Kael stands in front of his bathroom mirror, examining a face he hasn't seen in a decade.
No scars. No lines etched by endless stress. No permanent shadows under his eyes from too many sleepless nights watching for monsters. He looks... young. Soft, even. This version of Kael Ardent still believes the world is fundamentally safe, that hard work leads to success, that tomorrow will come.
That Kael is an idiot.
"Analysis," he says quietly, testing the strange Void Index interface that's appeared in his vision.
The bathroom lights flicker. Text materializes, overlaying his reflection:
```
[VOID INDEX: ANALYZING USER]
Name: Kael Ardent
Age: 28 (Mentally: 38)
Current Timeline: Alpha-7
Regression Point: Day -1 (24 hours before Awakening)
Current Status: Unawakened Human
Base Stats (Pre-Awakening):
STR: 12
AGI: 14
END: 11
INT: 13
PER: 15
LUK: [ERROR - CANNOT CALCULATE]
Retained Knowledge: 100% (Original Timeline)
Retained Skills: 0% (Must re-acquire through System)
Void Index Functions: INITIALIZING...
```
"Alpha-7," Kael murmurs. "Seventh timeline. So there have been six other regressors before me?" The implications make his head spin. Six others tried this. Six others failed.
```
[VOID INDEX RESPONSE]
[Insufficient clearance for that information]
[Current priority: Survive Day Zero]
[Secondary priority: Prevent first wave casualties]
[Tertiary priority: Begin power acquisition]
```
"Right. Priorities." Kael grips the sink's edge hard enough his knuckles whiten. "Tomorrow at 6:47 AM, the sky turns red. By 7:00 AM, the first Towers appear. By 7:30 AM, the System grants Awakening to ten percent of humanity. By 8:00 AM, people start dying."
He remembers the chaos vividly—the screaming, the panic, the way modern civilization crumbled in a single morning. The first day alone killed forty million people worldwide. Most didn't even understand what was happening before monsters tore them apart.
His phone buzzes. A text from Marcus:
Yo! Study group at 2pm. Don't forget. Aria says she'll kill you if you skip again.
Kael stares at the message. Marcus. Alive. Texting him about study groups like the world isn't about to end. In the original timeline, Marcus awakened as a B-rank fighter—strong enough to survive the first year, not strong enough to survive year five. He died protecting civilians from Red Eclipse's betrayal, taking seventeen blades meant for others.
Kael's thumb hovers over the keyboard. What does he say? "Don't worry about the study group, tomorrow monsters invade Earth?" Even if he told the truth, who would believe him?
I'll be there, he types back.
He has twenty-three hours until the Awakening. Twenty-three hours to prepare for a apocalypse no one knows is coming. The old Kael would have tried to warn everyone, would have stood on street corners shouting about the end times.
The new Kael knows better. No one listens to the crazy person screaming about towers and monsters. The best he can do is position his pieces on the board—make sure the people he cares about are where they need to be when the Awakening hits.
Starting with himself.
"Void Index," he says, pulling on clothes—jeans, a t-shirt, comfortable shoes. "What can you tell me about my future Awakening?"
```
[ANALYZING PROBABLE AWAKENING OUTCOMES]
[Original Timeline: C-rank, Blade Master class]
[Probability of identical Awakening: 3%]
[Reason: Regression has altered your fundamental nature]
[Estimated current potential: B to S rank]
[Recommended class: CLASSIFIED - Unlock at Awakening]
```
"You're not very helpful, are you?"
```
[I am maximally helpful within established parameters]
[Also: sarcasm noted and logged for future reference]
[You're welcome, by the way]
```
Kael blinks. "Did the Void Index just sass me?"
No response. Great. He's been regressed less than an hour and he's already arguing with voices in his head. Though technically, the voice in his head is an impossibly advanced system granted by unknown entities. That's... only slightly more concerning.
He grabs his wallet and keys, then pauses. In the original timeline, he left for campus with nothing but his backpack and a naive belief in humanity's future. This time, he needs to be smart about this.
