The anger from that stormy night when he'd been stood up. The torture from that pervert. Braxton clutched the bedsheet tightly in his fists. Was this the end of his life flashing before his eyes? Was he about to die? He forced his eyes wide open, trying to stay awake, but it was no use. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe, each gasp weaker than the last. It felt like his very soul was slipping away. After a few moments of desperate struggle, his eyes slowly closed. The room fell silent. The man on the bed had no pulse. No breath.... Five minutes later, the body twitched. His finger moved. "Arghhh—!" Braxton shot up with a sharp cry, his chest heaving as he gulped greedily for air. His eyes darted around the room in shock. This is the Greenwood Complex. The very apartment I had rented before the apocalypse. What's happening? Hadn't I been beaten to death in the street by raiders? How am I here? Could it be that I had been reborn. Braxton glanced around again, making sure of it—this was the same place he had lived before the world ended. Had he been reborn before the apocalypse even started? The thought made his chest tighten with excitement. He tried to get up, but his body felt drained, too weak to even lift itself off the bed. Heat pressed down on him from all sides, waves rolling through the room until every breath burned his lungs. This isn't the time before the apocalypse. Nope, this felt like the Great Heat. Groaning, he held his head painfully as strange memories rushed in, flooding his mind in broken pieces. When they finally settled, the truth sank in. He had been reborn, yes—but not before the apocalypse. He was back in the middle of the Great Heat. And this life was already nothing like the last. In fact, it was worse. In his first life, he and Tiffany had teamed up with Natalie. Thanks to her mysterious storage space, they had cheated death again and again.Life had been cruel, but they had survived for years. Until Frostfall, he and Tiffany had stayed alive. But in the hunger for power, they turned on Natalie, torturing her to steal the bracelet that held the storage space. That was when everything changed. After Natalie's death, they did get the bracelet—but no matter what they tried, they couldn't open the storage space at all. It was as if the storage space had died along with her. They regretted it, of course. But regret didn't bring her back. During Frostfall, food was easier to keep. They survived by wringing the last scraps of value from Natalie, feeding on her body to stretch their lives for a long time. But without her protection and her storage space, they finally fell to raiders. And yet ... Braxton slapped his face in excitement, hardly able to believe it. I had been reborn. Since fate had give me another chance, it could only mean one thing—I'm the chosen one. The one destined to be the main character. Of course. Fate wouldn't hand out a sharp mind and a handsome face for nothing. For over 20 years he had believed he was meant for greatness. And yet, he had always been bitter. Why had such an incredible gift—the storage space—ended up with Natalie, a mere side character in his story? Worse, she was part of his circle but never his. No matter how he tried, she had never truly belonged to him. But now things were different. Now the script was his. This time, he would stir the world and rise as the strongest powerhouse the apocalypse had ever seen. After a while, his excitement slowly calmed.His lips were cracked, his throat bone-dry. All he wanted was a glass of water. He tried to sit up, but his body refused. Too weak even to leave the bed. Frowning, he searched the memories of this body, digging deeper for the truth of what had happened here. ... How could this life be so pathetic? The apocalypse had been here for barely four months—and I'm already dead? Dead from the heat, of all things! In his last life, Braxton had survived for more than five years. Yet in this one, he hadn't even made it to the fifth month. And the worst part—he'd been violated by a group of men. Braxton gagged, his stomach lurching at the memory.He clenched his jaw and sifted through what he remembered, trying to find the reason for such a huge change. And then it hit him. The biggest difference was Natalie. She hadn't teamed up with him like before. In fact, she had cut him and Tiffany off completely—even before the apocalypse started. Could it be ? His mind raced back to the 14th floor, the armored door, the roar of a chainsaw, and the bayonet sharp enough to draw blood. None of that had existed in his first life. His eyes widened as the truth slammed into him—Natalie had been reborn too! And judging from when she blocked him, she must have come back even earlier, before the apocalypse began. Just great! I just declared myself as the chosen one and fate had already thrown me with this cruel twist.Natalie—the very woman he had betrayed and killed—was alive again. A sworn enemy. How could that happen? And she'd gotten a head start. His anger boiled for a moment, but then he forced himself to calm down. No, it's okay. This wasn't the end. In every great story, the main character always faced a powerful rival before achieving greatness. Natalie must be that rival—the villain in this story. Fine. Let her rise; my body is too weak anyway. Once my body recovered, I'll make my move. And when the time comes, I would make sure she's gone.