Vale did not sleep.

  Even when exhaustion dragged at his mind, every time his eyes closed he saw it again.

  Worlds tearing apart.

  Stars vanishing.

  The thing beyond reality turning its attention toward him.

  So he sat by the small wooden window of his childhood room, watching dawn creep slowly across the village.

  Mist rolled over wheat fields. Farmers were already awake, silhouettes moving between barns and fences. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys.

  Normal life.

  Peaceful.

  Alive.

  His hands tightened.

  He remembered this morning.

  Not clearly, but enough.

  Three years later, this village burned. Monsters poured from the first dungeon breach, and no one was prepared.

  He remembered carrying bodies.

  Neighbors he grew up with.

  Friends.

  Children.

  Everyone dead because humanity didn’t understand what was coming.

  This time, he did.

  A rooster crowed.

  Somewhere, a child laughed.

  Vale’s chest tightened painfully.

  They were alive right now.

  But unless he changed things…

  They would die again.

  He looked at his hands.

  Young. Steady. No scars.

  In his previous life, they were covered in burns, ritual markings, and mana fractures. Hands that had held armies together.

  Hands that killed gods.

  Now they looked fragile.

  But inside…

  He was still the Godslayer.

  A faint blue shimmer appeared before his vision again.

  SYSTEM DESCENT IN: 36 DAYS, 18 HOURS

  It had already dropped from thirty-seven.

  Time was moving.

  Faster than it should.

  Vale exhaled slowly.

  “Too early,” he muttered.

  In his memory, the System descent—the moment monsters and dungeons appeared—happened years later.

  Humanity had time to develop defenses.

  To prepare.

  To understand magic.

  Now?

  Thirty-six days.

  Most people wouldn’t survive the first week.

  And something else worried him.

  Another message still lingered in his thoughts.

  ANOTHER REGRESSED SOUL DETECTED

  Someone else remembered the apocalypse.

  Someone else could change events.

  Or exploit them.

  Vale stood.

  He couldn’t sit still anymore.

  Thinking wasn’t enough.

  Preparation began today.

  Timeline Check

  Outside, villagers greeted him casually as he walked through the dirt road.

  “Morning, Vale.”

  “Up early?”

  He nodded automatically, mind racing.

  He remembered who would die first.

  Old Thom, the blacksmith, killed defending his forge.

  Mira, the baker’s daughter, devoured by dungeon creatures.

  Captain Rellan, village guard, torn apart trying to evacuate civilians.

  All of them smiling now.

  Alive.

  He clenched his jaw.

  Memory and present overlapped uncomfortably.

  Events were already wrong.

  In the old timeline, monster appearances were isolated at first. Rare. Gradual.

  But if the system descent truly arrived in thirty-six days…

  The early chaos would be catastrophic.

  Humanity was weaker now.

  Unprepared.

  Something changed history.

  And only two possibilities existed.

  Either:

  The Astral Codex pulled events earlier.

  Or…

  Someone else interfered.

  Another regressor acting already.

  Vale stopped walking.

  That possibility chilled him.

  A regressor with knowledge of the future could conquer cities, manipulate kingdoms, become unstoppable.

  And Vale remembered exactly how cruel survivors could become.

  The apocalypse didn’t just create heroes.

  It created monsters wearing human skin.

  He resumed walking.

  One thing was clear.

  He needed power fast.

  System Experiment

  He walked into the empty fields outside the village.

  Tall grass swayed gently.

  No witnesses.

  Good.

  Vale closed his eyes and reached inward.

  Mana.

  In his previous life, it flowed through him like a second bloodstream.

  Now…

  Barely a trickle.

  Weak.

  Untrained.

  He grimaced.

  His body remembered nothing.

  But his mind remembered everything.

  He focused, recalling ancient spell structures.

  Mana gathered slowly in his palm.

  A tiny flicker of light appeared.

  Then fizzled.

  Pathetic.

  Still, progress.

  A blue screen appeared.

  MANA CONTROL SKILL UNLOCKED

  Level 1

  Vale blinked.

  Skills normally appeared after system descent.

  Not before.

  The Codex was already active.

  That wasn’t supposed to happen.

  Another message followed.

  WARNING

  FOREIGN AUTHORITY FRAGMENT DETECTED

  INTERFERENCE WITH SYSTEM FUNCTIONS

  The Godslayer Authority fragment.

  Something he brought back from the future.

  Something even the system didn’t understand.

  Vale frowned.

  Was this why events changed?

  Was his existence destabilizing the timeline?

  He clenched his fist, mana flickering again.

  Whatever the reason…

  He could use it.

  Preparation Begins

  Vale headed toward the market district.

  If the apocalypse truly came early, survival required equipment.

  Weapons.

  Supplies.

  Information.

  He entered Old Thom’s forge.

  The large blacksmith wiped sweat from his brow.

  “Vale? Need something?”

  Vale hesitated.

  In the future, Thom died defending this place.

  Stubborn old man refused to run.

  “Knife,” Vale said. “Strong one.”

  Thom chuckled.

  “Planning to hunt rabbits now?”

  Vale didn’t smile.

  “Something like that.”

  Minutes later, he left with a sturdy hunting knife.

  Not much.

  But better than nothing.

  Next stop: supplies.

  Dried food.

  Water skins.

  Basic survival gear.

  He spent nearly all his savings.

  It wasn’t enough.

  But it was a start.

  His mind calculated constantly.

  Safe locations.

  Escape routes.

  Future dungeon sites.

  If he could clear one early…

  He could grow stronger faster.

  Maybe strong enough to protect this place.

  Or at least survive long enough to change the future.

  First Omen

  As Vale returned home, something felt wrong.

  The air felt heavy.

  Birds suddenly went silent.

  A strange pressure weighed on his chest.

  He stopped.

  The sky flickered.

  Just for a moment.

  Like reality glitched.

  Then everything returned to normal.

  Villagers continued walking, unaware.

  But Vale felt it.

  Mana surged violently across the land.

  His blood ran cold.

  Too early.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen yet.

  A distant scream shattered the morning calm.

  Vale turned toward the forest edge.

  People shouted.

  Something crashed through trees.

  The ground trembled.

  Impossible.

  The system descent hadn’t officially started.

  Yet…

  A monstrous shape burst from the forest.

  Three meters tall.

  Gray skin.

  Massive claws.

  Eyes glowing with hunger.

  A Rift Beast.

  A creature from early dungeon breaches.

  And it was running straight toward the village.

  Vale’s heart pounded.

  In his past life, monsters didn’t appear this early.

  The timeline was collapsing faster.

  And villagers were directly in its path.

  Someone screamed.

  People froze in terror.

  No guards.

  No defenses.

  Just civilians.

  Vale’s hand tightened around his knife.

  He was weak.

  Unleveled.

  Unprepared.

  Fighting it now was suicide.

  But if he ran…

  They would die.

  Memories surged.

  Burning homes.

  Dead neighbors.

  Children screaming.

  His sister’s face.

  Vale exhaled slowly.

  “Not again.”

  Mana stirred weakly in his veins.

  Not enough.

  Not even close.

  But he stepped forward anyway.

  Because this time…

  He remembered how the world ended.

  And he refused to watch it begin the same way.

  The Rift Beast roared.

  And charged into the village.