Kael opens his closet and pulls out a cardboard box from the top shelf. Inside: his grandfather's old combat knife, still sharp, wrapped in cloth. A relic from a soldier who fought in wars that don't matter anymore. Kael slides it into his jacket pocket.
"Won't help much against monsters," he admits. "But it's better than nothing."
```
[VOID INDEX: INVENTORY FUNCTION DETECTED]
[Pre-Awakening storage not possible]
[However: Your sentiment is correct]
[Recommendation: Acquire pre-positioned supplies before Awakening]
[Locations of interest have been marked on your mental map]
```
A headache blooms behind Kael's eyes. Suddenly, he knows exactly where to find the things he needs—a sporting goods store three blocks away that has climbing gear and emergency supplies, a pharmacy that won't be looted until hour three, a convenience store whose back room has a baseball bat that Kael will enchant into a weapon in his first week.
"Mental map. That's convenient and horrifying."
```
[The multiverse is convenient and horrifying]
[You'll get used to it]
[Probably]
```
Definitely getting sass from his System. Wonderful.
---
Two hours later, Kael sits in a coffee shop across from Seoul National University's main campus. His table is covered with a map of Seoul, a notebook filled with hastily scrawled information, and three empty coffee cups.
People pass by the window, laughing, talking, living their last normal day without knowing it. A couple shares earbuds, listening to music. A mother pushes a stroller. A businessman checks his watch, perpetually late.
By tomorrow night, half of them will be dead.
Kael forces down the guilt. He can't save everyone. That was the lesson he learned too late in the original timeline—the hero who tries to save everyone saves no one. This time, he'll be pragmatic. Ruthless, even. Save the people who matter, the ones who can make a difference, and through them, save humanity.
"Kael!" A cheerful voice breaks his concentration.
He looks up to see Aria Chen approaching, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, medical textbooks tucked under one arm. She waves with her free hand, smiling that gentle smile that, in another life, she wore even as monsters overwhelmed the hospital she refused to evacuate.
"Hey, Aria." He manages to return the smile, though it feels like cracking stone.
She slides into the seat across from him, glancing at his notes. "Studying geography? I thought you were in the programming track."
"Side interest." He casually covers some of his more apocalyptic annotations. No need to explain why he's marked Tower spawn points and safe zone locations. "Where's Marcus?"
"Running late. Obviously." Aria orders a coffee from the passing waiter, then focuses on him. Her eyes—warm and brown and infinitely kind—narrow slightly. "You okay? You seem... different."
Kael's heart skips. Of course Aria would notice. She always was perceptive, could read people's emotions like others read books. It's what made her such a good healer in the original timeline—she knew who needed help before they asked.
"Just didn't sleep well," he says. Not a lie. He hasn't truly slept in ten years.
"Nightmares again?"
He didn't have nightmares in this timeline. Or at least, this version of him shouldn't have. But Aria is asking, concerned, and Kael realizes with a jolt: she always knew. Even before the Awakening, even when he pretended everything was fine, Aria knew he was troubled.
Some things transcend timelines.
"Yeah," he admits quietly. "Bad ones."
Aria reaches across the table and squeezes his hand. "Want to talk about it?"
Kael almost laughs. Where would he even start? I dreamed I died alone on a tower of ash after watching everyone I love get slaughtered by interdimensional monsters. That would go over well.
"Maybe later," he says instead.
The moment breaks as Marcus arrives, loud and boisterous as always. He's wearing a tank top despite the mild weather, showing off muscles earned through his amateur MMA training—training that will save his life tomorrow when he awakens as a B-rank Titan Brawler.
"Sorry I'm late! Traffic was insane." Marcus drops into a chair, nearly knocking over Kael's coffee. "Whoa, dude, how many cups have you had? You look wired."
"Three. Maybe four." Kael doesn't mention he barely feels the caffeine anymore. SSS-rank constitution apparently persists even when your body reverts to baseline human. "Needed to focus."
