Standing at the top of a skyscraper, the young man looked anxiously down at the chaos below him and was heavily cursed. Though he never swore in his life, there are no words to describe the situation beneath him.
Giant monsters walked the streets, tearing down every human who escaped. The city's residents were shaken to their core by the loud explosions that echoed throughout the city. The city was filled with the lingering smell of gunpowder and burned blood.
The sky had turned a bloody red with a hint of scarlet, as if mocking all those fighting for their lives. Two terrifying moons were rising from the east.
Fear spread up his spine as the young man, Leo, took in all the chaos unfolding below him. There was an awful wound on his chest, open enough to reveal his chest bone. As he stood on the building's roof, he thought back to how this disaster had occurred.
A few hours prior, a pack of beasts struck the city walls with the same suddenness as lightning on a bright day. The beast pack began to move three hours later, but the city walls collapsed because city officials were caught off guard and could not take immediate action.
Leo, also known as Leonard Wright, was one of the soldiers stationed to defend the city walls from the demonic attack's first wave. However, the bird-like demonic beast severely injured him, causing him to lose consciousness. As a result, he was admitted to a nearby hospital.
'And it was already too late when I woke up. Shortly after regaining consciousness, the city collapsed. I managed to claw my way to the top of the roof at the very last second. However, what happens next…?'
Leo let out a deep breath, obviously sensing that he was close to death.
His injuries were too severe for him to move. He was aware of the state of his body. His internal organs were in mess, and a deep hole in his chest exposed his pale bones. He was already severely weak from his heavy condition, and he had lost too much blood.
"Grease!" Leo was looking down on the city from the top when he heard a piercing howl. When he looked toward the sound, he noticed a massive eagle the size of an automobile. He saw as the demonic eagle flew sharply toward him, but he was too late to dodge its strike.
Leo felt a searing pain in his shoulders as they were drawn above the skyscraper. A moment later, he was falling freely from the sky, much like a sandbag. As he passed away, intense regret filled his heart, and time seemed to slow down in his eyes.
He thought about how alone he was in this world, with no one to witness his final moments.
He recalled that he was so weak that he could be killed by even the world's lowest class demonic beasts.
Leo's mind raced with thoughts of missed opportunities and unfulfilled dreams as he crashed towards the ground. The regret of not living life to the fullest lay heavily on him in his final moments.
He recalled his life and the countless regrets he harbored.
"I wish I had one more chance…"
[User Leonard Wright's life is coming to an end.]
[Regression, your innate ability, responds to your impending death]
The mechanical voice was so familiar to him that its sudden appearance didn't surprise him. That same voice was responsible for the total collapse of human civilization. His eyes, as he collapsed to his death, revealed his confusion.
Whoa!
....
"Leo... Leo, are you alright?"
The young man with black hair and square glasses was startled out of his reverie by a foreign voice.
"Which girl are you fucking dreaming about now?"
Leo blinks, trying to focus on the person in front of him.
He was still confused, glanced to his right, and heard someone laughing. Three figures drew near him, each holding a dish in front of them.
"Where am I, exactly?"
Bewildered, he glanced around him and recognized the cafeteria from his previous visit. It brought back vivid memories of his time at the university five years prior.
However, it isn't feasible. That day, it was destroyed.
He had a lot of unanswered questions racing through his mind. The round tables with white milk, the cafeteria, and the faces were all quite familiar.
"Where am I?"
For him, the response to this query meant too much. Even though he was aware that it was unfeasible, he still desired for it to come true in the unlikely event that it did.
"What happened to you? We are eating lunch in our university's cafeteria."
He didn't dare believe it, even if it was the same cafeteria from his childhood memories.
"W-what date is today?" He chuckled a little, trying not to look confused at them.
"September 14"
"I know this might sound weird to you, but what year is it?"
"Huh?"
"2024"
"What time is it then?" Leo asked again, his voice shaking.
"Are you okay? yo-"
"Just tell me the time; I am okay." Leo stopped his friend, asking in a loud voice. He tried not to appear serious.
"It's 1:22 PM," his friend replied, concern evident in his voice.
Leo's heart sank as he realized he had somehow traveled five years back in time. His face paled as he remembered the day that all misfortunes began. The date marking the end of civilization held immense significance for him, overshadowing all other dates in his memory.
"I apologize, but I just realized I have work to do. I also advise you to enter your rooms as soon as possible. Excuse me!"
Quickly, he grabbed his leather bag and left the cafeteria for the male dorms. Leo ate meals with many classmates, but they were not his close friends, nor did he trust them; he was not particularly close enough to save their lives. They wouldn't believe him, even if he told them the truth. Thus, he can only offer them his best wishes and words of caution.
Leo searched the streets for any useful information regarding the approaching end of the world. Perhaps he was anxious or concerned, but those five years held great significance. Now that he could still remember those five years of hardship, he was not going to take a chance.
"We'll get started at 3:00 pm with our plan to survive the impending disaster. I can still get the food and water I need from the store, so I have time. Every second counts, so time must be utilized wisely. I'm going to live a whole different life this time."
His heart was full of excitement about his circumstances as well as concerns about the future. At this point, he was five years ahead of the people.
Weary from all the running, he entered his room, took a seat, and opened a notebook he had purchased from the store to record all he could recall from his previous life. Monsters, strategies, ideas for a brand-new world, and other important details were all carefully arranged in the copybook.
He had completed extracting all of the pertinent information from his brain with just two minutes remaining before the end of the world. Leo was pleased with how his detailed survival plan looked as he studied the well-structured word clusters in his notebook.
Then he began to calm down a little, mentally getting ready for the horror that was about to befall the people.
"I won't waste the second chance I was given." Leo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He knew that he was prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead, armed with the knowledge he had meticulously documented. With a sense of determination, he vowed to make the most of the opportunity to start anew and build a better future for himself.
Leo was getting more and more determined by the moment to make the most of his second life.
'3....2...1'
[The first phase of the Holocaust, survival is complete.]
Leo's mind was enlightened to a new era by the strange yet comforting voice.