Chapter 1: Return

"Haah, haah..." Liam panted heavily. He was on his last leg, barely keeping his greatsword up with quivering hands. His lean body was covered in a layer of sweat mixed with blood, masking the countless scars and gaping wounds that littered his body.

Despite his wounds, however, he still stood. In the illumination of the raging inferno blazing around him, his eyes maintained a indestructible fierceness as he faced the two faceless shadowy figures just a few feet in front of him.

"Come at me...you bastards!" He cried out between his ragged breaths. "I can still take...weakasses like you on!"

SKREE!

As if on cue, the two shadows screeched in unison, releasing a bone chilling roar. Then, one of the shadows melted into the barren ground as the other rushed towards Liam, as its arms curled into spears.

When it would reach Liam, it would begin swinging at him chaotically, forcing out a block. Then, the other shadow would appear behind the human and end the battle. A simple but deadly plan.

However, it was a pattern Liam had seen countless times before. "One last time..." Liam muttered as he chugged a dark green potion.

[Item 'Potion of Tranquility' (Rare) consumed!]

"Activate, [Berserk]!"

[Caution! User's health is too low! Activating Berserk now may be dangerous! Would you still like to proceed?]

"I don't care, just activate it!"

A blood red aura erupted around Liam. "If I'm going out anyway, I might as well take down a few bastards with me!" He yelled as he sprung up with surging vitality. Then, before the shadow could react, he stabbed his blade forward, piercing right through the shadow's body, precisely shattering a ball of deep purple.

SKREE!!!

With a roar, the monster slowly faded into particles of purple, drifting off into the sky.

[Uncommon enemy 'Prowler' (lvl 324) has been killed. Obtained 94,562 experience points!]

Immediately after, Liam dashed back. Not a moment later, a spear made of shadow poked from right under his previous position. Seeing that it had missed, the shadow prepared to melt back into the ground as the spear turned liquid. However, Liam wasn't planning on just letting this happen.

Splitting out a mouthful of blood, Liam called out another skill. "[Revert]!"

Suddenly, Liam appeared right back atop the shadow, as if he had never jumped back at all. Without giving the shadow time to escape, he immediately stabbed his sword into the ground, ripping through the shadow and its purple core.

[Rare enemy 'Prowler' (lvl 356) has been killed. Obtained 124,313 experience points!]

"It's over..." Liam mumbled as the red aura surrounding him receded, along with his life. With what little strength he had left, he glanced at the countless monster corpses piled around him before stumbling onto the ground.

[Congratulations! Player 'Liam' has earned a new title (???)!]

"A new title, huh?" He weakly muttered out. "Status!"

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Name: Liam | Level: 394 (67%)

HP: 12/100,245 | EN: 4/12,934

Classes: Berserker (Main), Alchemist (Sub)

Abnormal condition: Bleeding (lvl. 10) [CAUTION: if not treated immediately, will result in death]

[Stats] [Skills] [Titles (New!)]

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"Titles." Liam continued as he navigated through the system's menus.

__________________________________

[Title]

One who has witnessed the End (???)

The last survivor (Mythical)

etc.

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"Expand title 'One who has witnessed the End'!"

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One who has witnessed the End (???)

Description: As you witness the end of everything, all your struggles are meaningless. Currently unable to be used by Player 'Liam'.

Effects: ??? (sealed)

Requirements: Title 'The last survivor' (Mythical), Death

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"Fuck! What sick fucker's idea of a joke is this? I swear I'll fucking kill you! I'll kill the creator of this stupid fucking game if it's the last thing I do!" Liam cursed to himself as he laid on the barren ground. He felt so angry he could almost feel his vitality coming back.

However, he knew it was the end. As tears welled up in his eyes, Liam softly muttered, "So this is it, huh?

"So this is...how humanity...ends..."

