NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 6: Chapter 7: I can die...?
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Chapter 7: Heartless, Yet Alive
> "You made the right choice."
Those were the last words I heard—
Before a hand pierced through my chest.
No pain.
Just cold.
I looked down.
There was a hole…
Where my heart should be.
Blood spilled like pixels.
> "Who… are you?"
The figure didn't answer.
A tall man, dressed in white robes laced with circuits. His eyes glowed like twin processors. Behind him, the glowing gate hummed with a sound that wasn't sound—it was a pulse, like the heartbeat of another universe.
And then, he left.
Just like that.
With my heart in his hand.
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Everything went black.
No system prompt.
No pain.
No death screen.
Just emptiness.
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And then…
Light.
I gasped.
I was breathing.
Alive?
> "You're awake… finally."
A familiar voice.
I turned.
It was her.
The girl I had saved—the one from that ruined alley. She looked older now. Sharper eyes. A different presence.
> "You… saved me?"
She nodded.
> "You saved me first. I owed you my life."
> "But… I'm a monster."
I clenched my chest. No heartbeat. Just a soft glow beneath the skin—like something artificial trying to mimic life.
> "I know," she said gently. "But I don't believe you're gone. Not completely."
I stared at her, confused.
Why would she trust me?
Why… would she save someone like me?
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After she left, silence returned.
I sat alone.
Hand over my chest.
No pain. No pulse.
Just… something.
A flicker.
A whisper.
> "So you still want to live…?"
That voice again.
Inside me.
The one I couldn't shake.
> "You gave them mercy. Weak. But now… let's see how long you last without a heart."
> "Shut up…" I whispered.
But he laughed.
> "We are becoming one. You feel it, don't you? Every second… my will, leaking into your bones."
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I stood up.
Unsteady, but breathing.
My body was healing.
Rapidly.
Flesh closing around the wound. Bones reforging.
Even without a heart…
I was regenerating.
But it wasn't me doing it.
It was the body.
The thing inside.
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> "System Notice: [Offline]
Reboot Failed.
User Integrity Compromised."
A translucent error message blinked in my vision—and vanished.
I laughed.
Bitterly.
"Of course. Of course I'm compromised…"
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But I was still alive.
And as long as I breathed—
I could fight back.
Even if the thing inside me was stronger.
Even if I no longer had a heart.
I wasn't done yet.
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[End of Chapter 7]
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