake.

The cute slime opened its mouth and leapt at her with murderous intent. If it weren't for her reflexes, she would've been eaten by the slime. Waking up from her hallucination, she smashed her stick down on the slime quickly, killing it.

'Ding!'

[ Level up! Skill points up 20, obtained 10 Talent points ]

[ Standing Ovation! Level up! ]

Cecilia was surprised at the number of skills points she obtained. One level up gave her 20, doesn't that mean that in 5 levels, she'll have the same amount she got in the tutorial? What was more confusing was Talent points. Opening her status, she quickly understood their purpose. Using her new points, she allotted them in... all in Vitality. Again. Thus raising Life Lover's Skill Attribute.

~~~~~~~~~~

[ Player Status ] Level 2

Name: Cecilia

Vitality: 325 (35)

Intelligence: 10 (15)

Strength: 10 (15)

Defense: 10 (15)

Mental: 10 (15)

Titles:

Life Lover Lvl 2 ( Now permanently increases all stats by 15)

Demon Lord Successor

Taoist Sect Successor

Skills:

Standing Ovation Lvl 2 ( Time Limit increased to 12 hours )

~~~~~~~~~

"Huh? Demon Lord and Taoist Sect Successor?" she murmured.

No wonder she had a bad feeling earlier. Those old geezers pushed this on her!

{ System detecting... Combing titles... }

{ Obtained: Neutral Successor Seat }

{ Passive skills activated: IRL System setting up }

"HUH?!"