Conqueror of the Time Apocalypse

Chapter 1: The Zero Second & The King's Revival

"Die in regret, Maxwell Sullivan!"

"Is that truly all you have, Kael? After a hundred years of stealing everything from me?"

"A loser remains a loser. The world is over, and you're just garbage left behind at the finish line."

"Garbage, am I? Then make sure you look behind you when hell finally comes to collect."

"Hahaha! There is no future left for you! Taste this blade—"

Darkness. Cold. Then, a sharp clang tore through the eerie silence.

Tring!

"Sir? What coffee would you like to order next? This is your third cup, and this table is reserved for one in the afternoon."

Maxwell opened his eyes wide. The warm cafe light pierced his retina. The smell of roasted coffee beans stung his nostrils, which were usually only familiar with the stench of blood and sulfur.

He took a long breath, his lungs no longer burning from the poisonous fog. He looked at his hand. His skin was smooth, without the burn scars from the meteoroid explosion that should have taken his arm.

"What time is it?" Maxwell asked. His voice was cold, heavy, and full of authority, causing the waiter in front of him to flinch back.

"U-uh? It's 12:55 now, sir. Five minutes until one o'clock. Sorry, but our VIP guest will arrive shortly."

"What's the guest's name?"

"Mr. Hendra from Mahesa Group. You know who they are, don't you? Please, sir, don't make things difficult for me."

Maxwell gave a faint smirk. Hendra. A small mouse who would later sell his entire division for a single protection slot in the East Bunker. A traitor who, in the future, ate the flesh of his own comrades to survive one more night.

"He won't be on time," Maxwell said shortly. His eyes stared sharply out the window at the still peaceful blue sky.

"What do you mean, sir? He's very punctual."

"Count to ten starting now."

"Sir, don't mess around, are you drunk?"

"Ten."

"Sir, I'm calling security if you keep this up!"

"Nine. Eight."

"Security! Please help, this person is causing trouble!"

Two large men in black safari uniforms approached Maxwell's table with fierce expressions.

"Sir, please leave peacefully or we will remove you," one of the guards growled, grabbing Maxwell's shoulder.

Maxwell didn't budge. The pressure from his hand on the coffee glass on the table caused the thick glass to begin cracking. "Seven. Six."

"Hey! Are you deaf? Move now!" the guard tried to pull Maxwell's arm.

In less than a second, Maxwell twisted the man's wrist. A horrible crunch echoed in the silent cafe. The man screamed, kneeling with his arm bent at an impossible angle.

"Argh! My arm! You bastard, what did you do to my arm?!"

"Five. Four," Maxwell muttered, remaining calm as if he hadn't just broken a human bone.

"Hey! You dare to use force?" The other guard pulled out a stun baton.

"Three," Maxwell stood up. His aura completely changed. The room felt several degrees colder. Incredible mental pressure radiated from his body, freezing the attacking guard where he stood, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Two."

"S-sir... please stop..." The cafe waiter trembled violently, tears starting to flow from an unexplainable fear.

"One."

"Zero."

TEEEEET!

It wasn't the sound of a phone alarm. Nor a car horn. The sound came from the sky. A high-frequency shriek capable of tearing human eardrums. Everyone in the cafe fell to the ground, clutching their heads. Lights exploded simultaneously.

Outside, the bright blue sky split into a terrifying, blood-red color. The clouds swirled into a giant vortex that looked like a hole leading to another dimension.

A moment later, a mechanical but majestic voice echoed throughout the world, entering the minds of every living being that was still breathing.

[SYSTEM DOOMSDAY ACTIVATED]

[PLANET EARTH TAKEOVER BY HIGHER AUTHORITY: COMPLETE]

[FIRST TUTORIAL: SURVIVAL OR ELIMINATION]

[REGISTERED USERS: 8 BILLION HUMANS]

[STATUS: ACTIVE]

There was total silence for three seconds after the announcement. Then, chaos erupted outside the window. Cars collided. People ran out of buildings with looks of horror on their faces.

