Chapter Text
Surviving the Apocalypse, one really has to think about a particular phrase after its over.
'How the Hell am I still alive'
Its a rather morbid line of thought when you take in the facts that possibly you alone are the sole survivor after millions have been laid waste to some sort of disaster. That possibility turns into fear as the crushing weight of all that loss and death could have been prevented if you had only known about it sooner.
Then another line of thought would go through your head, no matter how impossible it may seem.
'If I could go back in time to change this from happening, I would.'
That's rather what it felt like to Jin-Woo as he stared at the dead body of Antares, on the tiny island in the middle of nowhere. Antares staring for his lead role as the worlds toughest pincushion, as the Rulers floated around him in the sky, having just finished him off.
Jin-Woo sighed exasperated by the Rulers of Brilliant Light. Their all to flashy entrance and 'Look at Me, I'm the Savior' act was a little to cliche for his taste. Never mind the fact that it was him that practically saved everyone by making sure that the flame bag of trash didn't go elsewhere and create Armageddon with his dragons on the fragile mortals.
If their was one thing that Jin-Woo could agree with Ashborn on, it was that being a Ruler, sounds about as exiting as being an Ice Elf.
The ego and arrogance needed for these idiots to go about believing they could prevent Chaos and the destruction of the world, after their corrupt and psychopathic God couldn't was astounding. And the worse part was, they didn't even try to do things differently then their God. They ruled from the shadows using puppets known as Fragments of Brilliant Light to alter events, but never saw the usage or outcome of interacting and changing events directly As Ashborn had.
Even back when he was a Ruler, Ashborn was a Military-Strategist first and a devout of god second. he had seen the cost and suffering of hundreds and thousands of lives as he directed them into battle on orders from a being that couldn't be bothered to do the same. He had bled with them on countless battle fields and truly understood the concept of death and the cost of life.
While he may have Chosen the Path of 'The Shadow Monarch' out of pettiness and anger directed more to himself for not killing God for his tyrannical actions before the Rulers did. He still went by his philosophy's when seeking to change events in the time-lines. By being a solider on the ground of battle, leading the charge amongst his armies of shadows.
He understood that to truly achieve something, then it should be sought after with your own hands, rather than the direction of a wayward command.
And Jin-Woo agreed with him on that. He had spent his entire life before the system, all to aware that those with power often wasted it on luxury and idleness, why'll those with little to nothing, had to give everything just to survive.
To get this power, to achieve his goal, Jin-woo had to sacrifice everything, His Own Bloody Soul, just to get to this future. And even then, as the Time-Line with the least costing death toll of Humanity, he could still see the same indecisiveness in the Rulers that Ashborn did. Proof that they weren't willing to sacrifice everything for another's life.
But that was no longer his problem anymore, and neither was it Ashborn's. As the single outlier in a collection of cogs that make the world spin, it was only the Shadow Monarch that had ever reached true freedom. He longer bended to the whims of the Rulers or the collective body that was the Monarchs, and remained always the wild card in this great game of life and death.
For now he had a goal in mind, and he would see it through even if he had to cross time and space, and sell every piece of his mortal sanity to do it. He would end the apocalypse before it ever began or ever could be.
The leader of the Rulers turned to him now as if reading his inner monologue and what he had chosen to sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. His mind was made, and no god, demon, or beast would stop him.
"Even if you were to use the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back the clock once again. What do you have to gain from it Shadow Monarch? This future we hold now has easily exceeded all the other timelines, and the loss of life and energy is fewest as well.
If you go through with this plan, not only will your enemies and our greatest rivals be revived, with their memories intact. But you would also shoulder the burden of holding back the armies of chaos and the strongest beings of destruction, by yourself. Even for a warrior renowned as you, would struggle with the mental fortitude it takes to battle endlessly until death." The Rulers asked.
Their was silence for a time as Jin-Woo stared at the glimmering water as it danced to the rays of the sun rise. His thoughts tracing back to the memories of his life and all the lives both lost and gained during the openings of the first gates. Many old veterans and soldiers would say that this is enough. That 'Even though we lost much, we still won in the end, and now their can be peace'.
But that is not how I will choose to live on. Not when I alone can change the sacrifices of yesterday's Survivors for todays future.
