Maya's POV
Someone else remembered.
The words burned in my mind as I stared at the system warning. Another person had come back from the future. Another person knew what was coming.
But who?
My phone rang, shattering my thoughts. Ethan's name flashed on the screen. My finger hovered over the decline button, but I stopped. I needed to act normal. Couldn't let him know anything had changed.
"Hello?" I made my voice soft and sweet—the way the old Maya used to talk.
"Babe! You weren't answering my texts. I got worried." His voice was so caring, so fake. How had I never heard the lie before?
"Sorry, I was in the shower." The words tasted like poison.
"No problem! Listen, I was thinking—after the cake tasting, maybe we could look at wedding venues? I want everything to be perfect for you."
Perfect. He'd said the same thing in my first life. Three days later, he'd called me worthless.
"That sounds wonderful," I lied, my free hand clenching into a fist.
"Great! Oh, and your sister called me. She needs money again. I told her we'd help—"
"No." The word came out sharp as a knife.
Silence. Then: "What?"
"I said no. Yiren can get a job like everyone else." My voice stayed calm, but inside I was screaming. In my first life, I'd given her that money. She'd used it to buy herself pretty clothes while I ate ramen to save our food budget.
"Maya, she's your sister—"
"And she's twenty-five years old. Old enough to pay her own bills." I took a breath, softening my tone. "I love her, Ethan. But constantly giving her money isn't helping her grow up."
Another pause. I could almost hear his brain working, trying to figure out why I was suddenly different.
"Okay," he said slowly. "If that's what you want. I'll see you at 2pm?"
"Can't wait," I lied again.
The moment I hung up, the fake smile dropped from my face. The system screen pulsed in front of me, still showing that warning about another returner.
I needed information. Needed to understand my powers before the apocalypse started.
"System," I said to the empty air, feeling stupid. "Show me everything."
The golden screen expanded, filling my vision with text:
[DEATH'S ARCHITECT - COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 1][EXPERIENCE: 0/100][TO LEVEL UP: DEFEAT ENEMIES OR COMPLETE QUESTS]
[ACTIVE ABILITIES:]
ZOMBIE DOMINION (Level 1)Control up to 5 zombies at once. Higher levels = more zombies. Controlled zombies follow your mental commands and cannot harm you. POWER THEFT (Level 1)Touch an awakened human while they sleep to steal one ability. Stolen abilities are permanent. WARNING: Can only be used once per person. DEATH'S SIGHT (Level 1)See the weaknesses of all living creatures. Shows health bars, weak points, and fear levels. LIFE DRAIN (Level 1)Heal yourself by touching an injured or sick person and draining their life force. Amount healed depends on how much life you take.
My hands trembled as I read. These weren't healer abilities. These were killer abilities. Villain abilities.
The system kept scrolling:
[PASSIVE ABILITIES:]
- RESURRECTION IMMUNITY: You cannot be turned into a zombie.- DEATH SENSE: You can sense when someone nearby is about to die.- SYSTEM CONCEALMENT: Your true rank appears as F-rank to all other systems.
That last one made me smile. Everyone would think I was weak. Harmless. Pathetic F-rank Maya who couldn't hurt a fly.
They'd never see me coming.
[LOCKED ABILITIES - REQUIREMENTS NOT MET:]
- RESURRECTION: Bring the dead back to life (Unlock at Level 50)- PLAGUE TOUCH: Infect the living with zombie virus (Unlock at Level 30)- DEATH'S ARMY: Control 1000+ zombies simultaneously (Unlock at Level 75)- SOUL HARVEST: Steal the complete power of a dying person (Unlock at Level 100)
My breath caught. Level 100. These abilities went to level 100. And the higher I climbed, the more powerful I'd become.
In my first life, I'd died at level 3.
"Never again," I whispered.
A new notification popped up:
[TUTORIAL QUEST AVAILABLE][QUEST: TEST YOUR POWER][OBJECTIVE: Use Death's Sight on 5 different people][REWARD: 50 EXP + Unlock Basic Combat Skills][TIME LIMIT: 24 HOURS]
I accepted immediately.
