I Die to Rise: Resurrection System-Chapter 106: Blazing Sun!

Kurt blinked, floating there in the vacuum of space, completely intact even after being vaporized by the sun.

In front of him, the System interface materialized with multiple messages stacked behind one another. Except this time, it wasn’t just text scrolling across his vision. There was a neutral, almost robotic voice speaking those texts.

[RESURRECTION COMPLETE]

[Deaths: 25]

[Near-Deaths: 18]

[SYSTEM LEVEL UP: LEVEL 3]

[Ability Fusion Lv.2 - Stack 4 abilities simultaneously]

[New Perk: Resurrection Time: 20 minutes → 10 minutes]

[New Perk → Adaptive Response System: System can automatically choose most suitable ability for any given situation. Host may override selection]

[New Feature → Shuffle Mode: Randomize ability loadout for unpredictability]

[Stat Boost: +10 to all attributes]

[Point Boost: +20 points]

[Notice: System will be more interactive with host]

Kurt rubbed his face with both hands. "Oh great. It talks now. Like the bloody texts weren’t irritating enou—"

His lamentation was cut short as more text appeared, accompanied by the same clinical voice.

[ATTRIBUTES]

Strength: 93 → 103

Agility: 94 → 104

Perception: 84 → 94

Luck: 75 → 85

[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: Bloom - F Rank]

[Can sprout flowers from any surface]

[Legendary Death: +20 points]

[Available Points: 55]

[Next Level Requirement: 15 additional deaths]

[Progress: 25/40]

Kurt squinted at the screen. "Make flowers bloom? You’ve got to be having a bloody laugh."

Then he looked up to see Black Heaven hovering nearby, its red optics staring directly at him.

The machine had seen everything. Witnessed the impossible. It paused, systems running calculations, trying to analyze, process, comprehend what it had just observed.

There was five full seconds of complete stillness, an eternity for a combat AI. But this was not something that matched any combat protocol it was programmed for.

"What?" Kurt asked with a mocking grin. "Never seen a man die and come back to life?"

Black Heaven remained silent, only interested in rectifying its error. The target was not eliminated and that needed correction.

It charged up energy in its chest again, the white glow building rapidly, preparing to fire.

"Fair," Kurt said, taking a fighting stance.

He was about to finally level up Fire Lord to B-rank when the System interface flashed with a suggestion.

[NOTICE: Evolving Solar Absorption to C-rank will grant user flight capabilities to navigate better in vacuum environments and long-range attack options]

Kurt hesitated. As much as he wanted to ignore the suggestion, the System was right. He’d been blinded by how much he fancied the Fire Lord ability. Maybe it might not have been the best choice for fighting in a bloody vacuum.

"Fine," he muttered.

[UPGRADE CONFIRMED]

[Solar Absorption → Blazing Sun: C-Rank]

[Cost: 30 Points]

[Available Points: 20]

[NOTICE: Solar Absorption has evolved to Blazing Sun]

[New Description: Host can absorb and convert solar energy and radiation to enhance speed, flight, and physical strength exponentially. Can project stored solar energy as concentrated beams. Enhanced durability and regeneration when exposed to solar radiation]

[Host has made a wise choice to upgrade Solar Absorption]

"Put a sock in it," Kurt muttered.

The showdown was about to commence. Black Heaven still charged its chest beam, preparing to ensure his permanent death this time.

As for Kurt, he began absorbing solar energy from the distant sun, golden light gathering around his clenched fists.

Their beams were about to clash when a warning flashed in Kurt’s vision.

At the same time, Black Heaven’s sensors shifted abruptly toward something else.

[WARNING]

[HOSTILE ENTITY APPROACHING]

Kurt turned slowly and saw it.

The monster emerged from Earth’s atmosphere like a myth come to life. Wings stretching miles wide, covered in writhing tentacles that moved independently, and hundreds of glowing yellow eyes all fixed on him with ravenous hunger.

Both Black Heaven and Kurt lowered their hands when they saw the creature floating between them.

"What in all that is unholy is that?!" Kurt questioned.

The System clarified helpfully.

[Your death has attracted an external predator]

[Entities of this type seek the Resurrection System]

Kurt stared at the screen. "You’re joking."

[They cannot obtain the System]

[But they will continue attempting to consume its host]

Kurt pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, that’s just brilliant."

[Sarcasm?]

"Hmmm," Kurt grunted.

The monster roared silently in the vacuum and lunged toward him, tentacles reaching out like grasping hands.

But Black Heaven immediately interpreted the creature as a hostile entity interfering with its primary objective.

Weapons deployed instantly. Missile compartments opened across its torso and shoulders, and the robot fired a devastating barrage that streaked toward the creature.

They detonated across its enormous body, but the explosions barely made it flinch. The monster swatted at the robot like an insect, one massive tentacle slamming into Black Heaven’s side and sending it spinning through space.

Black Heaven stabilized immediately, firing its chest beam again.

