“Not in my future?”
Cyrene sharply caught those fleeting words, her azure, diamond-shaped pupils contracting slightly.
[Yes.]
The cold, mechanical voice, utterly devoid of inflection, was like a scalpel dissecting the brutal reality.
[Without your arrival, this would have been the world’s final outcome.]
Before the voice faded, the suffocating battlefield scene around them disintegrated like sand scattered by the wind.
Cyrene instinctively took half a step back, but before she could regain her balance, the scene before her had already reassembled.
It was still the same intersection, with the same signs and shops.
But everything had changed.
The clamor of gunfire, the roars of monsters, and the death cries of the dying vanished in an instant, replaced by a heart-stopping, deathly silence.
The streets were deserted.
The asphalt was riddled with dry, blackened cracks, from which withered yellow weeds sprouted.
All the shop windows were coated in a thick layer of grime, resembling the cloudy, lifeless eyes of the long-dead.
The wind swirled discarded newspapers across the ground, their rustling scrapes the only sound in this dead city.
[Civilization has collapsed.
Aberrant species run rampant.]
The System’s voice echoed over the empty ruins.
[Less than one ten-thousandth of humanity survives.
They hide in sewers and wastelands, barely clinging to life, awaiting their final extinction.]
Cyrene stood beside an outdoor café table, her gaze sweeping over the years of accumulated dust on its surface.
She slowly reached out, her fingertips trembling as they neared the dust-covered tabletop.
No sensation.
Her pale fingers passed straight through the tabletop as if it were a hologram, hovering in mid-air.
A profound sense of powerlessness spread from her fingertips through her entire body.
“Then what can I possibly do?”
Cyrene withdrew her hand, clutching the fabric over her chest, her voice low and hoarse.
“Just a few hours ago, I was so mad at my gacha pulls I slammed the table…
I’m just an ordinary person.
I’ve never even killed a chicken.”
[First, you are not weak.]
[Second, the System’s purpose is to assist you in rewriting all of this.]
A flash of white light.
The desolate scene of the ruins was instantly swallowed by the intense light, and the feeling of weightlessness returned.
When Cyrene opened her eyes again, the vast, cold starry sky once more enveloped her.
Below her lay the void of the Milky Way; above, a swirling nebula.
“Huu…”
Cyrene let out a long, heavy breath, as if expelling the suffocating despair she had just felt.
She raised a hand to rub her slightly stiff cheeks, forcing herself to pull away from the hellish scene.
Might as well make the best of it.
If she didn’t accept this, was she supposed to drift in this void for eternity?
Besides…
those monsters slaughtering humans so wantonly…
“Alright.”
Cyrene looked up, the confusion in her eyes clearing slightly, replaced by a reckless determination.
“I hope this world-saving mission isn’t too hardcore…
System, where’s the tutorial?
What should I do?”
[Switching to Visual Interaction Mode.]
Blue ripples spread through the air.
A translucent, light-blue floating panel, shimmering with futuristic light streams, slowly unfolded before Cyrene.
[Name: Cyrene]
[Gender: Female]
[Race: Unknown]
[Abilities: Unlocked]
[Memory Imprints: 0]
Cyrene’s gaze lingered on the lines “Cyrene” and “Female” for a full three seconds.
Even though she had already confirmed it in the mirror, seeing the data in black text on a blue background still made the corner of her mouth twitch.
She then sighed in resignation.
“Alright, given my current state, what’s written here isn’t wrong…
though it’ll still take some time to accept…”
She shook her head helplessly, her gaze moving down.
After scanning the few lines of information, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“This panel is so pathetic.
Besides my name and gender, everything is ‘Unknown’ or ‘Unlocked’?
Is this some kind of cheap knockoff?”
Then, her finger passed through the light screen, pointing at the conspicuous “0” at the very bottom.
“What are these ‘Memory Imprints’?
Currency?”
[Memory Imprints are the imprints of memory you leave in this world.]
The System’s explanation was concise.
[When intelligent life in this world forms memories, cognitions, or emotional fluctuations about you, you will gain Memory Imprints.]
[The deeper the cognition, the wider the influence, and the stronger the emotions, the higher the value of the Memory Imprints you obtain.]
Cyrene stroked her chin thoughtfully, her once-unfocused gaze gradually sharpening.
As a veteran gamer, she instantly grasped the core of this mechanic.
“Got it.
It’s about building presence and earning reputation points.”
She snapped her fingers, her tone much lighter.
“So, as long as I make more people remember me, or remember what I’ve done, I’ll get stronger, right?”
[Though your understanding is colloquial, it’s accurate.]
“So, what are these Memory Imprints used for?”
[Memory Imprints are the sole currency of the System Shop, used to redeem items, unlock abilities in the ‘Memory Collection,’ and…
awaken past companions.]
Hearing the word “companions,” Cyrene’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“Open that Memory Collection and let me see.”
The text on the blue panel instantly vanished, replaced by three new option boxes.
[Memory Collection]
[Character Recall: 0 Memory Imprints/Attempt]
[Ability Recall: 100 Memory Imprints/Attempt]
[To Be Unlocked]
“…This is even more minimalist than the personal panel.”
Cyrene couldn’t help but complain as she stared at the vast empty space.
“Not even a single item preview image, and there’s even a ‘To Be Unlocked’ section.
Is this System still in version 0.5?”
[Due to your currently low number of Memory Imprints, advanced functions are temporarily unavailable.]
The System replied in a deadpan tone, completely unfazed by her complaints.
[Once you acquire enough Memory Imprints, subsequent modules will unlock automatically.]
“Fine, fine.
‘Level too low to view,’ right?”
Cyrene waved her hand dismissively, her gaze finally settling on the first line: [Character Recall].
The cost displayed wasn’t a number, but a thrilling “0.”
“Hold on…”
Cyrene leaned closer to the panel, her eyes widening slightly as her earlier despair vanished completely.
“It says 0 Memory Imprints?
It’s free?”
[Your first Character Reminiscence is free of charge, considered a novice benefit.]
[Would you like to proceed with the Recall immediately?]
“A free pull?
What are we waiting for?!”
Cyrene’s eyes instantly lit up, the gambler’s spirit etched into her very DNA now burning brightly.
The earlier fear and confusion were significantly diluted by the allure of this “free single pull.”
She took a deep breath, nodded firmly, and said in a crisp voice:
“Let’s go!
Let me see who my novice guarantee is!
Start now!”
[As you wish.]
As the System’s voice faded, the once-serene starry sky suddenly erupted into motion.
The surrounding stars began to spin rapidly, trailing long tails of light like countless iridescent ribbons converging into the void above Cyrene’s head.
The nebula churned, swirling into a massive vortex.
Cyrene tilted her head back, held her breath, and stared intently at the vortex’s center.
The next moment.
An incredibly dazzling golden light violently pierced through the deep darkness
“Golden?!
It’s a rare!”
Cyrene gasped, her heart pounding violently.
The golden light rapidly expanded in the depths of the nebula, then transformed into a brilliant meteor, hurtling straight toward her with world-destroying force!
RUMBLE—
Though she was in the vacuum of her consciousness space, Cyrene felt as if a colossal roar had detonated deep within her soul.
The golden light tore through the stardust in its path, and in her widening pupils, it slammed violently into the void beside her