Chapter 2

Zhang Xuan awoke with a shock, his body covered in cold sweat. It was just a dream, he told himself sternly. But even as he did, he could still see the gruesome image of his own death vividly in his mind.

 

It had felt so real... As if he had actually relived the experience. Even now, he could feel the pain and terror of that moment as if it was happening all over again.

 

"Damn, the world didn't really end did it? It was all just a dream!" Zhang Xuan shouted to himself, but felt a strong gut feeling otherwise. He reached out quickly in desperation to his phone nearby.

He needed to check the date now more than ever, his eyes shot up upon disabling the lock screen after several attempts. His excursion back into the past had made him nearly forget his password!

 

It was 2/1/2030.

 

"Two months before the apocalypse...Have I really gone back two months!?"

 

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs from his mind, Zhang Xuan got up from his bed and walked over to the window. The sun had not yet risen, but the sky was already beginning to lighten up.

"What a good sight."

Zhang Xuan said, relieved to see a tranquil city instead of the apocalyptic nightmare he was in. It felt so foreign, so unusual to see something like this instead of a hell on earth!

 

He stared out into the empty street below for a moment as if entranced. Then he began to turn back to his bed, awkwardly standing in place. His mind was only now beginning to process what had happened.

Zhang Xuan had returned to the past.

 

"Oh man...The world really did end!" With a heavy heart, Zhang Xuan could feel a burning sense of anxiety within him. Despite being born anew, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming wave of grief and denial at having been sent back to the past.

 

"I thought I had finally escaped this god-forsaken world...but instead, I went back in time? What was the point of all my struggle then?"

 

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. After all, there was no use getting worked up over something that could not be changed.

 

He had survived long enough to not die instantly. He had been given a second chance.

 

All he could do was learn from his mistakes and move forward. He would never allow himself to be so weak and helpless again - never again would he allow himself to die like that.

 

From this day onwards, he swore to become stronger than anyone else in this world...!

"I will change my fate! And grab the bull by the horns to not die like I did before!" Zhang Xuan dramatically exclaimed to himself in his mind.

He could not speak too loud, otherwise he would wake up his parents!

Zhang Xuan cursed to himself, he had to get out of this cramped apartment quickly.

 

With a burning sense of purpose, Zhang Xuan set his sights on the future and began making plans for how he would prepare for the apocalypse to come. He knew that if he wanted to make it through this disaster, he had to start training and preparing as soon as possible.

Cultivation techniques may have come into the world after a few days, but any initial preperations he could make would boost his strength immediately!

The greatest dangers would come when he had no cultivation, no special powers to rely upon. People are at their most dangerous when you are on equal footing with them.

"I must train, this body is too weak!" Zhang Xuan got into a dramatic monologue within his head, imagining himself as a great Manhua hero like the comics he had read.

"It's really just like in the Manhuas, I can't believe it! Time for me to be overpowered!!!" Zhang Xuan decided upon an initial exercise to test, a simple one that would measure his might and easily build up his strength.

The Push-up.

He forgot how strong he was at this point in time, Zhang Xuan bent down and got on the ground to preform one pushup.

"If I can't achieve this! Then I am unworthy of this regression!!!"

Zhang Xuan was ready to begin the most intense training of his entire life. He had never preformed any physical labor before the apocalypse. The Turmoil of always being a loser in Gym class flashed through Zhang Xuan's mind, as if to motivate and inspire him. He could always remember being last place in the track meets, failing at every sport possible, and never being able to do atleast one situp.

This would surpass any tribulation, any struggle, any battle to the death in his apocalypse life.

As he crouched down for the pushup, Zhang Xuan's feeble arms almost collapsed instantly. Pressing down as if his life depended on it.

"Gah!!!! My body, my arms! Everything..It's so heavy!!!"

Zhang Xuan proceeded to push harder, his arms barely lifting his body above the ground. "It's not over yet!!"

After a few seconds of struggle, he finally achieve a single push up. A resounding wave of victory washed over Zhang Xuan's body and mind. He felt confident, cool and accomplished solely from this one pushup.

"Finally! I did it!" Zhang Xuan was profusely sweating, laying back on his bed in exhaustion from this exercise. "That was really the hardest exercise I've ever done! I can't...I can't believe I've surpassed this bodies limits already!"

Zhang Xuan was beaming with pride, his fragile body barely able to move. Until a thought struck him.

Was this all he could do?

The tribulations of the future would be far more physically demanding, in the face of reality this progress would be too meager!

"Hmph! I wont be satisfied with just this. I will need to work harder!" Zhang Xuan stood up, ready to motivate himself. He dramatically tied a headband from an old shirt around his head to symbolize his motivation and determination.

"I will not die like a dog...!"

He bent down, ready to do another push up.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

He screamed, but only in his mind. He didn't dare to provoke his parents with such a fragile and weak body currently.

After spending several minutes working out, Zhang Xuan had managed to achieve a basic series of twenty pushups, twenty squats and a few other exercises combined into the mix.

"Oh god, I feel like I am going..To die!!"

Zhang Xuan felt his muscles burn with an intense soreness. He was currently resting against the bed.

 

He started working out every day, studying various combat techniques and skills, and readying himself for whatever challenges would lie ahead.

 

As the days littered with his best efforts slipped by, Zhang Xuan became more determined than ever to create a future where no one could overpower him - a world where he was at the very top of everything. For better or for worse, he had been given a second chance...and nothing would stop him from seizing it with both hands.