The white energy lance tore through one of the creature’s wings, burning a hole clean through, but the monster regenerated almost instantly, flesh knitting back together like liquid.

They collided like two monsters fighting, shockwaves rippling outward through the vacuum as Black Heaven unleashed everything it had—missiles, beams, energy blades extending from its claws—while the creature wrapped tentacles around the machine’s body and tried to crush it.

Kurt floated between them for a moment, watching the chaos unfold.

Then he slowly began backing away. "Right," he muttered. "You two seem busy."

The robot launched forward again, claws tearing through tentacles. The creature lunged in response, jaws opening wide enough to swallow satellites whole.

Kurt observed as they tore into each other. Robot and the cosmic horror colliding as metal shrieked against flesh, explosions rippling across the creature’s wings, tentacles crushing armor plating.

"...Yeah. I’m not winning that." He turned away and flew downward toward Earth.

His form shifted, glowing golden as Blazing Sun activated fully. Solar energy coursed through his body, enhancing his speed exponentially as he accelerated through the void.

He re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and heat built around his body immediately, friction igniting the air into a blazing corona that surrounded him like a second layer.

While he descended, he asked, "now that you’re all chatty, I’ve always wanted to know, what’s your take on suicide? You know, me directly offing myself? Never actually done it."

[Notice: Host will still be resurrected upon death, regardless of cause. However, direct self-termination will result in zero rewards]

The System interface flickered to another notification before Kurt could respond.

[Combat complete]

[Initiating post-combat recovery protocols]

Then the exhaustion hit him like a speeding truck... if it ran on jet fuel.

The fight. The death. The resurrection. The near-limitless expenditure of energy. It all came crashing down at once, and his powers grew unstable for a moment as his vision blurred.

"Ah," Kurt groaned, still plummeting faster and faster. "That’s... not ideal."

Flashes of memories began slamming into his mind as he descended, fragmentary and vivid, pulling him deeper into a fugue state where he couldn’t focus enough to stop his descent.

***

Kurt was seven years old, holding his mum’s hand as they walked through the zoo. She was smiling, pointing at animals, telling him stories about each one.

Then they stopped in front of the panda enclosure.

The pandas were just... lying there. One of them was on its back, chewing lazily on bamboo, completely unbothered by the world.

"Look at that one," his mum said, laughing. "Doesn’t have a care in the world."

Kurt stared at the panda for a long time, watching it roll over slowly, still munching.

"I want to be like that," Kurt said quietly.

His mum looked down at him. "Like what, love?"

"Like the panda," Kurt said. "Just... chill. No stress. Just eating and sleeping."

His mum laughed and ruffled his hair. "That’s a good life, Kurt. A very good life."

[Memory Fragment Recovered]

[+5 Points]

As much as it hurt, Kurt for once was grateful for that memory. Before he could take a breath, the next memory fragment came:

Kurt was seventeen, standing in a narrow alley behind a pub, face-to-face with a man twice his size. The man had just accused Kurt of cheating at cards, which was true, obviously, but that was beside the point.

"You calling me a liar?" Kurt said, grinning despite the split lip he’d just earned.

"I’m calling you a dead man," the brute growled, cracking his knuckles.

Kurt should’ve run. Should’ve de-escalated. Should’ve done literally anything other than what he did next.

Instead, he laughed and spit blood at the man’s feet. "Give it your best shot, mate."

The beating that followed was brutal. Broken nose. Cracked ribs. Boot to the stomach that left him puking in the gutter. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But Kurt kept laughing.

Because pain didn’t matter. Fear didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was never letting them see you break. Never letting them win.

Even if it killed you.

[Memory Fragment Recovered]

[+5 Points]

***

[Available Points: 35]

[NOTICE: Host is going to sleep in three... two...]

Kurt managed a weak "Fuck off" while still free-falling hundreds of miles above the ground, flames trailing behind him like a comet.

[...one]

His eyes closed. And the sky kept rushing up to meet him.

***

Far below, far from the Circle, the blimp’s crew noticed the streak of fire in the sky.

Lena pointed upward, ears twitching. "Look!"

"You don’t think...?" Riley asked, eyes wide.

Cassandra adjusted the controls without hesitation. "Only one way to find out."

She turned the steering wheel hard, redirecting the blimp toward the falling object.

The flaming meteor crashed into the earth miles away with a thunderous explosion, forming a massive crater where dust and smoke billowed outward in a mushroom cloud.

The blimp’s course was already changed, moving toward the rising smoke.

Minutes later, they landed the blimp safely on a flat stretch of ground near the crater’s edge and disembarked quickly.

Razor led the way, boots crunching across scorched earth, and stopped at the crater’s edge.

At the center of the impact zone lay Kurt Manchester, face-down, half-buried in dirt, clothes singed, completely unconscious.

Razor stared down at him for a long moment. Then he grinned.

"...Told you he’d be fine."