"No! Don't kill me!" Azul's voice trembled as she bolted upright, her entire body drenched in sweat. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, her heart hammering against her ribs like a war drum. It felt as if she had just run ten miles, yet her feet hadn't moved an inch.
The sensation was too real. The desperation, the fear, the suffocating sense of helplessness—the very emotions that had accompanied her in her final moments before her death. The raw terror of betrayal still clung to her like a second skin, suffocating and inescapable.
Slowly, she forced herself to take in her surroundings, her wide, fearful eyes darting around the room, trying to find something—anything—that could explain her sudden change in circumstances.
The dim glow of the night lamp, the soft hum of the ceiling fan, the faint scent of lavender from her pillow…
This was her room.
A wave of confusion crashed over her. Her room? How could that be? Her last memories were filled with the agony of clawing hands, the glint of a rusted knife, the taste of her own blood flooding her mouth. The world she had known was a wasteland of despair, yet here she was, nestled in the comforting familiarity of her past.
Her breath hitched as she recognized the familiar yet distant setting. How? Just moments ago, she was surrounded—ambushed by desperate survivors who had turned against her in their hunger and madness. The cold steel of a knife had been pressed against her throat. She was supposed to be dead.
Yet here she was, sitting on her old bed, in a world that shouldn't exist anymore.
A suffocating silence stretched in the room, broken only by the ticking of the clock on her bedside table. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Her hands trembled as a terrifying thought crashed into her mind.
Frantically, she reached for her phone, fumbling as she pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life, casting an eerie glow over her pale face.
[July 31st, 2019 – 03:42 AM]
Her pupils shrank, her mind momentarily blanking.
July 31st, 2019.
Three months before everything fell apart. Three months before the virus swept through the world, marking the start of the apocalypse. A year after the spread of the virus, extraterrestrial gates had torn through space, unleashing horrors beyond human comprehension. Monsters, grotesque and bloodthirsty, had poured out, their mere presence warping reality.
And humans…
Humans had awakened. Powers, abilities, the means to fight back—everything had changed. The world's very foundation had been shattered, and its dynamics had warped into something unrecognizable.
Azul clutched her phone tighter, her breath coming in sharp bursts.
Regression?
She had read about this in novels and comics before—protagonists getting sent back in time before disaster struck. But those were just stories. Could this really be happening?
A mixture of shock and exhilaration coursed through her veins.
She had returned.
The ruined world, the endless struggle for survival, the despair of being just another expendable existence—it was all behind her. Fate had given her another chance.
This time, she wouldn't be a forgotten side character. She wouldn't just scrape by in the shadows of others. She would carve out her own legend. She would make sure her name would be remembered in history. No longer would she be at the mercy of fate.
Just as she started piecing together a plan—
Ding!
A sharp, mechanical sound rang in her mind, freezing her in place.
[Host detected! Binding to the Maximizer System…]
[9%...]
[45%...]
[90%...]
[99%...]
Ding! System successfully bound.
Azul's lips parted in shock.
A system?
That was another staple of the stories she had read. But why did she have one? Weren't systems usually reserved for chosen heroes? Was she special?
Shaking her head, she quickly pushed aside those distracting thoughts.
Curiosity sparked in her mind. She had to test it.
{Hey, System. Introduce yourself.}
[Ding! This is the Maximizer System. The Host can kill monsters to gain points, which can be used to upgrade skills, equipment, and abilities.]
Azul's excitement dimmed slightly.
Kill monsters?
She frowned. There were no monsters in the world right now. The apocalypse hadn't started yet.
Then—
Ding!
A new prompt appeared before her, making her heart stop.
[Ding! Calculating the number of monsters killed by the Host…]
[DING! Calculation complete. The Host has killed approximately 10,000,000 F-rank monsters.]
Her brain momentarily short-circuited.
What?
Her? Ten million monsters?
Impossible. There were no monsters yet!
Was the system malfunctioning?
[Ding! The system has not malfunctioned. It is simply displaying the number of monsters killed by the Host in her previous life over the span of ten years.]
Azul's breath hitched.
Her previous life…
Right. She had spent a decade struggling in that ruined world. Even if she had been nothing more than a mere E-rank Hunter, she had still fought, still survived, still cut down countless creatures just to make it through another day.
And now…
The system recognized all of it.
She inhaled sharply. That meant—
"System, how many points do I have?"
[Ding! The Host has received 10 million points.]
Azul's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
10 million points?!
For a moment, she could hardly believe it. In the novels she had read, protagonists always had to grind tirelessly to accumulate even a few thousand points. Yet she had millions at her disposal before the apocalypse had even begun?
A grin slowly stretched across her lips. This was it. This was her edge.
If she played her cards right, she wouldn't just survive this time—she would dominate. The apocalypse wouldn't stand a chance.
With newfound determination, she spoke firmly:
"System, open the system panel."
A translucent screen materialized before her eyes.
[Maximizer System]
Host: Azul Valtieri
Rank: Unawakened
Points: 10,000,000
Skills: [NONE]
Equipment: [NONE]
System Store: [Available](Click to open)
Azul's hands clenched into fists as excitement bubbled within her.
This time, she wasn't going to be a helpless survivor scrounging for scraps.
This time—
She will not serve as a side character for someone else,
She was going to conquer the apocalypse.