Ding.

Alex's eyes shot open.

He gasped, jerking upright and instinctively touching himself all over.

Yet his body was whole. No pain. No blood.

'Where's the sword?!' he looked around, fearing for his life, he perfectly remembered being crushed by the [Sword of Darkness], wielded by the [God of Darkness].

But strangely enough, there was no giant sword, or any weapons at all.

Instead, he was just in a bed?

Confusion rushed over him as he took in his surroundings: a dingy, cluttered room.

"This is…?"

His eyes scanned the small apartment, the wallpapers on the wall and broken furniture extremely familiar to him.

"My old apartment?" He stared in disbelief.

This cramped, shabby place had been his home before the world fell apart.

Before the game launched.

Before the gods.

"What the hell happened…" Alex rubbed his forehead, trying to remember his last memories before coming back to this place.

And suddenly, with a powerful headache, he remembered his final moments: destroyed world; angels, demons and monsters apocalypse; gods taking over; and finally, humanity losing the war in the end.

"Did I… go back in time?" this was his conclusion.

Instinctively, he reached out for his phone, something that he hadn't had the time to do in a long time since he was too busy fighting for humanity.

2024, May 23, 11:56 PM.

Alex had truly gone back in time, to a time before all of this happened.

To a time before the launch of "Universal Descent", a simple game at first glance, but one that would completely change humanity as we know it.

"Wait a damn minute…" Alex's eyes widened as he saw the time.

He could never forget it as it was one of the most important days of his life, but didn't the game launch on the 24th of may, at the exact moment midnight struck?

2024, May 23, 11:59 PM.

"!!!" His heart pounded in his chest.

There was only a minute left before the 'announcement' that would change the world appeared!

11:59 PM… 12:00 AM!

This time, Alex was ready. He had lived through it all once. He knew the horrors that awaited humanity. And now, with this second chance, he wouldn't waste it.

Ding!

At this moment, a majestic chime came from the sky, and a panel appeared in front of Alex.

[Humans of Earth, the universal server has been connected with you, and the first batch of public beta access is now being issued randomly!]

Of course, this was completely normal, he had already experienced it once, after all, but all the people outside that received this very same panel must have been just as confused as he first was in his first life.

As Alex was thinking about that, his left wrist suddenly began to hurt.

He quickly glanced down, fully knowing what this was.

And that's when he saw a complex circle of runes form around his wrist, constantly spinning.

The runes formed a bracelet around his skin, glowing with a radiant white light before slowly fading, embedding themselves into his flesh.

All of this seemed like a dream, but Alex needed to take this seriously now that he knew what was bound to come.

Suddenly, as the process ended, the majestic voice sounded again.

[The 20 million places for the first public beta have been distributed.]

[Beta testers can now enter the game at any time, please check the specific rules yourself.]

[Humans of Earth, I hope you can break out of the hell coming for you, and contribute to the defense of the universe.]

"…" Alex in his first life was like many others, thinking that it was a joke, a mere prank, but no, this wasn't.

He looked down at his wrist, and with a thought, the rune ring appeared again.

This [Rune Bracelet/Ring] was directly connected to the game, and it was what allowed all players to access the game.

The technology has been checked by thousands of scientists, but none of them could even understand how it worked.

Everything they needed could be found in that so-called game, after all, there was no need to question it.

[Do you wish to enter the game?]

[Yes/No]

[Note: not entering the game right now is not advised!]

"…" Alex hesitated as his fingers hovered over the [Yes] option, but then he clicked it.

Whether he joined the game or not wouldn't change the fact that the apocalypse would descend on earth.

He would rather participate again with all his knowledge than just sit down and do nothing!

Alex clicked on [Yes], and suddenly, he felt extremely dizzy.

No matter how many times it happened, he surely would never get used to it.

He was currently in a black void, in a dimension between reality and the game, and so, new panels appeared before him.

[Welcome to Universal Descent!]

[Scanning identity… Alex Rogue!]

[Identity confirmed, please enter an ID!]

Alex already knew what to expect in this game, and so he also understood the importance of having a unique ID, since that was the name that everyone both inside and outside the game would see.

"…" after thinking for a bit, Alex nodded.

[ID: FateBreaker]

He would keep this as his ID to constantly remind himself of his purpose: to not end up like the him from his past life.

This was pretty much all.

[Do you want to check the rules?]

'Why not?' he couldn't remember them all after all.

