Chapter 1

Crackle! Crackle!

The claps of thunder echoed throughout the dark cloudy skies and lying beneath were destroyed barren lands. Multiple deep and chaotic trenches riddled the earth. It was as if an almighty being had descended and wreaked havoc across the earthen land.

And as if to complete the horrible scenery, mountains of bodies could be seen scattered across the land. All belonging to different races. Some had humanoid appearances, but others were mythical creatures from fairy tales. Nevertheless, no matter how unique or beautiful a creature was, they all had something in common: lying on the destroyed field with lifeless eyes.

Their blood, dismembered body parts, innards, and more grotesque visceral parts accumulated to the point where they formed mountains, dying the surroundings with so much blood that it seemed as if a sea of blood has formed.

'The literal depiction of Hell'— is what a live person would have thought if they had to witness this sight.

Aside from the bloody and gory environment, patches of unique phenomenal distasters could also be seen scattered across the field.

Boulders made from magma seem to have crashed down to earth, releasing black smoke which joined in darkening the skies. Whereas in other places, there would be a field of ice releasing a temperature so cold that it would freeze anything and everything near its environment.

Many more unique phenomenal occurrences happened in the area, such as; a purple fog of poison that corroded everything in its way, torrential hurricanes that spread destruction to the surroundings, a field of large and thick green vines that continuously grew and crushed everything that got caught inside its body.

And in the heart of this chaotic and hellish environment, there could be seen a group of beings that consisted of different races, all surrounding a single person. Rays of light fell from the skies and shined upon that particular place, making them seem as if they were the light of hope in this depressing and wretched world or that a Holy entity was guiding them through the darkness.

In the lead of the group, a handsome man with a chiseled face and long, sliver hair stepped forward. He wore shining white armor carved with golden frames. On his right hand was a broken white sword, but despite its broken state, it did not lose its unique and radiant holy aura.

As soon as that man took a step forward, the person they surrounded also reacted, instantly alarming the others.

The person they surrounded was a man whose wounded and battered pale body was bare for all to see as his clothes had long been tattered and rendered useless.

His long black hair stuck to his sweaty body while his famous trademark white mask still remained on his face.

Seeing the man in white armor approaching closer to him, the masked man prepared himself in a stance. Whether weaponless or not, the masked man didn't seem to be going down without a fight.

The man in white armor stopped five steps in front of the masked man, exactly at the range the masked man could not reach with his skills due to his weakened state.

After silently staring at each other, the man in white armor spoke.

"All this destruction.... And for what?"

His melodic voice contained a myriad of feelings. Anger, Hatred, Sadness, and Anguish. He had thousands of questions but as of the moment, he only wanted to know one thing.

"...Why?"

The masked man chuckled in response to the white armored man's question. His voice sounded raspy, but his ridicule towards the man in white armor was evident.

The other beings merely narrowed their eyes, waiting for their leader's signal to cut and kill the masked man in front of them.

Some of them barely contained themselves as their anger and hatred for the masked man drove them to the limits. After all, How could they restrain themselves when the mass slaughterer responsible for their country's destruction and the death of their loved ones was standing right in front of them?

But they did not dare to move without the man in white armor's signal.

After the masked man chuckled, he sighed, looked at the white armored man's face, and spoke.

"Hero Atlas...befitting the origins of your name, you carry the hopes of this world."

The masked man raised his hand, causing the other beings to raise their weapons.

But unlike what they expected, the masked man's hand moved towards his mask.

In that moment, all the beings present including Hero Atlas, looked at the masked man. Whether subconsciously or not, they began to observe the latter's movement with anticipation.

This was understandable, considering that the mysterious masked man was now going to reveal his identity. The very same person who they regarded as the incarnation of evil, was now going to show his face.

Some expected him to be hideous, while others thought he bore no face.

And so they watched as the masked man unmasked himself with slow movements, revealing his devilishly handsome facial features to them.

Hero Atlas gasped in disbelief. "You... You're human..?"

The masked man's identity was finally revealed. He was not a devil, a beastman, or any other mythical creature. Instead, he was a human.

Instantly, Hero Atlas' face crumpled in anger. "You... You traitor! We were sent into this world by the Gods in order to prevent the destruction but instead... You brought it! How could you!"

The unmasked man, now a handsome man with a devilish charm, simply chuckled once more before shaking his head.

"As chess pieces belonging to the opposite sides of the board... You have no need to understand my intentions."

