Chapter 1: Return & Despair
Adam awoke to the sound of his ragged breathing. His vision swam, his thoughts a chaotic mess of familiar and foreign memories. He was no longer standing amidst the ruins of a once-great empire, no longer wielding a blade against divine champions, no longer surrounded by corpses beneath a sky of eternal fire. Instead, he lay on a simple bed in a dimly lit room—his room.
January 2025.
His heart pounded. A cold sweat broke out over his body as he clenched his fists as if trying to ground himself in reality. He was back. Back before the solar flare, the trials, and the Game began.
But the memories of the future refused to fade. Images of the Holy War, the fall of humanity's greatest kingdoms, the rise of god-blessed warriors, and abyssal horrors still burned in his mind. The despair, the desperation, the ultimate futility of it all.
He took a deep, shuddering breath and forced himself to sit up. The world outside was still untouched by chaos. Cars passed on the streets below, neon lights flickered, and people laughed, unaware of the doom lurking just beyond their comprehension.
Adam swung his legs over the bed and stood, gripping the edge of his desk for support. He needed to think. He needed to plan.
A year. He had one year before the Age of Eternity began.
"I won't waste this chance," he muttered.
The memories of his past life were incomplete, fragmented by the sheer trauma of centuries of battle and survival. He barely recalled the names of the people who once fought by his side, who had died screaming in agony. Family? Friends? Their faces were blurred, their voices mere echoes. Only the pain, the endless struggle, remained vivid.
With a trembling hand, Adam reached for his laptop and turned it on. The screen glowed softly in the dark room, displaying the mundane normalcy of his past life. He searched for news, for anything that might indicate the first signs of the coming disaster. Nothing yet. But soon, the world would be unrecognizable.
He had to act fast.
The First Steps
The first hurdle was money. He needed resources, influence, and power. The knowledge he possessed was more valuable than any treasure—market trends, future disasters, and the rise and fall of corporations. But more importantly, he needed to build something beyond just wealth. He needed an army.
"Loans, investments, black market connections... I'll do whatever it takes."
Adam opened a notepad on his laptop and began typing out a plan. He listed key industries that would boom in the wake of the solar flare, companies that would collapse, and influential figures who would shape the future. He had to act decisively.
Gathering Resources
By morning, Adam had a rough plan. He needed liquid capital, but banks wouldn't give him the amount he required. His best option was high-risk investment strategies. If he could predict the stock market fluctuations before they happened, he could generate an immense amount of wealth in a short period.
He also considered the criminal underworld. In his past life, many underground organizations had thrived in the wake of the disaster. If he could infiltrate or influence them now, he would gain access to their resources and networks. It was dangerous but necessary.
He spent hours researching, reaching out to old contacts, and setting up meetings. He would need proxies, people who could act on his behalf without drawing suspicion. If he moved too fast, he would attract unwanted attention from governments and corporations.
Finding Allies
Money alone wouldn't be enough. He needed skilled people. Scientists, engineers, mercenaries—anyone who could provide him with an edge when civilization began to crumble. But recruiting them without revealing his true intentions would be tricky.
He decided to start with the scientific community. He knew of a few researchers who had been close to breakthroughs in alternative energy and cybernetic enhancements before the world fell apart. If he could fund their research now, he might have access to advanced technology when the time came.
As for security, he recalled several private military contractors that had risen to prominence during the war. He made a note to investigate them, knowing he would need protection when things spiraled out of control.
Training & Preparation
It wasn't enough to rely on money and allies—Adam needed to improve himself. Though his body had returned to that of his younger self, his mind still carried centuries of combat experience. His reflexes felt sluggish, his strength weak compared to the hardened warrior he once was.
He would change that.
Adam started a brutal training regimen. He ran until his legs felt like lead, practiced hand-to-hand combat in underground gyms, and pushed his body beyond its limits. The world saw a man obsessed, but they had no idea he was preparing for a war that would decide the fate of humanity.
Weapons were another concern. Gun laws and surveillance made it difficult to obtain what he truly needed. He had to be smart—old contacts in the black market, hidden caches from the past life that he could still remember. Every weapon, every bullet, had to be accounted for.
A Race Against Time
Days turned into weeks as Adam worked tirelessly. He barely slept, barely ate, consumed by the need to prepare. The world around him remained oblivious to the approaching calamity, but he saw the signs. Subtle shifts in market trends, whispers in underground circles—everything pointed to the beginning of the end.
One evening, as he reviewed his growing network of assets and resources, he felt a deep sense of unease. Was he moving fast enough? Would it be enough to survive? Doubt gnawed at him, but he shoved it aside.
Then, one night, as he returned to his apartment after a secret meeting, he noticed something strange.
A message on his laptop.
It hadn't been there before.
[You are being watched.]
His blood ran cold.
Was it a warning? A threat? Someone had taken notice of his actions. He had tried to move under the radar, but had he already drawn attention?
Adam clenched his fists. He had come too far to turn back now. If someone was watching, then so be it. Let them watch.
Because when the Age of Eternity began, he would not be the hunted.
He would be the hunter.
A Shadow in the Dark
Adam didn't sleep that night. The message on his screen replayed in his mind, over and over again. Who was watching him? The government? A corporation? Or was it something... worse? The gods? The system itself?
With a measured breath, he decided his next course of action. He needed to secure an escape plan. If things went south before the Age of Eternity even started, he had to be able to disappear without a trace.
He contacted an old hacker group from his past life, arranging for new identities, safe houses, and encrypted communications. He doubled his efforts in training, pushing himself harder, knowing that soon he would no longer be acting in the shadows—he would be forced into the light.
Whatever was coming for him, he would be ready.
And when the solar flare struck, and the world descended into chaos, he would be the one standing at the top.