Different From Before

My body shook. I had just died, woke up in the past, and before I could even gather my thoughts, the signs of the impending apocalypse were already there. There wasn't time to prepare for the worst.

It had been a long time since I lived without skills, powers, inventory, and the mysterious system active. Although I wasn't one of the biggest powers in the [New World], I was fairly strong among humans, and led several armies throughout the years. I felt emptiness, as if they stripped me of everything I worked and suffered for.

Breathing slowly and steadily, I calmed myself down. I have survived this before. Mostly by luck at the beginning, but I did. I might not have my old powers, but knowledge and experience were my weapons this time around. Unless there were more people sent back, nobody but me knew the shitstorm that was about to come.

Boy, were they in for a surprise. And not a pleasant one.

My classmates stared at the weird-colored sky. Some shook, others shivered as if cold dust permeated the room, with dry mouths and holding screams back. They knew not what was about to come, but their bodies already seemed to know that everything was changing.

I can't save them. I can't tell them what will happen. Who would believe me?

Even if someone believed, where would they go? Where would be safe? Safety was a thing of the past. The comfort and peace of modern civilization would be gone. Even if I were to guide them somewhere safer, most won't live, anyway.

Right now, it's something that later generations will call [Timeless First Day]. Forget about physics and nature laws, time, and space. Before the [World Merge] concluded, time was incomprehensible. A few seconds? A minute? An hour? Ten hours?

How long will it last?

How much time has passed?

Those questions never had answers. Night became day, and day became night.

Even before the worlds merged, the influence of the other worlds will change this world. The air will become heavier, filled with energy. Not everyone will breathe normally. Most will suffocate and die. There were no more respirators, hospitals, or medicine.

If you had a disease requiring intensive care, you could only wait for death, or hope this New World accepted you, granting a second chance.

The lucky ones who adapted to this deadly environment, breathing the new air and surviving, were called [Old Earth Survivors] among ourselves. It was a way of distinguishing the people of our world from other humans. Some fanatics wanted to call them "The Chosen" but the only thing it chose us for was pain.

Those who survived those changes and the Ath'Taren won't be safe yet. Unknown diseases roam about. A cut from a demon's claw can be deadly as the wrong step into a puddle, the pollen of a mysterious plant, or dangerous unfamiliar creatures. The unknown in this New World led to death.

Surviving everything forced people to face an even bigger danger: hunger. Food in this world was now useless. The more you eat, the hungrier and weaker you became. Food became poison. A fucking nightmare.

The only safe food was from the New World. And some of them could probably kill people much faster than satiate hunger. Ruthless powers in the past even used prisoners as guinea pigs to learn about edible substances and their effects on the human body.

After all this hell, why the fuck should we live then?

Not all were terrible news. [Old Earth Survivors] would become stronger with time. We called the energy in this world "New Qi", like those martial arts novels from before.

An energy which would seep into our bodies slowly, changing them from inside, strengthening and turning them superhuman. When the mysterious system awakens, we can level up, get classes, and powers.

Why was the system like an RPG? How would I know? Surviving means using whatever came our way.

Right now, nothing could be one about it. Opening the system and receiving a class and abilities required Level 10. Surviving the Timeless First Day was always a priority.

However, as a good point, experience was also earned over time. Simply by surviving people would level up and grow. Meanwhile, running and hiding from the death-hungry and ruthless demons was hell.

I rambled on, but that is why I wouldn't protect them. It's not that I didn't want to. I had to survive. I was the only one that had been through this shit. How many people died so we could learn more about this world?

You have no freaking idea. Even exploring a new region could cost many lives. I owe it to them. To those who bled, and to myself, for all the shit I have been through.

I want to kick that cowardly king in the balls someday.

I ignored the classroom noises. Some screamed, some paled, some denied reality. Smartphones stopped. My gacha suddenly turned off. Last life I got hurt carrying it with me. Now I know it was useless and foolish.

The lights went off. Everything was still clear as daytime, without fog or pollution. The bloody red light of the sky seeped through the windows, keeping away the darkness that would soon engulf our city.

"The Bleeding Sky". I had no time for its morbid beauty.

Think, think.

Was there anything I could do to survive better? Any advantages right now?

No. Important spots haven't merged into this world yet. Guns, knives, food, all useless. No dungeons or powerful items I could get my hands on. Forget those. Only running away and surviving matters. Reaching a safer place.

I survived by luck the first time around. I was a coward. What would you expect from a normal guy without training?

I ran, ran, and ran, passed out. Luckily, I was carried to safety by good people. Those people died, but I lived on, scrapping for food. I caught some shitty diseases, suffered through things I don't even want to recall these many years later. It only got better when I found them.

That's right, them!

The [Yllahice]. People called them "elves" because of the fantasies of our world. Somewhat pointy ears, long and graceful limbs and hair, attuned to nature magic, living in a magic forest. That place would probably be the safest place for years to come. It was a bit far, but they were friendly, honorable, and kind. Well, most of them. Believe me, that would be difficult to find in this New World. They were also newcomers, but nothing like those demons.

And they could fight back. Their civilization was nothing like our peace-loving modern world. Their magic was powerful, and, unlike our technology, wouldn't fade away. Make it there, and I survive, at least for a while. Yet making it there without help was another story.

Deciding to go to the Yllahice, my destination was clear: former Sonis City whereabouts, now a magic forest in the making. The Yllahice would already have cleaned up the surrounding areas by the time I got there.

I clenched my fist tightly with a plan in mind. It took little time. There weren't many options.

My teacher's scream of agony brought me back to reality quickly. His face distorted in pain, a rustic and vicious claw pierced through his entrails. An almost instant death, followed by a bloody rain, spraying the unlucky ones in the front rows.

The class representative next to him screamed and fainted. The others shouted like crazy.

I frowned. My mouth opened in disbelief.

Would blood surprise me?

No.

His death?

No. He also died in the past. There wasn't much I could do about it.

I had a headache because he wasn't the first one to die back then. The Class Rep got skewered first, and that was even a little later. I thought I had some time.

Which meant…

... This might not only be the past, but also an alternate reality. Or maybe everything was just a roll of the dice that went differently from before, and anything could change. My memory of events and knowledge might not be reliable. My actions might change everything.

Fuck.