I stepped cautiously inside the cave, letting the three robots go in first. Their sensors swept across the dim space, scanning for any sign of movement. To my surprise… there were no zombies.
Not even one.
The place was eerily quiet. I took a few light sticks from storage and tossed them forward, illuminating the space with a soft blue glow. The walls were jagged and damp, etched with strange symbols and ancient markings.
That's when I saw her.
Not a zombie. Not a mutant. But a person.
No—an elf.
She sat silently by the far wall, an old lady with long white hair and a green cloak, carefully carving something into the stone. Her presence in this place made no sense. When her eyes met mine, she smiled faintly, her expression unreadable.
"Oh, you've finally come," she said, her voice distant and cold, as if detached from emotion.
Immediately, I raised my weapon, aiming at her without hesitation.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice sharp. "Don't move or I'll shoot."
Despite my warning, she didn't flinch. Her face, though slightly wrinkled, radiated a strange timelessness.
"There's no need to worry," she replied calmly. "I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to warn you… before I die."
Her words caught me off guard.
She continued, "Why did you regress? And what happened after you did?"
Before I could react or even respond, she moved.
Fast. Too fast.
A blur.
She was in front of me in an instant, her hand gently brushing my forehead.
Then—blackness.
My body collapsed to the ground. The robots, though active, did not react. They remained standing outside the cave entrance, silently guarding against any possible threats.
Inside my mind, a storm had begun.
---
My consciousness drifted. I felt... memories—raw, vivid, and overwhelming—rush back into me.
I relived the pain, the sorrow, the numbness of my past life.
I saw myself again.
Pathetic. Alone. A husk of a man hiding inside a decaying house, waiting for death while the world burned outside.
I admired the powerful—those who had become S-ranked survivors. Many of them were my former bullies, people I loathed with every ounce of my being. And yet, despite how much I hated them, I couldn't help but feel envious.
But even as the 550th wave of zombies rolled in, my house had been strangely untouched. I barely fought. Somehow, something always kept them away. It was like an invisible hand protected me.
Then came the day I killed my first zombie.
That was when I got the system.
Everything changed.
I began growing stronger, gathering supplies, building my fortress. Slowly, I expanded my territory. Survivors arrived. I rescued many, but only kept the strongest—by the 850th wave, almost all of them were A or S-rank.
Each day became a brutal struggle. Zombies evolved. Normal zombies became rare, replaced by monstrous horrors—stellar zombies, super zombies, abominations that crushed cities like paper.
By the 999th wave, I had lost nearly everyone.
Comrades. Allies. Friends.
All of them sacrificed themselves.
My fortress had grown immense—nearly the size of a country. My technology was unmatched. But I was alone.
I had given up on love. On emotion. There was no room for it in a world of endless death.
I drifted through space in a shielded pod, looking at what remained of Earth. It was gone.
Before me stood a massive spaceship, so large it looked like a second sun. My jaw dropped. It pulsed with godlike energy, a beacon in the void of chaos.
And then—
I was back in the cave.
The elf stood before me, hands behind her back, her gaze heavy with sorrow and wisdom.
"The Ancient God used the last of His power to grant you regression," she said slowly. "The Seven Gods… they've been taken over. Their powers corrupted by the zombies. They are no longer divine."
I couldn't speak.
Her voice grew colder. "If you think this will be easy—just because you've regressed—you're mistaken."
She stepped forward, her eyes glowing faintly with green energy.
"You will end up just like the seven other planets—devoured… destroyed. You're the last hope. If you die again, Earth will meet the same fate."
Suddenly, the space around us shattered like glass.
The only thing remaining was that giant spaceship.
It grew and grew, swallowing the stars. The void turned to chaos. Time and space distorted. Only the elf's voice remained.
"The Seven Gods… left fragments of their power scattered across Earth. Collect them, and your chance of survival will increase."
---
Then I jolted awake.
My head throbbed.
It was already night. The cave had grown quiet again.
That wasn't just a dream—I had relived my entire past life in a flash. My hands trembled as I sat up.
The old elf… was gone.
Just like that.
I sighed, frustration flooding through me. If what she said was true, then my current situation was even more dangerous than I thought.
I needed to act. And fast.
I glanced at my system.
Points: 950
The robots had kept guard and eliminated any zombies that came near while I was unconscious. Efficient as ever.
I couldn't waste time. I needed to awaken my past comrades as soon as possible—especially Maria.
In my previous life, Maria was essential. A strategic genius. A defensive powerhouse. If she had awakened her potential earlier, she could have easily reached SS-rank.
I sighed deeply, then took out the scrolls.
It was time to use the Ability Lottery.
---
[Lottery Ability…]
[Bronze Ticket: Better Speed, Better Stamina Silver Ticket: Visionary Eyes, Heavy Slash, Ten Steps]
---
Immediately, I felt it.
My eyes sharpened. I could now see in the dark like it was daylight.
Visionary Eyes—a rare ability that let me detect hidden enemies and even weak points. It had saved me countless times in the past.
Heavy Slash—a powerful technique that amplified my strength threefold when striking with a weapon. It could tear through armor, walls, and even mutated zombie skulls.
And Ten Steps—a high-speed dash skill. It allowed me to move in a blink, up to ten meters, at a speed fast enough to evade even nightmare-class zombies.
These were not just random abilities. They were game-changers.
But I didn't stop to celebrate.
I had to farm more points. There was no time to waste.
I immediately returned to the forest, my robots following close behind.
It was still early in the wave cycle, and zombies were plentiful. We tore through them efficiently—mutated ones, strong types, even rare variants. Nothing stood in our way.
Each kill brought more points.
Meanwhile, back in the fortress, Noel was starting to worry. It was late at night, and I still hadn't returned.
She sat on the edge of her Tent, hugging her knees.
She tried to convince herself it was fine—that her brother was strong… that he always came back.
But doubt clawed at her heart.
Still, exhaustion eventually took her. She curled up and drifted into an anxious sleep.
Back in the forest, I continued slaughtering every zombie in sight.
If what the elf said was true, then there was no time left. The Gods' fragments, the corrupted heavens, the collapse of Earth…
It all depended on me.
And Maria…
I paused, just briefly, remembering her.
In my past life, I'd suppressed my feelings. Love seemed like a luxury I couldn't afford.
But when I lost her, when she died protecting me… it broke me.
I shook the memory away.
No time for emotions.
I continued the purge.
By dawn, the entire forest had been cleared. Not a single zombie remained.
According to the robots' scans, it was now considered a Safe Zone.