Maya's POV
I jerked awake, screaming.
My hands flew to my throat, searching for the bite wound. The one that had torn out my life. But there was nothing. Just smooth, unbroken skin.
My shoulder—where teeth had ripped through muscle. Nothing.
My stomach—where rotting fingers had dug into my flesh. Nothing.
I was whole.
"What—" My voice came out raw and confused. I looked down at my hands. No blood. No bites. No death.
Sunlight poured through my bedroom window, warm and golden. Real sunlight. Not the angry red sky of the apocalypse.
My heart hammered against my ribs. This was my apartment. My old apartment. The one I'd lived in before the world ended. Before Ethan moved me into his penthouse. Before everything turned to hell.
But that was impossible.
I stumbled out of bed, legs shaking. My mirror showed my reflection—alive, healthy, younger somehow. My hair wasn't matted with blood. My eyes weren't hollow with starvation. I looked exactly like I had six months before the apocalypse started.
"I died," I whispered to my reflection. "I know I died."
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. The sound made me jump like a gunshot.
With trembling fingers, I picked it up. The screen showed a date that made my blood turn to ice:
April 15th, 2025
Three days before the apocalypse.
Three days before ninety percent of humanity turned into zombies.
Three days before my entire world burned.
"No," I breathed. "No, this can't be real."
My phone buzzed again. A text message from Ethan:
"Morning babe! Can't wait for our cake tasting at 2pm. Should we go with vanilla or chocolate? Whatever you want! Love you so much "
My stomach twisted. Love you so much. The same man who'd laughed while zombies tore me apart. The same man who'd been sleeping with my sister behind my back.
Another text popped up from Yiren:
"Big sis! Can I borrow $500? I promise I'll pay you back this time! Please please please?"
The phone slipped from my numb fingers.
She'd never paid me back. Not once. She'd taken thousands of dollars from me over the years, always with promises she never kept. And I'd given it to her every time because she was my baby sister.
My baby sister who fed me to zombies.
I sank onto the bed, mind spinning. This was impossible. People didn't come back from the dead. They didn't travel through time. This had to be a dream. A hallucination my dying brain created in those final moments.
But it felt real. The sunlight on my skin felt real. The buzzing phone felt real.
Then I saw it.
Floating in the air in front of me—a golden screen that shouldn't exist. Words glowed on it like fire:
[WELCOME BACK, PLAYER MAYA CHEN][RESURRECTION COMPLETE][YOU HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO: DAY -3][TIME UNTIL APOCALYPSE: 72 HOURS]
My breath stopped.
[YOUR TRUE SYSTEM HAS BEEN UNLOCKED][DEATH'S ARCHITECT - RANK SSS][WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW YOUR ABILITIES?]
With a shaking hand, I reached out and touched "YES."
The screen exploded with information:
[UNIQUE ABILITIES:]- ZOMBIE DOMINION: Control the undead as your servants- POWER THEFT: Steal abilities from other awakened- DEATH'S SIGHT: See the weaknesses of all living things- LIFE DRAIN: Heal yourself by taking life from others- RESURRECTION: Bring back the dead (Requirements locked)
I stared at the words, heart pounding. In my first life, I'd been F-rank. The weakest class. A healer who couldn't even heal zombie bites.
But this... this was power. Real power.
"SSS-rank," I whispered. The highest rank possible. The rank that made people into gods.
I'd never been weak. The system had been hiding my true strength, waiting for something. Waiting for me to die, maybe. To prove I was worthy.
A laugh bubbled up from my chest. Then another. Soon I was laughing so hard tears streamed down my face—but they weren't sad tears.
They were the tears of someone who'd been given a second chance.
"Ethan," I said to the empty room, my voice cold as winter. "Yiren. You wanted me dead so badly? You should have made sure I stayed dead."
My phone buzzed again. Another text from Ethan:
"You okay? You're not answering. Did I do something wrong?"
My fingers moved across the screen:
"Everything's fine. I'll see you at 2pm."
I would see him. I'd see them both. I'd smile and play the role of the stupid, trusting girlfriend. The naive big sister. The F-rank healer who didn't know her own worth.
And while they thought I was weak, I'd be getting ready for war.
Because in three days, the world would end. The apocalypse would start. And this time, I knew exactly what was coming.
This time, I wouldn't be the victim.
This time, I'd be the monster.
I stood up, looking at my reflection with new eyes. The scared girl who'd died in that basement was gone. What stood here now was something else. Something dangerous.
"I'm coming for you," I promised the air. "Both of you. And when I'm done, you'll wish you'd killed me properly."
The golden system screen pulsed once more:
[QUEST RECEIVED: SURVIVE THE FIRST DAY][REWARD: UNLOCK ADVANCED ABILITIES][FAILURE: PERMANENT DEATH][TIME REMAINING: 71:47:23]
Then, below that, new words appeared that made my blood run cold:
[WARNING: YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS][ANOTHER PLAYER HAS RETURNED][IDENTITY: UNKNOWN][THEY MAY BE YOUR GREATEST ALLY... OR YOUR DEADLIEST ENEMY]
Someone else came back.
Someone else remembered the apocalypse.
The question was: who?