Ascenders Rift

[Ding!]

[You have failed your Rift Quest.]

[You shall now be ejected from the tower: 3…2…1]

[Expulsion complete!]

[Calculating the remaining Ascenders...]

[Results are complete – Total Ascenders: 0]

[As all Ascenders have perished, your race shall now be destroyed, Malorvin has claimed victory.]

[Calculating your merit points....]

[Calculation complete - You have a total of 10000000 MTP. As such, you are entitled to a final appeal. Human, choose from the options below:]

[1 - Be reborn into a new race.]

[2 - Transmigrate into a new world.]

[3 - Start over from the beginning.]

A cold, unfeeling female mechanical-like voice said to a pale beaten-down man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties. His dark brown eyes, creased forehead, and chiseled jawline gave him the appearance of a hard-bred warrior, born in harsh times experienced with combat.

At this time, his brown hair was unkempt while his entire body laid broken into multiple pieces of flesh and organs that rested in a pool of blood.

Oddly enough, despite his condition, this man was still alive. His lifeless eyes flickered as he struggled to keep conscious and gaze at the string of text that appeared before his eyes. He thought to himself, "Is there even a need to start over? Wasn't going back twice enough?"

As he recalled, his eyes couldn't help but gaze beyond the strings of text on the futuristic interface. He was glancing at the gigantic tower that stood proudly on the earth in the distance, surrounded by a multitude of ruined high-rise buildings and concrete ground. The sky was colored in a hue of deep red, twirling as if it was a portal that encompassed the heavens and the earth. Looking around it, one would even notice that many massive creatures with wings were rummaging both the sky and land.

Curiously, one of those entities seemed to have sensed his gaze. It was perched on top of a nearby high rise, slanting its head down slightly as it glared at him with its humongous deep orange-red eyes with slit-like pupils.

"Kreeehhh!" The creature roared as it lunged off the building, flapping its wings violently, creating a gust that blew away everything in its vicinity. Its body made an exquisite arc in the air as it swept down with full force opening its large mountain-like razor-sharp beak to indulge in a new meal.

The dying man smiled as he saw this, he closed his eyes and thought once more, "Maybe... maybe it's better to just die like this..."

He was now ready to accept his fate, and the creature was almost upon him, but it was this time. In his mind, he heard a soft but resonant shout, "Evan!"

His mind became hazy, as the figures of many different individuals appeared before his eyes, a group of a mighty looking humans garbed in unique but medieval fantasy style equipment. One person noticeably stood out from this group, a beauty with long purple hair, a dazzling smile at the corners of her bright red lips, which only added more charm to graceful oval-shaped face with delicate features and radiant ruby eyes.

She was the one to beckon his name, and she was also the one to speak into being his fate. "Evan, don't you dare give up! If you ever do, then not only I, but none of us shall forgive you! You hear me, none of us! Fight to your very last breath! Fight!!!"

Evan's eyes became watery as he recalled these words, his broken body trembled as a warm feeling came over the coldness that threatened to take his soul.

He gritted his teeth and laughed, "Hahaha! Yes, that's right, why am I so down? So what if all is lost, the end isn't yet decided!"

As he said this, he looked at the approaching creature that was now one step away from him as he yelled, "System!"

[What is your choice, Human?]

Evan hated this voice very much, but he still replied, "I don't need your options from one to three. I know you have the power to read my mind. My choice is option four!"

The system delayed in answering him for a while, as the whooshing wind sounds grew closer along with the vicious bird. Not long though, there came a reply.

"Hahahaha! Human! You are indeed something else, okay! Have it your way; I look forward to seeing the end!]

The system replied in a more life-like tone as the previous mechanical unfeelingness vanished. As this happened, a bright light shone upon Evan's body, washing him in entirety.

The world around him transformed into a world of white, as his drooping eyes laid sight of one last thing. A small blood-red pendant that shone on the ground within his pool of blood.

Evan seeing this pendant grew melancholic, as his eyes grew distant while he spoke, "Yes... I remember now. Ha, I had almost forgotten during these recent years, wasn't this the start of everything. Be it on the first, and on the second. That pointlessly dreadful second… on that night so many years ago..."

His voice grew distant, as his eyes shone in a deep reminiscent light. Soon, the world before his sights faded into a time branded at the core of his memories...

***

Author's Notes

***

Just gonna leave this here for the few who I've noticed having trouble following some aspects of the series. Following this, you will notice that MC, does not seem to have certain 'knowledge' of the future despite the so-called 'going back twice' and 'starting' over.

All of this is for a reason, and I will say it here, it won't be answered anytime soon, so you will have to either try and read through the various clues I will post in my chapters and piece together the puzzle over time. Or wait until the story has arrived at that point, I can guarantee that the plot twist will be interesting at the very least :)

Another thing, though the MC has only some 'memories' of a 'certain' life in the following chapters. It is natural as he is but only a human, no human is going to remember what you ate for breakfast 10 years ago, said to your father on this day 10 years or did for the entire day. 

With that said have a happy reading guy, story, although is apocalypse biased, has heavy mystery elements and action, just a word of warning to those who don't like either of those things.

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