The NextWorld 02: Spawn Point Read Online Free PDF Page B

the group died, which means she lived. Cyren lived. That's all that matters.
    There is nothing around me. In fact, there is no me . I'm not anywhere. There is a lack of existence, an emptiness that penetrates my form. When I thought about death, I always pictured a world of black, that I would be floating in some kind of space, but there is nothing.
    “Prepare for respawn.”
    I haven't allowed the words to register when the game world fades into view. First large, blurry, pixelated blocks pop into the blackness. As they continue to multiply, thousands, then millions, then billions of tiny dots form graphics that are indistinguishable from reality.
    I'm standing in the middle of an ancient tomb. A fire is snapping around a pile of wood. The flames allow me to see the yellowish stone of the walls. It looks like the design used in the desert zone, but I can't be sure. My message notification is beeping in the corner of my viewpoint. Cyren's voice comes from behind me. It sounds exhausted.
    “It worked.”
    When I turn around, she's standing among a group of civilians. Each one of them has a code book open, and each one of them is holding the large quill that allows them to rewrite the code inside.
    Cyren runs toward me and throws her arms around my shoulders. I hug her, but when my hands wrap around her, I touch the wounds open across her back. I step away and look at her bruised face. Her split bottom lip, red with blood. Her torn, leather-strapped outfit hangs from her body in shreds.
    “You're... wounded.”
    I swipe my hand in the air and open my inventory. I scroll through my magic items until I find my collection of health potions.
    “Here.”
    She hesitates, but reluctantly accepts the glowing red bottle. She pours the liquid down her throat and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Her wounds glow for a few seconds and disappear. Even her clothes mend themselves, the potion rejuvenating her entire avatar. She smiles, crying and laughing at the same time. She touches my face, like she's making sure it's solid.
    “You're the one who died, but of course you're worried about my scratches.”
    “I died?”
    I catch up all at once and I feel like I'm going to fall over, like the world is twisting on an axis that shouldn't exist. I look down at my body. I'm completely healed. A fresh avatar.
    “I died! How am I... what happened? How did I respawn? How am I here?”
    She clasps both of my hands inside of her own.
    “A lot has happened since you died.”
    “Tell me,” I beg, trying uselessly to contain myself.
    “You were right. There were more monsters. Deeper into the zones on the other side of the Darkfyre Mountains. The battle drew them to us. They were higher Levels than we've ever seen before. We think the designers meant them for end game quests. Raids.”
    She closes her eyes, trying to push past the pain of the memories.
    “But after you died, we were helpless. With your death, the Level Zeros had no Level. The monsters chased us back toward DangerWar City.” She pauses. “Not all of us made it.”
    The pain is obvious, like every breath she's taking is another moment she has to live with their deaths.
    “But those of us who survived, those of us who managed to run fast enough... we spread out into small groups to warn the civilians and hide them in the bonus zones, behind the secret doors. I led my group here, to the labyrinth under the desert.”
    “The labyrinth,” I mumble. My mind is foggy and slow, like my thoughts are too thick to process. “That was smart. We cleared this place a long time ago. Monsters would never find the entrance to the hidden chambers.”
    She bows her head as her words whimper and fail. “Others tried to reach the secret doors in the city.”
    I reach out and touch her, trying to offer her as much of my strength as I can summon. “What happened to them?”
    She closes her eyes tight, trying to shut off the desperate need to weep as she whispers, “It was a