The system provided one more screen:
[IMPORTANT: SYSTEM RULES]
Your system is UNIQUE. No other player has these abilities.2. Gaining levels requires defeating enemies or completing quests.3. Death is PERMANENT. You only get one resurrection.4. Other players CANNOT see your system screens.5. WARNING: Using evil abilities may corrupt your soul. Use with caution.
That last rule made me pause. Corrupt my soul? What did that mean?
But before I could ask, the system flickered and showed one final message:
[SPECIAL ALERT][The other returner is in Seoul.][They are searching for you.][Current distance: 2.4 kilometers and closing.][Their system rank: SSS][Their intentions: UNKNOWN]
My heart jumped into my throat. They were close. Really close. And they had SSS-rank too.
Who were they? Why were they looking for me?
I grabbed my jacket and keys. I needed to get out, needed to think. Maybe go somewhere public where another SSS-rank wouldn't try to kill me—
My doorbell rang.
I froze.
Nobody should be here. Ethan was at work. Yiren never visited without calling first. My friends... I didn't have many friends.
The doorbell rang again. Longer this time. More insistent.
Slowly, I crept to the door and looked through the peephole.
A man stood in the hallway. Tall, handsome, with black hair and eyes like midnight. He wore an expensive suit and looked like he belonged on a magazine cover, not in my crappy apartment building.
He looked directly at the peephole—directly at me—even though he shouldn't be able to see me.
Then he smiled. A cold, dangerous smile.
"I know you're in there, Maya Chen," he said, his voice deep and smooth. "I can sense your system. SSS-rank, just like mine."
My blood turned to ice.
"My name is Kang Jae-hyun," he continued. "And we need to talk. Because three hours ago, I woke up six months in the past with all my memories of the apocalypse. And according to my system..." He paused, his smile widening. "You're either going to be my greatest ally or the person who destroys everything I've worked for."
He knocked once, sharp and commanding.
"So open the door, Maya. Let's find out which one you are."
His eyes glowed with power—actual glowing, like something inhuman lived behind them.
"And if you run," he added, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried through the door, "I'll know. My system tracks other SSS-ranks. There's nowhere you can hide from me."
My hand was on the doorknob before I realized I'd moved.
This was it. The other returner. The one the system warned me about.
Kang Jae-hyun. The Void King. The most powerful awakened in all of Korea.
In my first life, I'd only seen him once, from a distance. He'd been fighting a horde of high-level zombies alone, his power erasing them from existence like they'd never been born.
Nobody dared approach him. Nobody dared speak to him.
And now he was at my door, knowing exactly what I was.
I had two choices: open the door and face him, or run and have him hunt me down.
My fingers tightened on the doorknob.
Then I opened the door.
Jae-hyun stood there, even more intimidating up close. Power radiated from him like heat from fire. His eyes locked onto mine—and I saw something flash through them.
Recognition. Surprise. And something else I couldn't name.
"You," he breathed, stepping closer. "I've seen you before. In the other timeline. You were—"
He stopped, face going pale.
"You were dead," he finished, his voice cracking. "I found your body in a basement. You'd been torn apart by zombies. I held you. I don't know why, but I held a stranger's corpse and felt like my world was ending."
My heart stopped.
He remembered finding me. Remembered my death.
"Why?" I whispered. "Why did you care about a dead stranger?"
Jae-hyun's jaw clenched. His glowing eyes searched my face like he was looking for answers.
"I don't know," he said. "But standing here, looking at you alive..." His hand reached out, stopping just before touching my face. "I feel like I've been given back something I didn't know I'd lost."
Then his expression hardened.
"Now tell me, Maya Chen. How did you come back? And what are you planning to do with that Death's Architect system?"
His eyes flashed with power.
"Because if you're planning to become a villain, I'll kill you right here. Second chance or not."