He woke up choking.
No smoke.
No fire.
No blood sky.
Just the hum of an air conditioner.
Ethan shot upright in bed.
Large window.
Modern apartment.
Phone on nightstand.
Date on the screen:
March 4th. Seven Years Before the Collapse.
His hands trembled.
He rushed to the window.
Blue sky.
Normal traffic.
No screams.
No red clouds.
He staggered back.
It worked.
The voice returned.
[Regression Successful.]
[Global Stability Index: 63%]
[Stability System Initialized.]
[Primary Objective: Prevent Global Collapse.]
[Secondary Objective: Increase Personal Authority.]
[Reward: Strategic Insight, Market Prediction, Evolution Points.]
[Penalty for Failure: Permanent Erasure.]
Ethan's breathing slowed.
He wasn't given unlimited power.
He wasn't invincible.
He was given opportunity.
Seven years.
He remembered key events:
The AI infrastructure disaster.
The biotech emergency approval.
The energy consortium corruption.
Daniel's betrayal.
The first mutation outbreak.
He looked at his phone again.
Three missed calls.
From Daniel.
Ethan smiled.
Seven years ago, today was the day they were negotiating funding for the AI logistics system.
The same AI that would later destabilize global supply chains.
The same AI that governments rushed into deployment without proper failsafes.
The same AI that triggered the chain reaction.
And Daniel wanted to cut costs on security architecture.
History was repeating.
But this time—
Ethan was prepared.
The system interface flickered.
[First Stability Opportunity Detected.]
Event: AI Core Funding Meeting (6 hours).
Outcome Without Intervention: 14% increase in Collapse Probability.
Optional Mission: Alter Investment Structure.
Reward: +2 Strategic Insight.
Ethan stood.
Six hours.
In the last timeline, he argued emotionally.
This time?
He would control everything.
Not just the AI.
Not just the company.
The supply chains.
The energy backbones.
The biotech labs.
The private security networks.
He wouldn't just survive the apocalypse.
He would own the world before it happened.
His phone rang again.
Daniel.
Ethan answered calmly.
"Ready for the meeting?" Daniel asked casually.
Ethan's eyes darkened slightly.
"Yes," he replied.
"This time… we do it my way."
The system pulsed once more.
[Warning.]
Major Destabilizing Entity Detected: Daniel Reeves.
Risk Level: High.
Hidden Variables: Unknown.
Ethan paused.
Hidden variables?
That hadn't appeared before.
Which meant one thing.
The Collapse wasn't as simple as he believed.
And someone else might have known more than he did.
He grabbed his coat.
Seven years.
This time—
The world wouldn't end.
It would kneel.