Inside the American headquarters of NASA, ten minutes before impact, the most elite minds of the agency sat in a perfect circular arrangement. A massive round table occupied the center, its polished surface reflecting the flickering lights of the screen that held everyone's attention.
All eyes were fixed forward.
On the display, space itself seemed calm—until a streak of blinding light tore through the darkness. It moved with terrifying speed toward Earth, cutting across the void like a blade aimed directly at the planet.
"Zoom in."
The image expanded instantly.
What appeared wasn't an ordinary meteor. It wasn't rock, nor metal. It was crystal—entirely crystalline, refracting faint hues of light as it spun violently through space, heading straight toward Earth with unstoppable momentum.
Silence filled the room.
Calculations ran across multiple screens at once, equations forming and collapsing in rapid succession. Fingers moved, commands were issued—but the conclusion came quickly, brutally.
"It will hit Moscow in five minutes."
The voice broke the silence.
Everyone turned toward the speaker, their expressions stiff, before slowly nodding. Then, almost instinctively, their attention shifted back to the screen as a countdown appeared in the corner—ticking down in real time.
Another voice spoke, hesitant yet sharp.
"How did we fail to detect this… 'meteor'?"
The question froze the room.
Breaths halted. Eyes widened. The weight of the realization settled heavily upon them. This wasn't just a threat—it was a failure. A catastrophic one. With their technology, something of this scale should have been impossible to miss.
Yet they had seen nothing.
The countdown continued.
[00:03:40]
No one spoke anymore.
Reputation, consequences, global panic—those thoughts flickered briefly before being suppressed. Instead, their minds raced toward something else entirely.
Why?
Why couldn't they detect it?
Why was it crystal?
Why was it appearing now?
At the same time, far away—
A plane touched down smoothly at Moscow's airport.
Noah stepped out calmly, his movements composed, almost detached. Without wasting time, he entered a car he had already booked. As the vehicle moved, his gaze lifted toward the sky—clear, blue, peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Yet his focus locked onto a single, invisible point.
Slowly, his eyes shifted downward—to his wristwatch.
A countdown ticked.
His lips curved into a faint smile.
"…Only three minutes, huh?"
The driver glanced at him through the mirror.
"Did you say something, sir?"
Noah lifted his gaze slightly before shaking his head.
"…No. Never mind."
The driver nodded and returned his focus to the road.
Within two minutes, the car came to a stop near a small apartment at the far edge of the city. Noah stepped out, closing the door quietly as the vehicle drove away without another word.
Silence returned.
He walked inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold—
He felt it.
A subtle shift.
A presence.
His lips curled faintly as a thought surfaced.
…It's here.
He moved toward the window, his steps slow but certain. His gaze lifted once more toward the sky—and this time, he saw it.
The crystal.
Massive.
Descending.
It tore through the clouds with ferocious velocity, distorting the air around it as it fell. Light refracted across its surface, scattering colors faintly across the sky.
On his wrist—
The final countdown began.
[00:00:09]
[8]
[7]
[6]
His breathing slowed.
[5]
[4]
[3]
The world seemed to hold its breath.
[2]
[1]
Impact.
A deafening, bone-cracking soundwave erupted outward.
Glass shattered instantly as the shockwave tore through the apartment. Noah clutched his ears, but it did nothing. The force penetrated his entire body, shaking him violently from within.
"WAAAGH—KHUK!"
Blood burst from his mouth.
His knees collapsed beneath him as he fell forward, barely managing to stay conscious. His vision blurred, but his will held firm—refusing to let him black out now, not at this moment.
Seconds passed.
The shockwave began to fade.
Noah forced himself upright, his legs trembling violently. One hand pressed against the wall for support as he steadied his breathing, each inhale heavy, each exhale strained.
"Huff… Huff…"
Even now, it hurt.
"…Even after preparing… this is still dangerous…"
He exhaled slowly, then straightened.
"Now then…"
Turning toward the door, he stepped outside.
The city had changed.
Silence dominated the streets—an unnatural, suffocating silence. Noah walked forward, his pace steady as he moved through the empty roads, guided by memory alone.
After several minutes, he reached it.
Destruction.
Everywhere.
Buildings reduced to rubble. Streets torn apart. Blood stained the ground. Fragments of bodies—unrecognizable—lay scattered beneath collapsed structures.
A massacre.
Yet Noah didn't stop.
He didn't even look.
His mind didn't register it.
Compared to what he had endured, this… was nothing.
He moved forward without hesitation, stepping over debris, navigating through craters, climbing over shattered remains. Nothing slowed him. Nothing mattered.
His eyes flicked toward his wrist again.
A new countdown had begun.
[00:09:59]
He spoke under his breath.
"Ten minutes before they arrive…"
His gaze sharpened.
"…Let's not be late."
His pace quickened.
Then he ran.
The distance closed rapidly as he pushed forward, guided by memory and purpose. Minutes passed—and finally, he saw it.
The Origin Classifier.
It stood amidst the destruction, its massive crystalline form glowing with shifting rainbow colors. Light flowed within it like liquid, while space itself distorted subtly around its surface.
Noah didn't hesitate.
He had seen this before.
Shock no longer existed within him—only certainty.
And something deeper.
Desire.
Revenge.
Step by step, he approached it.
"…So it's true…"
His voice was quiet, almost distant.
"…I really regressed."
He stood before it now, close enough to feel the distortion in the air.
"This proves it…"
He closed his eyes slowly.
Then raised his right hand.
A long breath escaped him.
"…Okay."
A pause.
"…Let's do this."
His palm touched the crystal.
And instantly—
He vanished.
No light.
No sound.
No trace.
Only absence remained where he once stood.
The world behind him continued moving toward chaos, toward transformation, toward an era that would reshape everything.
And somewhere beyond it—
Noah reappeared.
A faint blue light faded from his body as he stood still, his surroundings coming into focus. He looked around slowly, then behind himself, confirming what he already knew.
A faint smile formed.
"…The same place."
Tall trees surrounded him, their twisted branches blocking out the sky. The air was heavy, suffocating, filled with an unnatural stillness.
"The Forest of Death…"
His voice was calm.
"…Now it begins."
At that moment—
A translucent blue screen appeared before him, hovering effortlessly in the air. Lines of text began forming one after another, glowing faintly.
[Welcome to the Origin Classifier]
[Location: Forest of Death]
[Status: Participant]
[Initializing System Interface…]
[Evaluating Soul…]
[Analyzing Origin…]
[Cross-referencing Past Records…]
The process continued.
Then—
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
The screen flickered violently.
[Reclassification Required]
A brief pause.
Then new lines appeared.
[Talent Assigned: Soul Cla— — — ier]
[Rank: ???]
[Warning: Unk— — — Classification Detected]
[Warning: System Unable to Fully Analyze Talent]
[Notice: Authority Conflict Detected]
Silence followed.
For the first time since his regression—
Noah's eyes widened.
Shock.
Pure, unfiltered shock.