"Argh… my head."
Daniel pressed his hand to his forehead, trying to stop the pounding sensation inside his skull.
Slowly, the room came into focus which made him relieved, because he swear that if he stayed in that disoriented state any longer, he would have thrown up.
'I was inside the Tech Wing when that explosion happened. There was no way anyone could've survived that.' he mumbled, his mouth so dry it felt as if he hadn't had water in days.
Leaning back against the stiff pillows, he caught his reflection in a small mirror.
A young man stared back—jet-black eyes, short dark hair, no trace of the age or wrinkles of his past life.
Rejuvenation Serum? Or was he hallucinating?
Lowering his gaze, he caught sight of a strange tattoo winding across his arm. He had no memory of ever getting it.
click!
The door slowly open, snapping him from his thoughts.
He braced to cast a spell, only to realize his mana rings were gone.
'Shit.'
Feeling exposed, Daniel snatched the nearest object within reach, just in case.
Instead of the threat he expected, a woman in her mid-30s stepped in, clipboard tucked under one arm. Her white coat was pressed and spotless, the very image of a professional.
She paused by the bed, tilting her head slightly as her chestnut eyes, matching the color of her hair, met his.
Her lips curved into a gentle smile. "Daniel, how are you feeling?"
"Doc Seina?" His voice trembled with disbelief.
"Well, yes. Who else would I be?" She let out a light laugh, assuming he was joking.
"That's… impossible….twenty years ago…"
She gave him a puzzled look. "Twenty years ago? You're seventeen—hardly twenty yourself.'"
"Seventeen…? W…what year is it?"
"2025. Why?"
Daniel pressed a hand to his chest, struggling to process the discovery.
'No… way.'
Even with all his knowledge as a magic engineer, the idea that he had gone back in time was outrageous. Yet the evidence left only one conclusion.
She set the clipboard on a chair before rubbing his back.
"Breathe. Are you okay?"
"I'm alright… just a nightmare." He forced a thin smile.
Best not to mention his current situation, or everyone would think he lost his mind.
Fortunately, he was used to high-pressure situations. He had faced life-or-death battles, solved impossible problems under tight deadlines, and made split-second decisions that determined outcomes of the city.
With that experience, adjusting to his current predicament wasn't difficult.
"Sure you're okay? I can run a quick check." she suggested.
"No need for that, Doc. I'm fine, sorry for making you worry."
She looked unconvinced, but when she double-checked the previous tests, they showed nothing life-threatening.
"Okay, but let me know if anything feels off."
Once she was done, she handed him some medicine and stepped out, leaving him alone to sort his thoughts.
He retraced the chain of events before he found himself in this situation.
If he remembered correctly, he was testing an improved engine designed to power the ARK, the largest battle airship ever created by mankind.
Then the alarms erupted throughout the building, not from a malfunction, but because an Exterminator, Category Nine, breached the city's defenses and struck the Tech District.
It unleashed a devastating attack that struck the unstable Mana-drive and triggered an explosion twenty times stronger than a nuclear bomb.
Such force would have decimated everything within a five-kilometer radius, let alone a human body at the very center of the blast.
Calculations, hypotheses—his mind raced, desperate to reach the truth, or at least brush against it.
'Could the explosion have created some kind of black hole, and since I was the closest, I got pulled into it?'
'But why don't I have my old body?'
Eyes closed, he ran through another calculations in his mind.
The most plausible explanation he could think of was that sending a physical body would require a tremendous amount of energy, but transferring only consciousness would be exponentially easier.
Even so, the pieces didn't quite add up.
Another possibility was that the future he saw was only simulation.
These were only hypothesis. But he had a feeling he wasn't far from the truth. After all, he held Doctorates in Magical Engineering, Mana Dynamics, and Advance Software Engineering.
'I'll leave the theories for later. First, I need to examine my body.'
Gathering himself, he closed his eyes and slipped into meditation.
What once demanded decades of discipline came to him naturally.
Heat rose in his chest and spread into his arms and legs. His body felt lighter, almost floating.
It wasn't limited to his body. He also sensed traces of energy in the air, though the concentration was thousands of times thinner than what he used to.
'It's very weak, but it's there.' The corner of his mouth lifted.
Mastering his mana and forging his rings was the key. With them, he could change the future and do so much more.
In his past life, he devoted himself more to invention than combat.
That decision came at a heavy price. Friends and loved ones were lost not only to monsters, but to greedy humans as well, all because he lacked the strength to protect them.
'This time, things will be different. I swear it.'
He exhaled, leaned over, and pulled open the small drawer beside his bed.
His heart raced as he held a silver stopwatch, with a delicate, old-fashioned design.
Opening it, he found a photo of a girl, about twelve, her silver hair falling softly around her shoulders and her bright blue eyes shining with innocence.
Longing and guilt hammered in his chest as he stared at the photo with mixed emotions.
'Did Doc put ointment in my eyes?' He laughed through the blur of tears, clutching the stopwatch tight.