Chapter Four: Second Chances

Flynn vomited. His mind, in his own words, had figured out what the hell was going on, and it resulted in him clutching his stomach as he discharged whatever his body had eaten that day. He recalled what he had eaten that day, in vivid detail, despite it being over a century ago.

Ramen wasn't as good coming back up.

After a few gut-wrenching moments, Flynn regained his bodily functions. He looked up at a slowly dimming sky with the city flickering in the distance. It calmed him down as he watched the city slowly begin its slumber. Ragged frantic breaths still escaped his mouth, however, as memories of a dense black boot came tumbling down.

"I died." Flynn's tattered voice tore from his throat as he spat a clump of bile towards the soft grass.

Flynn knew the words to be true. He couldn't remember many details, but he knew deep down in his very soul that over a hundred years from now, he would die. This fact alone wouldn't bother Flynn. Everyone had their time and hundred years was more time than most got; however, another clue of information had made him pale and even lose his lunch.

Humanity and all of its allies had died with him.

Flynn wasn't really sure why he was able to recall this memory when so many others throughout his century of existence werent accessible, nor did the century-old man know how he knew that he had lived for so long. Still, when he scoured his memory for other lost wisps of information, he noticed a bone-chilling correlation.

All of his memories past the first trial that he could remember beyond a fleeting feeling seemed to v caked in blood or tears. It was as if the trauma had sown itself into the tapestry of his soul, and he knew he'd remember these things even if existence itself ceased to be.

After a few moments of respectful silence, Flynn allowed his mind to travel to his next mind-shattering realization. He felt his mouth dry as anxiety threatened to overtake him.

Somehow he had returned to before the trials, even before the tutorial. A sensation far worse than bile started to rise, and Flynn didn't dare let it take root. His breathing ran rampant as hope surged in Flynn's soul for the first time in a long while.

Unfortunately, the ring of a phone jarred his mind out of itself as he once again joined the slumbering world before him. He shuffled in his pockets until he pulled out a shabby-looking phone. He laughed, remembering that he had been so poor he couldn't even afford a phone with a screen. He flipped it open and answered with a grin.

"Blackwater, time traveler, speaking" Flynn's smirk only widened as he heard the flustered response from the other end.

"Bl- What?... Never mind Blackwater if you don't get your ass down here right now! I told you if you were late on-" Although Flynn found the sound of an angered old boss relaxing, he decided to cut him off.

"I quit." Flynn's words were cold and shallow, leaving no room for misinterpretation. This lack of emotion didn't mean Flynn wasn't enjoying the moment, and Flynn would have given a mountain of credits to see the man's face.

"What?" The man stammered before restarting his tirade. "Oh, good joke, but you and I both know you can't afford to quit." The man's words were guttural, and Flynn could hear the flym as he spat out. "You expect me to believe you already have rent paid? Get you-" The man was cut off for a second time by Flynn

"Unfortunately, something far more lucrative popped up, and I'm sorry to say that it's just too good to refuse." A bit of mirth filled his voice as he looked at a hovering screen that appeared while he was talking, as if Flynn was acting out a script. The system-born panel shown with deep charcoal background and blurred outside world beyond it. A golden filigree border glowed around it, and white text adorned its insides.

| Congratulations, Humanity. Your race has walked the Ascended Path, and you have been selected to participate in the trials! Rejoice! |

For most, this panel had been the Harbinger of death, bringing the end of civilization and normalcy, but for Flynn, it was nothing more than a second chance, and the strange sensation of hope surged through his soul.

'This time, it would be different. This time Flynn would be different.' Unfortunately, his self-actualization was once again interrupted by a pungent voice.

"Wha-" Flynn's mind was torn away from the text as he heard his boss' voice through the phone. It surprised Flynn, but it wasn't unreasonable that the man had joined his particular group of humanity swept away by the system. Three such groups had already disappeared from the human population, and the groups kept getting bigger and bigger as time went on.

Of course, Flynn knew it to be humans transferring into the tutorial and the trials, but the rest of humanity had been at a loss. Billions of people had disappeared each time humanity got introduced into the system.

"Hey, try not to die in the tutorial, asshole; I'd like the opportunity of kicking your ass personally." These were the last words Flynn spoke as the system swept his soul away and darkness overtook him.