Dead but Alive (Chapter-01)

Erica, the female paramedic was sitting on her couch with a cup of tea, watching the morning news. The news was usual. Some health news, some news about a few celebrations, and some news about food prices. But today's morning news was different from others. Usually, there wouldn't be any news about death in the mornings. But there was one about a boy who was 18 years old. 

When Erica saw the news she immediately recognized him, Arthur. Erica dropped the cup from her hands and the correspondent started to talk.

''This morning a boy was found dead at the XXX Graveyard. He died because of hunger and cold. He was lying next to a grave.''

The correspondent held her ear for a second and stopped to talk. After a few seconds, the correspondent started talking again. 

''The information I got at the moment says that boy named Arthur was lying next to his mother's grave. The police found a journal that probably Arthur, the boy dug his mother's grave with his hands a little and buried his journal on his mother's grave. I can't tell what's written in the journal because of the law of personal privacy but the police confirmed it was like a letter to his dead Mom.'' the correspondent tried to stay professional but Erica and the other people that were watching this news were able to understand the correspondent's sadness. 

The correspondent finished the news with her last words.

''Losing someone that you love most at such a young age is hard. I lost my parents too but not that young... It doesn't matter if you are young, old, alone, or something else. If you are sad, please go talk with someone... May God forgive him.''

The news ended. Erica was terrified by the news. She couldn't believe that Arthur died. She fell to her knees and started apologizing again and again, non-stop for minutes. And, she just hoped that Arthur could forgive her because she couldn't be with him even if she promised.

***

Arthur opened his eyes somewhere he couldn't recognize. It was white everywhere and he was in shock. 

''Did I die?'' he asked to himself. But then, a different voice came up.

''Yes, Arthur. You died.'' the voice said. It was a kind voice.

''Who is it?'' he said with a shock. He looked the way that the voice was coming from but all he could see was fog. After some silence, a woman came out from the fog. A woman that had yellow eyes, yellow hair, and a yellow long dress with a flower crown made of goldenrod. The woman looked into his eyes and started to talk.

''You can call me Goddess of Human, Aliel.'' the woman said with her kind voice.

''Where am I?'' Arthur said with a confused voice.

''In Purgatory.'' Aliel said and continued to talk. ''You died but because of a wish of a human you gained a second chance.'' She said.

''Second chance? Because of a wish of a person?'' He said while couldn't understand what was the woman in front of him saying.

''I can't say the person that made this wish but God accepted it and so do I. You'll be reincarnated to another world with a helping system. A world in which people believe me as their God.'' she said with a little ego in her voice.

''Wait!.. Wait... I don't understand what are you saying. I was lying next to my mother's grave.'' he said with an anxious voice.

''You died because of hunger and cold. That day, the weather was 1 Celsius, Arthur. It was predictable that you were gonna die. You even didn't drink any water for 3 days. It was all predictable.'' she said emotionlessly. 

''What will happen to me now?'' Arthur said while trying to accept the reality.

''Like I said, you will be reincarnated to another world with a system that God made by himself. And you will live your life happily.'' she said.

While Arthur was listening to the words of Aliel he remembered a word that she said.

''I can't believe but I'm trying to understand what's happening. You said you are the Goddess of Human, right? Can you make me see my Mom and hug her one last time before I go?'' he said with some hope in his eyes. 

''No.'' she said directly. ''I can't do that.'' she continued to talk.

Arthur was disappointed and asked ''Why?''. Aliel looked at him with pitying eyes. 

''Arthur. If I said no, that doesn't mean you can ask again and again. Don't be some people that I hate.'' she said with a little anger.

And Arthur got a little angry too.

''You are calling me here without my permission, saying that I will be living another life without my acceptance! I should be able to decide one thing at least!'' he yelled. 

Aliel was in shock. She hadn't experienced something like this before ever, a disrespectful act from a lowly human who couldn't keep living after his mother's death. Aliel got more and more angrier.

''You are pushing the limit, Arthur. I'm something that you call God! I can do whatever I want to you!'' Aliel yelled. The ground that Arthur was standing on started to shake badly which made Arthur fall on the ground. He was trying his best to not faint.

''I don't care if you are 'God' or something else! If I was created that means I must've some rights!'' he said while his soul was at the limit of breaking. 

Aliel sighed with anger. She looked at him like she wanted to exterminate him with more pressure. 

''I want this to end!'' he said and fainted because of the pressure. 

Aliel laughed.

''Ohohoh no... I say when we are done!.. (a little bit of silence) I hope you die quickly so I can break your soul, Arthur.'' she said while laughing. She snapped her fingers and teleported him to a world with some bread and water with him. 

Arthur woke up after being teleported and looked around. 

''Where am I?'' he said. And got up from the ground. 

''I don't care where am I. I'll make sure to take revenge on that woman!'' he said with anger. 

He had nothing but some torn clothes, some water, and 3 pieces of bread. He gathered up bread and water from the ground and started walking in a random direction. He walked until his legs lost their strength and he decided to take some rest under a big tree. 

