Everett opened his eyes.
It felt like waking from a dream so deep that time itself had forgotten him. A warmth lingered in his chest. For once, he hadn't awoken to a scream, a frostbite, or a metaphysical lecture from an ancient dwarf.
Just sleep. Good, long, peaceful sleep.
"…Yo, awake?" came a voice—bright, amused, unmistakably Gloria.
Everett blinked. His vision adjusted slowly. A soft light poured in through the crystalline windows of the mansion. Despite the gentle glow, a stronger beam of warmth pressed against his skin.
"Was… that the sun?" Everett murmured, confused. "Wait, is that—"
"Nope. Don't try guessing it. Second Sun's still gone. That's a plasma skylamp. I installed it myself," Gloria grinned. "Anyway… six months. You've been asleep for six whole months."
Everett rubbed his eyes. "Six months?"
"Yup. Not even kidding. You've got a talent, honestly. I'm starting to think you're Kumbhakaran's long-lost cousin. Except you don't snore loud enough to be a mythological figure."
He gave her a sleepy smile. "Guess I'm living up to the legacy. So… did you make it?"
Gloria crossed her arms dramatically. "What do you think? You're talking to none other than the legendary Mystery Master, Gloria Cheng. Upgraded and still drop-dead fabulous."
Just then, Everett frowned, scanning the room. "Where's Guruji?"
"Living room. Probably talking to the furniture. He'll show up soon—"
"You awake, Everett boy," a rich, echoing voice cut in before she finished.
Guruji Gopalan entered the room as if conjured by fate itself, or more likely, by timing too perfect to be coincidental.
He walked in barefoot, robed in twilight-colored silk and mischief. He raised one hand toward Everett, eyes twinkling.
"You resemble… Kumbhakaran. The one who received the boon—to sleep for six months and awaken for six more. In those waking moons, he devoured divine offerings, filling his belly with the hunger of heaven. And now… you who resemble him shall inherit his hunger. For knowledge. For strength. For the unending feast of time. I bless you."
Everett sat upright. "That was a… lot."
Guruji nodded solemnly, then added, "Also, you look more handsome. Not quite as much as me, of course. But you're catching up. And you've got a tattoo in your eye now. That's new."
"T-Tattoo?"
"You didn't know?" Gloria leaned forward. "Check your reflection, sleepyhead."
Everett shuffled to a mirror. A strange, faint glowing glyph shimmered in his left eye—like a gear inscribed with time markings, constantly rotating inward.
Guruji gave a low hum. "Do you feel different? As though this mansion belongs to you? As though time itself hesitates before your gaze?"
"…Actually," Everett whispered, "Yeah. Kind of."
"That's enough mystic drama for part two," Gloria said, grabbing Guruji by the sleeve. "Let him adjust before you start chanting riddles again."
Everett chuckled as they left the room, then sat back down and opened his status panel.
Second Mystery Slots.
He focused on the newly awakened one.
Mystery Slot Two: Chrono-Strain Eyes
You who have watched the fall of eras in a single blink.
You who have seen the death of stars and the birth of new worlds.
You who see the wrinkles in time—
The Eyes of Kronos are now open.
Everett's heart thumped.
Time.
He had heard legends. Of Mystery Classes related to time—how absurdly rare and broken they were. How those blessed with temporal affinity bent the battlefield itself.
Yet as he tried to activate the Chrono-Strain, nothing happened.
His energy surged… but it went nowhere.
It felt like holding a sword without knowing any swordsmanship.
I have the blade, he thought. Now I need to learn how to swing it.
---
After a feast that could only be described as suspiciously gourmet—possibly made by an A.I. kitchen or Guruji's weird moon cheese recipes—Everett joined Gloria and Guruji beneath the mansion's evening dome. Artificial stars flickered above them, simulating night.
His first question pierced the silence.
"How much time… has passed?"
Guruji and Gloria shared a glance.
Then Gloria answered plainly: "Two thousand, eight hundred years."
Silence.
Even the stars in the dome seemed to dim.
"The current timeline," Gloria added, "is 4892 A.E.—After Emergence."
"…Oh."
Guruji broke the tension with a mystic laugh. "Worry not, young traveler. Even the stars are late sometimes. You're merely fashionably overdue."
Everett exhaled slowly. "So… who's the strongest person now?"
Gloria leaned back, eyes half-lidded. "Tier Four. Peak. Right on the cusp of breaking into Tier Five."
Everett swallowed. The path ahead was longer than he had imagined.
Still, he asked the next burning question. "What happened… in all those years?"
Gloria inhaled.
"Ten years after the Second Cosmic Event, we made contact—with another civilization. Six galaxies away. They had been observing us."
She paused.
"In the following thousand years, humanity exploded—figuratively. Dozens of billions became thousands of quadrillion. One planet, then ten. Then thousands. Human civilization became a tide, flooding the Milky Way."
"Conquest?" Everett asked.
"Yes. But not without consequence," Gloria said. "Fifteen hundred years after the event, we had our first interstellar war."
She looked at him solemnly.
"They were called the Varkari. Six-armed, humanoid, red-skinned with emerald eyes. All of them were Berserkers—warrior class. Each additional pair of arms symbolized their mystery tier."
One pair enhanced: Tier One equivalent—Mystery Apprentice
Two pairs: Tier Two—Mystery Master
Three pairs: Tier Three—Mystery Sovereign
Whole body as weapon: Tier Four—Mystery World
Everett whistled. "Sounds brutal."
"It was," Gloria replied. "But we won. Barely. And after that, more came. Some allies, many enemies. Humanity held the galaxy."
Guruji added, "The human population is now in the billions of quadrillions."
"But…" Gloria continued, "we've hit a ceiling."
"Nearby galaxies?" Everett asked.
"Owned. Guarded. Or just too distant. And with great population comes great hunger—for resources, for control. So now? Humanity needs to stabilize."
Guruji stroked his beard. "Imagine winning a lottery of a million suns. Now imagine not knowing how to spend it. That is us."
Gloria nodded. "We are rich, but fragile. We need to earn the next leap, not stumble into it."
Everett sat back, gaze distant.
I slept through it all. Yet somehow… I woke up right when I was needed most.
He looked down at his hand. The faint glimmer of temporal lines shimmered along his fingers.
A whisper in his heart echoed:
You are the Timebreaker. The blink in the flow. The one who wakes when history turns.