---
The meeting room was quiet.
Too quiet.
The only thing I could hear was the sharp click of my manager's shoes as he paced back and forth, shouting at me again.
"Do you even understand how useless you are, Alex?! This whole report is trash! Why do we even keep you here?!"
I stood there, staring at the floor. My shoulders slumped. My lips pressed tight. I didn't say a word.
I didn't need to.
Because in my mind… I wasn't here anymore.
I was somewhere else entirely — somewhere cold. And dark.
I could still see the snow falling, thick and heavy, covering the ruins of the city. I could feel the hunger, deep and sharp, eating away at me as I scoured broken streets for scraps of food.
I could still hear the screams. People fighting over a single bottle of water. Killing each other for a piece of bread.
And… I could still feel the cold.
That lake. That night.
Her smile — faint, almost apologetic — as she stood next to him.
That bastard gang leader's laugh as they pushed me in.
The way the ice closed over me, swallowing me whole.
The way my chest burned and my vision blurred until everything went black.
"Are you even listening to me, you stupid idiot?!"
The sound of his hand slamming on the table snapped me back.
I looked up slowly, meeting his glare.
I didn't flinch.
I didn't speak.
I just… looked at him.
Inside, my heart was calm.
Because I knew.
I knew what was coming.
I knew what kind of world waited just three years ahead.
And this time…
This time, I'd be ready.
I kept staring at him. My boss.
At his red face. His spit flying as he kept shouting words I wasn't even hearing anymore.
And then… something inside me just… snapped.
Or maybe it didn't snap. Maybe it clicked.
I straightened my back. Slowly. Felt my shoulders loosen.
Then I spoke.
Calm. Quiet. But louder than his yelling could ever be.
"I quit."
His mouth froze mid-word. His eyes went wide, like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
I didn't wait for him to catch up.
I turned, pushed my chair back, and stood up. My legs felt lighter than they'd felt in years.
No shaking. No fear.
Just… relief.
Like chains that had been wrapped around my chest for as long as I could remember had finally fallen away.
I didn't even look back.
As I walked toward the door, I caught a glimpse of the other employees sitting around the table.
Their eyes followed me — wide, silent, some of them even a little envious.
I couldn't blame them.
Because for the first time in my pathetic, suffocating life…
I felt alive.
I pushed through the front doors of the building and stepped outside.
Cold air bit at my skin, but I didn't care.
For once, I didn't feel like some beaten-down office drone.
For once, I felt… in control.
I stood there for a moment, looking up at the cloudy gray sky, and took a deep breath.
"Now," I muttered under my breath, "three days before the global freeze happens… I need to be prepared."
The words felt heavy, but they also felt right.
This was the moment everything changed.
I started walking down the sidewalk, my hands stuffed in my pockets as ideas swirled in my mind.
Food. Drinks. Medicines. Tools. Batteries. Clothes. Anything that could keep me alive.
In my past life… I was just another desperate scavenger.
Just… lucky.
Lucky to find a half-empty can of soup under a collapsed roof.
Lucky to find a half-frozen bottle of water someone dropped while running.
Lucky to survive.
But I never really lived.
Not back then. Not when I was freezing, starving, betrayed, and thrown away like trash.
Not this time.
This time, I wasn't leaving it up to luck.
---
As my mind wandered, thinking about what I should buy first — water? rice? medicine? — it hit me.
A sharp, stabbing pain right between my eyes.
"Ah— what the hell?!"
I staggered and clutched my head, nearly dropping to my knees right there on the sidewalk.
The pain was blinding, like someone was driving a white-hot spike straight into my skull.
"What… the… hell… is this… pain?!"
I gritted my teeth and stumbled to the side, leaning against the cold wall of a shop.
People walking by gave me strange looks.
Some even crossed the street.
To them, I probably looked like some junkie overdosing.
A crazy crackhead twitching and writhing on the sidewalk.
But they didn't know.
They couldn't see what was happening inside my head.
Because my mind… was filling with something.
Something else.
---
I felt it.
Like a screen — no, a window — opening inside my thoughts.
Bright symbols flashing in the darkness of my mind.
And a calm, mechanical voice whispering words I'd never heard before… but somehow understood perfectly.
> Loading… 10%… 20%… 30%…
I pressed my back harder into the wall, my fingers digging into my scalp.
"What the… what's loading… into my brain?!"
I couldn't move. I couldn't even scream.
I could only watch — helpless — as glowing numbers ticked up in my mind, faster and faster.
> 40%… 50%… 60%…
A strange chill ran through my whole body.
And through the pain, through the fear…
I felt it.
Something waking up.
Something powerful.
Something that didn't belong in this world… but somehow belonged to me.
> 100%… Complete.
And then—
Ding!
A crisp chime rang out inside my head, clear and bright, like some kind of notification.
I froze.
The pain was gone.
Just like that.
And in its place…
Understanding.
Like someone had just poured a whole book of knowledge straight into my brain.
I… understood it.
I understood everything.
A Storage System.
My Storage System.
A boundless, infinite space that only I could access.
A place where I could put anything — food, water, weapons, medicine.
Even myself. Even… other people, if I wanted to.
No weight limits. No time limits. Nothing ever spoiled, nothing ever aged.
It was… perfect.
I stood there, staring blankly at the crowd passing by, my heart pounding in my chest.
In my past life, I'd fought and bled just for crumbs.