As soon as he sat down and leaned on the tree he fell asleep. It was the night at the moment he slept. He woke up in the morning and ate a slice of his bread and, took two sips from his water and, continued to walk. 

After a few hours, he heard a sound from a bush that was on his left. He looked at the bush with scared eyes. He was overthinking so much. 

But then an arrow stabbed to his right arm. He didn't understand what was happening but his instincts were telling him to run as fast as he could. So did he but after 2 steps he fell to the ground and fainted. 

The person who shot the arrow came out from the bush. It was a girl around the age of 18, the same as Arthur.

''Shit!.. I thought it was a monster or something but it was a human. I'm glad I used my sleeping poison arrow.'' She said. And looked around for a little bit.

Then the girl whistled. Two human-sized dogs came out from behind the bush with a big sled on their behind. The girl put Arthur on the sled.

The girl whistled again. ''Y and B, follow me!'' the girl said to the dogs. Y was a yellow dog and, B was a black dog. 

The girl led the way to her home. After they arrived Arthur was slowly beginning to wake up. He opened his eyes. The girl, Y and B were next to him. 

''Morning sunshine.'' the girl said. 

''Who are you?..'' he tried to get up but his arm was hurting a lot.

''The person who shot you.'' she giggled. 

He looked at his injured arm and saw that she bandaged him. Then he turned his back to the girl again. The girl has short, dark blue hair, dark purple eyes, and white skin. She was shorter than 170 cm and had a red T-shirt and a black short on her.

''Looks like your shot was missed.'' he got back to laying on the bed again.

''Sorry for shooting... But what were you doing at a place like this?'' she said with a little guilt and curiosity.

Arthur froze. He didn't know what to say. Even if he says the truth she won't believe him. So he made up a lie.

''I... Was with my friends. But a monster came and we got separated from each other.'' he said. He was a bad liar but he tried his best.

''When did that happen?'' the girl asked with seriousness.

''2... 2 days ago.'' Arthur said.

''I'm sorry for your loss.'' the girl said.

''L-loss?'' Arthur was continuing his acting.

''If your friends are like you, they are dead by now. This forest isn't something a normal creature can handle.'' the girl said and put her hand on his arm.

''O-oh... We didn't know this place was a place like this.'' he said with his acting.

''If you want... I can lead the way to a town nearby.'' the girl said.

''R-really? That would be good.'' Arthur said and looked out from the window that was next to his bed.

''Are you living alone?'' Arthur said.

''Yeah, I am. Why did you ask?'' she said.

Arthur turned his face to her ''This place... If it's a place like you said you are in danger every second.'' 

''I don't go in the deep places like I found you. So you don't need to worry... What is your name by the way?'' she asked with a smile on her face.

''Arthur. What's yours?'' Arthur said.

''Hennen Erfil. By pointing to the dogs and their name are Y and B... Don't you have a last name, Arthur?.. Or are you a slave that escaped from its owner?'' Hennen asked with a serious face. 

Arthur felt a little threatened but he answered the question. 

''No, I did not. I'm just not used to saying my last name when I meet someone. My full name is Arthur Blade.'' 

Arthur was telling the truth. Blade was his mother's actual last name and he decided to use it from now on.

''Good name, Arthur. Nice to meet you. Are you hungry by the way?'' she said.

His stomach rumbled. When Hennen heard the rumble she chuckled.

''I guess you are. I'll prepare some meat with vegetables.'' she said.

Arthur blushed a little when his stomach rumbled.

''T-thanks...'' he said while he couldn't even look at her face because of the embarrassment. 

Hennen went to the kitchen and Arthur looked at her house while sitting on the bed. Hennen's house was tiny but comfortable. No separate rooms or anything. Just a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. It was enough for a person that's living alone. 

Then suddenly a blue, translucent window opened in front of him. 

''Wha-?!'' he said with a shock. 

''Did I hurt my head or something? Am I dreaming?'' he said but then he remembered the things that Aliel said to him. 

''Is this 'the system that God made it by himself for me' ?'' he said and started reading the things that were written on the window.

[User: Arthur Blade]

[Age/gender: 18/M]

[Level:1 (0/100)]

[Strenght:5]

[Mana:1]

[Agility:4]

[Intelligence: 7]

[Willpower: 3 (it's low because the person lost someone who cared so much. The candidate can recover it by experiencing what will make the candidate feel good. Even if the candidate can't do something the candidate loves willpower will recover to its normal state over time.)]

[Skills: God's Eye (click for more info), Copy (click for more info)]

[Titles: Candidate for a wish to come true]

''It looks like a video game. ...For more info?'' he said and clicked text.

[God's Eye: You see if someone is telling the truth or not. Also, you can see someone's or something's weakness. And, you can see people's or monster's stats like you saw yours. The more knowledge you get about a person or a thing (any kind), you can see that person's skills one by one. The number of skills you can see is related to the information you have about that person. Your information about the person will be graded over by 100.]