Liam thought about the years of fighting he had gone through up until this point. The blisters he had on his hands from endlessly scavenging for herbs so he could survive. The burn wounds from the rushed set up he had used to concoct his potions. The callouses that covered his hands from the years he spent fighting monsters. The chipped and almost broken greatsword he wielded. The countless battles he had fought just to see another day.

His thoughts drifted towards his family, who had died because he was too weak to protect them. To the friends who had lost their lives in front of him while he was powerless to help, to the wounded who slowly perished because he wasn't fast enough in concocting potions. Finally, he thought about the loneliness he had faced for so many years, knowing he was the last human left on Earth.

'Damn it...what was it even for? What was the point of my worthless struggle?' After years of surviving all alone in the desolate world filled with monsters, his tired eyes slowly closed as streams of tears crossed his face. Soon, the thoughts of regret drifted out of his mind, with only one left. 'If only...I could go back...'

'I'm so...tired...'

[Player 'Liam' has returned to the embrace of the goddess.]

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Liam opened his eyes to a flashing white light. Instinctively, he pulled his arm over his eyes to block it. "Where am I? Is this hell?" He weakly mumbled. "Always though hell would be more red..."

Suddenly, countless transparent blue screens that Liam was very familiar with appeared in front of his eyes, flooding his vision.

[System error detected! Searched for error...]

[Error found!]

[Player data for player 'Liam' is inconsistent!]

[Attempting to merge...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Merge failed!]

[Resetting player data...]

[Error! Unknown external forces have interfered!]

[Player data has only been partially reset!]

"What...?" Liam let out in a soft voice filled with confusion. In the many years he'd been using the system, he had never encountered something like this.

"System." He called out a word he'd become familiar with over the years, attempting to open his character details. If something had gone wrong with the system, he had to at least try to find out what.

__________________________________

Name: Liam | Level: 0 (0%)

HP: 10/10

Classes: None | Abnormal condition: None

[Stats] [Skills] [Titles]

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Liam's face once again twisted with confusion. After a few minutes, he sighed, then dismissed the windows covering his vision.

'I can deal with this later. Right now, I need to figure out where I am.'

Having been forced to adapt to strange situations to adapt, Liam had developed a trait of being calm in just about any situation. At least, any situation where he doesn't activate berserk.

His eyes, now having been exposed to the blinding white light for a few seconds, gradually adjusted themselves. Then, realizing he was laying on a bed, Liam tried to sit up and took a look around to gauge the situation...only to fail.

Laying on his bed quietly, Liam slowly tried getting back up again, acting as if the previous attempt hadn't happened. However, he failed again.

"So that system menu wasn't fake." Liam grumbled as he tried to get used to his new weakness. He felt a slow dread filling his body as he realized that all the progress he had obtained over years of work had all gone down the drain. However, he tried to ignore it and analyze his present situation.

After a few more attempts, Liam finally got used to his weakened body as he sat up straight on his bed. He slowly look around the room he found himself in.

As he gazed at the plain desk that sat across from the bed, the shelves filled with action figures in the top few rows and books on the bottom ones, the window plastered on the side wall, and the numerous posters he had around his room, he realized something was wrong.

'This room...it looks strangely familiar.' Then, it suddenly hit him. 'Wait, this is my room from before the collision!'

As he realized this, he felt that the room felt more and more familiar to him as his heart beat faster. He had watched this room get broken with his own two eyes, far beyond the point of repair. It's impossible for him to be back inside it.

'What the hell...? Am I in an illusion?' Liam pondered to himself as he continued observing the area around him. 'No, it can't be, to capture every detail of my room so perfectly, it would be impossible...'

Just then, through the reflection on a large monitor Liam had on his desk, he finally got a better look at himself. He was shocked by what he saw. Because staring right back at him was his younger self.

As his heart started beating even faster, Liam frantically looked around until he laid his eyes on an open calendar, looking for a date.

3/21/2025

He had returned 10 years into the past, a few days before the release date of Zenith Online!