Chapter 3
The flood of memories washed through Alex like a silent storm, bringing back scenes, messages, and fragments of information he had received during his reincarnation. One after another, the forgotten pieces returned with perfect clarity, allowing him to finally understand what he had experienced during those final moments.
Alex carefully sorted through the memories, examining each piece of information as it returned. However, after going through everything, he quickly realized that most of it wasn't immediately useful to him.
They were mostly background details.
Since none of those details could help him with his current situation, Alex pushed them aside and focused on the more important matters. He needed answers about where he was, what kind of world he had entered, and whether he was truly alone.
But just as the final fragment of memory disappeared, a sudden thought struck his consciousness like ice.
'Is there even life on this planet?!'
A cold shiver ran through the core of Alex's consciousness. Until that moment, he had been focused on understanding the system and obtaining a body, but he suddenly realized that he hadn't considered one extremely important question.
What if there was no life here?
The thought of drifting through an alien world completely alone frightened him more than he wanted to admit. No voices, no familiar faces, no civilization, and no future would mean that even obtaining a body wouldn't solve his loneliness.
'System, is there life on Predora?' Alex quickly asked, unable to suppress the concern in his thoughts.
The system answered almost immediately.
Alex became completely stunned after hearing the answer. For several seconds, he simply remained silent, trying to process the ridiculous scale of the numbers the system had just given him.
'Twenty times Earth's human population…?'
If he remembered correctly, Earth's population had been approximately eight billion. Compared to that number, Predora's human population alone was already unimaginably large.
And humans weren't even the only species living on the planet.
When Alex considered the other species mentioned by the system, the scale of Predora became even more difficult to imagine. Compared to Earth, this planet wasn't simply larger in population or diversity.
It was on an entirely different level.
Alex felt some of the tension inside him disappear after realizing that Predora was filled with life. At least he wouldn't awaken into an empty world where he had nobody to meet or communicate with.
After that question was answered, however, there wasn't much left for Alex to talk about. He had already asked most of the questions he could think of, while the system continued refusing to reveal anything beyond his current authority.
So, Alex simply waited.
He waited for energy.
And waited.
And waited.
At first, he remained patient, believing that another point of energy would eventually appear. He had already learned that his soul could absorb Qi naturally, so there was no reason to worry.
But as more time passed, his patience slowly began disappearing.
The endless silence became irritating.
There was nothing to see except the blue system screen, nothing to hear except the occasional voice of the system, and nothing meaningful for him to do while waiting.
Eventually, Alex couldn't take it anymore.
'Why the hell is nothing happening?!' he complained internally, his irritation finally breaking through after what felt like an absurd amount of time.
It had already been far too long.
Months seemed to pass while Alex remained trapped in the same empty darkness, waiting for his soul to absorb enough energy. Every moment felt painfully slow, and the lack of anything else to do made the waiting even worse.
Just as Alex was mentally cursing the system for leaving him in such a miserable situation, a familiar notification suddenly rang through his consciousness.
Ding!
<+1 ENERGY.>
Alex immediately became silent.
Finally.
After what had felt like an eternity, another point of energy had finally appeared. It had taken so long for him to absorb even a single unit that Alex was beginning to wonder whether something had gone wrong.
He immediately checked his status, and the familiar blue screen appeared before him.
Only one line had changed.
[Qi Energy: 2]
Alex stared at the number for several seconds before letting out a silent sigh.
At this rate, he felt as though he would go insane from boredom long before he managed to gather enough energy to complete the task. Waiting for one point had already been unbearable, and he still needed eighteen more.
Every second seemed to stretch endlessly, with each moment feeling longer than the last.
If gathering a single point of energy required this much time, Alex couldn't imagine how long it would take to gather the remaining eighteen points. The thought alone made him feel exhausted.
'System… is there anything, anything at all, that can increase the energy gathering speed?' Alex finally asked, hoping there was some hidden method he had simply failed to discover.
The answer came immediately.
Alex didn't hesitate for even a moment.
'Yes!'
His response carried obvious desperation. At this point, he would have accepted almost anything that could make the endless waiting easier.
The system explained.
Alex's consciousness jolted in surprise.
'What? That's possible? Why didn't you tell me earlier?'
The system answered with its usual emotionless simplicity.
Alex immediately became speechless.
'Of course.'
He mentally groaned at the system's answer. Somehow, whenever there was something useful that could make his situation easier, the system always waited until he discovered the problem himself.
Still, after thinking carefully about the suggestion, Alex realized that there was another possibility he needed to consider.
