The Third Return of the Necrotic Magic Swordsman

[Apartment - New Lumen District]

In the quiet hum of a modest apartment, Evan sat before a newly set-up desktop, his eyes fixed on the bright screen. He had just finished connecting everything, and now, for the first time in this life, he opened the internet browser.

Click.

”So, let me get down to basics, I guess,” he muttered to himself, fingers flying across the keyboard as he entered the web.

This time, he wasn’t looking up news or general information—he was chasing history, hunting the truths he had never bothered to investigate in his previous lives.

He dove deep into old forum archives, guild leader posts, confidential blog entries, and declassified data dumps written by the few who had survived the early chaos.

One particular post by a high-level contributor, , caught his attention.

[Post Excerpt – Timeline Log]Eighty years ago.

Out of nowhere, a global notification appeared in everyone’s vision:

[Prime Nexus System Initialized – Mana Introduction to Planet Ceruleth Confirmed. System Booting...]

No one knew what it meant, and for a while... nothing changed.

But slowly, people began to feel it. The atmosphere grew thicker. Stronger. Energy unknown to the world seeped in, unseen but undeniable. Some humans began to change—sick patients miraculously recovered, elderly folks felt younger, and some even showed abnormal strength.

The world thought it was a blessing.

And then it began.

People started awakening strange powers—controlling fire, manipulating water, lifting buildings, and even reading minds. With no understanding of their powers, some turned to crime, and chaos broke out worldwide.

Armies couldn’t keep up.

Then came the Second Message.

[Mana Density Threshold Reached – Planetary Transformation in Progress...]

That day, the earth roared.

Fissures opened, cracks split entire cities. Dimensional rifts tore through reality, and monsters began pouring out—wolves the size of trucks, serpents with flaming scales, insect swarms that devoured entire districts.

Panic set in.

Civilization began to collapse as humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction.

But there was hope. Some humans—“Awakeners”—were granted access to the System. These individuals could level up and grow stronger, akin to the very monsters they fought. Though vastly outnumbered, they fought back.

The ratio was brutal.

One Level 1 monster was equivalent to a Level 10 human. But the upside? Monster kills gave massive EXP, allowing humans to climb rapidly if they survived.

Just as humanity began to adjust...

The Third Message arrived.

[Ceruleth’s Core Awakens – Planetary Expansion and Mass Evolution Initiated...]

The world exploded—literally and figuratively.

Landmasses expanded. Oceans shifted. Entire human cities vanished under mountains that rose overnight. New continents, forests, and oceans emerged. And with them, even more powerful monsters.

The term “survival” became a luxury.

Humanity was cornered—landless, leaderless, and weaponless. Modern tech proved useless. Guns couldn’t harm monsters. Civilians resorted to makeshift weapons—stone blades, wooden spears. A new word began to rise in common tongues:

“Hunter.”

Then it happened. A group of lucky awakeners managed to kill a Level 10 monster—a feat considered impossible. They were rewarded with a mysterious item: Territory Deployment.

That day, humans built their first safe zone.

And that zone became a sanctuary. Word spread fast, and people gathered, forming the first human-controlled lands. More awakeners killed monsters, and more Territories were founded.

The concept of Guilds emerged—groups led by powerful awakeners who provided protection and structure. Many of today’s top guilds were born from that very chaos.

Villages grew into towns. Human power soared.

But then… stagnation.

Monster territories were dense, wild, and suited to their kind. Human defenses grew strong, but expansion slowed. The rate of progress fell to a crawl.

Then came the Fourth Message—a neutral yet ominous one.

[Ceruleth’s Planetary Evolution Completed. Estimated Mass: 10.2x Original Volume. Conditions for Next Evolution: Unknown.]

The shock didn’t end there.

Lords and guild leaders discovered a brutal fact:The total human-controlled land was now 0.89% of the world’s surface.

A devastating decline from the 80–90% humans once owned.

Humans reeled.

Motivated by humiliation, they doubled efforts. Over the decades, land was reclaimed, but only 10% of the new world had been wrested back. It wasn’t enough.

Just as people began adapting again, another challenge loomed…

[New Global Notification: Challenge Type – D??????? Initiated...]

Evan leaned back from the screen, breath slow.

“So this… this is how it all began. And yet, no one really knows the final challenge,” he murmured, eyes narrowing.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

”But now I do… and this time, I’ll be ready.”

– To be continued –