[Celestial Stream – Viewers: 10,204,511]
"He's exceeded projections." — ???"Unstable. Entertaining." — ???"Mark him. Let's see if he breaks." — ???
[You Have Been Marked by ???]
Aiden sat in silence on the smoldering rooftop, wind brushing ash past his boots.
The cigar burned between his fingers, smoke curling like the ghosts of the thousand kills behind him.
[Star Stream Rating: 5,035,331 Subscribers]
[Skill "Dead Calm" Active – Duration Remaining: 0:01:21]
His heartbeat still hadn't come down. Maybe it never would.
He exhaled. Laughed once.
"And here I thought today wouldn't suck harder than usual."
Then his eyes widened.
He doubled over.
Vomit.
Dark. Thick. Red.
He coughed. Blood splattered across the tiles. Strings of it hung from his lips, dripping onto the toe of his boot.
"What the—hell...?"
[WARNING: Internal Failure Detected]
[SYSTEM INTERFERENCE DETECTED – Source: UNIDENTIFIED MARK]
[YOU ARE BEING ERASED.]
Pain ripped through him—every nerve screaming, like something ancient and brutal was reaching through his spine and yanking his soul out by the teeth.
He stumbled back, eyes wide, blood pouring from his nose, his ears, his fingernails.
"Fucking hell—no. No. You don't get to just—"
He tried to stand.
Tried to aim.
Tried to be a soldier again.
But his body wasn't listening.
His legs gave out. He collapsed hard.
The sniper fell beside him with a dull clang.
He reached for it anyway.
"Come on... one more fight. One more—"
[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED]
[Star Stream Severed.]
[All Channels: Disconnected.]
[Smile System: Rebooting...]
[Memory Core: Securing... Translocation Initiated.]
"WHO THE FUCK MARKED ME?!"
Aiden's scream echoed off the ruins. Somewhere above the clouds, the gods just watched.
He spat blood into the dirt, then choked on the next mouthful.
He could feel it now.
Not just pain. Not just sickness.
Unmaking.
Every part of him—skills, strength, knowledge, every hard-earned scar—was being pulled apart.
Like a tape rewinding itself.
"You bastards—this isn't a story! This is my goddamn life!"
Another cough. More blood.
The light dimmed around him. Not from the sky—but from inside.
[FINAL THOUGHT SAVED.]
"If I get a second shot, I swear to whatever divine motherfucker is listening... I'm breaking your teeth with my bare hands."
He lay on his back now, arms spread, like a cross. Staring at the gray sky as the world blurred.
No strength left to move.
No guns.
No gods willing to help.
Only watchers.
And then—
A pulse.
Not of light.
Of memory.
The rooftop vanished like ash in wind.
The sounds—the screams, the gunfire, the infected—gone.
And Aiden fell.
Not from the rooftop.
From reality itself.
[Memory Reconstruction Complete]
[Smile System: Reboot Successful]
[Time Anchor Set: December 23, 2030 | 06:00 AM]
[Synchronization with Original Body: 100%]
[Legacy Skills: Imported]
[You Have Been Reborn]
Darkness.
Then—
A beep. Like a soft alarm clock.
A familiar ceiling. Pale cream, cheap plaster.
The sound of someone humming from downstairs.
Sunlight through dusty curtains.
And a voice—
"Aiden! Wake up! You're gonna miss your damn bus!"
His eyes opened.
He sat up so fast he nearly threw up again.
But not from sickness.
From shock.
His body... was young.
His hands... clean.
The mirror across the room showed a twenty-two-year-old version of himself.
No scars.
No haunted eyes.
No calluses.
No blood.
Just... him.
From thirteen years ago.
"Holy. Shit."
[Smile System: Welcome Back, User.]
[Initializing Old Data...]
– Retrieving Kill Count– Uploading Legacy Stats– Importing Combat, Survival, Field & Civilian Skills
[Celestial Network Reconnected]
[You are the First Channel Host of Earth-8769]
[Total Subscribers: 5,000,000+]
"You motherfuckers actually did it..."
He stumbled to his feet, nearly knocking over the chair.
Looked at his arms—lean but powerful.
Stats flickered in his mind, like code burned into his brain:
[STATUS WINDOW – Aiden Trask]
Level: 55Title: [Graveborn] – LegendaryStrength: 78Agility: 74Endurance: 81Perception: 85Charisma: 69Luck: 70Sanity: 46
Kill Count: 1,024
Subscribers: 5,128,102
Skills:– Sharpshooter (Lv. 4)– Tactical Movement (Lv. 3)– Cold Weaponry (Lv. 3)– Hand-to-Hand Combat (Lv. 3)– Stealth Ops (Lv. 2)– Tracking (Lv. 2)– Cooking (Lv. 1)– Persuasion (Lv. 2)– Improvisation (Lv. 3)– Dead Calm (Passive)
Pending Contract: 1 Offer — [Unidentified High-Seat]
Smile Points: 4,250
He stared at the numbers.
"Goddamn... I came back loaded."
His hands clenched.
Then loosened.
Then formed into fists again.
His teeth gritted.
"Whoever you are... the one that Marked me... the one who ripped me out of my life and dropped me here like a fucking pawn—"
He looked into the mirror.
Cold eyes.
A smirk.
"I'm going to find you. And I'm going to kill you like the rest."
[Smile System: Quest Log Unlocked]
Main Objective: Survive the Descent (2033)
Bonus Objective: Discover the One Who Marked You.
Reward: ???