Liam was certain this was where he’d die.
The gash across his torso was gushing blood, and his vision had begun to dim and flicker. However, the fact he even still stood was proof of his grit.
The rest who raided the Cataclysm Gate weren’t as stubborn. Their corpses had piled in heaps all across the battlefield, now covered in monster remains and their own blood.
Liam was pinned by the gate’s final boss, and his shadow armor had been ripped to shreds.
It felt almost surreal. Humanity’s strongest hunter--the feared Shadow Sovereign who had cleared countless gates alone and sacrificed everything for strength--could be brought... to this.
And as he reflected in his final moments, Liam couldn’t help but wonder.
He had no family, no friends, no lover, and no life outside his deranged pursuit for strength.
He died exactly how he had lived... alone.
Just as the embrace of death took him, he whispered a final thing:
"All this power... and I never even got laid."
Liam woke with a violent gasp, his lungs struggling to draw in air they thought they had lost. The light hit him like a blinding flashlight shoved against his eyes.
As his vision cleared, he began to wonder if he had somehow survived the fight with the boss.
But then he noticed it--everything was wrong.
His body felt lighter and younger.
Worse, it felt weaker.
He first examined his hands, turning them over to find his palms were lacking the calluses that years of combat had imprinted into them. They lacked the scars over a decade of battle had brought.
He looked up, and his eyes widened.
He recognized the run-down apartment and his old furniture--the cheap living conditions of a college dropout with no job. It was all exactly how it was before his first awakening.
His eyes found the mirror then.
The person that stared back looked nothing like the tyrant he had become--he was twenty years old, healthy and hopeful-looking, and lacked the dead eyes Liam had got so used to carrying.
Liam’s first thought was that it was some sort of dream, maybe an illusion, or could he possibly have actually gone back in time?
"What the fu--"
A bright golden window popped into existence right in front of his face, complete with sparkly effects and a cheerful chime that made his eye twitch.
[Welcome Back, Player!]
[The Goddess of Fate has taken pity on your pathetic, lonely soul.]
[Regression Successful. Current Timeline: Day of Your First Awakening.]
Liam blinked and waved a hand through the window, and his fingers rippled right through it.
"Okay, either I’m hallucinating from blood loss or--"
The window expanded.
A woman almost too beautiful to be real, with flowing silver hair and eyes like shifting stars, appeared inside it, looking far too amused for a divine being.
"Hello, Liam Cross," her voice echoed pleasantly in his head. "Or should I call you the once-mighty Shadow Sovereign who died a virgin at age thirty-eight?"
Liam’s face burned.
"Hey--"
"Shh, no time for denial. I watched your entire miserable first life and saw how you rejected every woman who showed interest because ’attachments are weaknesses,’ and then you died alone. Pathetic."
She smiled sweetly.
"So I fixed it. This time I’ll make sure you live a little, or... a lot."
Another window slammed open beside her as she finished her sentence.
[Eros Unsealing System Activated!]
Main Quest: Cultivate Bonds
Objective: Form romantic and physical relationships with worthy women.
Reward: Unlock sealed SSS-rank abilities + new power beyond your old limits.
Penalty for neglect: Progressive power sealing. Ignore the path for too long and you’ll stay a weak F-rank loser forever. Serious attempts that fail due to your own stupidity will result in a temporary "Performance Anxiety" debuff. Yes, that kind.
Liam stared. "You’re joking."
The Goddess--Fate, apparently--leaned closer in the window. "Do I look like I’m joking? You have one month before the first major gate near your city opens. If you’re still single and useless by then, enjoy being monster food again. Oh, and try to be sincere. The system can smell fake charm from a mile away."
She winked. "Good luck, virgin lord. You’ll need it."
Both windows vanished with a pop, leaving behind a small status screen floating at the edge of his vision.
[Current Rank: F (Sealed)]
[Bond Slots Available: Unlimited (Good luck filling them, champ)]
[First Suggested Target: Liora Selene – Affection: 35 (Childhood neighbor who secretly thinks you’re not a total lost cause)]
Liam sat still at the edge of his creaky bed for over a minute, just processing what had just happened.
He could still remember Liora, the girl next door who would always bring him food back when his parents were working late. Even after they got older, she would often try to drag him out of his room, and in his first life he’d brush her off every time.
He was always too busy training and being an edgy loner.
But now the Goddess of Fate wanted it to play out differently.
A knock sounded on the door in the midst of his thoughts.
"Liam? You awake? The Awakening Ceremony starts in an hour! I brought breakfast!"
Liora’s voice.
Bright and a little nervous, like always.
Liam rubbed his face.
Alright, fine. How hard can this be? I soloed SSS gates. I can talk to one girl.
He opened the door.
Liora stood there in a simple hoodie and jeans, holding a paper bag that smelled like heaven--fresh pastries and coffee.
Her long silver-white hair was tied back, and those pale blue eyes lit up when she saw him. She was... cute, really cute. How had he never noticed?
"Morning! I figured you’d oversleep again. Here--" She shoved the bag at him.
Liam took it stiffly.
His brain was trained for combat analysis and not helpful compliments, so he failed at the latter.
"You... look... adequate," he said.
Liora blinked. "Adequate?"
It felt wrong the moment it left his mouth. "I mean--your hair is... structurally sound."
She stared at him as if he had sprouted a second nose. "Liam, did you hit your head? You’re acting weirder than usual."
The system chimed cheerfully.
[Interaction Log: +1 Affection with Liora Selene (now 36)]
[Warning: Further smooth-brain comments may trigger -10 Affection and minor "Social Suicide" debuff.]
Liam wanted to crawl into a hole from the sheer embarrassment. This seemed somehow worse than fighting the Cataclysm boss.
Liora tilted her head. "Anyway, you coming to the ceremony? Everyone’s getting tested today. Maybe you’ll awaken something cool this time!"
She smiled at him, a smile he’d ignored a hundred times in his first life.
Liam took a breath as the Goddess’s words echoed in his head--he had to be sincere or stay weak forever.
He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
"Yeah. Let’s go. And... thanks for the food. It smells good. Really good."
Liora’s eyes widened slightly, and the system gave another happy ding.
[Affection +3 (now 39)]
Not much. But it was something.
As they walked toward the city’s Awakening Center, Liam glanced at the floating status screen only he could see.
People around them chattered excitedly about potential ranks. Some already bragged about their families’ connections.
A group of loud guys in fancy jackets bumped past them. One sneered at Liam’s plain clothes.
"Out of the way, F-rank trash. Some of us are actually gonna be somebody today."
Liam’s old instincts flared, his hands almost reaching to rip their throats out before he let them walk away.
He wasn’t satisfied with that decision.
But later on, as Liora laughed at some dumb joke he managed not to completely botch, and another tiny +1 popped up, Liam felt something strange.
A spark.
Maybe dying a virgin wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to him.
The system chimed one last time as they reached the crowded center.
[New Side Quest Unlocked: Survive the Awakening Ceremony without embarrassing yourself in front of your potential first Consort.]
[Failure Penalty: Public Humiliation Debuff (24 hours) + Liora Affection -15]
Liam groaned internally.
Goddess, you sadistic--
"Next up, Liam Cross!" an examiner called.
He stepped forward, heart pounding for the first time in years.
This second life was already kicking his ass.