Just as it was before, so it shall be once again.

It was this very cursed phrase which haunted the company "Reality Interactive" as they created a gameworld which will house a significant majority of the planet's inhabitants from the dark future which lay ahead. They knew what was coming ever since the first Loop began all those years ago, but they were hoping this fifth loop would be the final one.

What they didn't know was who should be selected to test if this project of theirs would work. This wasn't some anime where things would go perfectly at the start of course.

In a mysterious dimly lit meeting room, two figures sat as they read over what their developers sent over to them. Much like everyone else in the company, they too were what the System called "Vortexbound" which are also called "regressors" by those familiar with time travel. They were intimately familiar with the status of the loops in where every time the accursed Chronos Herald forced the entire Earth back twenty years exactly-making a scant few realize a few things.

As to what these things were, they didn't mention.

One of the two-a seemingly 25 year old tanned skin man wearing a dark blue tuxedo-finished reading over the report with a sigh of lament. He had no idea if it would work in the first place since there were billions of people going to die on Integration Day. That day was only a year and a half away from happening, but to him and the other person in the room, it was like a sword of Damocles looming over their heads.

This was the first loop they had done something like what they were doing and it was a major leap of faith to rely on people whose intelligence stat was well over five hundred points on their [Status]. That was what the damn System had set as a minimum to study that particular branch of magitech on the level they required.

Well, he couldn't curse the System too harshly. After all, it seemed like a portion of all of the accumulated stats in each loop was kept through the resets which helped give them a sizeable lead when Integration Day happened. Sadly, their levels did not appear to stay set as they were-going back to level one each reset.

He quickly shook off the distressing train of thought and softly muttered to himself out loud "When can we expect to go into Alpha testing?"

"No sooner than three days, sir," the other person replied-their voice obviously a tad effeminate in nature but not quite giving away their gender. "Have you found a suitable subject yet?"

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He did not confirm anything of the sort by lightly shaking his head. The only criteria they had at this point was the person or people had to have some experience playing games at a competitive level, some real life experience in combat, or a mix of both.

These were not strict enough criteria to find the one they needed so desperately and both of them knew that. Even with their enhanced intelligence given to them by the Eternal System itself, finding that metaphorical needle in a haystack was tougher than solving eons-old puzzles designed by the universes madmen within their own tombs.

Before the downward spiral of gloom took over, a phone started to ring. This alerted the duo in the room as they were not expecting any calls made directly to them. Taking a moment to fish out his cellphone, which was a magitech device designed to look similar to twenty-first century Earth technology, the caller ID showed an unknown number.

This did spook him for a split second, but quickly answered the incoming call as something told him to not decline it. Unbeknownst to him, this call would become one of the most important events in Earth's history leading to the formation of a new legend.

"Hello," a deep gruff masculine voice said to the duo as the cellphone was put on speaker. "I will keep this short for you both. My identity is not important for the time being, but I know what you are planning. At this point in time, you need someone to test it out. Contact Markus Reeves. Do whatever you can do to make him join as your tester and no other for three months."

Before the duo can even get a word in edgewise, the call hung up. Both of them were flabbergasted about the abrupt call and the person on the other line, but their shock quickly turned into slight intrigue and irritation. Perfectly normal human behavior considering the circumstances, but unlike normal humans, they both didn't let their emotions run rampant.

They quickly ran it through their augmented minds and simply came up with no better alternative. Despite millions of qualified players who could do it for them, they didn't have much choice at the moment.

The very next day, a small email was sent to Markus Reeves-after the duo looked him up. They didn't know who he was before now, but after this decision, they wouldn't be the only ones to know his name.

===+===

After hanging up the call on that strange device, the First Prophet saw it disintegrate into worthless dust. He had been warned by the man who called himself "Zac Ghost" that this man-this "Markus Reeves"-was the person he saw in his vision. It wasn't even five seconds after he received such a troubling prophetic vision that Zac appeared next to him with knowledge far beyond his world. Even the device which he learned was a type of phonic device that allowed people to call others over vast distances was proof this man was not from his world, but a higher plane.

At first, the Prophet was wary of him. There was something both wrong yet natural about him that he couldn't figure out-even with his gift of [Foresight]. It did not take him too long to discover that this man simply wanted to make sure things were going in the right way, but that only led him to question the motives of that dreadful future he saw.

There was only one word the man gave him before his abrupt departure.

Cruxborne.