A New Era Begins

As expected, nothing Dusk wanted to buy at this point in time seemed even remotely suspicious.

"All done. Time to head back. The next step is the most crucial part of the plan… I can't afford even a single mistake," Dusk muttered, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.

He hopped on his bicycle and sped off toward his apartment complex. But fate, as always, had a twisted sense of humor. With a sharp pop, the front tire went completely flat—he had run over a nail left carelessly on the road by some bastard.

'Are you kidding me? Just how unlucky can I be?'

The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly brushed it off. It wasn't worth getting worked up over something this minor.

The rest of the way home wasn't far, so he chose to walk the short distance instead.

Once he arrived at the apartment complex, Dusk didn't go inside. Instead, he stood still, staring at the building while glancing down at his phone.

'Ten minutes from now, the event begins. This building will collapse right along with it. Let's just hope the people inside don't die too fast... otherwise I'll miss out on a massive surge of energy.'

His thoughts drifted back to the trajectory of the original future he remembered. Back then, he had been too terrified to do anything but run—he barely remembered the details of what actually occurred.

"System, any missions?" he asked calmly.

[Currently, there are no active missions, Master. I will notify you immediately if one becomes available.]

"Alright." Dusk nodded slightly, then found a shaded spot nearby and sat down, patiently waiting for the final moments before Earth was forever changed.

3...

2...

1.

"It's time," Dusk whispered, eyes locked onto the row of apartment buildings.

Massive tremors echoed across the land. The sky gradually turned a deep crimson, and the atmosphere itself became dark and twisted—so eerie it defied description.

Cracks split open across the land, forming massive trenches that tore through the earth. From those chasms, new landmasses surged upward.

Hills and mountains grew taller, rising dramatically like they were being pulled skyward. Far across the oceans, the seas raged uncontrollably—tsunamis of unimaginable scale roared across coastlines, swallowing everything in their path.

All across the planet, animals screamed and fled in panic. Humanity was no exception. Most people could do nothing but pray—desperately hoping to survive what they believed was just a cataclysmic earthquake.

Moments later, the crimson hue faded from the sky, and the suffocating, eerie air began to disperse. Everything appeared to return to normal—at least on the surface. But the Earth… the Earth was no longer the same.

In orbit, aboard a space station, the astronauts stared in shock at the planet below. Their eyes were wide, filled with disbelief.

"Did… did the Earth just grow several times larger?"

"Yes... yes. I saw it too."

"Did anyone else notice the moon turned red earlier?"

"What the hell is going on down there? What have they been hiding?"

"We need to report this immediately. This is a Class-Zero emergency!"

. . .

Back on Earth, the devastating quake had caused countless buildings—especially those with weak foundations—to collapse. Naturally, the cheap apartment complex Dusk lived in was among the casualties.

He watched the building crumble, exactly like it had in the original timeline. A faint smirk curled on his lips.

"It's hunting time."

Shouldering a backpack filled with tools for the task ahead, Dusk stepped boldly into the rubble.

[Ding! Mission Triggered.

Objective: Harvest the energy from ten hearts.

Reward: Instantly convert all absorbed energy into personal power.]

The human heart, once merely an organ to pump blood, had awakened to a new function after the world changed.

Now, it wasn't just a biological engine—it had become the core of energy within every living being.

And if one wished to rapidly grow stronger… The simplest, most efficient way was to harvest the energy from others' hearts.

Of course, converting that energy into one's own still required time and focus.

Dusk's footsteps halted the moment the system notification appeared.

The grin on his face deepened, slowly stretching wider with amusement.

"Ha ha ha... Good. This will save me a whole lot of trouble. Thanks, System."

He resumed his steps, walking confidently into the collapsed remains of the apartment building. There was no need to sneak around anymore—after all, a place this cheap never bothered installing surveillance cameras.

Navigating through the debris, Dusk headed straight toward the nearest sound of someone crying for help.

"H-help... someone..."

The faint, hoarse plea made his eyes light up with excitement. There it was—his prey. Weak, helpless, and practically a gift sent just for him.

He followed the broken voice to a pile of rubble, and sure enough, a man trapped beneath chunks of concrete slowly came into view. The man's face was covered in blood, barely clinging to life.

When he saw Dusk, his eyes sparkled with hope. Maybe, just maybe, he might live.

"Please... help me..."

Dusk stepped closer, flashing a cold, detached smile. From his backpack, he calmly pulled out a large, gleaming butcher's knife.

"Help my prey? Ha. I'm no fool. You can die now."

Without hesitation, the blade came down mercilessly.

The man, already on the edge of death, finally drew his last breath—like a candle snuffed out in the wind.

Dusk knelt slightly, ready to cut the heart out, but then paused. A thought struck him. "Hey, System. Do I need to extract the heart manually and absorb it like some kind of animal, or is there a better way?"

[During missions, Master may activate the Fast Absorption Protocol. In other words, you don't need to physically eat the heart. Just focus your will, and the energy will be absorbed automatically. A true villain wouldn't reduce himself to something so crude.]

"So convenient?" Dusk smirked. "Then it seems I won't have to stoop to animalistic methods until I become a Rank-1 Heart Master."

Before reaching that level, he was still just an ordinary human. And for ordinary people, the simplest method of absorbing heart energy… was eating.

In his past life, he hadn't even known about such things. Even if he had, he wouldn't have done it. For the first two hundred years, he still tried to be a good person.

But now? He was different. He didn't like it—but for immortality, he would do anything.