What if something went wrong while he was sleeping?
What if his soul somehow stopped absorbing energy?
What if he couldn't gather enough energy and remained asleep forever?
The possibility made him slightly nervous, so he immediately asked the system about it.
'What happens if I somehow fail to absorb enough energy and can't awaken?'
The system answered without hesitation.
Alex felt relieved after hearing the explanation.
So, there was almost no chance of him becoming permanently trapped in Sleeping Mode. As long as Qi existed around him, his soul would continue absorbing it until the task was complete.
That was reassuring.
Still, Alex wanted to make absolutely certain before agreeing.
'If I somehow stop absorbing energy, will you wake me up?' he asked carefully.
The system responded immediately.
That was enough for Alex.
He had already spent far too long trapped in the darkness, and if Sleeping Mode could make the waiting pass instantly, there was no reason to continue suffering through it consciously.
'Alright… then do it. Put me to sleep, but wake me up if I stop gathering energy for more than a month.'
Alex chose a month carefully. Based on the current rate of energy absorption, he believed that a shorter period might cause the system to wake him unnecessarily before enough energy had been gathered.
If he chose only four or five days, for example, the system could potentially wake him before he had even absorbed another single point.
The system acknowledged his command.
The moment the system finished speaking, something changed around Alex.
The endless void seemed to soften, becoming strangely calm and quiet. His awareness began sinking deeper and deeper, as though he were slowly falling into warm, still water.
His thoughts became quieter.
His emotions became distant.
The endless boredom disappeared.
For the first time since his death, Alex felt peaceful.
And then—
Everything ended.
Alex blinked, or at least, it felt as though he blinked, as sudden awareness returned to him. His consciousness immediately became alert as he realized that he was awake again.
'Huh…? System, why did you wake me up? It's only been a moment…' Alex asked in confusion, genuinely believing that barely any time had passed.
The system answered calmly.
Alex froze.
For several moments, he couldn't process what he had just heard.
'That much time… gone in an instant?!'
He had expected Sleeping Mode to make time pass quickly, but he hadn't expected nearly two years to disappear without him noticing anything at all.
Before Alex could fully process the passage of time, another familiar notification suddenly rang inside his mind.
Ding!
<+1 ENERGY.>
Alex's attention immediately focused on the notification.
The task was complete.
Another chime rang through his consciousness.
Ding!
Alex barely had time to react before another notification immediately followed.
Ding!
Before Alex could ask what the System Space was or why it was locked, his awareness was suddenly pulled away from the void.
His consciousness was violently dragged through a blinding tunnel of light, and strange sensations began overwhelming him from every direction.
Pressure crushed against him.
Heat surrounded him.
Weight suddenly settled over his entire existence.
These were sensations Alex hadn't experienced since the moment of his death.
Every nerve within his new body seemed to awaken one after another. His soul felt as though it were being connected to flesh, with every part of his consciousness slowly becoming attached to something physical again.
The sensation was overwhelming.
And yet, it was also strangely comforting.
For the first time since his death, Alex could feel himself.
Then—
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A heartbeat echoed through his body.
His heartbeat.
Alex's consciousness shook at the realization. Something as simple as a heartbeat had once been completely ordinary, something he had never thought twice about while living on Earth.
Now, hearing it again felt almost unbelievable.
Alex tried to open his eyes, but after existing in nothing but darkness for so long, even the faintest light felt painfully bright.
He instinctively sucked in a sharp breath as air rushed into lungs that had only just begun working. His chest rose and fell with unfamiliar weight, reminding him that he finally possessed a physical body again.
His fingers twitched.
His toes curled.
Alex slowly became aware of the rest of his body, each sensation returning one after another. He could feel the ground beneath him, the air around him, and the warmth of sunlight pressing against his closed eyelids.
The sunlight was so bright that it almost hurt.
Instinctively, Alex raised his hands toward his face and used them to shield his eyes. He remained still for a moment before slowly and carefully opening them.
At first, his vision was blurry.
The darkness he had experienced for what felt like an eternity seemed reluctant to disappear completely. Alex blinked several times as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light surrounding him.
Shapes began appearing.
Colors followed.
The world gradually became clearer.
Alex's breathing slowed as he stared ahead, trying to comprehend the simple fact that he could finally see the world again.
He had spent nearly two years in darkness, unable to move, unable to feel, and unable to experience anything beyond his own thoughts.
Now, everything had returned at once.
His eyes finally adjusted.
And when they did—
The world exploded into color.