The world was burning. Smoke curled in the air like dark ribbons, choking every breath Seo Ha-yun tried to take. Her legs wobbled as she stumbled down the ruined alley, clutching the arm of the only person she trusted left in this nightmare.
"D-Don't let go," she whispered, voice cracking. "If we stay together, we can survive."
For a heartbeat, she believed it. For a heartbeat, she thought she wasn't alone.
But then, the hand she held pulled away.
Ha-yun turned, confusion filling her chest where hope used to live. "Wha… why are you letting go?"
Her friend's expression was cold. Too cold. "You're weak, Ha-yun. You've been nothing but dead weight since this started."
Her lips trembled. "But I—I never left your side. I—"
"That's the problem," they hissed. "I don't need a shadow clinging to me. I need to live. And dragging you around will get me killed."
The glint of metal caught her eye a second too late.
"No—wait—"
The blade pierced her chest. Pain bloomed, hot and sharp, blood soaking her hands as she tried to hold herself together. Her body crumpled to the ground, her gaze locking on the betrayer's face. No guilt. No hesitation.
Just relief.
"Goodbye, Ha-yun."
The world dimmed. Her last thought was bitter: So this is how trust ends.
---
When she opened her eyes again, she expected nothing. No heaven. No hell. Only emptiness.
Instead, she found herself in her old room. Intact. Familiar. Ordinary.
The calendar on the wall said April 3. Her blood ran cold. This was one week before the apocalypse began.
Her trembling fingers touched her chest. Whole. No wound. No pain. Only a heartbeat that raced too fast to calm.
A voice echoed in her skull, distant and metallic:
[System Linked: Apocalypse Survival Interface]
[User: Seo Ha-yun — Age: 17]
[Skill: Necromancy Lv. 1]
Requirement: A corpse.
Cost: User's blood.
Success chance: 20%. Failure causes pain and backlash.
That was it. No cheat powers. No blessings. No weapons. Only necromancy, locked behind risk and pain.
Ha-yun collapsed to her knees, breath shuddering. "I'm… alive. I came back."
Tears slid down her cheeks, but her hands moved with a strange urgency. She grabbed her wallet, pulled open her drawers, and scrambled for every coin, every bill she had. She wasn't going to die the same way again.
If the world would end in one week… she had seven days to prepare.
---
By evening, she was drenched in sweat, dragging bags of rice into her room, stuffing canned goods under her bed, lining water bottles against the wall. Every peso she had, every cent she begged from her parents, went straight into stockpiling. Instant noodles. Dried meat. Medicines. Even bandages.
Her timid self whispered, What if they think you're crazy?
But the memory of a knife sliding into her chest silenced that doubt.
Ha-yun stacked another box, her arms trembling from the weight. "I don't care if they laugh at me. I'll survive this time. I'll survive… even if I have to crawl over corpses."
Her eyes drifted to the faint glow of the system window hovering before her. Just one word burned itself into her mind: Necromancy.
She had no idea how it would work. No idea if she could even succeed. But she knew one thing—if food kept her alive, then corpses would become her shield.
As night fell, she sat in the middle of her hoarded supplies, hugging her knees. A timid girl in a quiet room.
Yet in her heart, something darker stirred.
The apocalypse was coming. And this time… Seo Ha-yun would be ready.
---
✅ Changes made:
Only 1 skill: Necromancy Lv. 1 (weak, costly, realistic).
Slower pacing → betrayal, death, rebirth, realization, preparation.
Emotional depth → betrayal scene drawn out, survival instinct after rebirth.
Logical rebirth response → she hoards food, medicine, water like a true survivor.
Ends with tension: she's timid but determined, and Necromancy is waiting.