"W-what was that noise? The sky... why is the sky like that?" The waiter crawled under a table.

Maxwell Sullivan pulled his chair back. He picked up the remaining coffee on the table, taking another sip before truly springing into action. Absolute knowledge churned in his mind. Every heartbeat aligned with the system countdown's rhythm.

"Absolute Knowledge, activate," Maxwell whispered.

Suddenly, his vision changed. In his eyes, all objects had gold text lines. He could see the danger level, statistics, and potential of everything around him.

"Hey, sir! Are you crazy? The sky is ending, and you're just enjoying a drink?" the guard whose arm still worked shouted from behind the counter.

"Stop yelling. Your voice attracts them," Maxwell said flatly.

"Who are they?! Don't act smart!"

*Smash!*

The cafe's front window shattered. Something jumped in with incredible speed. It looked like a wolf, but its skin wasn't furry; instead, it was covered in sharp silver scales. Its eyes glowed red, and its saliva dripped, melting the cafe tiles because it was acidic.

[LEVEL 1: SCAVENGER DOG]

[WEAK POINT: BASE OF THE BACK NECK]

"Monster! There's a monster!" the waiter shrieked hysterically.

The Scavenger Dog immediately turned toward the source of the sound. It prepared to leap under the table where the waiter was hiding.

"Over here, dog," Maxwell called in a low voice that demanded attention.

The monster turned its gaze to Maxwell. With a single vicious leap, it lunged toward Maxwell's neck with wide-open jaws.

Maxwell did not dodge. He simply shifted his body an inch to the side. His movement was precise, a remnant of a hundred years of fighting experience on the front lines of death. He picked up the silver spoon lying on the table with a speed that normal eyes couldn't catch.

*Sleb!*

The handle of the silver spoon stabbed exactly at the base of the back of the monster's neck.

"Cking!"

The monster let out a short noise before collapsing to the floor, dead instantly, even before its body could touch Maxwell.

[FIRST HUMAN TO KILL A MONSTER]

[ACHIEVEMENT BONUS DETECTED: INITIAL ECHO]

[POINTS GAINED: 500]

Maxwell did not smile. To him, this was just a boring routine. He walked toward the monster's carcass, then calmly stomped on its head until it was crushed to retrieve a small glowing stone from inside.

"Y-you... you killed that thing?" The guard stared at Maxwell as if he were a devil more terrifying than the wolf.

"This is just the opening," Maxwell replied, putting the energy stone into his pants pocket.

"How do you know how to kill it? You... you're behind all of this, aren't you?!" the guard shouted again, now pointing a pistol taken from his waist. A standard security guard pistol.

Maxwell turned slowly. His eyes stared directly at the muzzle of the gun without a single tremor.

"Don't point that thing at me unless you are ready to lose your own life," Maxwell said.

"I don't care! You have to explain what's happening!"

"The world you know has ended, little mouse. From now on, power is everything. And you... have no power."

Maxwell took one step forward.

"Don't move closer! I'll shoot! I'll really shoot!"

*Bang!*

The bullet flew. But for Maxwell, the bullet moved incredibly slowly. In his Absolute Knowledge vision, the bullet's trajectory was clearly visible before the trigger was pulled. Maxwell tilted his head slightly; the bullet grazed the air by his ear and shattered a syrup bottle behind him.

"You missed," Maxwell said, now standing directly in front of the guard.

He grabbed the man's face and smashed it against the concrete wall with enough force to crack the building's structure.

Thud!

"Aargh!"

The pistol dropped. Maxwell picked it up, disassembled the magazine in one motion, and tossed the components into the trash.

"You're not worthy to hold a weapon in this era. Go hide in the corner and pray your luck lasts five more minutes."

"P-please help me, sir..." The cafe attendant's voice emerged again from under the table. "I don't want to die here."

Maxwell glanced at his watch again. 13:05.

"Come out. What's your name?"

"V-Vania..."

"Not you. You're useless to me right now," Maxwell said harshly. His absolute knowledge displayed data for everyone present, but none were of interest except the information that Viana Enderson would pass by the front of the cafe in ten minutes during her escape.

