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

The moment Yun Xi's fingers touched the seed, time screamed.

Not audibly, not physically—but in the way everything bent. Past, future, and even forgotten possibilities collided around him. The world vanished, and he stood in a space where only regret lived.

Endless echoes swirled around him. People he'd saved. People he hadn't. Entire timelines born from moments he didn't even remember making. The Seed wasn't just a relic—it was sentient. It held him still, like a parent cradling a child and showing him everything he failed to protect.

He saw the day Yue Lan died in his first life.

He saw the betrayal from the Academy Council.

The moment the city burned because he hesitated.

The day he stood alone, with the Echoes fading from the world, whispering "You were too late."

> "Do you still wish to remember?"

"Yes," Yun Xi whispered. "Even if it hurts."

> "Then you shall remember what no one else does."

In a violent flash, he was thrown backward.

Outside the Seed's vision realm, Yue Lan watched as Yun Xi collapsed against the altar. Light poured from his eyes. His skin shimmered as though dipped in living memory. The Echoes surrounding them backed away.

"He's unlocking something forbidden," said the shadow Echo. "Something that cost the first Echo King his life."

Suddenly, Yun Xi's body jerked—and his voice, low and torn, murmured one phrase:

The crystal Echo froze. "What did he say?"

Yun Xi sat up, his breathing ragged. "Sector Five. We thought it was lost during the Fold Wars. But it wasn't. It was sealed."

Yue Lan gasped. "You… remember that?"

He nodded slowly. "I saw it. I lived it. It was me who sealed it."

Yue Lan stepped closer, kneeling beside him. "So what does that mean?"

"It means there's still hope," Yun Xi said. "It means the Reclaimers aren't just trying to erase us—they're trying to prevent us from reaching what's buried in Sector Five."

The glyph altar behind them began to pulse with a new rhythm. The Seed floated off it, spinning rapidly, then shattered into twelve motes of golden light.

> [Memory Seed Acquired: First Regret – Rank S]

Outside the Chamber, time cracked again—another Reclaimer breached the fold, this one larger, darker, covered in tendrils of fragmented futures.

The Echoes readied for battle, but Yun Xi stood up, eyes burning with truth.

"I remember you," he whispered to the monster. "You're the one who erased my sister."

And then, without fear, he walked forward.

Chapter 27: The First Regret