[Rules]:

1. The ratio of game time to real time is 2:1, meaning that for every two minutes that passes in the game, one minute passes in the real world.

2. Items such as property upgrades and equipment obtained in the game can be brought into reality once the 'first stage' has ended.

3. You can currently enter the game for only up to 12 hours every 24 hours, this is based on earth time by the way, meaning that it will be 12 hours in reality, but 24 hours in the game, and the time can be freely allocated, so you can leave whenever you feel like it!

4. The game currency is connected to reality, and all financial institutions on Earth are bound to the "Cosmic" Bank, meaning that you can sell and buy equipment, and transfer that money directly to reality or to the game.

5. The real world has been invaded by magic, and monsters in the game will gradually begin to appear randomly.

6. More rules may appear as the game continues.

"Yep," this was it, and Alex remembered them all perfectly, how could he not after all?

These were simply but the basic rules, and more would appear down the line, but for now it was fine.

As the rules stated, Alex and humanity were on the verge of entering a new era from the moment this game started.

Human society would undergo earth-shaking changes as a response, and the entire planet would be built around 'Universal Descent', the 'players' of the game becoming world famous people, especially those at the top.

[Scanning attributes… awakening talent!]

"Here we go again…" Alex sighed.

This had already happened once in his previous life, and so he could sense the energy flow his body as the system was deciding on a talent.

But Alex wasn't surprised either: after all, he already knew what he would be getting.

He was about to get a C-Level [Enhanced Melee Damage] talent.

Talents were spread out around several categories: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.

F being the lowest and worst all, you couldn't even call those talents, and SSS being the highest, Alex perfectly remembering that the people in his previous life who had those were the strongest.

[Talents at SS-Level or above are unique, meaning that if someone gets them, there won't be someone else who has the same!]

Talents are based on the attributes, which is why it is scanning them, but it didn't mean that it wasn't luck too, it was a mix of both.

After a few seconds, the panel sounded again as it appeared in front of the man.

[Scan complete!]

[C-Level talent "Enhanced Melee Damage" was planned to be given, but the "power of reincarnation" has been detected, thus changing it.]

[Awakening unique SSS-Level talent: "Extraction"!]

"…!" for the first time, Alex's eyes actually widened, surprised to see an actual change.

But doesn't changing the past also mean changing the future?

"No… it doesn't matter, this future NEEDS to change," he couldn't allow these creatures to destroy Earth and kill billions of people, not now that he knew what was coming.

Maybe… with this new talent and opportunity, surely he would manage.

In the end, he just decided to check his talent's effects.

[Talent Effect #1: Upon defeating a monster, you can see a list of items/talents/skills/attributes you can extract from that monster and specify what you want to extract from it, note that currently only ONE thing per monster is allowed to be extracted, so choose wisely.]

[Talent Effect #2: Defeating monsters will grant you "Extraction Points", which you can use later on to enhance your talent or buy items.]

These were all the effects of his talent, but it was normal, every talent only got a minimal amount of perks, and they would increase as time went on.

[Please choose your occupation now.]

Universal Descent only had six professions in the beginning: Warrior, Mage, Archer, Priest, Assassin and Summoner

But this was only what appeared on the surface.

Because once you enter the game, you realize that there are hundreds of other rare and hidden professions that could be found from completing tasks or trials in the game.

Meaning that currently, the one he would choose would mostly be his main, but he would still get another one, as Alex already had a rough idea of what to do once inside.

"Mage."

In his previous life, Alex had made the foolish choice of choosing 'Warrior' as it was the one that sounded the coolest, he had been imagining himself rushing at the front line of battle to slash down enemies, and also because his previous talent was about melee damage.

But reality was much different than you would believe it to be, and in the end, [Warrior] ended up being the worst class of all, making him wish he had at least chosen [Assassin].

It was weak even against the priests, and though there were some amazing warriors in his previous life, he wasn't among them.

But even then, even with his C-Level talent and "bad" profession, Alex had actually still managed to be a grand warrior, many calling him a 'miracle' among warriors.

He wouldn't make the same mistake though, and that is why he chose Mage, though he did hesitate between that and Assassin.

They were bad in the early stage, but once they acquired powerful spells, they were unstoppable beings, those who had hidden professions or talents related to it even more.

Ding!

[You have become a Mage!]

[Profession and talent have been given, entering the world of Universal Descent!]

Suddenly, the world around him changed, and the black void was now replaced by a magnificent scenery.

[Player 'FateBreaker' has entered the "Novice Continent"!]