Sage's eyes shot open, wide enough that it felt like his eyelids might tear. For a heartbeat, panic surged through him, his body instinctively tried to jerk upright, as if movement alone could undo the horrifying words he had just heard. But the moment his muscles obeyed, reality crashed down hard.
A sharp, brutal pain lanced through his chest and spine like a red-hot spike, tearing a groan from deep within him. Cold sweat erupted all at once, soaking his back and the tattered remnants of his clothes, while his vision flashed white at the edges.
Yet oddly enough, he wasn't focused on the pain. Pain was familiar. Pain could be endured. What the system had just said was something entirely different.
"R-Repeat that," he stammered inwardly, his voice hoarse even in his own mind, as if fear had dried out his throat from within. "Say it again. Tell me I misheard you. Tell me I'm still half-dead and hallucinating."
