[You have died]
"Yeah yeah. It's been the billionth time I've seen this message," a voice said flatly.
The speaker wasn't human. Not anymore. He had no face, no body, no heartbeat. Just a silhouette made of faint, glowing white light. A soul, floating in an infinite void that pulsed like an ocean of static. There was no up, no down, no gravity. Just floating, existing, and watching the same message pop up like a cursed reminder.
It should've been annoying by now. Should've lost meaning. But this time...
[ErrOR eRorE]
"...Huh? This hasn't happened ever."
Even with no mouth or eyebrows, the surprise in his voice was obvious. His tone sharpened, no longer dulled by repetition. The error flickered on and off in front of him like a glitched memory.
He reached forward instinctively, even though he had no hands. Just the idea of reaching. The void around him twisted for a moment, as if something massive had blinked.
Then—
---
In a hospital room, somewhere on Earth
The beeping of a heart monitor echoed softly in the quiet space. Machines hummed with lazy rhythm. Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly from the ceiling, flickering once every few seconds. The window blinds were half-closed, letting in a slice of afternoon sunlight that cast pale stripes across the floor.
On the bed, a boy lay unconscious.
His long purple hair shimmered slightly in the light. It looked almost too perfect to be natural, like it had been painted strand by strand. His breathing was steady but shallow, and wires connected his arms to various devices. The name tag on the bed's corner read: E. Quinn. Age: 17
Then, suddenly, his eyes opened.
The left was a deep, ominous crimson, like a drop of blood suspended in glass. The right was electric blue, buzzing faintly with unnatural energy. They didn't just glow. They moved with life, with memory, with history.
"This must be my 1,000,000,001st life," he thought, blinking slowly as he stared at the ceiling tiles. They were cracked, slightly stained. The world around him felt slow. Real. More real than anything had felt in centuries.
He turned his head. The bed creaked slightly. His neck felt stiff, but the weight of the body was familiar now. Human again. But not ordinary.
---
[Peak System Initialization - 67%]
The words appeared in glowing light in the air, right in front of his eyes.
[Peak System Initialization Completed]
[Welcome, Host, to your 1 billion and 1 life]
"...Huh?" he mumbled, voice rough.
His fingers moved slowly as he rubbed his temple, as if trying to massage out a headache that didn't exist. "What is this Peak System?" he asked aloud, frowning slightly.
[The Peak System is a system made to get you back to your peak glory and get more stronger]
"Stronger... Peak glory?" he repeated, the words tasting both familiar and new. The weight of countless battles, titles, and systems flickered in his memory.
"Why didn't I have this system in my past lives?" he muttered, staring at the floating text like it owed him money.
He lifted a hand to his chin, brushing his thumb against it out of habit.
[That's because you have completed a billion lives and now have to get to your peak]
"...Okay," he replied simply. No arguing. No questions. It wasn't even strange to him anymore. Just routine.
The door opened with a soft creak.
A man walked in wearing a white coat, clipboard in hand. His hair was silver-gray, neatly combed, and his eyes were a calm brown. His shoes made a soft tapping sound as he approached the bed.
"Are you having any fatigue, sir... Elias Quinn?" the doctor asked, glancing down at his clipboard and then back up at the patient.
Elias blinked.
"Huh? My name in this life is Elias Quinn?" he thought, the name ringing faintly in his mind like a forgotten song.
"Yes. I just can't remember anything," he said aloud, trying to sound convincing.
The doctor didn't even flinch. "Amnesia. A common problem during high energy gates," he said, scribbling something down. "Nothing to worry about. We've had several recent cases from the Sin Gate shockwave."
---
Time passed. Maybe an hour. Maybe five. Elias couldn't tell. He spent it staring at the ceiling, adjusting his breathing, checking how strong his body felt.
He wasn't weak. Not even close. But he wasn't himself yet either. Not at full power.
Then—
[Host. Would you like me to explain about this world?]
He looked toward the floating text. It shimmered gently.
"Yes. You may explain to me," Elias replied. His voice was calmer now, more grounded. His gaze sharpened. He sat up slowly, letting the sheets fall to his waist.
[The world you are in is Earth. Your original planet.]
"EARTH?! You're saying I'm finally on Earth?!" Elias practically shouted, his eyes widening. He slapped a hand over his mouth as his body jolted upright. His entire face lit up with disbelief and something deeper—hope.
[Yes. Though, you're in the year 2069. This isn't the same world. In the year 2020, Awakening happened which resulted in humans gaining the Gaia System. Gates appeared.]
"So, Earth has become a system gate planet?" Elias asked, his voice flat now. His shoulders slouched slightly.
[Yes.]
He looked down at his hands.
His fingers were trembling slightly. Not from weakness—but from a strange kind of nervous energy. He wasn't sure if it was anticipation, fear, or something else. Maybe all of them.
---
I forgot my name in my 1,879th life.
Who the hell remembers anything after that long anyway?
Doesn't matter now. I guess I'm Elias Quinn.
I first died in 2019. A guy pushed me out of nowhere. I fell. Hit my head. Died like an NPC.
The guy who pushed me? Died right after. Truck. Dead. Gone.
Since then, it's been nonstop.
Reincarnated. Transmigrated. Summoned. Looping like a damn video.
I've been an archmage, a dragon lord, a hero, a villain, a beast, a god, a king, a swordsman, a corpse.
Every role. Every class. Every story.
And now...
This is life number 1,000,000,001.
I'm back to Earth.
---
Outside the hospital, the world moved like nothing had changed.
Holographic screens showed floating headlines about dungeon breaches in Sector 12. A ranker had cleared the 49th floor of the Sin Gate. The Hunter Association was issuing new emergency codes. Taxis floated an inch above the road.
But in one small room, a soul that had lived a billion lives stared quietly at his reflection in the glass.
He didn't look like a god.
He didn't need to.
The system had just begun.
[Peak System: Active]
[Stat Synchronization: Pending]
[Sealed Memories: Locked]
[Starter Gift: 1 Skill From Past Life Available]
And so it begins.