The first thing Kael noticed was the silence.
Not the kind that came after a battlefield, with the ringing in your ears and the buzzing of half-burnt nerves. Not the cold, empty quiet of space. Just… peaceful silence. Real silence. There was a breeze, soft and gentle, brushing against his skin. He felt warmth on his face. Sunlight?
His eyes fluttered open.
A sky stretched above him, bright and blue. Too bright. Too clean. No orbital scars. No drifting wreckage. No blood.
Kael sat up slowly. His hands pressed against the ground—rough concrete, warm from the sun. Around him stood tall buildings, fire escapes, a few windows left cracked open. It looked like a city, but not one he recognized. Not burned out. Not overrun. Not dying.
A strange laugh escaped him. Light. Breathless.
"I'm alive," he said, touching his chest. It beat steady. No pain. No fire in his lungs. No broken ribs or cauterized wounds.
His body was… new. His fingers were thinner, smooth. His muscles weren't overdeveloped from decades of combat. He looked down at himself: a gray hoodie, jeans, sneakers. All too clean. Too ordinary.
Then it hit him. The last thing he remembered.
The betrayal. The final fight. Standing alone against everything. And right before the end, when everything was crumbling, he'd said something—barely more than a whisper.
"Just once… I want to live for myself. No wars. No missions. Just… live."
And something had answered.
A sound echoed in his mind. Soft. Mechanical. Almost friendly.
[Trillionfold Resonance System Activated]
Welcome, Host: Kael. Your wish has been acknowledged. Prepare for a fulfilling life.
Kael blinked.
"…What?"
A gold-tinted screen shimmered into view, floating in front of his eyes like a hologram. The interface was smooth, modern-looking—definitely not military tech. It almost looked like something from a video game.
Function: Bind to one living individual.
Their gains become yours—multiplied by 1,000,000,000,000.
For every gain, choose one:
— 🔘 Quantity (1 Trillion units)
— 🔘 Quality (1 Perfected version)
Kael stared at the screen.
"Wait. You're telling me… I just sit back, pick someone, and whatever they earn, I get a trillion times that?"
Correct.
Kael stood up, stunned. "What the hell kind of cheat is that?"
One designed to give you the life you asked for. You no longer have to struggle. You simply choose wisely… and enjoy.
He looked around the alley again. It wasn't dirty or dangerous. People passed by at the street's end—casual, chatting, alive. Not a care in the world.
He wasn't on a battlefield anymore. He wasn't a soldier anymore.
He was… free.
Kael took a deep breath and walked toward the sound of traffic. The sunlight felt real. His feet felt light. The buildings weren't cracked or bombed out. His heart was pounding, but not from fear—for the first time in a long time, it was from excitement.
He passed a storefront and caught his reflection in the glass. He stopped short.
A young face stared back at him—fifteen at most. Dark hair, slightly messy. Amber-colored eyes with a spark of intelligence. He looked… normal. Average. But his eyes still held that weight—like he'd seen too much, even if the world hadn't seen it yet.
"So this is me now," he murmured.
He kept walking.
On the corner, a screen above a café flashed with a news bulletin. Some kind of local event. He didn't pay it much attention—until a name caught his ear.
"—Luo Feng, age eighteen, passes Elite Martial Exam. Experts predict he may be the strongest martial talent of the new generation—"
Kael stopped.
"Luo Feng…?" he whispered. His mind reeled. That name. That world.
Swallowed Star.
The monsters. The planets. The evolution of Earth. The peak of human civilization and the vastness of the universe beyond.
"Holy crap… I'm in that universe?"
Target Identified: Luo Feng
Potential Binding Candidate Detected. Bind to this target? (Y/N)
Kael didn't even hesitate. "Yes. Bind."
[Binding to Target: Luo Feng…]
Synchronization Initialized.
Resonance Status: Active.
Kael felt something—like a heartbeat that wasn't his own. A distant connection. A thread that stretched between him and someone far away.
"So whatever he earns… I get multiplied by a trillion," Kael murmured. "All I have to do is choose quality or quantity…"
He smiled slowly. "This… is exactly what I needed."
Later that evening, Kael climbed to the top of a residential building. The sun was setting, casting the sky in shades of orange and purple. He lay back against the rooftop and stared up at the stars.
He felt… peaceful.
For the first time in who knew how long, he didn't have orders. He didn't have enemies. He didn't have a weight pressing down on his chest.
The system chimed again.
[Target Luo Feng has acquired: Nine Stage Thunder Blade (Intermediate)]
Trigger Resonance:
● Quantity: 1,000,000,000,000 variants stored
● Quality: 1 perfected technique
Kael grinned. "Easy choice. Quality."
[Resonating…]
A wave of energy washed through him—not violent, not overwhelming. It was gentle. Precise. Like slipping into a warm bath of understanding.
He stood up slowly, and his body moved without thinking. His arm raised. His fingers aligned.
Perfected Nine Stage Thunder Blade: Form One – Silent Flash.
He stepped forward.
The air split.
A clean, silver streak traced the air in front of him. No sound. No resistance.
Kael looked down at his hand. His breath caught.
"…This isn't learning," he whispered. "This is mastery."
He couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up in his chest. Light. Giddy.
"This system is insane."
He looked up at the stars again.
All those years of blood and loss. All the training, the war, the cold sleep chambers and forced awakenings. All the betrayals. The last stand.
And now?
Now he got to live someone else's rise… but without the weight. Without the scars.
He got to enjoy it. Watch the universe unfold in front of him, one perfected technique at a time.
"I'm not gonna waste this," Kael said quietly. "No more dying for others. No more saving the world."
He smiled.
"I'm just gonna live."