 

His family became perplexed at the sudden change in Zhang Xuan's habits. His mother and father didn't know what to make of it. Zhang Xuan ignored everyone in his family and was not speaking to them. He would only continue his routine, ghosting and ignoring responding to anyone in the family. It was as if he were a robot to them, an automaton that made strange screaming noises in his room while exercising.

 

"What's wrong with you, son? You've been acting so strange lately," his mother said to him one day. It had been 3 days since he started exercising.

 

"I'm fine, mom. I just have a lot on my mind," Zhang Xuan replied. The look in his eyes didn't change. In the future, his family almost got him killed multiple times. One day, they were seperated.

 

He never saw them again.

 

Zhang Xuan's mother sighed, staring at her stubborn son.

 

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" she pressed. Zhang Xuan's mother looked at him with a gentle look in her eyes of concern. Zhang Xuan felt his mental defences crumble at the sight of it. How could a son hate and reject his own mother so easily?

 

"No, I'm fine. I just need some time alone, that's all," he insisted. He needed to do this, he needed to do this before he gave up and surrendered. Before he thought about telling them and helping them.

 

Zhang Xuan's mother was worried about him, but she respected his wishes and left him be. She knew that her son had always been a private person and that he would come to her when he was ready to talk.

 

In the meantime, she could only hope that whatever was troubling him would resolve itself soon.

Five days since his regression, his body was beginning to look more toned. His former flabbiness was now replaced with strength and greater agility. He felt more confident and outgoing, his face becoming sharper in looks as well.

Zhang Xuan was currently looking in the mirror, impressed by his current progress. "Wow, I've really outdone myself! But...Something isn't adding up." He began to deeply ponder, thinking back to his exercise habits.

Every time he exercised, it was like right after he finished...He would be instantly refreshed with a burst of strength! Zhang Xuan's muscles rarely stayed sore, but only after he completed a work out.

He contemplated deeply the meaning of this, "Is my strength perhaps sealed? Could I have regressed with some aspect of my future self!" His eyes beamed with excitement, but then he slapped himself.

"I must not get carried away, I have to focus on training. Or surely I may die!"

 

Zhang Xuan had currently just finished a intense work out. Every time he felt doubts inside of himself. Zhang Xuan concentrated, thinking deeply back to the day of his death. "I won't let myself end up like that again!"

 

A chance like this was something he could only dream of.

 

He had read several w*******s depicting heroes who reincarnated in different worlds. As well as stories showing ordinary people regressing back to the past.

 

This was his chance to prove himself in the new world. His seemingly enhanced body only made this easier.

 

With a strong body, he would be able to survive the initial disasters much easier. But a strong body was far from enough.

 

It was time for Zhang Xuan to ruin his credit score.

 

By taking out massive loans, Zhang Xuan would be able to amass any and all of the supplies he would need to survive until the spiritual energy awakened within the air.

 

Zhang Xuan got on his computer, and opened every shady loan processing website he possibly could. He took out hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans via them.

 

Despite being a loser, and someone with little achievements in life. He had one advantage from living with his parents.

 

A high credit score.

 

His family placed his name on all of their credit cards, causing him to have a perfect credit score of 800 due to him never using them.

Zhang Xuan dramatically opened the shadiest loan page he possibly could. It didn't matter how risky or unusual the place he took the loan from was, he never had to worry about paying them back at all!

Zhang Xuan's family however caught wind of his plan to tank his credit score.

 

His families concern for him greatly rose, but he ignored all of their pleading as he took out the loans. Once the money had processed, he resolved to permanently distance himself from them. "Mother, Father. Forgive me, but I must sacrifice my credit score for the greater good!"

By the time the money fully processed, only 49 days were left before the apocalypse. His body was beginning to look more masculine, yet toned and lean.

 

"Only 49 days left now..I can't be distracted by them!"

 

However, a figure stood by the door as Zhang Xuan attempted to leave.

 

 

 

"Zhang Xuan, where are you going?" his mother asked.

 

A complex look entered Zhang Xuan's eyes as he stared at his mother. He knew that he couldn't take her with him, but leaving her behind pained him as well.

 

"I'm going on a journey," he replied. "There's something I need to do." Zhang Xuan tried to sound cool and mysterious, just like the manhuas he read. He wanted to feel strong, and like he knew what he was doing.

 

"Can I come with you?" she pleaded to him with large eyes full of sadness. It always stung a mother to have their child walk out on them.

Zhang Xuan gasped, this was playing out like a scene from one of his Manhuas!

 

"No, it's too dangerous," he shakingly said. "I don't want anything happening to you."

He took a dramatic, and serious tone to befit the situation.

 

It was a poor lie. Zhang Xuan had mixed feelings about his family still. He knew they would screw him over in the future. But he still felt regret at the idea of abandoning them. Maybe he could change things, maybe...He didn't have to be this way.

 

"But I can help you!" she exclaimed. "Please, just tell me what's wrong! Whatever it is, we can face it together!"

 

Zhang Xuan was moved by his mother's words, but he knew that it wasn't possible. Everything would only go the same as it did in the future.

 

"Sorry mother. But I can't live with you anymore."

 

 

Tears fell down his mother's face as she watched Zhang Xuan disappear into the distance.

 

But even if it was heart wrenching, Zhang Xuan knew that he had to continue on this new journey alone. Because only by doing so could he break free from his past and truly become a hero in this strange world.

 

Even if it mean't leaving his family to die.

 

"I'm sorry for being so shameless. I will make up for it with my actions in the future!"