Restart: the ultimate system

The Moment of Death

The pain was unbearable. A searing heat tore through Kai Mercer's chest as he stumbled backward, his breath ragged, his vision swimming. His hands trembled as he pressed them against the wound, but the blood kept flowing, soaking his tunic, dripping onto the cold stone floor.

It hadn't been a fair fight.

His so-called allies stood above him, their faces twisted in a mixture of pity and cold satisfaction. At the center of them all was Lucian Vale, his former mentor—the man Kai had trusted more than anyone.

"I told you," Lucian murmured, crouching beside him. His silver eyes gleamed in the dim torchlight. "You were never meant to win this game."

Kai gasped, his mind struggling to focus. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. He had trained, he had fought, he had earned his place among the elite. And yet, in the end, it had all been meaningless.

"I—" His throat tightened. He could barely speak.

Lucian smiled. "Ah, I see it now. That look in your eyes. You finally understand, don't you? The system was never yours to control."

A low hum filled the chamber, a sound that Kai had heard only once before—the activation of a soul banishment ritual. His pulse pounded in his ears. That was it, then. Not only would they kill him, but they would erase his very existence.

No afterlife. No reincarnation. Just… nothing.

Panic surged through him, but his body refused to move. Shadows twisted around Lucian's fingertips as the ritual reached its climax. The air grew heavier, reality itself vibrating under the weight of the spell.

Then, the pain stopped.

A vast emptiness swallowed Kai whole. He felt himself unraveling, his consciousness slipping away into oblivion.

And yet—

Something snapped.

---

Awakening

Kai gasped and sat up, his body drenched in sweat.

For a moment, he didn't understand where he was. His hands clutched the fabric of his tunic—no blood, no wounds. He looked around, heart pounding. No grand chamber. No traitorous mentor standing over him. Instead, he was… in a bedroom.

Not just any bedroom. His bedroom.

His gaze darted to the mirror across the room. A boy—his younger self—stared back. He scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping over his own feet. This wasn't possible. He was supposed to be dead.

He stumbled toward the mirror, gripping the edges of the wooden frame. His reflection showed a seventeen-year-old version of himself, his face free of the scars he had earned through years of battle.

"No," he whispered. "This… this can't be real."

But as he focused, something new appeared before his eyes.

A translucent blue screen blinked into existence.

---

[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]

Welcome, Kai Mercer.

The Ultimate System has been activated.

---

His breath hitched. This wasn't just a reset.

This was something far bigger.

---

The System's First Gift

For a long moment, Kai simply stared at the glowing system screen, his heart hammering.

He had seen system notifications before. Everyone had. The world operated on a structured power system—people awakened at different tiers, gaining skills and abilities according to their potential.

But this was different.

The Ultimate System. He had never heard of it. Not in his past life. Not in any legend.

Slowly, his trembling fingers reached out, but the screen shifted as if reacting to his thoughts. More text appeared.

---

[New System Functions Unlocked]

1. Time Regression Confirmed – User has been granted a second chance.

2. Exclusive Class Selection Available – Choose a unique evolution path.

3. Restricted Knowledge Partially Unsealed – System archives unlocked.

4. First Mission Assigned.

---

A mission?

Before Kai could even process what was happening, a new screen flashed before him.

---

[Mission: Survive the First Hour]

Objective: Prevent an assassination attempt within the next 60 minutes.

Reward: Unlock first Ultimate Skill.

Failure: Death.

Time Remaining: 00:59:58

---

His blood ran cold.

Someone was coming to kill him. Right now.

This wasn't just some random mission—it was something that had never happened before in his past life.

The timeline had already started changing.

Kai clenched his fists, his mind racing. This was it.

A second chance. A chance to rewrite everything.

And this time, he wasn't going to lose.

The First Hour

Assessing the Threat

Kai forced himself to breathe, his mind racing as the glowing system notification lingered before him.

---

[Mission: Survive the First Hour]

Objective: Prevent an assassination attempt within the next 60 minutes.

Reward: Unlock first Ultimate Skill.

Failure: Death.

Time Remaining: 00:59:43

---

Assassination attempt.

In his past life, no one had tried to kill him at this point in time. So why now?

The timeline had already changed.

His first instinct was to scan his surroundings. The room was exactly how he remembered it—small, cluttered with books, a training sword propped against the wall. A single window overlooked the darkened alley outside. A faint breeze stirred the curtains.

His pulse quickened. The window was open.

Someone had been here. Or still was.

He turned slowly, his ears straining for any sound. The door remained shut, but he knew better than to assume he was alone.

Who would target him this early? In his past life, he had been nothing more than an average academy student at this point, barely on the path to power. If someone wanted him dead now, it meant his reset had already drawn attention.

The system had changed fate. And fate was fighting back.

---

The First Move

Kai acted on instinct, moving toward his desk. A weapon. He needed a weapon. His fingers brushed against the hilt of his training sword—blunt, but still solid enough to break a skull if swung hard enough.

Then he heard it.

A soft scrape against the floorboards.

He reacted instantly, twisting just as a blade sliced through the space where his neck had been.

The assassin was fast. A dark-clad figure lunged, their movements nearly silent, the glint of a dagger aimed straight for his heart.

But Kai remembered.

In his past life, he had fought elite killers, warriors who could erase an entire village before dawn. Compared to them, this assassin was sloppy.

Kai sidestepped, bringing his training sword up in a sharp arc. The assassin twisted, barely avoiding the strike, but he had already lost control of the fight.

Kai didn't hesitate. He grabbed the nearest ink bottle from his desk and smashed it into the assassin's face.

The man cursed, stumbling back, momentarily blinded by the dark liquid.

That was all Kai needed.

He lunged forward, slamming his knee into the assassin's gut, sending him crashing into the wall. The dagger clattered to the floor.

Kai grabbed it before the assassin could recover.

---

A Choice and a System Reward

The assassin groaned, wiping ink from his face. He wasn't dead—but he was beaten. A few more well-placed strikes, and Kai could finish the job.

A part of him wanted to. In his past life, he had been too merciful. Too trusting. And it had cost him everything.

But something held him back.

Instead of delivering a killing blow, he pressed the dagger against the man's throat.

"Who sent you?" he demanded.

The assassin laughed, spitting blood onto the floor. "Doesn't matter. You were supposed to die tonight."

Kai's grip tightened. "Then I just ruined someone's plan."

The man smirked. "You have no idea what you've stepped into."

A sharp click echoed through the room.

Kai's eyes flicked downward.

The assassin's hand was wrapped around a hidden trigger. A self-destruct rune.

"Shit—"

A flash of blue light engulfed the room.

---

SYSTEM UPDATE

Mission Complete!

Reward Unlocked: First Ultimate Skill – [Chrono Reflex]

---

Kai staggered back, the assassin gone, his body disintegrated into ash from the activated rune.

He barely had time to process what had happened before a new sensation flooded his mind.

A sudden clarity. A rush of speed, perception, precision unlike anything he had felt before.

His mind caught up a second later.

[Chrono Reflex].

He didn't just see time normally anymore. He could sense it, anticipate movements, react before things even fully happened.

Kai exhaled, gripping the dagger tighter.

Someone had tried to kill him. The world had already shifted.

And now?

He was ready to change everything.