Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be killed? Maybe you will feel the pain. Or will it be relief?
Or maybe, just maybe... it's regret.
Regret that I didn't kill him before he killed me.
'Sigh'
'Goodbye my life and see you again.'
Kass thought to himself as he looked straight at the blade so shiny it could reflect his face.
He also didn't know what expression his face reflected from the blade. Angry? Sad? Happiness?
But then he realized that his perspective 'soared' along with the scattering of 'Red Mist.'
Everything was a blur to him. But before his consciousness faded, the silver panel with a green leaf-like frame that he was familiar with and had used countless times appeared in front of him.
[It has been detected that you are about to die. Distributing origin units...]
[...]
[Detected that you have the Skill: Nine Lives Cat...]
[The Skill is in the process of being activated...]
[In the process of sending you to the Death Space...]
[Start countdown...]
[10, 9, 8, 7..., 3, 2, 1]
When the number 1 appeared, everything in his vision suddenly stopped. The floating red mist, the blade that killed his life, and... the remnants of the ruined city.
The cement floor that was once the color of marble that was pleasing to the eye was now almost not visible as the surrounding area was like a stream of blood. The corpses of people were scattered everywhere. If we compare it to a mountain of flesh and the sea of blood, it wasn't wrong in the slightest.
Blood-red stars radiated their sordid light onto the mortal realm, and black fires burned throughout the city. But what the black fire burned was not physical materials but people's minds, transforming them into monsters in human skin.
Kass will engrave this image in his memory and expect that... Maybe in his next life he would be able to stop this incident.
Suddenly, a silver light from the panel filled his vision. Without knowing how much time has passed, it may be in the blink of an eye or it may be a lifetime. The silver light gradually disappeared.
When he came to his senses, he found that what appeared in front of him was beyond his imagination.
The area around him was dark and filled with emptiness. But within this emptiness lies...
Several 'white streams' swam from beneath the ground around him, flowing straight in front of him at an undetermined distance and converging at what he thought might be the 'horizon'. Then it flows up into the sky, and when the 'Big White Stream' flowed for a certain distance, they separated from each other, and some 'Small White Streams' split into many smaller ones. It made him feel that these 'white streams' were like...
'Tree!' Kass thought to himself and quickly turned back to see that the white stream on the ground around him was flowing from the 'horizon' in the opposite direction from the 'giant white tree', and behind him appeared the same white tree, but much smaller.
Saying that this white tree is small is also incorrect because, from the base of the tree to the top, it is more than thirty meters tall. This white tree has four main branches that are divided into one to three smaller branches per main branch, and each branch is dotted with white leaves.
'Isn't this my Tree Of Entis?' he thought to himself, looking in confusion at this small white tree. How could it appear here when it was supposed to be in his mental world?
What is the Tree Of Entis? From what he had learned, it was the 'Source of the Strength' of life in this world. It is something that helps weak creatures become stronger by using so-called 'origin units' that can be obtained through various methods.
What is the Tree Of Entis' origin? There are many different answers from many different people. Some say it is a blessing from God. Some say it is a parasite that takes up residence in us to grow. Or some people may view it as the inherent subtlety of living things.
Normally, the Tree Of Entis resides in the mental world of living beings. Therefore, his Tree Of Entis that somehow appeared in the outside world was an extremely strange thing.
As he pondered the reason why his Tree Of Entis could appear in the outside world, the silver screen reappeared with a message, causing him to stop thinking about the reason.
[You are currently in Death Space due to the Skill: Nine Lives Cat.]
[You have 10 minutes in which you can choose one 'thing' to take with you to your 'next life'.]
[But you cannot select the Skill: Nine Lives Cat as it will disturb the stability of your Tree Of Entis.]
[If you don't make a selection within 10 minutes, it will be as if you will make a random selection.]
[Please be careful with your choice because once you make it, you cannot take it back.]
And then the notification message faded away, replaced by a golden hourglass where the sand slowly fell.
'So I only have 10 minutes?' He thought for a moment as he thought about what he should bring back to his next life—a weapon, a skill, a class, a stat, or a level. As he made up his mind, he looked towards his Tree Of Entis and a silver screen with a green leaf-like frame appeared in front of him with all of his attributes.
