"Fuck… damn it, it hurts."
Nobody told me bullets would feel like a goddamn dagger. Fuck.
I clutched my rifle, bloodied fingers slipping on the grip. Across from me, the bastard leveled his gun at my head.
"This is for everyone you've killed," he said coldly.
Behind him, my entire nation was burning...my comrades dead, my people scattered in the fire and ash of war.
"Any last words?"
I gave him a bloody grin. My heart, despite the pain, throbbed with pride.
"Fuck you."
Boom.
I died.
Everything went black.
Huh. So... no afterlife? Seriously?
I always thought there'd be light, or judgment, or maybe some old man with a beard. But no. Just silence. Darkness. Nothing.
Figures. Maybe those monks were full of shit after all.
Then-
[System has recognized you]
[System grants you a second chance]
[Welcome, Ryuu Reid]
[A second chance… to you, from ••••]
I awoke to the smell of my mother's soup.
Wait… I know this smell.
I cracked open my eyes and blinked at the wooden ceiling. This place..this room..
I remember this. I sat up quickly and looked at my hands.
Small. Soft.
Holy shit.
I ran to the mirror and stared at the reflection.
Ten years old.
No, no way.
I'm ten years old.
A 29-year-old piece of crap, stuffed into a ten-year-old body. Well, would you look at that?
But… why? Why this? Why now?
This soup… this house… this was before the Unification Wars. Before the blood. Before the betrayals. Before I lost everything.
The last time I saw my parents was before the war tore everything apart.
I have ten whole years ahead of me.
Ten years… to be different.
To be better.
Shit.
I was an awful person. Truly. A monster in a nice suit, wearing medals and pretending to be a hero.
But this… this life?
I don't deserve this. I really don't.
But if I've been given this shot...hell, I'll take it.
This time, I'll be a good person.
...
LOL.
[System has given you a second chance]
Fuck off, system.
[System says you have an awful personality]
Well, at least thank you for reviving me, I guess.
I mean, awful people really do get blessed, huh?
I stepped out of the room, the floor creaking just like I remembered. The hallway smelled like old wood, herbs, and warmth. My chest tightened.
There she was.
My mother, humming softly, ladling soup into wooden bowls. Her back turned, hair tied the same way it always was,simple, messy, motherly.
I froze, heart caught in my throat.
"Ryuu?" she called, without even turning. "You're up early, sweetheart."
God.
Sweetheart.
I haven't been called that in… nineteen years. Not since I left home and returned with blood on my boots.
I couldn't say anything. My legs moved on their own. I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She flinched, then laughed.
"My, what's gotten into you?"
Everything. Everything, Mom.
"I just missed you," I muttered, voice cracking.
She turned and cupped my cheek, wiping my tears with her thumb like she always did. "You silly boy. You're right here."
And then there was him...my father,walking in with that same old coat slung over his shoulder, boots muddy from the fields. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"What happened to him?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
Mom chuckled. "He missed us, apparently."
He looked at me. I looked at him.
He didn't know I'd once watched him die on a battlefield, spine split by a mortar shell.
I nearly broke down.
But I smiled.
"Good morning, Dad."
He blinked, surprised. Then smiled back. "Morning, soldier."
Soldier.
Yeah… that hits different now.
I sat down, staring at the bowl of soup like it held the whole universe.
Ten years to be better.
Ten years before the world burns again.
Guess I better start now.
---
We were in the car.
I sat in the backseat, squished between a bag of snacks and my old stuffed dragon, looking out the window as trees blurred by. The sky was a soft blue. The sun warm. My parents were talking in the front..laughing, actually.
My dad was humming along to some dumb radio song he used to love. Mom was scolding him playfully for missing a turn.
It felt surreal.
I could almost forget the world I came from.
Almost.
Then I saw it..on the digital clock on the dashboard.
08:43 | August 14
Wait.
Wait.
No.
I sat up straighter. My heart thudded.
"Hey, Dad," I said, forcing a smile. "What's the date today?"
"Hm?" he said, glancing at the rearview mirror. "August 14. Why?"
No. No, no, no...
I looked outside again. Trees. Road. The curve. The next exit.
I knew this.
I remembered this drive.
It wasn't to an amusement park.
It was that day.
The last day.
The day my parents died in a car crash...right in front of me.
I gripped the seat. My breath hitched.
"Turn back."
"What?" my mom laughed. "You were so excited for this! Don't tell me you're getting nervous now?"
"No, I'm serious," I said, louder. "Turn back. Please. Don't go."
They both glanced at each other.
"Ryuu, what's wrong?" Dad asked, his voice more cautious now.
"I just... I remembered something. A dream. A bad one," I said quickly. "Let's not go. Please. I want to stay home today. I just want to be with you guys. Please."
The car was quiet for a beat.
Then, Mom looked back at me and smiled softly.
"Okay," she said, reaching for Dad's hand. "We'll go home."
Dad looked confused but nodded.
"Sure thing, soldier."
We took the next U-turn.
I stared at them the whole way back. Every second. Every breath.
They were alive.
For now.
And I wasn't going to waste it.
---
They were alive.
We pulled into the driveway, and my parents got out like it was just another lazy morning. My dad stretched with a yawn and scratched his head. My mom was already heading to the kitchen to reheat the soup, humming again.
Like nothing had happened.
Like death wasn't supposed to take them today.
I stood frozen on the doorstep, staring at them. My hands were shaking.
Was this really it?
