[Special Protocol Initiated: Scenario Paused]

[Conditions Met]

Ari tried to draw in a shuddering breath as he surveyed the shattered and ruined landscape, but his body betrayed him. Whenever the system paused, the world froze, leaving Ari unable to do anything but move his eyes and think. With their freedom, his eyes slipped from the landscape down to the body in his hands and his mana, electric silver and blue, flowing into her, that he knew would be too late.

His gaze tracked up, moving from body to broken body, leaving no doubt that he was the only one left. He was alone. Each corpse on the field had been a friend, a lover, hell, even an enemy, but they had all been his companions through the end of the world, and he had gotten to know them all better than anyone from the old days.

He looked from corpse to corpse, trying to memorize their features one by one. They wouldn't be forgotten. His lifespan might only be measured in seconds, but for as long as he lived, these heroes could not be forgotten for what they sacrificed. Eventually, his eyes locked with the only other being still alive on this battlefield.

The first thing he noticed was how small it was. When it had been in motion, it had been moving so fast that it was impossible to get a good look, but now, in this frozen moment, the creature that had ended the last hope of humanity was in full view.

It was a man. Almost a man. Less than six feet tall, it was thin, almost gaunt, but every inch of it was covered in muscle stretched tight, vibrating with whipcord strength. The only clothes it wore were a pair of threadbare shorts, and on its torso, arms and legs, it wore a kind of harness, a light construction made of thin bars of some dull sort of metal, that the creature had maneuvered expertly so that every blow aimed at it slid off like an ice skate. 

Its skin was on the light side of tan, with every exposed swath covered in thin, white lines of scar tissue in a wild, crisscrossing, asymmetrical pattern. Its features looked vaguely caucasian, with wide cheekbones and a high brow. Its mouth was set in a stoic line, closed against the splashes of blood that remained suspended in the air, but its eyes, which remained fixed on Ari’s, held a trace of mirth.

As the system continued to process in this interminably terminal moment, and the two stared at each other, the Schadenfreude on the killer’s face became increasingly clear, and Ari could only regret that he wasn't physically able to weep.

[Conditions Met:]

[Members of candidate population remaining: 1]

[Final Survivor’s level: Top .1% of species]

[Final Survivor’s Karma balance: Positive]

[Final Survivor has located at least 1 secret]

[Final Survivor has at least 5 achievements]

[Candidate population tutorial completion percentage <50%. Actual completion: 28%]

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

[Would you like to initiate Rewinder protocol?]

Everyone heard the voice of the system differently, and Ari had always heard it as a blandly pleasant female voice that seemed to be speaking English, but grew fuzzy around the edges when he tried to focus on the individual words. Now, the evenness of the voice as it described the end of his species felt like a cheese grater on his ears.

Rewinder protocol? He thought.

[Rewinder Protocol: Return to the beginning of system integration with memories intact. Revert to previous body and Status. Carry nothing else with you.]

Why?

[Would you like to initiate Rewinder protocol?]

Why me?

[Because you’re the only one left.]

I don't know if I can do it all again. I don't know if I have the strength.

[Would you like to initiate Rewinder protocol? Please make a decision in 10… 9…]

Ari swept his eyes across the bodies of his companions one last time before they would be gone, never having existed in the first place. He locked eyes once more with the monster who had killed them.

Initiate Rewinder Protocol.

[Initiating]

At the edge of the horizon, the world began to dissolve, racing towards him at the speed of thought as the world ended. Then, for the first time ever, he heard emotion, amusement and warmth, in the voice of the system.

[Alright, places everyone! Let’s take it from the top.]

Wait, what?

And then he was gone.

*************************

[System Integrated]

[Candidate Species: Human - Earth]

[Prologue: Are you ready?]

Ari opened his eyes, disoriented by a million little differences. His hands and feet were light, missing the rings and heavy boots that he had grown so accustomed to wearing, but his body was heavy, sluggish, weak. He had forgotten just how stiff he had been at twenty, before the system came. It felt like he was trying to move wearing a suit of sodden wool. Even his mana was…

Where was his mana?

[Welcome to the system. Please select a starter weapon: Sword, Spear, Staff and Dagger, Club and Shield, Bow and Short Sword, Long and Short Knife]

He looked forward into the endless expanse. It was exactly like he remembered it, what little he could remember from forty-odd years ago. Wait, it couldn't have been that long, could it? No, it was, Johnny had been keeping track of the date religiously, and he made a big deal about the fortieth anniversary not too long ago, but didn't the system say the tutorial was only 28% complete? Just how long was this….

[Objective: Select a weapon and slay this beast within 90 seconds]

He sighed. There would be all the time in the world for hopeless pontificating later. If there was one thing he had no shortage of in this regimented apocalypse, it was time. 

The environment was a familiar one. Under his feet was a cold marble floor, a flat chessboard grid that stretched far off into the horizon. Over his head was a steel blue sky, roiling with clouds, at once seeming to provide an infinite far off expanse and also pressing down on him with an almost physical weight. This was the system's “default” environment, and he had spent a lot of time in it over the years. Supposedly, everyone saw this differently too.

The beast, as he remembered it being last time, was a dog.

Not a wolf, or some kind of slavering beast, but a dog. A husky, it looked like, eyes fixed on him with a wary expression.

[If you do not complete the Objective in the time allotted-]

He matched the cadence of the last five syllables perfectly.

[-you will be erased.]

“You will be erased.”