His eyes snapped open, pools of terror in a pale face. Air burned in his lungs, each breath a desperate struggle against the invisible grip tightening around his chest. His heart pounded like a crazed beast, threatening to break free from his ribs. He had just died, and the memory of that death - fresh and brutal - remained sharp in his mind. With a silent scream, he shook his head so violently it sent a wave of pain through every fiber of his being. He was back. But at what price? And for how long would the echo of his death continue to haunt him? Every detail of that agony replayed in his mind, a never-ending horror film. Though his body was perfectly hydrated, an insatiable thirst consumed him. He could still taste the metallic tang of blood filling his mouth, a sensation so vivid it felt real. His death was not merely a memory but an experience seared into every fiber of his being. The pain, like sharp claws, shredded his flesh, gnawed at his bones, leaving him trembling. Every nerve screamed in agony, reliving that final, harrowing moment with hallucinatory clarity. His body had become a battleground, where the death he had just experienced fought against his true existence. And he, trapped between these two worlds, could only tremble and suffer, a prisoner of sensations that should have had no place within him. The echo of his last earthly thought still rang in his mind, a scream of rage and frustration at the absurdity of his fate. “Again!” his soul roared. “Once again torn away in the prime of life, when the future promised wonders!” That bitterness pierced him more deeply than any blade, a pain transcending the physical, tearing at the very essence of his being. The concept of death - that cruel invention of the Demiurge - tormented him with its incomprehensible absurdity. How could a being conceive of something like the end of existence? That thought unsettled him every time he encountered it. «Damn it!» he shouted. “Is it even possible that I always find a way to die prematurely and in such a horrific manner?” he thought bitterly. In that moment, suspended between the end and the beginning of a new life, he wondered if this dance of death and rebirth would ever conclude with a fulfilling experience. He let go, his body a dead weight against the void surrounding him. The space around him was absolute emptiness, drowned in a profound silence. In that total absence, every faint sound became an explosion: the rasp of his breath thundered like a storm, his heartbeat a war drum announcing his reluctant awakening. Trembling fingers moved toward his throat, hesitant, dreading what they might find. The pain was there, a blazing phantom clinging to his flesh, a vivid reminder of the horror he had just lived. He could still feel life abandoning him, see the light fading from his eyes, a forced sunset of his existence. Every detail of that last, agonizing moment had burned itself into his mind: the shudder of fear, the cold seeping into his bones, the paralyzing terror of the impending end. Death had left its mark on him, an invisible but indelible tattoo on his soul. Like sand slipping through an hourglass, he allowed himself to fall back into oblivion. His consciousness began to dissolve. Every particle of his being slipped away, dragging him inexorably toward the void that claimed him. «Let this be the last time», he whispered, his words barely a breath in the vastness of nothingness. As he sank into that infinite abyss, every remnant of thought and feeling faded, slowly dissolving until even the final echo of his own existence vanished. And so, once again, he plunged into the great unknown, surrendering to the embrace of yet another cycle of life.