'...it was a good run, I guess.'
That was the only thought that entered my head while staring around from atop a barely-standing skyscraper.
All around me, there was water higher than anything imaginable, tsunami waves crashing into other nearby buildings and moving them with a boundless ferocity. A heavy rain that threatened to weigh me down with each drop. Waterspouts that erupted from the violently flowing stream like twisted fountains.
Water was coming from every direction - above, below, and from the sides.
I helplessly stood in the middle of it, watching the maelstrom.
This was it. The true end of the world.
'And I feel surprisingly...calm.'
I walked towards the edge of the building I stood on, taking a precarious glance over it. There - I could see it. This endless, raging ocean wasn't just a pure blue. It was tinted red - spots here, and there, which only became noticeable the more you looked at them.
The half-eaten corpses of people, floating in the water. Torn into shreds in different ways by the beast that brought on this helpless reality.
I sighed, sitting on the edge of the building. Just by doing that, I was knee-deep in the water. Still, even now, watching more and more bodies float to the surface, I felt weirdly calm. After all, what was there to do?
The strongest people in this twisted world had engaged that thing.
I was now watching their dismembered bodies float across the water.
'I guess this is all it came to. My life.'
I ran, and I hid, and I scavenged, all just to survive in this world that slowly became more and more fucked up. I barely managed to make it through the 'Quests' that befell us. I didn't catch the attention - positive or negative of anyone that mattered.
I just lived an average life. The same sort of life I'd lived before everything went down, really. Before these 'abnormalities' appeared.
Deep in the back of my head, when everything started, I'd thought that this was what I was waiting for - a chance to prove myself special, a chance to live a life far exciting than my old one...but none of that happened.
Instead, I just met with death a little later than everyone else.
rrrooooollluuuuunnnnghhh...
The sound of death finally reached me. A voice that rolled over, rumbling louder than any of the thunder that followed the massive strikes of lightning around me.
Even though it was fruitless, I instinctually pulled my legs out of the water, forcing myself to my feet. Because there, in the water, I could see it.
A shadow, one that darkened the entirety of the newly made ocean around me. It was large enough that it seemed to entirely swallow the whole submerged city in its' shadow alone.
The creature that nobody had expected - the world's worst 'abnormality'.
The Flood Dragon.
voooorrrrruuunngghhh...
As if sensing that I was its' final meal, the creature hesitated. Where it had savagely torn the others apart, it seemed to just watch me.
That was right. By now, I likely wasn't the last person left in my city. But probably the last person on Earth.
Even now, even facing this horrific thing, even knowing my death was just moments away, I couldn't help but laugh. It was a bitter chuckle, really.
"Ha...hahaha...hahaha! Damn it..."
There was nowhere to back away to. No person to have deal with it. Everything I had done to assert my own existence over the past few weeks was utterly meaningless.
"I mean, what is this?! Suddenly, we're forced to be slaves that do these god awful quests...only a few of us actually get useful abilities...and then what? Before we even get our bearings, we have to fight something that can end the world?! Where the fuck's the fairness in that?! Huh?!"
...
There was silence. Of course there was. My voice was just another victim to the endless attack of water.
I balled my hands into fists. So hard that I could feel my fingernails digging into my skin and drawing blood.
I didn't know why I was so mad. I had no friends, rivals, or enemies to lose. I hadn't really been a part of anything important. Still...
"This is bullshit..."
I collapsed to the ground, allowing my back to slam against the rooftop carelessly. I could feel it - the water beginning to seep around me, inching in on every side of my body.
Not even this rooftop would save me any more.
"Fuck..."
Probably for the first time since all of this began, I cried. No, I let myself cry. All the tears I had held back, believing they were unnecessary, fell from my eyes.
It was pathetic, but I didn't care. Who was left to care but me?
Still, if there was one thing I cared about, it was the nagging thoughts that needlessly entered my mind.
What if I had moved to get involved with the efforts to defeat this thing? Could I have helped in any meaningful way? Was there some role I could've played that ultimately led to avoiding this end?
They were useless, fantastical, arrogant thoughts. Because, not only had I been slothful, I also utterly lacked any talent to speak of. Unlike the others, I had no hidden skill behind me. I hadn't gotten any good rewards from the 'quests', either. It was rare that anybody did.
Humankind as a whole was beaten down like dogs, and then abandoned to die at the hands of the Flood Dragon. I was just a part of the set that didn't even get to fight back.
It was then that I heard that earth - rumbling sound again.
The shadow became darker - clearer, as the creature neared the surface of the water. I laughed, maybe almost frantically, feeling every inch of footing I had slowly become more and more loose. The rain seemed to fall on me like gravity forcing me down into the waters, which lapped at the concrete like it was eager to swallow me whole.
'I don't want to die...'
I shut my eyes tightly, thinking something I thought I'd never really think, and mean it so sincerely.
'I really don't want to die...I don't want to die...'