The unmasked man's words confused Hero Atlas and the others for a moment, but before they could ask a question, the unmasked man took something from his inventory.

The others didn't know what he was planning to do, but whatever it was, they immediately moved to stop him.

That was when a small hourglass the size of a thumb appeared on his hand.

"Thats!-"

Seeing that very familiar object, their eyes widened in surprise before hastening their movement. All of them had a single thought: 'Prevent him from using that item!'

Even Hero Atlas was surprised to discover that such an important and valuable item was in the hands of their greatest enemy.

In desperation, Hero Atlas stretched out his arm and screamed. "DON'T!-"

But he was unable to finish his sentence as the person he was trying to stop abruptly disappeared in a flash of light.

"..."

Absolute silence befell the area as the group stared at the empty spot in disbelief.

...They failed to kill the most evil and unscrupulous villain of all time. Not only that, but they failed to do so when he was right in their grasp.

Soon, their dazed eyes became horrified at the realization of what had just happened.

"That... That item is what I think it was... Right?" A woman with long multi-colored feathered ears asked in disbelief.

Smack!

Hero Atlas punched the hard ground in anger. He did not use any skills or aura, but his bare fist left a web-like crack on the ground. Blood followed the front of his fist after he withdrew his hand.

"DAMN IT!" He shouted in frustration.

Everyone shared the same feeling as him.

...The unmasked man used an incredibly precious and rare item called [Holy Grail of Time]. Its detailed description was unknown, but its power was known to everyone.

The power to return in the river of time.

If they had known that the unmasked man had such an item, they would've done everything in their power to prevent him from even trying to reach into it from his inventory. However, even if they did... It was unlikely that they would be able to push him back to this extent since, in the first place, he could've used the item before their battle even began.

Even now, they barely had a split second to react before he used the item.

However, even so! This realization didn't help, as they felt immense frustration and despair.

"..."

It was in that moment when everyone was despairing did Hero Atlas hear a familiar ringing sound in his mind.

Ding! Ding!

[Goddess Aurora states that she will do everything in her power to help you. Which is why you have been granted the power to...]

Reading the following text, Hero Atlas' eyes widened in surprise. His expression was noticed by the other beings.

"Hero Atlas...?"

The corners of the Hero's lips curved upwards as he murmured in a low voice, "Don't worry... I'll make sure to save you all."

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In a typical single-family house, a family could be seen sitting around a table. A celebratory chocolate cake was placed in front of a young man with a devilishly handsome face. He had short black hair with a faded haircut.

He smiled slightly as he looked at the cake in front of him. With his handsome features, his smile and sincere gaze appeared very picturesque.

Snap!

The sound of a camera shooting resounded, making the young man look towards his left. There, he found his father smiling at him while his mother was holding a camera.

"Happy birthday son!"

He only let out a light sigh before lightly chuckling and looking at the person sitting to his right. There was his charming little sister in her second year of high school.

Just like him, she had sharp eyes and soft white skin. Her black hair reached her shoulders while her bangs were cut evenly above her eyes.

Meeting his gaze, she, too, smiled and said. "Happy birthday Jhin."

"Tha..." Just as he was about to say his thanks, his expression suddenly hardened. Then, his bright expression darkened as his smile faded away.

"...Jhin?"

Noticing the unusual look on the young man's face, the sister and the parents thought something was wrong.

"Son?" The mother called worriedly.

The father's forehead creased as he moved beside the young man. "Jhin?"

But the latter did not respond as his eyes remained unfocused.

His unresponsive actions now made the family very worried. The father held his son by his shoulders and shook him.

"Jhin!"

It was only at that moment did the young man named Jhin snap out of his daze. His eyes immediately scanning his surroundings.

"Jhin!"

"Son is something wrong?"

Seeing the man and woman looking at him, Jhin's eyes narrowed in suspicion for a while. He stared at them with an estranged gaze before suddenly widening in surprise.

His eyes remained like that for a while before his pupils dilated.

Hesitating and in disbelief, the young man spoke in a low voice.

"...Mom? Dad?"

His father sighs in relief before tapping Jhin on his shoulder. "Sigh.... Don't scare us like that Jhin."

His mother also looked relieved and reprimanded their son. "That wasn't a very good prank son! Seriously! It's your birthday and you would pull this kind of joke... Since when were you such prankster, hm?"

His sister agreed with their mother's words. "Yeah! I was actually scared for a moment, you know? I thought something happened to you."

