'I'm tired...' Terrence muttered. His breaths came slow and rough, while blood pooled at the tip of his lips.
But that wasn't the worst part.
Half his body was gone, ripped off. He could barely keep his eyes open, just trying to stay awake, trying not to slip away.
How did it come to this?
As he lay there, waiting for death, his thoughts drifted back to the past.
Twenty years back, the human world faced hell. Gates to their domain opened everywhere
Cities collapsed in days. People ran, screaming, with nowhere safe to go. The monsters didn't stop. They tore through streets, homes... killed millions like it was all they knew.
The military threw everything they had, but the monsters kept coming. Bullets and other modern weapons didn't even slow them down.
They even dropped nukes, but all it did was wipe out more people than monsters.
For a while, it really felt like the world's end was only a matter of time.
Then the Manaborn appeared. Humans who gained powers after adapting to the world's overflowing mana.
They gained abilities that science couldn't explain—flying, super strength, summoning, elemental control, and more.
But what made them really invaluable was their ability to hurt the hell-spawns in ways that ordinary weapons couldn't.
Within months, they began to turn the tide.
Humanity started pushing the monsters back, reclaiming ground and establishing new footholds.
Cities were rebuilt. Stronger, better, forged from the ruins of what was lost.
Technology raced forward, forced to evolve at a speed no one could have predicted, as the apocalypse drove the brightest minds to their limits.
Finally, peace was restored, though it came in a new form—inside the safety of the city walls.
Unfortunately, those very same walls crumbled, and Terrence, one of the many survivors who fought to protect it, was forced to accept a painful truth.
Against the Devils, humans were nothing but ants.
"If only..." he gritted his teeth in frustration. "If only I'd discovered my power earlier... I might have..."
He couldn't finish the thought before drawing his last breath. In the end, it was just wishful thinking from a dying man.
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"NO!!!!!!"
Terrence bolted upright, sweat dripping down his face as his eyes darted around the room.
'Was that all just a nightmare? Is the sanctuary still safe? '
His breathing slowly calmed down. The nightmare was over, but something was wrong.
This wasn't the room he knew. The cold metal walls were gone. So were the bunk beds and the loud voices of the soldiers preparing for war.
Instead, all he saw was a bed, a TV with the latest gaming console, a desk with a high end PC, and bookshelves filled with manga, novels, figurines—even a pillow with a cute anime girl printed on it.
He cringed just looking at it… then remembered that he used to be a die hard otaku.
'Wait... this place!' His eyes widened as he tried to process what he was seeing.
There was no mistaking it. This was his room from the days when life was still peaceful
A place where he could play games, watch anime, read manga and novels, and just be himself without being judged.
His paradise. His old bedroom.
Nostalgia hit him more as he stood up. His fingers drifted over the manga on the shelves, each one a reminder of better days.
Then, he glanced at the mirror and checked himself out. He was thin for his height, with a tired gaze that matched his jet black eyes.
He ran a hand through his messy, dark hair, fingers catching on the tangles. It had been over a year since he bothered to get a haircut.
'This can't be real. No way I came back, right?' He pinched his skin, slapped his face, and the pain was too real.
Then he grabbed a manga, expecting the words would be jumbled like in a dream, but the text was clear as day.
THUD!
He dropped the book. His heart pounded in his chest, making his ears ring.
'My blood pressure's rising. I need to calm down.'
Tilting his head, he breathed in and out, slowly calming his pounding heart.
'Why me? Why did I come back to the past?'
It wasn't like he was the most powerful Manaborn, like in those webcomic where the strongest mage or warrior gets a second chance to become even more overpowered.
Nor did he have a system that allowed him to level up while others couldn't.
He was just a normal soldier, an extra; one of those characters the author wouldn't even bother describing in detail. Even worse, he wouldn't even get a name. Just 'soldier',nothing more.
But just to be sure, he started muttering,
"System! System Interface! Abracadabra! Level Up!"
No response. No glowing windows. No notification.
'It's no use. I don't have enough braincells for this. ' He sat back in his chair and leaned back.
As he let out a long breath, his eyes caught the calendar hanging on the wall.
'The date!'
If he really traveled back, it meant the invasion was still coming.
To make sure he got the correct time, he pulled open the drawer and grabbed his Helix mobile phone. The top-of-the-line model.
Yeah, his priorities back then were focused on other things.
Who could blame him? It wasn't like he ever expected monsters to invade his world.
'It's May. That means I still have at least seven months before the invasion.'
He sighed in relief. At least he had enough time to prepare.
'I need to make this second chance count. I don't care how I came back anymore. What's important is how I make the most of it.'
Having knowledge of what was coming gave him a lot of advantages, and by using it smartly, he could become stronger in a short amount of time.
Just as he was thinking about what to do next, a knock came from the door.
Curious, he walked over and grabbed the handle. But before turning it, he took a deep breath.
Act normal. That was the plan. He couldn't risk slipping up, not when one wrong move could get him labeled insane.
When the door opened, the scent of home-cooked food hit him first. It was warm, rich, and very comforting.
But what made him more happy wasn't the food or the smell…it was her. A face he hadn't seen in more than a decade.
She looked just as he remembered. Platinum hair neatly tied behind her head, eyes as blue as the sea, and that same gentle smile that always made him look forward to seeing her.
"Terence, I brought you food. I figured you'd be too tired from all that late-night gaming,"
Her voice was sweet and tender.
The woman standing before him was Effie. His step aunt.