Chapter 1
The End
The gun was already pointed at Auren Veyl's head when he realized the truth.
They had betrayed him.
He stood in the middle of the ruined street, surrounded by the people he had trusted with his life.
Behind them, the enormous gates of the last human settlement towered above the rubble.
Beyond those gates was food.
Clean water.
Shelter.
Safety.
Everything they had spent years fighting to reach.
Auren's gaze moved slowly from one face to another.
No one met his eyes.
His grip tightened around his weapon.
"Why?"
His voice was quiet.
Almost too quiet for the chaos surrounding them.
No one answered.
Auren looked at the man holding the gun.
His closest friend.
The man who had fought beside him for six years.
The man Auren had pulled from a collapsing building.
The man he had saved more times than he could remember.
Now that same man was pointing a weapon at him.
"Put it down."
The man shook his head.
"I can't."
Auren's eyes hardened.
"Can't?"
"We need the Core."
Auren's expression changed.
"So that's what this is about."
The Core was the source of his strength.
The reason he had survived battles that should have killed him.
The reason the others had followed him this far.
"You could have asked."
"We did."
Auren frowned.
"When?"
"You wouldn't have given it to us."
A bitter smile crossed Auren's face.
"So you decided to kill me instead."
Silence.
That silence answered everything.
Auren slowly looked toward the settlement gates.
"They're letting you in?"
His former friend didn't respond.
Auren understood.
Only a limited number of survivors were being allowed inside.
They had already decided who would enter.
And he wasn't one of them.
After everything.
After all the lives he had saved.
After every night he had stood guard while the others slept.
This was how they repaid him.
Auren laughed quietly.
It was a hollow sound.
"Six years."
He looked at them again.
"Six years I spent protecting you."
No one moved.
"I gave you food when there wasn't enough."
His voice became unsteady.
"I carried you when you couldn't walk."
He swallowed.
"I trusted you."
That was the part that hurt.
Not the weapon.
Not the settlement.
Not even death.
Trust.
He had given them the one thing the apocalypse had taught him never to give freely.
And they had used it against him.
Auren looked at his former friend.
"Was any of it real?"
The man lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Auren's smile disappeared.
"Don't."
The word came out cold.
"Don't apologize now."
A weapon was raised behind him.
Auren heard the safety click off.
His instincts screamed.
He moved.
The first shot missed.
Auren spun and struck the attacker, sending him crashing against a ruined vehicle.
Another person lunged.
Auren blocked the attack.
Then another.
There were too many.
He was exhausted.
They knew it.
They had waited until he was weakest.
Auren fought anyway.
He always had.
But this time, there was no rescue coming.
No miracle.
No second chance.
His strength finally failed.
Auren dropped to one knee.
His weapon slipped from his hand.
The settlement gates began opening.
The others started moving toward them.
Auren looked up.
"You really are leaving me here."
Nobody answered.
The gates opened wider.
One by one, they walked inside.
Auren stared after them.
The people he had protected.
The people he had trusted.
The people he had called family.
They were abandoning him.
The gates began to close.
Auren's vision blurred.
He felt strangely calm.
Maybe this was what the end felt like.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Just regret.
He lowered his head.
I should have known.
The gates disappeared behind darkness.
Auren's final thought came quietly.
If I ever get another chance...
His fingers curled into a fist.
I will never make the same mistake.
Darkness swallowed him.
---
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Auren's eyes snapped open.
He gasped.
Air rushed into his lungs.
His hands immediately flew to his chest.
Nothing.
No wound.
No pain.
No blood.
He stared at his hands.
They looked different.
Younger.
Auren slowly climbed out of bed.
His legs trembled as he looked around the room.
The desk.
The bookshelf.
The curtains.
The small crack near the window.
His old bedroom.
His heart began pounding.
"No..."
He rushed toward the mirror.
A young man stared back at him.
Dark hair.
Clear eyes.
A face untouched by years of war.
Auren touched his reflection.
"This can't be real."
His eyes moved toward the digital clock.
Then he froze.
The date on the screen was impossible.
Ten years earlier.
Auren stepped backward.
His mouth fell open.
"No."
He checked his phone.
The date was the same.
