When My Name Was Keoko

Kiami Lynn, remembers dying in a zombie horde after surviving 8 years of an apocalypse. Remembering how she spent her first life helping family who never truly cared, abandoning the few who genuinely loved her. Her final thoughts are filled with regret and betrayal as she succumbs to the horde, reflecting on how her misplaced loyalty led to her demise. But death is not the end, Kiami awakens ten days before the outbreak in her own past, alive, whole, and confused. She is greeted by the Ultimate Power System, a mysterious interface that grants her a Sanctuary — a space to train, store items, grow food, and prepare for survival. Within the Sanctuary, she is guided by Echo, a cryptic, riddle-speaking spirit who teaches her to cultivate new powers, master her skills, and make strategic choices. Reborn, Kiami is no longer the quiet, people-pleasing girl she once was. She is outspoken, calculating, and insightful, using the knowledge of her past life to anticipate the coming apocalypse. Over the course of ten days, she trains relentlessly, honing her reflexes, combat skills, and strategic thinking. Haunted by visions of her past mistakes, she learns the true cost of misplaced loyalty and the importance of foresight, strategy, and decisive action. Every decision carries risk, but every earned skill and reward brings her closer to becoming a survivor capable of not just enduring the apocalypse — but turning the tide of the human vs. zombie war. As the outbreak draws nearer, Kiami begins to manipulate the real world, testing her powers, setting traps, and preparing to rewrite her fate. With Echo’s riddles guiding her and the Ultimate Power System enhancing her body, mind, and strategy, she is determined that this time, nothing will stop her — no betrayal, no undead horde, no past mistakes.

A car accident leaves me unconscious for a full three years. When I wake up, my family bursts into tears of joy. They care for me with the utmost attention. But from their behavior, I sense something is wrong. There are women's clothes in the house that don't fit me. My mother's shopping cart is filled with mysterious baby items. My father's friends send congratulatory messages about a new child, and my husband is always working overtime. When my husband once again leaves me alone under the pretext that there is something urgent at the company, I secretly follow him. Inside a warmly decorated house, my parents and husband sit around a table. A woman who looks almost exactly like me is holding a baby just a few months old, gently coaxing the child to call my husband "Daddy".

After I get reborn, I've orchestrated every missed moment with my biological parents. When they want to take my adopted sister, Simone Graham, to take a family portrait, I'll take cold showers so that I can catch a fever. When they decide to book a cruise ship overseas in order to celebrate Simone's birthday, I join a classified project, which stops me from leaving the country. When they start a company for Simone, I quickly apply to get dispatched to South City, which is 600 miles away from my hometown. I also make sure to declare that I will never fight with Simone over anything in life. In my previous lifetime, Simone and I had been fighting over our parents' affection for decades. But all I got were comments on how manipulative and cunning I was. Everyone preferred Simone, who was pure and innocent, while showing disdain toward me, who was a woman of little words. Even my own husband and child couldn't understand my pain at all. "We're all family here, aren't we? Can't you just stop your dramatics for a few days? Whenever I come home, you always start a fight and cause unrest among everyone! You really should reflect on your own actions!" Just like that, I died on my sickbed all alone. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I get accepted back into my family. This time, I'm not going to fight anymore. I'm going to live for myself instead.

Your color is still haunted by the past that it keeps on drowning you down until you can no longer appreciate the life that was given to you. Despite the enduring pain that lingered in your body I'd love to see your color shining through.

When the half-mile sprint test is about to begin, Quiana Sullivan, the class president, and I have applied to be exempted from it. My own mother, who's the homeroom teacher of my class, approves Quiana's application with a smile. But she then throws mine to the floor. "You're having a chest pain, you say? I can't believe you're able to come up with such lies just to avoid the half-mile sprint! I'd have known if you had a heart condition! "Quiana is weak by nature, not to mention she's on her period right now, so she can't handle the agony. What about you, hmm? You've always been perfectly healthy, yet now you're telling me that you're suffering from heart pain? "Don't go around embarrassing me just because you want to slack off! I don't want others claiming that I'm being biased toward my own child! As long as you're still alive and kicking, you must finish the half-mile course no matter what!" Left without a choice, I can only return to the field. The cold wind makes me feel even dizzier now. My heart keeps contracting uncontrollably against my will. Suddenly, it just stops pumping. The next thing I know, I collapse onto the grassy field heavily. When my consciousness is about to flicker to darkness, my mom finally walks over to me. But she merely kicks my arm with a frown on her face, and her tone remains glacial. "Stop playing dead. Get up right now." She doesn't realize that I can never open my eyes ever again. Isn't this great, Mom? No one will ever claim that you're biased toward your own child. I've used my life to prove how fair and just you are. You must be happy now, right?

My mother hated me, to the point that she wished I were dead. I knew I deserved to die. Sixteen years ago, if I hadn’t insisted on going out, my brother wouldn’t have died while trying to save me. Eventually, both of us got what we wished for. I got brain cancer. She had become a stranger to me as I forgot everything and went to die in blissful ignorance. Then, she went mad.