"It is not a matter of whether I can do it or not." Jin-Woo spoke plainly. "It is a matter of principals."
"Principals?" The Rulers Asked, confused by the term.
"The Principals to know that you can actively change something for the better, and the choice of being satisfied with what has been given, rather then gritting your teeth, and earning the freedom and safety that you fought for everyone else." Jin-Woo replied.
A smile graced his lips as he gazed past the Rulers over the sea towards his homeland. Knowing that those he cared about and loved the most where safe and alive. But not all of them, and not everyone would have the good fortune he had gained today. So he would say goodbye to this peaceful existence for them. Because it was the honorable and 'Just' thing to do.
"The Cup will soon Expire. If you fail, you won't be able to turn back time again. You could be remembered as the Hero who ended this calamity. But no one will ever know of this fight you seek to enact. Even if you achieve this desire, no one will congratulate you, no one will remember you if you perish." The Rulers warned as they brought forth the artifact of his desire.
Jin-Woo simply smiled at the Rulers, still the clueless angelic beings they had always been, on matters of true sacrifice. As he waited for them to prep the device he let his thoughts drift to his regrets and his loved ones.
Jinah
Jinho Yoo
Mom
Dad
Mr. Song
Joohee
Mr. Kim
Chairman Go
Hunter Min
And finally like a beacon of light at the back of his mind, one face stood out, far above all the others. It glowed like a brilliant star, its rays cast light into the deepest caverns of the abyss and his lost soul. it brought warmth to him both inside and out as he pictured her smile, the fading blush of her red cheeks as he teased her.
If their was one thing he would forever regret, it was never asking to go on a date with her. The most beautiful light that ever graced his eyes, dancing among the crowd of shadows.
Hae-in
"Promise me. Promise me that we'll see each other again when this is all over. Okay Jin-Woo?"
"I promise. I'll come see you no matter what."
The sad truth was is that it would be a promise he'd never be able to keep. at least not in this timeline.
I apologize Hae-in. Seems as though will have to do a rain check. Why don't I give you the money, and you can buy yourself something nice for now. I'll come collect the change when I can. I swear.
As he opened his eyes it was to the panicked shouts of the Rulers as the Cup of Reincarnation blurred in and out of existence, in the sunlight. The fluid within the cup barley trickling from the lip of the rim.
"Lord Ashborn It won't Ho-" screamed one of the Rulers before their was a blinding flash of light.
I promise I'll see you again, Star of my Soul.
Most would say that waking up is a horrible feeling, as well as a wonderful relief. The truth lies between the dreams of the individual that is asleep throughout the process. For some, those dreams are the most bizarre cumulation of all the random events and creations their subconscious can cook up like a hangover cocktail. For others its the absence of anything that leaves the sleeper wistful of adventure or something new and enlightening to ponder upon.
As for the rest.....
Those are the darkest nightmares and horrors that no film or book could create, that leave the target both bewildered, and in a shocked state as the dawning of what they had witnessed and what is reality slowly revives them.
This is what Sung Jin-Woo felt as he woke up in his bed, his phone alarm blare that crappy auto-dial-tone music so he could get up and get to his blue collar job so he could pay for the bills. The noise was what mainly shocked him from his dreams, or his past life more accurately, that felt like dreams, but was more the residual crawl of all the information of the next four and a half years of his life.
The sound is what caused the horror to slowly dawn on him, because he distinctively remembered tossing this phone after he made more money, not only because it was glitchy and of poor quality, but because the ringtone and alarm music options where down right earache drones, to bring users to the brink of madness.
Reaching for his phone he turned off the alarm, only to have his eyes widen a bit more to the lengthy reach of his arms and the obvious bulge of his muscles underneath his Caucasian skin. His arms that weren't kid sized as they where supposed to be when he requested to be sent back ten years into the past, before the gates ever opened.
Jumping up from bed he was surprised by the lightness of his body and the fact of how tall he was. Running to the full length mirror that hung from his bedroom door he looked a t his appearance, his mind scrambling for answers.
"wha-....but that's not supposed to be possible. I-i.....I was supposed to be back ten years after the Rulers used the Cup of Reincarnation. Did something go wrong. Why do i look like this, and why can't I feel Ashborn's presence, or....or my shadows?!?! What the F**K Happened!?!?!"