[Name: Kass]
[Bloodline: Human]
[Growth Sequence: Tree Of Entis Stage 4 (Youngling)]
[Level: 32 (17600/32000)]
[Classes: Assassin]
[Attributes]
Strength: 109(+)
Agility: 158(+)
Endurance: 95(+)
Dexterity: 137(+)
Intelligence: 80(+)
Wisdom: 90(+)
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Origin unit: 0]
[Innate Skill: Nine Lives Cat (7/8)]
[Class Skills: Execute, Treasure Sensing, Sleight Of Hand, First-Aid]
[Learned Skills]
High Grade Skills: Backstab, Decapitate, Camouflage, Silent Steps, Play Dead.
Intermediate Grade Skills: Poison Creation, Trailing, Archery, Pickpocket.
Low Grade Skills: Cooking, Appraisal, Swordsmanship, Fishing, Butchering, Swimming.
"What should I choose?" Kass glanced at his various attributes and skills. And he stopped his eyes at the Nine Lives Cat skill for a while before looking at his other skills and various professions.
Often when people have to make important decisions, time passes quickly like a lie. Until there was only a small amount of sand in the golden hourglass in the panel in front of him and was about to fall completely to the bottom.
*Tick* *Tick* *Tick*
Once he had made up his mind, he raised his head and looked around. His eyes were full of confidence, courage, and maybe a little bit of madness as well.
"I have decided to carry the Tree Of Entis into my next life," he said with fervent determination. After spending almost the past 10 minutes deciding what he would bring to his next life, that would allow him to stop that 'incident' and be something that would allow him to increase his strength in his next life as quickly as possible.
[...]
[Are you sure you want to carry this Tree Of Entis into your next life?]
A silver notification screen appeared in front of him. And for some reason, he felt that the screen in front of him was startled by what he had just said. But maybe he was just imagining it because this silver screen that had been with him for so long probably didn't have a conscience of its own... Right?
"I'm sure of that," he said with a smile that concealed madness. As far as he knew, each living being had only one Tree Of Entis in the mental world and had to develop it with things like levels, jobs, and skills.
So what would happen if he carried this life's Tree Of Entis into the next? Perhaps it had fused with the 'original' Tree Of Entis, or perhaps this Tree Of Entis had swallowed up a weaker tree. Perhaps what would happen was not what he expected. But he was sure it would be...
'Definitely Wonderful'
After his voice died down after he replied that he was sure. The surrounding area instantly became 'dark'. But saying that it was 'dark' was not very accurate because this place should already be a dark place but the light of the 'giant white tree' gave light here. Now its light had dimmed until it was extinguished.
In 'Death Space', only the light of a single tree was still shining, and there was no sign of its light extinguishing. Which is...
'My Tree Of Entis still shines!'
Suddenly, it shone brightly. And its size shrunk and shot straight between his eyebrows, and... there were no words, as soon as it entered his head, he felt a torment spread throughout his body. Nay, the torment spread throughout his soul was like an indescribable pain.
*Ugh*
He fell to the floor. His body jerked uncontrollably. Foam formed at his mouth, saliva, mucus, and blood poured out all over his body, forming a small puddle of water beneath him. And a screen that he could swear was definitely not 'silver' appeared in front of him.
[It has been detected that the item you want to carry on to your next life is a □ □ □ from the Realm of Sylvan.]
[Investigating the possibility of this action...]
[...]
[An error has been detected in this dimension... Fixing in progress...]
[ERROR! ERROR! ER-]
And somehow, the 'non-silver' screen that displayed the error message became blurry for a split second before turning silver as before.
[Ding! Tree Of Entis transfer was successful... Preparing to move on to the next life...]
[The countdown begins...]
[10, 9, 8,..., 3, 2, 1...]
[Transportation in progress...]
[May you find peace in life...]
A soft white light that felt warm enveloped his entire body.
'Goodbye, my first life.' As he thought to himself, his consciousness slowly faded, and he finally lost consciousness.
*Fwoosh*
His figure then disappeared with a soft white light.
The 'Death Space' dimension also bid farewell to this visitor. Perhaps the choices Kass made this time would bring about big changes in his next life. Perhaps in his next life he would face even more severe suffering than before. But what is certain is that the entire time Kass was in this dimension, he didn't notice that a pair of eyes were staring at him from the time he came to this dimension until he left.