As for the person they were talking to... He remained quiet while looking at his family. Soon however, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Son?"

His mother called out to him again, still worried that something was wrong.

But then Jhin's next action surprised both his mother and father.

His arms extended and wrapped around their waists, pulling them into a hug. He held them tightly as if he was afraid to let them go.

"Son?"

Feeling his son's lean arms tightly wrapping around his waist, the father was mildly taken aback but decided to hug his son back too. The mother on the other hand, embraced their son as soon as she was pulled into their son's hug.

As the family enjoyed the hug for a couple of seconds, Jhin's eyes opened slightly before pulling his sister inside the hug as well.

"Kya!"

His actions were abrupt, which surprised his sister. Nonetheless, she successfully made it inside their deep embrace.

"...I love you all... very much.. ." Jhin said sincerely as his eyes threatened to release the tears he had been holding back.

He was finally able to tell them the words he wanted to say. The words that he failed to tell them in his previous life.

His sister only sighs before making a small smile and enjoying their family hug as well.

"We love you too." His mother said in reply.

The immense warmth and comfort he felt from their hug was incomparable to all the luxury and wealth he experienced in his life.

After staying in that way for a minute or so, His sister finally felt stuffy and complained. "I'm getting sweaty... can everyone let go?"

"Just for another minute." Jhin said quietly.

Feeling her brother's head resting on her shoulder, she sighed. "Oh alright, I'll indulge in your request just this once since it's your birthday."

"Thanks."

And just as Jhin requested, the family hug continued for another minute.

"Seriously, is something wrong with you?" His sister asked after they separated.

"Yes son, are you sure you're alright?" His mother asked, still worried about his state earlier

His father nodded, sharing the same sentiments as his mother.

Seeing their warm and caring gaze, Jhin felt an inexplicable warmth inside his dead heart, a feeling he had long forgotten before slowly shaking his head.

"I'm alright. Thanks."

"I just want you guys to know how much I love you." He added.

"Awww... Come here baby..." His mother brought her son's head into her chest while softly caressing the back of his head.

His father simply laughed while his sister playfully rolled her eyes.

"He hadn't even gotten his gift yet." His sister muttered.

The father turned to his daughter. "Shush Mia... He doesn't know about that yet."

"What are you guys talking about?" Jhin asked after seeing his father and his sister whispering to each other.

He acted clueless, as if he didn't already know about their surprise gift for him.

His mother looked at him with a bright smile and said, "You're going to love this!"

She then turned towards her husband and gestured for him to bring the gift.

"Oh! I'll go get it!"

His father went to another room while his sister took the seat next to him, looking at him with anticipation. Jhin ignored her enthusiastic gaze while focusing on his mother, who continued to speak.

"Now, we're not really a rich family but I know you have been wanting this for a long time... which is why your dad and I saved up for this gift of yours."

"I pitched in a little too~." His sister added with a smile.

She stuck her chest out proudly as if wanting to receive praise from him for doing a good job.

Jhin couldn't help but let out a sentimental sigh, feeling grateful for the fact that he had a loving and caring family.

After that, his father again entered the room with a box wrapped in red gifting wrapping.

"Here you go Jhin."

His father proudly presented him with the gift.

Jhin didn't delay and unwrapped the gift, to which he found a box containing a console for VR.

He opened the box, and from there, he took out a grey headgear. It was an old model, and looking at its condition, it was second or third-handed as well, but either way, it was a console.

"Happy birthday son!"

"Happy birthday Jhin!

"Happy birthday big bro!"

His family greeted him simultaneously, and with the warm and fuzzy atmosphere, the young man couldn't stop his eyes from watering. Tears began to flow down his cheeks as he immediately pulled his family into another hug.

"Thank you guys... thank you! It must've been hard to save up for this..." Jhin repeatedly thanked his family since he knows how much a console for VR costs these days.

"It's nothing, Jhin. As long as you're happy." His father laughed while playfully shaking his back.

His mother and sister also said the same thing, which made Jhin feel even more grateful towards them.

As everyone enjoyed the family hug, they didn't notice Jhin's eyes that suddenly glinted coldly.

'This time... I will not fail my family...'

He swore to himself that he would help and protect his family and give them the life they deserved.

He won't let the past repeat itself.

With the chance that he had painstakingly achieved for himself, Jhin will steer the fate of this world into his palms.

Never again will he be moved around like a chess piece.

'Never again....' He gravely swore to himself.