But I had no choice. Only the strong dictated that. And in this world, I was among the weakest of the already weak humanity.
The choice had been made for me. I would die here.
krraakkk-chhhhuummm...
The last thing I heard were the sound of jaws snapping around a tower of solid concrete, snapping it like wet tissue paper.
I didn't feel much, even as my consciousness faded. Consider it lucky or not - but rather than drowning, the sheer force of the water must have ripped me to shreds instantly.
Imminent death of skill holder detected.
Conditions met.
Activating Unique Skill: Regression.
With the last human, the last living animal, disappearing from the planet, the world had well and truly ended.
And then...I opened my eyes.
"..."
Everything around me was quiet again. Or was it better to say...back to normal?
There was the hum of machines running around me, and the sound of an indistinct voice coming out of a nearby television. There was the smell of hotdogs and other food items.
It was a familiar ambiance.
I stood in the middle of a small convenience store, looking around with blank eyes. I slowly looked down at my own body. I wasn't clad in ragged clothing, or barely scrounged together armour...but my old work clothing. The worker's uniform of this exact same convenience store.
'What...is...this?'
For a while, I was silent. Then...the world turned black again.
By the time I woke up, it was already afternoon. I had no idea how long I'd been out. I slowly got to my feet, bringing a hand to my head.
I didn't worry that much about if anyone had entered and stolen, or if my boss would see me when he checked the cameras or not.
Instead, I checked my phone, which was in my pocket. A concept that had become so foreign to me, but one that I could now rely on again.
December 25th, 5:30 PM.
"This...can't be real."
It was Christmas. And not any Christmas - the Christmas on which that event would begin. The summoning of those beings that would kickstart every horrible event on this planet.
I couldn't resist thinking of it for a while - that I was in some sort of delusion. I had heard of minor 'Abnormalities' that caused mental effects before.
But that wasn't the case.
I just somehow knew.
That final message that I had barely glanced...that system message that my dying brain had barely registered.
This had to be it - the 'Unique Ability', something I had only heard of among the strongest of the awakened humans. I had one. And this ability, 'Regression'...seemed to allow me to travel to the past, after death.
Even if I had barely recovered, I could tell that much, at least.
"..."
I silently closed my fists. I didn't feel overjoyed. After all, what did it really mean to 'Regress'? Had I even gotten the specifics of this 'Unique Ability' right? I had never showcased any special abilities in the past, so this was my first time even thinking of what I could do - thinking of having an actual effect.
'None of that overthinking matters right now...!'
There was one truth that remained. If I did nothing, the past would just repeat itself.
In merely two months, just a few weeks after the world would be plunged into this sudden chaotic change, the Flood Dragon would appear. And then, it would finish off all of humanity with practically no resistance.
It was only beyond that, a future that I hadn't seen yet waited for me.
'No matter what, I'll get there.'
I had no idea how yet, but I knew how to begin.
As the clock reached 6, I shut my phone off. It was time.
And on cue, everything in the shop turned off - the fridges, the television, the lights, all of it. Amidst the dying rays of sunlight, I was nearly plunged into darkness.
Then the power came back on, revealing a floating ray of light.
"Well, hello there!"
It spoke, floating down in front of me. Sparkling and shining, it gave off the appearance that it was quite literally a pure ball of light, one that somehow spoke like it was a person.
"Not much of a talker, huh? Surprising. I'd heard that most humans would freak out and try to attack me or something. Then again..."
It looked around, noting that I was the only presence in the shop.
"Guess that checks out. Ahhh...what do I do? You're the only human in here, so I can't even give you the standard 'Kill' quest to begin..."
I watched the thing silently, not daring to speak to it or interrupt it. Even with a second life, and possibly many more, I wasn't bold enough to throw one away.
I'd seen what these creatures - these Pixies, did to people that irritated them. They had the ultimate authority and the power to end any life they pleased whenever they wanted.
As a result, before the 'Abnormalities' even began to attack us in earnest, a majority of the human population would die today.
The Pixies boasted a kill count that wasn't even beaten by the Flood Dragon, as it finished off the last dregs of humanity.
Still, even if I acted differently from my last life, I already knew what this Pixie would say.
"Alright! Then, how about this. Instead of kill...let's make you survive!"
If it had a face, the Pixie would surely be grinning.
"Then, human...survive until I say you're good! Good luck!"
Without explaining anything or giving me a chance to retort, the Pixie fluttered away, disappearing into a sparkling explosion of light.
Typical Pixie. Not that I wasn't expecting it. This exact 'tutorial' was the reason I had developed such a knack for running away.
The lights in the convenience store turned off once more. This time, however, there weren't even any rays from the setting sun dimly lighting things up. It was pitch black.
And when the lights came back on this time...I wasn't in a convenience store...I was in a large, empty supermarket.
I took a deep breath, and slapped my cheeks with both hands.
"Okay...let's do this."
It was time to see how much I could get out of this second life.