I Died Before The Apocalypse: This Time, I Choose Myself

Nadia

Blood pooled on the unnaturally smooth stone of the labyrinth floor, soaking into the ruined hem of my red dress.

Daniel had told me I looked beautiful in this color just three days ago.

I wondered now if he had ever actually looked at me at all.

I dragged my shattered legs forward, leaving a red smear across the tiles. A few yards away, the heavy iron door of the Instance's Safe Zone stood half-open.

Standing safely inside it were my boyfriend, Daniel. His mother. His younger brother. And his sister, Chloe.

None of them were reaching out to help me.

“Daniel,” I gasped, pressing a bloody hand against the stone to keep myself from collapsing completely. “Pull me in. I can't feel my legs.”

He stood near the center of the Safe Zone, his combat boots free of the dirt and gore covering mine. He didn't step forward.

“I can't do that, Nadia,” he said. His voice was completely level.

I stared at the man I had loved for six years. The man whose startup I had funded when he couldn't get it off the ground. The man I had defended against every friend who warned me he was bleeding me dry.

“What are you talking about?” I whispered, cold panic taking root in my chest. “You said we would clear this floor together.”

“We have to clear the Instance,” Daniel corrected softly. He glanced at the glowing blue System screen hovering near his shoulder. “The prompt on the door says a toll must be paid to secure the Safe Zone. One life for the rest of us. We took a vote.”

I looked at the four of them.

While I had stayed behind, fighting the swarm and taking hit after hit to buy them time, they had stood safely behind me and quietly voted to use my life as currency.

A bitter, broken laugh scraped its way out of my throat.

Then I looked at Chloe, the girl I had treated like my own sister — and I couldn't stop myself from pleading.

“Please, Chloe. You can't just stand there and watch him do this to me.”

“Oh, please, Nadia.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Didn't you always say you loved my brother? Why can't you make this little sacrifice for us so we can walk out alive?”

My vision swam.

They were asking me to die so they could live.

“We appreciated what you've done for us,” Daniel said, “But you're crippled now. If we bring you in, we all die. So just stay back, okay? I heard the System makes death painless.”

And just like that, Daniel reached out and shoved the heavy iron door, leaving me alone in the dark corridor.

I collapsed fully onto the stone.

The cold seeped into my bones, but the betrayal hurt far worse than my shattered legs.

I had spent six years believing these people were my family.

In the end, they had shut the door and left me to die.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the System to finish me.

Then I heard footsteps.

Not the skittering claws of monsters, but the heavy thud of boots approaching through the darkness.

A figure emerged from the shadows. Tall, broad shoulders wrapped in a leather jacket. A longsword in one hand, dark blood dripping steadily from the blade.

He stopped a few feet away.

Then he let out a harsh, irritated breath. “Are you actually kidding me?”

My eyes shifted to his face.

Standing there was the boy who used to kick my chair out from under me in middle school. The teenager who ruined my science project just to watch me yell at him.

Except he was a man now.

And of all the people who could have found me here, it had to be him.

Julian crouched beside me, his sharp eyes scanning the massive pool of blood soaking my dress.

“Of all the pathetic places to find you dying,” he muttered, his mouth twisting in annoyance. He jammed his sword into the ground. “Where's your golden retriever boyfriend? Don't tell me the coward ran.”

“Left me,” I breathed out to the man I hadn't seen since high school graduation, biting my lip to hold back tears, but it did nothing to stop them from spilling over. “Toll for the door. The dead weight.”

Julian's expression hardened and for a moment I thought he was going to mock me and walk away like everyone else.

Instead, he opened his System space and pulled out a glass vial. He shoved it against my lips.

“Drink it.”

Julian is saving me?

I weakly turned my head away. “Don't. The System already gave me the critical failure warning.”

“Shut up and drink it,” he demanded, gripping my shoulder.

I didn't have the strength to fight him. I fell against his chest, the rough leather of his jacket scraping my cheek as he forced the liquid down my throat.

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered. “You hate me.”

“You can ask questions when we get out of here,” he ordered, his grip tightening.

But my eyes were already shutting.

“Don't you dare close your eyes.” There was a genuine edge of panic in his voice now.

I wanted to stay awake.

I really did.

But the System prompt was already flashing across my mind.

[Vitality depleted. Subject expired.]

Darkness swallowed me.

***

I drew in a massive, jagged breath and bolted upright.

My lungs burned. I threw my hands out, expecting to hit cold stone, but my fingers tangled in soft linen.

The air smelled like expensive diffuser oil. Sunlight streamed through a large window, illuminating the familiar white walls of my bedroom.

There was no blood.

There was no labyrinth.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I threw off the duvet. I stumbled out of bed and stood in front of the full-length mirror.

My legs were perfectly intact. My skin was flawless, without the dirt, scars, and bruises that had covered me before my death.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped it.

October 8.

My breath hitched.

Five days.

It was exactly five days before the System descended, plunging Earth into a brutal game of survival, Classes, and Instances.

I was alive.

But how?

I clearly remembered dying. I remembered the pain. I remembered Julian's voice. I remembered the System announcing my death.

So how was I here?

I was still thinking when something on my nightstand caught my eye.

A sticky bright pink note and unmistakenly Chloe's messy handwriting.

Nadia, Borrowed your Porsche for my driving test! The instructor said I need a real car to practice lol. Don't worry I will be careful!!! Back by lunch.

My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles went white.

My Porsche. The custom 911 Turbo S I'd waited eight months for.

Chloe didn't even have a license. She'd failed her test twice.

In my previous life, I would have laughed it off. Told myself she was just being Chloe.

But I could still hear her voice from the Safe Zone, clear as day.

Why can't you make this little sacrifice for us so we can walk out alive?

I peeled the sticky note off, tear it into half, and throw it into the trash.

I didn't go after her. Not yet.

I unlocked my phone and went straight to my contacts.

Daniel. Blocked.

Daniel's mother. Blocked.

His brother. Blocked.

Chloe. Blocked.

Then I opened my banking app.

I had several million dollars sitting in liquid assets.

In five days, this number would be worthless. Today it could buy a warehouse, antibiotics, and enough freeze-dried food to outlast winter.

But food alone wouldn't be enough.

I had learned that the hard way.

When the Awakening happened, the System forced everyone to choose a Class. In my past life, I had chosen Blademaster because I wanted to become strong enough to protect the people I loved.

Millions of people made the exact same mistake.

They chose fire, lightning, strength, speed — every combat class that looked powerful on the surface.

And they died by the thousands.

A sharp sword meant absolutely nothing if you didn't understand the hidden rules of the Instance you were trapped in.

I stared at my reflection, my jaw setting into a hard line.

This time, I wasn't going to be the vanguard.

When the apocalypse arrived in five days, I was going to scroll right past the combat Classes. I was going straight to the bottom of the list, to the tier everyone else would laugh at and ignore.

I was going to choose Infinite Wisdom.