Death in Relation to the Creation and Fall

Well of course nobody died before Adam because there was nobody before Adam. That says nothing about "why" death entered.

Of course. It couldn't have entered by anybody else because there was nobody else. That says nothing about why death originated.

I've been accused of being "KJV only" even though I don't believe a word of the Bible. The KJV is what I grew up with; the phraseology resonates in my mind so I know what to look for and where to look.If you can find a translation that doesn't lead to confusion, more power to you - but I would say that the confusion comes from the content, not the translation. There simply is no way to rationalize all of it with the rest of it unless you compartmentalize like Faith does.

So when something is clearly fiction, like a talking snake, you should interpret the rest of that passage as fiction.

That rule doesn't supersede the rule of using the simple to understand the complex. If you can't recognize fiction in the first place, how can you know what to trust?