Lucas opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was pain.
The second was cold.
The third was the sound of something dripping.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
He slowly lifted his head.
His vision was blurry, but the familiar sight of broken stone walls gradually came into focus.
Blood covered the floor beneath him.
His clothes were torn, his body was covered in wounds, and every breath felt like his lungs were being crushed from the inside.
Lucas tried to move.
Nothing.
His body had already reached its limit.
He looked toward the enormous creature standing several dozen meters away.
A God.
Even after everything he had experienced, Lucas still couldn’t completely comprehend the creature before him.
It wasn’t simply large.
It was something beyond the understanding of humans.
Six wings stretched across the ruined sky.
Golden eyes stared down at him without emotion.
Strange symbols covered its body, glowing with an ancient power that made the entire dimension tremble.
Lucas had fought his way through countless dungeons.
He had entered forbidden dimensions.
He had joined powerful guilds.
He had fought monsters that could destroy entire cities.
And yet…
He had still lost.
The God raised one hand.
A massive spear of light formed above its palm.
Lucas knew what came next.
Death.
Again.
He laughed weakly.
“So this is it…”
His voice was barely audible.
“After everything…”
His hand trembled as he reached into the pocket of his ruined jacket.
His fingers touched something cold.
A crystal.
Lucas froze.
His eyes widened.
The crystal was small enough to fit inside his palm.
It was completely black, except for a faint silver light moving through its center like a miniature galaxy.
He had obtained it years ago.
A mysterious item that nobody could identify.
Even the highest-ranked appraisers couldn’t determine what it was.
The only thing Lucas knew was the name written on the ancient inscription surrounding it.
Regression Crystal.
He had never used it.
He had been afraid.
Nobody knew what would happen if he activated it.
Maybe nothing.
Maybe it would kill him.
Maybe it would destroy the world.
But now…
What did he have to lose?
Lucas stared at the crystal.
“One more chance…”
His fingers tightened around it.
“If you’re really capable of sending me back…”
He closed his eyes.
“Send me back.”
The crystal shattered.
A blinding light swallowed everything.
For a brief moment, Lucas heard a voice.
Not a God.
Not a system.
Something else.
Something ancient.
[Regression Crystal activated.]
[Target identified.]
[Timeline coordinates confirmed.]
[Regression beginning.]
Lucas felt his soul being ripped apart.
His memories flashed before his eyes.
His first awakening.
His first dungeon.
His first guild.
His friends.
His enemies.
His failures.
His victories.
The apocalypse.
The Gods descending upon Earth.
The destruction of humanity.
His final battle.
Everything.
Then came darkness.
And Lucas disappeared.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Lucas opened his eyes.
A white ceiling stared back at him.
He blinked.
His heart stopped.
He immediately sat up.
The room was small.
A cheap bed.
A wooden desk.
An old television.
A cracked window.
Lucas stared at his hands.
Young hands.
No scars.
No burns.
No battle wounds.
His breathing became faster.
He jumped out of bed and rushed toward the mirror.
A young man stared back at him.
Black hair.
Dark eyes.
A face that looked years younger.
Lucas touched his cheek.
“No…”
He checked the date on the phone sitting on his desk.
His fingers froze.
The date was exactly what he remembered.
Ten years ago.
Three days before the Awakening Ceremony.
Lucas slowly sat down.
He stared at the phone.
He remembered this day.
He remembered being seventeen years old.
He remembered being an ordinary human with no special background.
He remembered thinking the Awakening Ceremony would change his life.
It did.
Just not in the way he expected.
Lucas closed his eyes.
The memories of his previous life were still there.
Everything.
The people he had met.
The locations of hidden dungeons.
The future disasters.
The powerful items.
The guild wars.
The dimensions.
The monsters.
The Gods.
All of it.
But something felt different.
Lucas looked around.
Nothing had changed.
His mother was still alive.
His younger sister was still sleeping in the next room.
The city was still peaceful.
There were no monsters.
No dimensional gates.
No destroyed buildings.
No blood covering the streets.
For the first time in years…
Lucas smiled.
“I made it.”
He had returned.
But then Lucas noticed something strange.
The crystal was gone.
He searched his pockets.
Nothing.
Then a strange sensation appeared inside his mind.
A cold mechanical voice echoed.
[Regression successful.]
[Timeline deviation detected.]
[Divine observation interference: None.]
Lucas’s expression changed.
“Divine observation?”
The voice continued.
[The entities known as Gods will retain no memory of the previous timeline.]