Maxwell walked toward the exit, stepping over scattered glass shards.

"Sir! Where are you going? It's dangerous out there!" shouted the attendant.

"I have a date with the future," Maxwell replied without looking back.

On the street, the scene was far more terrifying. Buildings were on fire. Giant flying creatures began descending from dimension holes, snatching up panicked citizens. Screams of despair filled the air.

A wealthy man in an expensive suit, escorted by several bodyguards, just got out of a black limousine in front of the cafe. That was Hendra, the man the attendant had been waiting for.

"Hey, you! Kid! Where are the cafe keys? Open up! This is where I'm going to hide!" shouted Hendra, gasping for breath.

Maxwell stopped right in front of him. "Your place isn't here, Hendra."

Hendra frowned, his sweaty face looking angry. "How do you know my name? Where are the cafe keys?! Give them to me quickly or I'll report you to the police!"

Maxwell laughed softly. A laugh that sounded terrifying amid the rain of apocalyptic screams.

"Police? In this world? Go ahead and call them if anyone wants to save the remaining fat in your gut."

"Insolent! Take his bag from him!" Hendra commanded his bodyguards.

Two burly bodyguards tried to tackle Maxwell. To Maxwell, they were merely slow-moving data clusters with no clear attack patterns. With two short blows to the solar plexus, both bodyguards collapsed, clutching their stomachs and spitting out bitter fluid.

Hendra backed away, his legs shaking. "Who... who exactly are you?"

Maxwell grabbed Hendra's collar, pulling him in until their noses almost touched. The disgusting smell of fear from the man was sharp.

"I am the one who will make sure you feel every second of suffering in this new world. But not now. Right now, I need your vehicle."

Maxwell threw Hendra onto a pile of trash by the roadside with a light but powerful toss. He then got into the limousine, which was still running.

"M-my car! Don't run off with my car!" Hendra tried to crawl.

Vroom!

The limousine sped off, crashing into other vehicle wreckage and a small monster that tried to block the way. Maxwell drove with one hand, his eyes focused on coordinates displayed on a digital map in his mind—the location of the first artifact he needed to secure before the phony hero faction could take it.

[ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE CONNECTED: ARTIFACT 'ANCIENT SOVEREIGNTY RING' DETECTED 3 KM TO THE WEST]

"In ten seconds, the first gate will open at the intersection ahead," Maxwell whispered to himself.

Sure enough. Exactly ten seconds later, the road asphalt in front of him exploded, giving rise to a fifty-meter high column of black light. A giant figure the height of a two-story house emerged from it, wielding a massive axe made of bone.

[LOCAL LEVEL BOSS: THE GRAVEYARD GUARD]

People on the street who saw the giant instantly lost hope. Some could only fall to their knees in resignation as the massive axe began to swing, preparing to flatten the area.

Maxwell Sullivan, however, pressed the gas pedal deeper. The limousine launched straight toward the giant's leg.

"Time for the harvest," he said in an absolutely cold tone.

He jumped out of the speeding car, executing a perfect landing. The limousine hit the giant's leg and exploded, creating a huge fire that distracted the boss.

Maxwell pulled out a folding knife he had taken from the cafe counter earlier. A cheap knife that others would dismiss as trash, but in his hands, it glittered with a golden aura.

One second. Two seconds. Maxwell disappeared from sight and appeared on the giant's shoulder.

"Look at me, Monster. Your King has returned."

The knife plunged into the giant's central nervous system weak point. Ear-splitting screams echoed across the city as the gatekeeper collapsed just minutes after its arrival.

Maxwell Sullivan stood on top of the giant's carcass, staring at the ruined city with eyes as deep as an icy ocean. There was no mercy, no fear. He was an anomaly among billions of panicking souls. He was the Absolute King who had just woken up from his hundred-year nightmare.

"Welcome to the end of the world," Maxwell whispered, discarding the knife, which was now blunt. "And welcome to my kingdom."