Re:The Worst System Leveling Turned Me Into A Zombie

Chapter 8: The Loneliest Girl In The World

My fave new char.

"..." The figure on the throne doesn't respond, as if sleeping. I take a step closer, keeping my hand on the cleaver in my coat. As I get closer, the thin red mist parts and I get a better look.

It's a...girl?

I pad closer, quietly.

She remains there, for all the world seeming to be asleep. Though how one can sleep on a throne of bone surrounded by hordes of undead is beyond me. The memory of a woman in the mist returns to me.

"Could you be her?" I wonder. Everything was too red, my eyes were burning back then, but this certainly seems like it could be the figure in the mist. I died soon after meeting her, so I'm on full alert. Looking closely, her red dress also seems familiar. It really is her. But who is she? Why was it that while everything boiled away in the acidic mist, she was fine?

"Mmm?" Suddenly the sleeping figure stirs, her dress fluttering ever so lightly. She lifts her head and I see that she's gorgeous, a more developed beauty than Yin. However, unlike the girl I left behind, this strange woman's eyes are not filled with the curiosity and fire of life. Instead, a great sadness draws at their corners and she looks like she's about to cry. Even haggard and worn down by sorrow, she's still easily one of the most beautiful things I've seen. When she sees me, those sad eyes blink wide in disbelief. Her small mouth opens and perfectly even little white teeth gleam at me as she gasps. "How did you...you're not dead!"

Oh my god. She knows! She remembers me!

At first these kinds of silly thoughts float through my head. I almost believe that she knows my secret, that she might understand the power of reincarnation I have been cursed with.

"You remember?" I'm shocked. However, her head tilts curiously. She brings a slender finger to her lips and taps on them curiously.

"Remember what? Have we met before? It's been so long since I've seen another person. Well...another living person that is." She smiles sadly and stretches a pale hand out into the mist. I see tattoos running all along her skin, intricate and mesmerizing patterns that are not from any earthly design. Now I'm beginning to understand. I misunderstood. She doesn't know my secret. But it seems I've stumbled onto one of hers.

"How long have you been alone?" I whisper to her. Maybe it's because of the sadness in her eyes, or maybe I remember the way she comforted me in my last life as I laid there dying, but I feel like I've known her for a long time already. She's younger than I thought. Just weighed down by pain. "What's wrong with this place?"

"My barrier." Her expression is so wistful it's like she'll never see the sun again. "I'm cursed. They call me the Poison Empress. All who come near me will perish beneath the blood mist. It consumes all and follows me wherever I go. To be honest I had given up on ever seeing another living soul. I planned on just staying here rather than furthering someone else's goals. It'd be better then killing more people. My blood mist can dissolve the flesh of the undead. Not even skeletons can survive this close. And yet...somehow, you're not dead. Who are you?"

"Blood Mist Barrier..." I repeat the words. A memory tickles the back of my head, just out of reach. Old rumours from the beginning of the calamity, strange happenings. But I can't quite recall what I'm thinking of. "They call me Black Butcher Hei. Well, they will at least. A barrier large enough to cover this whole area, and it can't be turned off. That would imply it's as strong as a Domain, but Domains can't be unlocked until Lvl. 80. The better question would be, who are you?"

"You know about Domains?" Her eyes grow wide like a surprised cat. "That's impossible! The Calamity has only just begun, I can see you're not even a Hunter yet! How can you know about Domains already!" Suddenly, the atmosphere turns hostile. "If you're one of them, I won't forgive you! This world is off limits!"