And then he clicked on the other one.

[Copy: You can copy someone's skill if you want. But the skill you copied will be at the class of your stats and if you want to use them more effectively you will have to improve them and your stats. And don't forget user, even the most powerful skill may be useless if you don't have experience with it.]

''Wow... It's really like an RPG video game. My willpower... (he reads the description) Makes sense.'' he said with a sad tone.

There is a text on the right corner of the window. He started reading that too.

[You can open the window by saying 'system' and you can open your storage by saying 'storage'. The storage system is connected to your strength. More strength means more weight you can store. It won't make you slower or anything so feel free to use your storage.] 

''So when I say system (the window disappeared) it will open... And it seems it will close. And even the system's text is like it's speaking with me.'' He said.

Hennen yelled from the kitchen to Arthur. 

''The food is almost done! How are you feeling?'' she said.

''Much more better. I guess you are a person who knows about medicine more than poison.'' he said and chuckled a bit.

Hennen brought two plates of food, two forks and spoons, and two cups of water.

''Thank you for your 'kind' words, Mr. Arthur.'' she said sarcastically. 

Arthur got up from the bed and sat down on a chair. 

''The food looks nice, Hennen.'' he is very hungry.

Hennen sat next to his chair. 

''You can eat as much as you want. I made lots of it.'' she said and started eating.

Arthur started eating too. The meal tasted so good that he finished his first plate in less than a minute.

''I know I said you can eat as much as you want but don't eat fast!'' she laughed and brought another plate of meal for him.

''How old are you, Hennen?'' he said while chewing the meal.

''19. What about you?'' she said while eating.

''18. It was my birthday yesterday.'' he said with a sad voice.

''Really?.. (She recognized that he got sad) What's wrong?'' she asked and put her hand on his shoulder.

''I lost my mother a day after from my birthday, last year.'' he said.

''I'm sorry for your loss, Arthur. What about your father?'' she asked.

''He died the day I was born.'' he said and dropped the spoon.

''Why?.. Why aren't you eating?'' she asked with a sad expression.

''My every important day feels like the worst days of my life now.'' he was trying hard not to cry.

''Maybe I... Shouldn't even be here. I may cause you trouble.'' he said with desperation.

''No no no no... Don't say something like that ever. I'm the one who caused you trouble and I'm trying to make up for it. So please feel free to stay as much as you want.'' she said while caressing his back.

''Thanks, Henna.'' Arthur said and they continued to eat their meal. 

After they were full Arthur helped Hennen with cleaning the table. And after they finished their work Arthur sat down to the chair again. While Arthur sitting down there Hennen brought a thick book and put it on the table.

''What is this?'' Arthur asked.

''Before that, will you gonna fight, Arthur?'' she asked and sat down on the chair that's next to Arthur's.

''Fight against what?'' he asked with a confused look.

''At least against monsters. Because I'm thinking that you will try to take revenge for your friends that got lost in this forest.'' she said.

Arthur remembered the lie that he had told. Then he nodded. 

''Then this book will help you.'' she said and opened the book.

''What's this book about?'' he asked.

''It's more like a guidebook. I came across a lot of monsters, I didn't even look at some of them. And I fought with some of them. I'm not sure about that I gathered all the information about monsters in this forest but it definitely will help. At least I hope.'' she said and giggled. 

She opened the book and showed some monsters to him. Monsters like goblins, hobgoblins, infected wolves, venomous big snakes, Ogres, etc. 

Arthur stopped her at the page of Ogres and said ''This was the monster that attacked us...''. He said this to make his lie even more realistic. 

''Normally Ogres don't walk around alone and they make plans before attacking... Are you sure that the monster that attacked you and your friends was an Ogre?'' she said.

Arthur was terrified because of this information that Hennen said. He is scared that she may recognize his lie. Because there wasn't any other choice, he continued to lie.

''Yeah... I don't know if it usually doesn't act like this but it was alone and angry. It didn't seem like it had any plans. Maybe it was hungry.'' he said while trying his best.

''You may be right. After all, they are like animals. We can't know %100 what they will gonna do. Anyway, don't worry now. Ogres don't come around this place. That means we are safe in here.'' she said.

Arthur said ''That's good... (he looked to the page) The 'weaknesses' section of Ogre is empty, why?''. 

Hennen showed him to her arm's back. She had a scar running from the beginning to the end of her arm.

''This scar... It's made by an Ogre. I couldn't win against it and run away from it. I was lucky.'' she said with a sad expression.

''I'm... I'm sorry for asking.'' Arthur said.

''No need to worry... That's why the 'weaknesses' section of Ogre is empty. I don't know its weakness.'' she said with a smile on her face.

Both of them continued to look at the other pages and talk... But then both of them heard a loud pounding sound and a loud dog scream in pain. 

''What was that?!'' Arthur asked.

''I don't know! Where is B and Y?!'' Hennen said with a terrified face. She took her bow and went to the outside. Arthur was right behind her without a weapon.