"On geography?" Marcus picks up Kael's notebook, flipping through it. His easy grin falters as he reads the notes. "Dude. This is dark. 'Primary safe zones,' 'monster spawn rates,' 'estimated civilian casualties.' What kind of side project is this?"
Kael snatches the notebook back. "Game design. Working on a survival horror concept."
The lie comes smooth and practiced. Marcus buys it, laughing. "Man, you need to lighten up. No wonder you're having nightmares if you're spending all day writing about the apocalypse."
"Maybe you're right." Kael closes the notebook. No point planning in front of them—they wouldn't understand, and explaining would waste time he doesn't have.
They study for two hours, or rather, Marcus and Aria study while Kael pretends to focus on programming notes. His mind keeps drifting to tomorrow's timeline: 6:47 AM, the sky turns red. 7:00 AM, Towers appear. 7:30 AM, Awakening begins.
He needs to make sure all three of them are together when it happens. The System assigns power based on circumstances during Awakening—those in danger awaken stronger, those with combat mindset get combat classes. In the original timeline, they were scattered across campus, each alone when the world changed.
This time will be different.
"Hey," Kael says as they pack up. "Want to do something tomorrow morning? Watch the sunrise from Namsan Tower?"
Marcus and Aria exchange glances.
"Since when do you do sunrise watching?" Marcus asks, suspicious.
"Since I decided life's too short for regrets." Another truth wrapped in misdirection. "Come on, it'll be fun. I'll buy breakfast."
Aria smiles. "I'm in. Sounds nice."
Marcus shrugs. "Why not? But you're buying lunch too. And dinner. And—"
"Don't push it."
They laugh, and for a moment, Kael lets himself pretend tomorrow isn't coming. Lets himself enjoy this brief window where his friends are alive and the world makes sense and the greatest worry is passing finals.
Then the moment passes.
Kael walks home alone as the sun sets, painting Seoul in shades of amber and gold. The city stretches out before him—millions of lights, millions of lives, all about to be thrown into chaos.
```
[VOID INDEX: TIMELINE UPDATE]
[22 hours, 15 minutes until Awakening]
[Current objectives complete: Friends positioned ✓]
[Remaining objectives:
- Acquire pre-positioned supplies
- Scout primary Tower spawn location
- Prepare mental state for combat
- Don't die]
```
"That last one's important," Kael mutters.
He stops by the sporting goods store on the way home, buying a climbing rope, flashlight, and first aid kit with his meager college student funds. The clerk gives him odd looks—who buys mountain climbing gear at 8 PM on a weekday?—but accepts his cash without question.
Next is the pharmacy. He stocks up on painkillers, antibiotics, and bandages. More odd looks, more questions unasked. They probably think he's some survivalist preparing for a bunker.
If only they knew.
By the time Kael returns to his apartment, it's nearly midnight. He arranges his supplies by the door—rope, knife, medical kit, flashlight. Everything he'll need to survive the first day.
He should sleep. Tomorrow will be the longest day of his life—again—and he needs to be sharp. But sleep won't come. How can it? He's a man standing on the edge of apocalypse, watching the clock count down, knowing exactly what horrors are coming.
Kael lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. His phone shows 12:47 AM. June 15, 2024.
The day the world dies.
```
[VOID INDEX: 6 hours until Awakening]
[Try to rest. You'll need it.]
[And Kael?]
[This time will be different]
[I promise]
```
The words fade from his vision, leaving only darkness and the quiet hum of the city outside. Somewhere in that darkness, Sera Nightveil sleeps in her apartment, unaware that tomorrow she'll awaken as an S-rank prodigy. Unaware that in another timeline, she died in Kael's arms while Seoul burned.
"I won't let you die," Kael whispers to the darkness. "Not this time. Not ever again."
The city doesn't answer. It sleeps on, peaceful and ignorant, savoring its last hours of normality.
Kael closes his eyes. Not to sleep—he's too wired for that—but to prepare. To remember every lesson the original timeline taught him in blood and loss. To steel himself for what comes next.
Six hours.
Then the real work begins.