He checked the clock again.
Still the same.
Ten years.
He had gone back ten years.
Before the apocalypse.
Before the monsters.
Before the collapse of civilization.
Before the betrayal.
Auren stared at his reflection.
Then he laughed.
A quiet, disbelieving laugh.
"They're all still alive."
His former teammates.
His enemies.
The people who had betrayed him.
Everyone was still alive.
And more importantly—
The apocalypse hadn't happened yet.
Auren's expression slowly hardened.
He remembered everything.
The unexplained energy storms.
The first reports of strange creatures.
The collapse of communication systems.
The cities that disappeared.
The wars.
The famine.
The emergence of abilities.
The final settlement.
His own death.
He remembered it all.
This time, he had an advantage no one else possessed.
He knew the future.
Auren looked at himself in the mirror.
"I have ten years."
Ten years to prepare.
Ten years to become stronger.
Ten years to gather everything he would need.
And ten years to uncover the truth.
Because one question had never left him.
Why had the apocalypse happened?
He had always believed it was some kind of natural disaster.
Now he wasn't so sure.
A strange warmth suddenly spread through his chest.
Auren frowned.
"What is that?"
A faint blue light appeared beneath his skin.
His eyes widened.
The light pulsed once.
THUM.
The digital clock stopped.
Auren stared at it.
The second hand moved backward.
One second.
Then another.
Three seconds.
Then—
Everything returned to normal.
A translucent blue symbol appeared before his eyes.
CHRONO-CORE
ABILITY AWAKENED
Auren stood completely still.
"What..."
The symbol disappeared.
He placed a hand against his chest.
The strange energy was still there.
He had never possessed this ability in his previous life.
Something had changed.
Not just his location in time.
Him.
Auren looked toward the window.
The city outside was alive.
Cars moved along the streets.
People walked to work.
Children laughed.
The sky was clear.
It was peaceful.
Almost beautiful.
Auren knew what was coming.
In ten years, the same city would become a graveyard.
He closed his eyes.
"I won't let it happen the same way."
His phone suddenly rang.
Auren opened his eyes.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
He stared at the screen.
The phone rang again.
Then again.
Finally, he answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Auren frowned.
"Who is this?"
A calm male voice finally spoke.
"Auren Veyl."
Auren's expression hardened.
"How do you know my name?"
There was a pause.
Then the stranger said:
"You shouldn't have returned."
The call ended.
Auren slowly lowered the phone.
His heartbeat quickened.
Someone knew.
Someone knew he had returned.
But how?
He turned toward the window.
Across the street stood a young man with silver hair.
He was staring directly at Auren.
Their eyes met.
The Chrono-Core suddenly pulsed.
THUM.
Everything stopped.
Cars froze.
A bird hung motionless in the sky.
The world became completely silent.
Everything except Auren...
And the silver-haired stranger.
Auren's eyes widened.
The stranger smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
Not a threatening one.
Almost as if he had been expecting this exact moment.
Then the world moved again.
Auren rushed toward the window.
The stranger was gone.
Only the ordinary morning crowd remained.
Auren stared at the street.
His breathing became slow.
Careful.
Someone knew about his return.
And there was another problem.
He had never seen that man before.
Not in his previous life.
Not in any memory.
Not anywhere.
Auren looked down at his hand.
The blue light flickered between his fingers.
His second life had already begun differently.
And somewhere in this new timeline was a man who should not exist.
A man who knew his name.
A man who knew he had returned.
A man who seemed to know something about the future.
Auren's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Far across the city, the silver-haired stranger stopped walking.
He looked back toward Auren's apartment.
For the first time, his calm expression disappeared.
He whispered a single sentence.
"He's awake."
Then he pulled his phone from his pocket.
A message appeared on the screen.
TEMPORAL SUBJECT AUREN VEYL: AWAKENED.
Below it was another line.
SECOND SUBJECT: UNSTABLE.
The stranger stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
THE TIMELINE HAS CHANGED.
His eyes darkened.
"Too soon."
He put the phone away and disappeared into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Auren stood alone beside his window.
He thought he had been given ten years to prepare for the apocalypse.
He was wrong.
The countdown had already begun.
