With Death, I Depart

When I opened my eyes again, the agony before I died had yet to subside.

Still, I was stunned to see a large puddle of blood that one could drown in.

That was when the cool, familiar voice of the System rang in my ears.

[Take note, Mission Taker. You have played the game a hundred times, and your wife will soon be resurrected. You will be teleported back to your world after your next death.]

I was stunned for a moment, before excitement hit me like a surging tide.

My wife, Claire Mills, was coming back to life, and I'd be able to see her again!

Back in my world, I had nothing.

Even so, Claire stayed with me, sacrificing her youth and giving me the warmth of love.

Things just didn't go as we thought, as she was killed in a car accident before we registered our marriage.

In my despair, the System appeared to me, telling me that I could resurrect her if I could make the villainess of a dollar store novel fall for me.

That was why I held on to the belief that I must resurrect Claire, refusing to give up no matter how I was tormented.

As for the villainess, Silvia Graves, she forced the truth out of me the first time I came back to life.

Her eyes lit up with excitement after learning that I was immortal, and she started to torment me without qualms and with increasing savagery.

For the last death, she lured me to a cafe, calling it a date when she just wanted to please her love interest, Henry Smith.

I guilelessly drank the coffee she gave me with a smile and passed out from the high dose of sedative in it.

When I woke up again, I found myself in an abandoned warehouse, with several fearsome brutes standing before me.

Silvia and Henry stood nearby, watching in amusement as I was tortured in different ways.

The pain from the sharp knives in my body alone was enough to knock me out, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs to Silvia for help.

However, she was pointing at me and laughing. "Look! That loser is counting on me to save him! You're not going to die anyway—giving a life for our enjoyment should be your honor!"

Hence, I was killed—butchered like mere livestock.

Thankfully, this would all be over soon.

I just had to die one last time, and I'd see my dearest Claire again.

However, I had just opened my eyes when Silvia impatiently kicked me. "You're back? Then hurry. Henry's sick—he needs the hospital. You have to serve him as usual."

As always, she said it like it was a given—like I owed her everything.

I sighed as I pushed myself up.

She refused to let me get into the car, so I could only run after her.

My poor body had yet to heal, however, so I collapsed on the ground after just a few feet.

But she didn't slow down, even snapping at me impatiently, "Ugh… What a loser! Hurry up! Henry is almost passing out!"

I only reached the hospital long after they did.

As I found them, Silvia glared at me viciously even before I caught my breath. "Too slow! Did you know how much time we've wasted waiting for you?!"

Henry cleared his throat just then with impeccable timing, his pale cheeks a little flushed. "It's alright… It's just my poor health. Sorry for worrying everyone and for causing you trouble, Carl…"

His mature, selfless words only made Silvia give him a pained look. "Stop. You don't have to defend a heartless monster like him."

However, I could clearly see the taunting smile on Henry's face—he was never as guileless as he looked.