Ryan's piercing green eyes flew open. "What?" he whispered, as he saw the long forgotten desk filled with scattered papers and files. He could smell the warm paper that was freshly printed on.
This can't be real.
In front of Ryan sat the computer he had worked on for seven years, the all too familiar accounting software still running.
Emotions overwhelmed him in a way he had forgotten was possible. He immediately flew from his seat behind the desk, storming out of his office to the one right across the hall from him. He barged into the door that had always stood open to him. There behind a desk, always so much neater than his own, she sat.
"Alice," a whisper escaped his lips, no louder than a soft sigh.
A pair of dark brown eyes looked up to meet his, her black hair neatly tucked behind her ears.
"What's wrong, Ryan?" she asked, concern in her melodic voice.
Ryan couldn't find any words, he simply continued to stare at Alice, he couldn't believe this was actually happening.
Have I really been sent back?
Ryan met Alice's gaze again, relief flooding him, it had been so very long since he saw those eyes. Without even realising it, something that had been lost to him for decades happened, a beaming smile overtook his face.
"Don't worry about it," he smiled, "I actually forgot what I wanted to tell you."
Ryan gave her the excuse he had always made when he went into her office simply to see her.
"It looks like you're getting old," Alice said, a smile blooming on her pretty face.
"You know you're only insulting yourself by saying that, right?" Ryan laughed. "You're four years older than me."
A ruler came flying at him before he had even finished his sentence. Bellowing laughter filled the entire office as he quickly retreated from her office.
As he made his way back to his seat though an expression of complete seriousness overtook his features.
He immediately looked at the date on his computer.
{30 September 2036, 1:31pm}
Exactly two days before everything changed. Two days before the entire world devolves into complete chaos.
I need to start preparing.
Ryan still had some money saved up, he could use that to prepare for what was to come. Normal weapons would be of no use when all hell broke loose. That was something the human armies quickly realised when everything started to fall apart. But that doesn't mean that he couldn't prepare in other ways.
While Ryan was still deep in thought, a shadow fell over his desk. He turned his gaze up to see Charl standing in front of him. The mere sight of that face sent Ryan into a cold rage, his fists clenched onto the pen he held in his hand.
"I see your desk is as cluttered as ever," Charl said, the smirk on his face causing Ryan to see red.
"That would be because I actually have a job to do, I don't just kiss ass," Ryan responded through gritted teeth.
He had to do everything in his power not to pummel this asshole to death.
Charl was sent to their office to be Alice's assistant, but everyone knew that he was actually sent by Alice's stepfather to keep an eye on her.
In the previous timeline he was the first person to awaken a combat skill, a skill he used to beat Ryan within inches of death. Before r*ping and then killing Alice, a sin that Ryan would never forgive.
Luckily for Charl he was dead long before Ryan could find him in that timeline.
Unluckily for him, Ryan now had a second chance.
An ominous grin spread over Ryan's face.
"By the way, how is Mr. Park?" Ryan asked, the grin only spreading wider.
The smirk on Charl's face vanished. "How would I know?"
"Since you give him daily updates on Alice's life, I thought you would know," Ryan shrugged.
A flash of rage passed through Charl's blue eyes, but his features remained as calm as ever. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said as he turned to leave Ryan's office.
Ryan's grin never left his lips as all of the gruesome ways to make Charl suffer flashed through his mind. He had spent nearly ten years in the previous timeline imagining how he would make Charl suffer, before finally finding out that he was already dead.
But this time… this time he would achieve one of the things previously impossible.
It looks like it's time to start preparing.
Without even turning off his computer Ryan simply got up and walked out of the office building.
***
After spending the entire rest of the day buying everything he would need, Ryan finally arrived at the small apartment he called home.
He had spent all of the money he had saved up over the last five years. He bought canned food, bottled water, he filled his car with fuel, and even bought some jerry cans, which he also filled with fuel. There was only one thing he still needed, but there was still time for that.
What the people of Earth came to know as the awakening, was simply the entire planet suddenly being enveloped with energy. This energy allowed the humans to learn new skills and gave them access to magic, or magical abilities. No one knew how it happened, or what allowed someone to learn a new skill.
The people who couldn't handle the sudden influx of energy were transformed into grotesque monsters that no longer resembled humans.
But none of these monsters could be compared to the absolute evil that humans were capable of.
The worst enemies Ryan faced in the previous timeline were never the monsters, no the worst enemies he ever faced were the humans who became drunk on the bit of power they suddenly had.
It wasn't monsters who took his parents from him, or who r*ped and killed the only woman he had ever loved, it was humans.
But this time it would be different.
This time I will kill anyone who even thinks of harming the people I care about.
The image of a bloody Charl walking towards the crumpled Alice, as Ryan's vision started to fade, pierced through his mind like daggers.
And he will be the first to die.