Aashish_Kookna

“If you could relive your life—not to chase fame or fortune, but to right your deepest regrets—would you dare face your own past?”

Yun Fei was an ordinary man in his thirties, living a life soaked in the bitter wine of missed opportunities and mistakes. A failed business, a broken family, friendships turned sour, and the loss of the only girl who truly loved him—his world was a long list of what-ifs and if-onlys. He wasn’t evil, but he had been weak. Not cruel, but often silent when he should have spoken. His was a life not ruined by one catastrophic event—but by a thousand small regrets that, over time, swallowed him whole.

And then he died.

Not in glory, not in battle, not even in some poetic tragedy.

Just… alone. Forgotten.

But death wasn’t the end

Born Again with My Future Regrets

Yun Xi sat with his back against the cold wall of the shattered shelter, his breath still shallow. Beside him, Yue Lan stared at the black scorch mark left by the Reclaimer. Neither of them spoke for a while.

It wasn't just the presence of a Reclaimer that terrified them—it was when it came.

They weren't supposed to appear until the final collapse. Until all the timelines had fractured and humanity stood on the brink. But now, barely months into his return, Yun Xi had already seen one. Worse—fought one.

New trait unlocked: Timeline Distorter (Rank E)

He swiped the notification away. The system was acting like this was a game. But the laws—the natural order of this rewritten world—were clearly cracking.

"Yue Lan," he finally said, "why were you in Sector Twelve? I thought you disappeared after the second fold."

She glanced at him, eyes cautious. "I was looking for it."

Yue Lan reached into her coat and pulled out a piece of strange metal—jagged, humming with quiet energy. Yun Xi's senses recoiled as it passed near him.

"This is a fragment of a Memory Seed," she explained. "Not just any memory. This one holds the first moment time was broken. The origin."

Yun Xi's throat dried. Memory Seeds were theoretical. Even the Echo Scholars had only whispered about them. One Seed could rewrite a person. A dozen? A timeline.

"You shouldn't be carrying that," he said.

"I know," she answered. "But someone is collecting them. Someone worse than the Harvesters. The Reclaimers are just their shadows."

Yun Xi's mind flashed back to the distorted faces on the Reclaimer. It hadn't just attacked him—it had tried to unwrite Yue Lan.

"Then we're going to need help," he muttered.

She nodded. "You have connections, right? From the Echo Academy?"

He stood and opened his system panel. A new interface blinked at the bottom.

> [Echo Network Unlocked – 3/12 Receptive Anchors Found]

The world around them flickered. From distant points in the ruined city, light trails began to converge.

"Who are you calling?" Yue Lan asked.

Yun Xi looked to the sky, a hint of grimness in his expression.

"The forgotten Echoes," he said, "and the ones who never made it past their regrets."

As the three new lights arrived—flickering, unstable forms wrapped in ancient battle gear—Yun Xi felt a chill run through him.

These Echoes hadn't been seen in generations.

One of them turned, and despite lacking a mouth, Yun Xi felt the words:

> "The Reclaimers are not hunting you… they are waking you up."

Chapter 25: The Laws Are Breaking