[Quantum Reset Protocol Activated…]
[Initializing Host Consciousness. Time Anchor Locked: Year 2025]
Rael Kessler gasped for air.
His eyes snapped open. There were no screams. No blinding heat waves. No acidic winds howling through charred ruins. Instead—sunlight filtered through old window blinds, casting golden stripes on a dusty ceiling. Outside, birds chirped.
He sat up abruptly. His heart pounded like a war drum. Sweat rolled down his back. For a brief second, he expected to see the command deck of Nova Base—the final defense line before Earth's fall. But this wasn't Nova Base.
This was... his old apartment?
Rael blinked. The walls were yellowed from age, the carpet matted and torn near the edges. There were stacked ramen cups on the counter and a cracked digital clock blinking 7:42 AM.
This isn't possible.
He rushed toward the mirror on the wall. For a moment, he hesitated before facing his reflection.
The man in the mirror was twenty-four again. Short black hair, no facial scars, no streaks of gray. Clear, sharp eyes. Leaner face. Youth.
Rael stumbled backward.
"This... this is wrong," he whispered.
Then it hit him. The final explosion. The collapse of the orbital defense ring. His dying breath inside Nova Base as the alien swarm tore into Earth's atmosphere.
He had died. Earth had died.
So how—
[Welcome, Captain Rael Kessler. You have been selected for the Quantum Reset Initiative.]
[Time Remaining Until Extinction: 1,825 days]
[Primary Objective: Prevent the annihilation of Earth.]
[First Daily Mission Generated.]
[Mission: Secure funds for base operations. Deadline: 24 hours. Reward: Basic Blueprint Fragment - FutureTech Processor.]
A glowing blue interface hovered in the air before his eyes. Rael instinctively reached for it, but his fingers passed through the hologram.
"System... a real one?"
The interface reacted to thought. Rael willed it to show status.
[Name: Rael Kessler]
[Age: 24 (Reset State)]
[Status: Synced]
[Level: 1 | Experience: 0/100]
[Quantum Energy: 0]
[Skill Modules: None Installed]
He chuckled dryly. "So this is how the universe makes up for extinction?"
He sat down slowly, trying to process. His last memories—watching Earth's atmosphere boil away under alien plasma fire—were still fresh.
Now, five years ahead of the first invasion, he had a second chance. Not just a second life, but a mission.
The Quantum Reset System. Some kind of temporal AI embedded into his consciousness. Likely from remnants of the Chrono Core—an alien relic humans had discovered too late in his past life.
Rael flexed his fingers. He felt everything: the weight of failure, the pain of loss. But also the burning knowledge of what would come.
And he would not let it happen again.
No one knew it yet, but Earth was already under countdown.
Ten minutes later, Rael dug through his closet and found old clothes—wrinkled jeans, black t-shirt, sneakers with worn soles. He quickly checked the date on his phone.
March 18th, 2025.
Perfect. The alien swarm would arrive on March 19th, 2030. He had exactly 1,825 days.
The system's first mission was clear. He needed money. Fast.
He couldn't build any future-proof defense grid or mobilize scientific infrastructure without cold, hard capital. But he had something more valuable: knowledge of the future market.
Rael opened a browser and typed in the name: HelioCore Biotech.
A tiny startup in 2025. In his original timeline, they discovered a compound that tripled processor efficiency. Their stock rose from $0.19 to $2,130 in three years.
He checked the price: $0.21.
He smiled.
"Let's make some seed money."
Three hours later, Rael sat across from a local pawnshop owner.
"You sure about this?" the man asked, eyeing the watch Rael had placed on the counter.
Rael nodded. "It's worth more than that."
The man grunted. "Maybe. But I'm not running a museum."
"$3,000. Final."
Grumbling, the man handed over the cash. Rael took it, left without a word, and headed to a trading café. Within 30 minutes, he had created a new online brokerage account and bought every share of HelioCore Biotech he could afford.
The system chimed:
[Mission Completed: Secure Funds]
[Reward: Basic Blueprint Fragment Acquired - FutureTech Processor]
[Skill Module Unlocked: Microtech Knowledge Lv.1]
He blinked.
Knowledge surged into his brain. Schematics. Equations. Processes of nanoscopic neural relay processors. Something that wouldn't exist publicly for at least six years.
He leaned back and exhaled. "So it's real."
The system wasn't just for stats. It was evolving him, augmenting him with knowledge—and soon, with technology no one else had.
Evening came. Rael stood on a bridge overlooking the city skyline. Neon lights flickered on below as dusk painted the world in violet and amber.
It looked so peaceful.
No one knew that above them, in hidden sectors of space, the Varkel Swarm was already preparing. No one knew that in five years, this very city would be a crater.
He gripped the railing. His breath steady.
Not this time.
[New Daily Mission Available: Recruit a Trustworthy Engineer. Deadline: 24 Hours. Reward: Basic Base Schematic - Tier 0 Workshop]
Rael smirked.
"I know exactly who I need."
Meanwhile…
In a hidden observatory on the dark side of the moon, sensors blinked. A cloaked drone shimmered into activation.
Unauthorized Quantum Signature Detected.
Subject: RAEL KESSLER
Classification: RESETTER CLASS OMEGA
Far away, in a chamber made of blackstone and bloodglass, an alien figure stirred.
"Another one has begun," it rasped. "Earth dares again."
Commencing early observation.
The countdown had truly begun.