fynovel Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter 1: PrologueDeath is the only certainty we’re given at birth. Some embrace it with grace. Others ignore it until it arrives. But me—I’ve feared it every day of my life. Not for its pain, not even for what might come after. I fear death because it ends everything.
For most, life feels endless—until it doesn’t. But for me, even in my youth, it always felt too short. Like a clock I could hear ticking in the background, louder with each passing year.
I tried to drown that sound in success.
I’ve seen death take many—children, the elderly, the young. And with every loss, it planted something in me: fear. A deep, gnawing fear.
I earned power, influence, and wealth beyond imagination—but the one thing I never owned was time.
In my pursuit of success, I sacrificed everything else. In my youth, I believed money could buy happiness. I chased it obsessively. And while I was so focused on building an empire, time silently slipped away. Now, in my sixties, I see what I lost—moments, dreams, life itself.
And now... I want that time back.
I am willing to go to any length to reclaim it.
"Sir, all clear."
The voice snapped me from my thoughts.
A man stood before the old man—tall, bald, wearing a mask, his body streaked with blood. He held an automatic weapon casually, like it was part of him.
"Sir, all clear. We can go inside now."
I opened my eyes fully and looked around.
Flames raged around me. The jungle behind us smoldered, a battlefield carved by merciless efficiency. My men—mercenaries with dead eyes and expensive augmentations—stood over the corpses.
I stood, leaning on my cane, and stepped forward.
Immortality may be a fantasy to most—but not to me. After decades of re
"What do you want?"
The question echoed through the space, into my very mind.
I paused.
I remembered—The dreams I abandoned.
And I answered:
"I want control. Over life. Over death. Over everything! I want to never be powerless again—not against time, not against death, not against loss."
Suddenly, clapping.
Eerie. Slow. Mocking.
"Tempting. But you must earn it."
From the glowing light ahead, twisted beings emerged—grotesque creatures that looked like nightmares made flesh.
They attacked.
"Protect the Chairman!" the men shouted.
Gunfire erupted. Blood painted the stones again.
But I didn’t flinch. My eyes stayed locked on the light ahead. I moved toward it, one step at a time, ignoring the chaos behind me.
There, at the end of the path, stood a massive, warped mirror. It shimmered unnaturally—like liquid, like a portal.
And within it, I saw what I had spent a lifetime searching for.
Just a few steps away.