Was that the crash I remember...the one that took their lives...undone just because I said "please"?
No way.
It wasn't that simple.
There's no way the system gave me this power without a cost. This wasn't just a second chance. It was a goddamn game.
A test.
I sat in my room, knees pulled to my chest, trying to breathe. The clock ticked. Every second felt like a countdown. My head was pounding.
[System Message: Decision Point Altered]
[Path Diverged: Event "Parent Death" successfully averted]
[Future is now uncertain]
[You have 364 days remaining until your next divergence]
What?
What the hell does that mean?
Next divergence?
Is this how it works?
Do I only get one chance per year to change fate?
A slow dread settled in.
I couldn't stop everything. Not at once. Not in one go.
The wars. The betrayals. The deaths.
But today....I saved them.
My parents.
And now, the world's future is officially off-script.
I don't know what's coming next.
But if this really is a game… I'm going to win.
Even if I have to break every goddamn rule
---
The next few days felt… foreign. Like I didn't belong in this timeline anymore.
Mom baked cookies. Dad fixed the sink. We played cards like we used to. It was perfect.
Too perfect.
So when they said we were visiting the Reyes family for the weekend,some cousins I vaguely remembered.
I went along. I thought maybe the system would leave me alone for a while.
We drove out to the province. Hills, trees, the old road that made your ears pop. And then I saw her.
A girl with sharp eyes and messy dark hair, sitting on the porch, legs swinging as she read a beat-up book that looked older than her.
She looked up as we arrived, and the moment our eyes met-
[System Alert: Recognizing…]
[Analyzing soul signature…]
[Subject: Ry**** detected]
[Error: Identity conflict. Unable to determine role.]
[Warning: Potential Nexus Point encountered.]
What…?
I stared at her, heart hammering.
"What's your name?" I asked, maybe a little too fast.
She blinked. "Ryazania," she said simply, giving me a weird look. "Why?"
That name.
That name!
I remembered it from the future. From whispers and reports. From a wanted poster covered in blood.
A war criminal? A hero? A myth?
Back then, no one even knew if she was real.
She was just a story...some rogue from another world who changed everything.
Now, she's sitting here eating guava candy on a porch in the middle of nowhere.
And she's just a kid.
I didn't say anything else. I couldn't. The system was silent. Watching.
---
Three days later.
---
The call came in at 2:37 a.m.
Mom answered it. Her face went pale.
I was already awake.
We drove back in silence.
Their house...what was left of it...was covered in ash, lit by emergency lights. Sirens. People screaming.
Ryazania stood in the street, her eyes hollow, cheeks stained with soot and tears.
Her parents were inside.
Gone.
Burned alive in what officials called an "electrical fire."
But I knew better.
This wasn't coincidence.
[System Message: Timeline recalibration successful]
[Equivalent loss detected: Ryazania Reyes]
[Divergence Balance: Restored]
[You saved one life. Another was taken.]
"Fuck you," I whispered to the system.
Ryazania didn't cry. She just stood there, fists clenched, shaking.
Something changed in her eyes that night.
I recognized it.
It was the same look I had when I buried my squad for the first time.
I wanted to say something. To reach out.
But what could I even say?
I'm sorry I saved my parents, and the universe decided to take yours instead?
No.
I just stood beside her.
Silent.
For now.
---
The funeral was held three days later. Grey sky. Drizzling rain. The priest's voice blurred under umbrellas and whispers. The two coffins stood side by side—burnt, closed.
Ryazania didn't cry.
She just stood still. Like stone.
I was beside her, in a black jacket too big for me, hands deep in my pockets, heart somewhere between guilt and dread.
My parents stood a few feet away, whispering to each other. Mom had cried when she got the news. Dad made the call to take her in.
"She's family," he said. "We can't leave her alone."
I said nothing.
Because I knew why she was alone.
[System Message: Emotional spike detected]
[You are not responsible for this timeline shift.]
[Correction: You are 47% responsible.]
[Remaining fate threads linked to Subject: Ryazania]
[Warning: Nexus behavior continues to evolve.]
I wanted to scream.
She turned to me suddenly, voice low and hoarse.
"You've been quiet."
I blinked. "Just… thinking."
"About what?"
About how the universe stole your parents because I was selfish enough to save mine.
"Nothing."
She didn't press. Just stared back at the coffins.
"They always told me not to play with fire," she said, dryly. "Guess they should've listened to their own advice."
That was her attempt at a joke. But her voice cracked.
I looked away. I couldn't handle it.
After the burial, Mom brought her to the car. Dad took care of the paperwork.
I held the umbrella over Ryazania's head as she just stared at the graves—like if she blinked, they'd vanish.
We didn't talk the whole ride back.
---
That night, she moved into the guest room across from mine. I heard her crying through the walls, muffled and sharp.
And I sat in bed, clutching my pillow, watching the system flicker.
[Subject: Ryazania Reyes]
[Fate Thread Status: Fragmented]
[Threat Level: Unknown]
[Observation Advised]
[Do not interfere beyond parameters of emotional support]
Fuck off.
I would interfere.
Because I was the reason, she lost everything.
She was just a kid now. But I had seen what she becomes in the future.
A weapon. A firestorm.
A legend.
Maybe this time… maybe if I stayed close…
I could stop that from happening.
Or maybe, if fate is cruel enough, I'd end up fighting beside her.
Or against her.
But for now?
I'll be her shield.
Even if it kills me again.