Apocalypse: Building And Hoarding My Way Through.
Chapter 158: Death Sequence Completion.

Chapter 158: Death Sequence Completion.

WARNING: This Chapter contains graphic and disturbing content, including descriptions of violent deaths, torture, and bodily harm. Reader discretion is advised. Proceed with caution.

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New flesh wove itself over her bare bones, muscles knitting back together in agonizing slow motion. Her nerves reformed one by one, ensuring she felt everything as her body reconstructed itself.

By the time she was whole again, she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Though she had been restored, the pain lingered, phantom sensations crawling over her skin. Her stomach convulsed at the memory of the worms burrowing into her flesh.

Ding!

{Congratulations on completing the second death, Host.}

The system’s voice echoed in her mind, eerily neutral, as if it hadn’t just put her through unspeakable torment.

Scarlett lay still with tears still rolling down her cheeks.

{Are you ready for the next death?}

Scarlett exhaled shakily. Her body still trembled, every muscle aching, but she forced herself to nod. She had no choice.

"Just get on with it," she muttered, steeling herself.

Ding!

{Then let us proceed.}

Without warning, she felt herself being lifted from the ground. A sickening sensation overtook her, and within moments, she was transported to an entirely new location.

She now stood in a vast, dimly lit chamber. The air was thick, heavy reeking of something acrid.

Ding!

{Welcome, Host. You are about to experience the joys of being dissolved alive. The third death in your sequence.}

Scarlett’s breath hitched. Her heart pounded violently in her chest as the realization of what was about to happen settled in.

She was going to be submerged in acid.

Her body was going to melt away, disintegrating into nothing.

Panic clawed at her, but before she could react, invisible restraints locked around her body. She was lifted off the ground, her arms bound to her sides, her head tilting downward as her feet faced the ceiling.

Beneath her, the floor split open.

A vast pool of white liquid churned below.

Scarlett didn’t need the system to tell her what it was. The pungent scent alone confirmed it, pure, undiluted acid.

A violent shiver ran through her. She hadn’t even fully processed the last two deaths, and now she was about to endure another.

{Are you ready, Host?}

Scarlett’s breath came in short gasps. No. No, no, no.

"I should have just chosen a single death," she muttered, her voice shaking as hot tears burned down her cheeks. "I should’ve just taken the damn reward and been done with it."

{You can still go back and make that choice, Host.}

Scarlett let out a bitter laugh...half-hysterical, half-sobbing. "You think I’m stupid?" she snapped. "You think I’d go through all of this just to quit now?"

Her voice cracked with frustration and exhaustion, anger seeping into her words. "Screw you," she spat, her tears falling freely. "I’m just venting, you sadistic piece of..."

{Are you ready for the third death, Host?}

Scarlett sucked in a shuddering breath. Her fingers curled into tight fists.

"Like I have a choice," she muttered under her breath before sighing heavily. "Fine. I’m ready."

Without hesitation, the system responded.

Snap.

The rope binding her was severed.

Scarlett plunged headfirst into the acid.

SPLASH!

The moment her body made contact, agony exploded through her like wildfire.

It was indescribable.

The acid ate away at her flesh instantly, the pain so intense that her mind could barely comprehend it. It was like a million tiny knives slicing through every fiber of her being simultaneously, her nerves screaming in protest.

She thrashed wildly, but there was no escaping.

Her screams gurgled through the thick, bubbling liquid as her skin melted off in mere seconds, exposing raw, red muscle beneath. Her eyes burned, her vision fading into a white-hot blur as her eyelids dissolved, leaving her bare eyeballs exposed to the acid’s wrath.

Scarlett wanted to claw her way out to fight but her fingers had already melted down to bone.

The acid seeped into her bloodstream, corroding her from the inside.

Soon, there was nothing left of her but a dissolving mass of flesh and bone, floating in the bubbling vat.

The pain was infinite, stretching beyond human comprehension. But just before total oblivion swallowed her....

Ding!

{Congratulations on completing the third death, Host.}

Scarlett didn’t even have the strength to curse it. Her consciousness floated in a dark, endless void. For a brief moment, she felt nothing.

Then agony returned. Her body began to reform.

Each nerve, each organ, each bone reconstructed itself with excruciating precision. It felt as though she were being rebuilt from scratch, her body clawing its way back into existence.

She gasped awake, violently coughing, as if she had been drowning.

She was whole again, sprawled on the cold, unforgiving ground, her body slick with sweat... or was it leftover acid? She didn’t care. She was too exhausted to move.

{Are you ready for the next death, Host?}

Scarlett groaned. Her fingers clenched into weak fists.

Ding!

{Welcome to the fourth death, Host. As an act of mercy, one death has been canceled. You will now experience your final death which is burning alive. There’s no much time on our side.}

Scarlett’s blood ran cold.

Before she could react, fire erupted around her.

The entire room was engulfed in flames.

The heat was immediate overwhelming, suffocating. The oxygen was sucked from her lungs, replaced with thick, scalding air.

Scarlett gasped, but it was a mistake.

The fire stole the breath from her, burning her lungs from the inside.

Her skin blackened, cracked, and peeled away in seconds, the flames licking through muscle and bone.

She dropped to her knees, clawing at her burning flesh, but it was useless. The fire was relentless, merciless. There was no escape.

Her screams filled the air as she watched her own body burn.

Time lost meaning.

At some point, she was reduced to nothing but charred bones and ash.

Then....

Ding!

{Congratulations on completing the death sequence, Host.}

Scarlett’s body reformed for the final time.

She lay there, trembling, tears streaking down her soot-stained face. Her mind reeled, barely able to process the agony she had just endured.

Her breath came in ragged gasps.

It was over.

Finally, it was over.

Her fingers twitched as she wiped at her face, her voice a broken whisper.

"You... fucking system..."

And then...

Darkness took her.