บท 1: The Reincarnator

[Eva]

A month before.

Eva woke up in an alternate dimension that was on the brink of an impending apocalypse. This world was similar to her own before but with some notable differences. She soon realized that her consciousness had somehow entered the body of her alternate self in this dimension just before the Apocalypse struck.

That was how it worked when an [ORIGINAL] died, or so she was told. Since this was her first time reincarnating into her [COPY's] body, she didn't know what to expect.

They said when an [ORIGINAL] was killed, they would find themselves living in their other self's identity in an alternate world, anywhere between past or present, with no regard to the actual time, with no memory of their previous lives.

But in this case, she had her memory intact. It was because she acquired the [GREEN CARD] at the last minute before she was killed.

However, her fear was that . . . she might not have enough [COPIES] left to take over in the future if she kept dying. And another thing, her abilities were all gone, and she was back to square one with a very weak, and if she might add very frail body.

Her original body got destroyed – her body, which was hardcoded with all the necessary skills to survive, was shattered to pieces by a powerful [FALLEN]. And what was left of her was her consciousness trapped into this ordinary physique that probably couldn't even lift ten kilos of rice.

So that meant she had no time to be wasting around. She had a lot of things to do.

If this world was the same as her previous one, then that meant that she was back to stage one, and stage one was the hardest because of her mortal body, and the longest – though only this time, she would be more prepared and have knowledge of the future events.

Eva was disoriented at first but quickly realized the gravity of the situation. She knew that she needed to prepare a lot of things for the upcoming Apocalypse as time was running out.

But first things first, she immersed in her other self's memory. If her parents in her original world were alive before the Apocalypse, then in this world, they were already dead – a car accident.

Her mother survived at first but was in a coma, but she might as well be dead, for the machines were the only one that was keeping her alive.

And since she was still a minor at that time, it was left to her relatives to decide everything, and her mother ended up ten feet under while they stole their properties and money.

And by the time she was eighteen, her relatives had already managed to transfer all her parent's properties into their names. As of now, she was living off of her parents' insurance which wasn't much, thanks to her greedy relatives.

Part of her wanted her parents alive to see and hug them. She missed them so, so much. It felt so long . . . but most parts wanted them gone so she didn't have to see them die the second time around. She didn't want to feel that kind of pain again.

Eva bit her thumb. Money was useless after a month. It's just a piece of paper that she chewed in the past to sate her hunger.

However, at this moment, it was a problem since she needed money to move around during this stage.

Eva looked over at the calendar plastered in her one-bedroom apartment. The date was October 20, 20XX.

A month . . .

Exactly a month the Apocalypse would arrive.

Eva would never forget that date, no matter how many times she traveled to other dimensions.

That meant she only had a month to temper this body and prepare it for the upcoming Armageddon. She had to hasten her evolution because that was the only thing that would keep her alive.

First things first, she needed to acquire money to buy all the things she needed and prepare for the Apocalypse – and she might have an idea of what to do.

Eva launched from her bed and stumbled on the floor, face first.

Fuck!

She didn't curse before, but after going through four dimensions, it became a second language to her.

Her build was different now. Even her height was shorter, and the muscles in her thighs and arms were so weak that they shook when she pulled her weight up.

How weak was this body that she was out of breath from just moving around?

She scrambled off the floor, didn't bother to take a bath, and just threw whatever clothes she had in her drawer and went out of her apartment.

The hot, dry air caught her on the face, and her eyeballs burned from the glares.

Shit.

Eva hissed. She forgot that her body didn't evolve yet, and weather conditions easily affected her. Feeling that she would waste time by going back to get a hat and sunglasses, she quickly called for a cab.

Inside the car, the cold of the aircon and the shades from the glares and sun were greatly welcomed.

"Where to?" The driver asked, peeking at her from the mirror.

"To A List Life Insurance Company," Eva replied, and the engine roared to life.

She would withdraw all her parents' money from the insurance. Still, she knew that it wouldn't be enough to buy all the things she needed, but it would have to do.

She had a plan, though.

In Zone A, there were a lot of properties that the billionaires owned, and sometimes, they even forgot that they owned them from the sheer amount of real estate in their portfolio.

One mansion in particular, located on a private hill, was long forgotten. It wasn't abandoned. No. It was a vacation house of a Prince who liked to tour around the world. And right now, no one was living there.

She knew because she went there in her past life together with the others. They just happened to stumble upon it when they were chased by the [FALLENs]. Their initial plan was to hide in the mountains but they chance upon the house.

And ever since, it had become their sanctuary. That house played a big part why she had survived her first Apocalypse.

No one should have live there at this time since the prince was in another country, and he wouldn't be visiting anytime soon. The maintenance and maids only came to repair and clean the mansion a week before the Prince would arrive, so the mansion was deserted right now.

The mansion was located a few miles from the city, overlooking the ocean. It was literary built at the side of a mountain surrounded by forest on all sides except its front, which opened to its own private road. It had only two entry and exit. One via road, while the other via helicopter. It was a very secluded place that only a few knew of.

The best thing about the house was the multiple water storage tanks and generators built in the area. Since it was located in a remote part of the map, the prince made sure that he had enough water and electricity to last him for ages if he was vacationing in this mansion.

If there were only one or two people using the place, then it would surely last her for a year. She just had to make sure that she would fill the tanks to the brim, have a lot of gas reserves for the generators, and be frugal in consuming her resources.

It was perfect!

Eva took a deep breath after formulating all her plans in her head. She listed all the things down on her phone so she wouldn't forget.

After which, she viewed the scenery outside of the car's window in a half-daze state. The tall buildings and landscape were a welcome sight compared to the ruins she had seen in the past few years.

There weren't many people on the streets, though. The few who did have sleeves, sunglass, hats, and umbrellas with them for the heat. They also have that portable fan around their neck.

It was starting. Eva thought. Strangely calm and unbothered, knowing that more than ninety percent of the population would die.

She had seen her fair share of deaths. If someone was dying on the road right now, she would just walk over them and proceed with her business. That was how indifferent she had become.

The years of fighting for her life in other apocalyptic dimensions had ironed her, steeled her heart, and made her into an emotionless machine that only clung to life.

Sentiments would only get you killed.