Chapter 27 – Awakening in the Future

A sharp intake of breath.

Ren’s eyes flew open, his body jolting upright. He gasped, lungs burning as if he had been drowning in an endless abyss.

Where was he?

The air smelled different. The sky above was no longer the crimson-stained battlefield he remembered. Instead, an unfamiliar city stretched out before him—one unlike anything he had ever seen. Towering buildings of black steel, neon lights flickering like dying stars, and… an eerie silence.

It felt abandoned. No—ruined.

His body felt strange. Stronger. Different. He flexed his fingers, and immediately, a system notification appeared before him.

[System Reboot Complete.]
[Void Monarch Evolution Unlocked.]
[Time Displacement Detected: 10 Years Have Passed.]

Ren froze. Ten years?

A chilling realization hit him. The world had moved on without him—and from the desolation surrounding him, it hadn’t moved in the right direction.

And then, the system’s final message appeared:

[Find the one who saved you. Learn the truth. Rewrite fate.]