St. Mark's Orphanage always meant the world to me. I grew up there. A family adopted me at 13, and I always made it a habit to visit every week to spend time with the kids there.
Most kids at school called me a loser, loner, orphan, or joked about my dad never coming home with the milk and my mom was never there to come home too.
After getting into the most prestigious University, it didn't bother me so much. I lived in my webnovels and my adopted family was… alright.
While walking home on a Friday, I didn't think twice when I smelled the smoke. St. Marks was ablaze and the fire department was nowhere to be found. I charged in, saved 14 kids, 11 of which were under 5.
Of the 30 children there, only two passed.
My reward? A visit from the President, a medal of honor…
And the worst pain you could ever imagine.
I laid in my hospital bed, my body tattered, with skin grab surgery after skin grab surgery and unimaginable pain. Real life wasn't like my webnovels. Real life sucked.
Would I do it again if I knew the consequences? Who knows. I've asked myself that question 1,000 times. Two kids died. Two 17-year-old girls who had never been adopted. They were like younger sisters to me when I was there.
Now I lay in my bed, barely able to see with burns all over my body. I'm like a mummy now. My poor adopted parents stop by every day and stay optimistic, but I wish I would have died heroically, with a life filled with meaning.
Sure, the medal of honor was nice, but now it just hangs above my hospital bed, waiting for the day I finally get to, "go home."
After my parents left one night, I fell asleep listening to one of my favorite webnovels and woke up.
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Was the window always open? How the hell? Isn't this a hospital?
Sitting in the chair next to my bed, was a man in a white cloak. His pale, opaque face suggests he's older, but he appears to be asleep. As I leaned closer, his eyes snapped open!
"Oh, Sora! You're finally awake!"
How the hell does this guy know my name?
"Uh… Do I know you?"
"Well, let me ask you, do you believe in the god of Creation and the gods?"
"Yeah, I learned about them all at the orphanage. But why?"
"What if I told you I could make the pain go away, how about a handshake?"
"I can't really move my…"
His warm hand grabbed my hand, and all the pain left my body instantly. For the first time in weeks, I didn't feel any pain.
"How did you do that?"
"I am Chronos. If you've done your studies, you know that I am the god of…"
"Time! Yes! You could take me back in time and take away my injuries!"
"Yes, you're right, I could… but what about all those children you saved?" They'd all be lost. More souls lost, lost far too young.
"Oh, yeah, I suppose that's true. But what do you want with me? I'm just a loser orphan who is waiting to die."
"Your selflessness didn't go unnoticed by the gods. Let's just say I'm a little ahead of them. I can offer you a deal. Help me and I can help you. What if I told you I could actually transmigrate you into a different world, a different time, where vampires, demons, uthra, werewolves, humans and all sorts of creatures live in harmony… for now."
"So, I'll just be thrown into this world without any training or knowledge of what's actually going on?"
"A war is brewing Sora. The Uthra currently hold the throne, but the King is weak and has no heir. The Demons seek the throne desperately to take control and kill off the humans, vampires and Uthra. That's where you come in. You'll need to find a party, make allies across the nations and stop the demons from taking over."
"Sounds easy. I'd rather just pass on in peace."
"If that is what you wish, I can tell you will live like this for another 10-15 years on bedrest at home. Do you really wish to put your family through that?"
Fuck. I should know better than to try and talk about timelines with the god of time.
"What's in it for me?"
"You'll be half god-half Uthra. One of a kind. You'll also have a system I built implanted into you with all SSS skills. You will want and need for nothing."
"Sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?
"Where I'm sending you… it's the year 7429, on the planet Exteria and you're known as 'The Ruthless One,' but that's your secret identity. Publicly, you're a council member at the King's table known as Sora Lockheart. You're known as the Ruthless One because your power is fearsome. There's never a dungeon you haven't cleared, a battle you haven't won, and you're going to have to clear many dungeons to level up, gain experience and find party members. Finding a party is essential to your future."
Ok, is it just me or does he already know I'm going to say yes? The fuck? I can live here in pain, literally a toasted corpse or I can be some badass ruthless half Uthra/half god with a seat at the King's council.
"Sure, I'll do it. But what's an Uthra?"
"An Uthra is a human blessed by the gods as a divine being. They live and die like humans but have extraordinary abilities."
"Sounds pretty cool."
He didn't care that I thought it was cool, he just continued talking.
"There's something you should know before you agree. There are two possible outcomes: you save the world… or you destroy it."
Ha, like I'd actually destroy a world.
"It's worth it. I'll still do it."
"Take my hand, Sora."
I grabbed his hand, it was cool, steady as can be.
"This is going to hurt, Sora."
Psh, nothing could possibly hurt as badly as…
HOLY FUCK.
The pain hit me so hard I fell into a coma.
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While in the coma, I started having these weird visions. Dragons, Chimera, demons, a Kabuki masked man.
I also started hearing voices. My parents. Then Chronos.
"Find dungeons. Clear them. Find party members. Don't let your secret identity become known."
As I took my final breath as a human, I felt a sigh of relief for my parents.
"Congratulations, you've become the sole owner of the Chrono System."