I'd clawed at the dirt, begged, scavenged, and still froze to death in the end.
But now…
Now I had this.
This wasn't luck.
This was a gift.
And for the first time in my miserable life…
I was in awe.
Not wanting to make more of a scene — not wanting to ruin what little pride I still had — I forced myself to stand up straight.
My legs were still shaky, but I didn't care.
I clenched my fists, ignored the stares, and started walking.
No — running.
I didn't even look back.
I just ran.
My apartment wasn't far — a couple blocks at most — and I'd never been more thankful for that cheap little place.
---
By the time I shoved the door shut behind me, my breath was coming in sharp, heavy gasps.
I leaned against the door, feeling my heart hammer in my chest.
And then… I laughed.
A low, breathless laugh at first. Then a little louder.
I couldn't stop myself.
A smirk tugged at my lips as I straightened up and looked around my tiny, empty apartment.
Because now… now it wasn't just an apartment anymore.
It was my base. My fortress.
And I already knew exactly what I could do with this kind of power.
Stockpile. Plan. Prepare.
The world had three days left before it froze over.
And this time… I wasn't going to die.
Not me.
Not with a Storage System.
---
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
The sharp ringtone cut through my thoughts, pulling me back for a moment.
I frowned and pulled it out of my pocket.
The name on the screen made my smirk disappear.
Madeleine.
My girlfriend.
…or at least, she used to be.
My chest felt tight for a second.
Her name alone brought it all flooding back — the icy water swallowing me, the bitter laugh of that gang leader, and her faint smile as she turned her back on me.
In my past life, I thought I could trust her.
We were starving, desperate, and somehow I found a convenience store that hadn't been looted yet.
I thought it was fate.
Enough supplies to last us four months — food, water, medicine. Enough for both of us to survive the hell outside.
And I… told her about it.
Because I loved her.
Because I believed she'd stand by me.
But the very next night, she ran to him.
That bastard gang leader.
She sold me out.
Told him about the store.
Traded my secret — my life — for her own safety.
And her place in his bed.
I ended up at the bottom of an icy lake, while she…
While she was warm in his arms.
---
I stared at her name on the screen as the phone kept buzzing.
My fingers hovered over the answer button.
Slowly, a smile crept back onto my face — but it wasn't the same kind of smile as before.
This time, it was cold.
Sharp.
Deadly.
"You have no idea who you're calling right now." I whispered to myself.
The words slipped out of my mouth in a quiet murmur as I stared at her name glowing on the screen.
The phone kept buzzing in my hand.
But it didn't matter anymore.
Not to me.
With one finger, I tapped the red button.
Call rejected.
The buzzing stopped.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, I… sighed.
A long, heavy sigh of relief.
Like a weight that had been chained to my shoulders all this time had finally fallen away.
I scrolled through my contacts, found her name, and pressed block.
The screen confirmed it.
Blocked.
Just like that, she was gone from my life.
No more pretending.
No more pain.
No more chains.
I sat down on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone screen, and couldn't help but smile.
A small, quiet smile.
I'd never felt this free before.
Not in my past life.
Not ever.
This time… I was the one in control.
---
Three hours passed just like that.
I'd spent every minute testing my newfound power.
And every minute, I felt more and more convinced—
This wasn't just a "second chance."
This was my chance to win.
First… the Storage System.
It really was infinite.
The first time I entered it, everything was just… white.
Blinding white.
Like standing in an endless void.
But when I thought about it, when I willed it—The space changed.
And now?
Now it looked like an endless storage facility, stretching further than I could see.
Tall metal shelves lined up perfectly, neatly categorized with big, bold letters above each section:
A — Canned Food
B — Bottled Drinks
C — Medical Supplies
Everything perfectly organized, easy to find, easy to use.
I couldn't help but laugh under my breath as I walked through it.
---
Then came the next surprise.
Teleportation.
It wasn't much—yet.
But I found that if I focused, I could slip through solid surfaces.
Walls. Doors.
I tested it by leaning into the wall of my apartment—
And in the next instant, I came out on the other side, in the hallway.
Small. Simple.
But useful.
So damn useful.
---
By the time I sat back down on my bed, I could feel my lips curling into a grin.
No one knew about this.
No one could take this from me.
Not her.
Not them.
Not anyone.
I'd been nothing before.
But now?
Now I was unstoppable.
And in three days, when the world froze over…
I'd be the only one ready.
---
It was almost night now.
I stood by the window, watching the last streaks of sunlight disappear behind the city skyline. The streetlights flickered on, casting long shadows over the snow-dusted streets.
And all I could do… was laugh.
A low, dry laugh.
MegaMart.
The name still hung in my head like a joke only I could hear.
The company I'd wasted years working for — breaking my back, swallowing my pride, letting them step all over me.
MegaMart.
A sprawling, corporate storage and logistics giant.
Storage.
I almost doubled over just thinking about it.
Here I was, the pathetic office worker they'd screamed at and humiliated every day…
And now I held something far bigger, far better, far more powerful than anything they could ever imagine.
An infinite storage of my own.
Too funny.
Way too funny.
It felt like everything… came full circle.
I smirked to myself as I slipped on my coat.
MegaMart's giant facility was just a few blocks away.
Rows and rows of untouched shelves, untouched stock, untouched survival supplies.
It was all just sitting there.
Waiting for me.
"Alright, MegaMart," I muttered to myself as I stepped out into the cold night air.
"Time to pay me back."