Lucas slowly stood.
That was exactly what he wanted.
The Gods wouldn’t remember him.
They wouldn’t know that he had returned.
They wouldn’t know what he knew.
They wouldn’t immediately change their plans because of him.
The timeline could continue naturally.
Lucas didn’t want to become some unstoppable monster that destroyed everything immediately.
He wanted something much simpler.
He wanted to enjoy his second chance.
He wanted to grow stronger.
He wanted to avoid the mistakes that had destroyed his first life.
And most importantly…
He wanted to reach the top without attracting unnecessary attention.
Lucas looked at himself in the mirror.
“I don’t need to rush.”
He had ten years of memories.
He knew where opportunities were.
He knew which dungeons would appear.
He knew which people would betray humanity.
He knew which guilds would rise.
He knew which items were fake.
He knew which items were real.
He knew where some of the strongest treasures in the world were hidden.
He didn’t need to fight everyone.
He didn’t need to become famous.
He simply needed to make better choices.
Then Lucas remembered something else.
The Awakening Ceremony.
This was where everything began.
In his first life, Lucas had awakened a strange ability.
Boost Breaker.
It was classified as an F-Rank power.
Almost useless.
The ability allowed him to break through certain enhancement restrictions and temporarily improve himself.
But the world had misunderstood the power.
Boost Breaker wasn’t weak.
It was incomplete.
Hidden inside it was a progression system that allowed Lucas to complete special quests.
Every completed quest could strengthen the ability.
F-Rank.
E-Rank.
D-Rank.
C-Rank.
B-Rank.
A-Rank.
S-Rank.
And eventually…
Ranks beyond what humanity understood.
The problem was that Lucas had discovered this far too late.
By the time he realized what Boost Breaker could become, the world was already collapsing.
This time would be different.
But Lucas also remembered something else.
His regression had changed something.
He felt a strange energy inside his body.
Something dormant.
Something sealed.
Lucas closed his eyes.
For a moment, he felt something enormous.
Time.
His heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the ticking clock on the wall.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Then the sensation disappeared.
Lucas opened his eyes.
“What was that?”
He couldn’t explain it.
But deep inside his soul was another power.
Time Manipulation.
Unlike Boost Breaker, this power wasn’t supposed to exist in his original awakening.
It was something created by the regression itself.
And it was sealed.
Lucas couldn’t see its full potential.
He couldn’t even tell what rank it belonged to.
There was only one thing he knew.
Nobody could know about it.
Not his family.
Not his future guild.
Not the government.
Not the other awakened.
And certainly not the Gods.
Lucas stared at his reflection.
“Two powers…”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Boost Breaker will be the power everyone sees.”
His eyes became colder.
“And Time Manipulation will be my secret.”
He didn’t know why the regression had given him this second ability.
He didn’t know who had created it.
He didn’t know what would happen when the seal was broken.
And he wasn’t going to find out yet.
There was no reason to rush.
Lucas had already made that mistake once.
This time…
He would climb slowly.
He would collect every opportunity.
He would complete every quest.
He would become stronger without drawing attention.
And when the apocalypse finally arrived…
He would be ready.
A notification appeared inside his mind.
[Awakening Ceremony: 3 Days Remaining.]
Lucas looked at it.
Three days.
In his previous life, those three days had meant nothing.
This time, they were the beginning of everything.
Lucas walked toward the window and looked out at the peaceful city.
People were walking through the streets.
Children were laughing.
Cars moved through the intersections.
Nobody knew what was coming.
Nobody knew that in ten years, the world would be destroyed.
Nobody knew that Gods would descend.
Nobody knew that humanity would fight for survival.
But Lucas knew.
He had seen the end.
And now he had returned to the beginning.
His eyes narrowed.
“I won’t make the same mistakes.”
He turned away from the window.
“I won’t save everyone.”
He paused.
“And I won’t become a hero.”
Lucas picked up his jacket.
“I’m just going to become strong.”
He opened the bedroom door.
For the first time in ten years, Lucas stepped into a future that belonged to him.
And somewhere deep within his soul…
Something sealed began to awaken.
[Unknown Power detected.]
[Name: Time Manipulation.]
[Status: Sealed.]
[Unlock conditions: Unknown.]
Lucas stopped walking.
He stared at the notification.
Then it disappeared.
A quiet smile appeared on his face.
“Interesting.”
He continued walking.
He had no idea what the future held.
But for the first time…
He was looking forward to it.