Staring back at him in the mirror was the body he had physically gained through the powers of the system, standing at its glorious 5,11" and the leaner physique back when he was around B-rank and had recently gotten the system.
"wait? what's the date if I look l this the Cup or Reincarnation must have failed and only brought me back by a few months, it couldn't have been that empty could it?" he thought to himself silently as he raced back to his ringing alarm. Turning it off he opened his phone to check the calendar, his mind spiraling for any contingency plans that he could use in this situation. What was most concerning is that the system page wasn't opening, and if he was only back by a few months then it should.
When he saw the date a bolt of freezing cold electricity shot through him. his whole body stilling as he tried to analyze what was going on. The date was a little more than four and a half years before his past time line's end. Exactly two weeks before he first had his awakening as the 'Weakest Hunter of All Mankind' when he was an E-Rank, and spent the next four years bouncing around between the worsted of the worsted freelancing jobs and hospital visits for life threating injuries.
"Okay......"
His mental fortitude was taxed as he tried to analyze the information and theories that where spinning through his head. The first of which was that he had obviously gone back in time as he had planned, but not as far as he would have liked and it was due to the Cup of Reincarnation running dry sooner than predicted. Which if not for the situation, would be pretty funny considering it was a literal god that created the artifact and had based the time length for how long it could be used.
"What I can gather from this right now, is I'm back in time working causal non-hunter related jobs for moms medical bills, our rent, and Jinah's schooling. I'm about to receive my first awakening as a hunter in two weeks time, which will be during the middle session of my blue collar cementing Job for that construction company I worked for briefly.
I can't seem to be able to activate the system or connect with any of my Shadow abilities, and I don't feel as strong as I did when I fought Antares, but I feel stronger than I should be for this point in time, and look more my age as well. If things are playing out as I remember them, Jinah is away on a class camping trip for 10 days and when she comes back I tell her about my sudden awakening, and my belief that with a decent Hunter Rank I'll be able to pay for everything more easier. In truth it only costs me years of back breaking suffering and near death experiences that I stick with just to prove to someone that I'm not weak."
Jin-Woo thinks silently to himself, hand on his chin as his mind drifts between conclusions and new plans with the unfortunate situation at hand. Suddenly a smile starts to drift to his lips. despite the earlier panic attack he had this morning when he had expect to find himself back in 2013 as a fourteen year old kid.
"Obviously their have been some setbacks from my previous plan. all of which we can chalk up to a bad coin toss from the hands of fate. One of which is, I am no longer the Shadow Monarch. Two, Jinah and I are living alone again, with dad considered lost or possibly dead, and Mom in a coma from eternal sleep. Three, Within a total of four years, all hell will break loose on the world and bring about a calamity that eclipses the apocalypse in terms of destruction.
But their are advantages to this unfortunate circumstance as well, even if it is not as ideal like I had desired. For one thing, I alone am aware of the future and the events that will play out which I can can change to some degree without major butterfly effects. The second being that there obviously was some massive malfunction from the Cup of Reincarnation that caused me to relocate to this timeline, seemingly with the muscle mass and body of a B-Rank hunter, which will give me some advantage up until the Double Dungeon incident. Three, I can recall all the body movements and techniques I gained from fighting and dodging for the last four and a half years both as and E-rank hunter and as an S-rank hunter, which should give me an advantage even if I am E-Rank again."
Letting the moment pause I looked around my room again, only to catch the rising sunrise over the city apartments and skyscrapers in the distance, the rays matching the same sunlight that i had watched before waking up to this new timeline.
Things may not have gone How i imagined them too, But I was here now, and I'd be darned if I would waste this last chance to save just as many lives as I took with my hands in the dungeons.
"Now isn't that rather comical. My last goal was to become the strongest ever. Now it seems I would prefer to be like Hunter Min. Using every possible skill I can to keep as many people alive right up until I die. I guess he really was the most honorable of us all." Jin-Woo thought to himself as he dressed in his blue collar uniform, determined to exercise more today and increase his physicality by normal means before he received his Rank.
It's time to Hunt Again.