SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God Chapter 1: Second chance

It was early morning.

Soft sunlight bled through the curtains, casting streaks of gold across the messy floor of the apartment. In the air, specks of dust drifted quietly. A man lay sprawled across the bed, snoring loudly. He was deeply unconscious, looking as though he hadn't slept this peacefully in years.

Then came a sudden bang, bang, bang.

The door rattled violently, as if someone intended to kick it right off its hinges. Damon jerked awake and sat up groggily.

Another knock followed, even louder and more furious than the first.

He stumbled out of bed, rubbing sleep from his tired eyes and muttering curses. "If this is another delivery I didn't order..."

He pulled the door open.

And he froze.

Standing there, silhouetted by the morning sun, was a woman who appeared to have stepped straight out of a high-fashion catalog.

She was stunning, almost dangerously so. Long blonde hair flowed in lazy waves over a crimson jacket that fit her perfectly, making the world feel surreal. Her legs were long and toned, and she carried herself with effortless confidence. Her beauty possessed an impossible, cinematic quality—the kind teenage boys would hide away in glossy magazines under their pillows.

But her blue eyes...

They were freezing. Unblinking. They lacked even a trace of emotion.

Damon’s mouth hung open. How was she here? Why was she here? He stood there like a statue, staring at her as his brain completely short-circuited.

A flicker of disgust crossed her beautiful face, but Damon didn't notice. He wasn't staring because of her looks. He was staring because this woman should not be here right now!

“Your mail.” The ice-cold beauty reached out her hand.

When Damon failed to react, she shoved a small, matte-black envelope into his grip and turned on her heel as if the interaction was finished. Her boots clicked once against the floor before she stopped at the apartment directly across from his.

She opened her door, stepped inside, and shut it in his face. She was gone.

Damon stood there for a long moment, completely stunned, before he rushed back into his studio apartment. He collapsed onto the bed, his chest heaving. He was having a panic attack.

Why was she here? What was going on?

He obviously knew the woman. He had known her a long time ago, so why was she appearing now?

He scanned his surroundings frantically and realized his entire apartment looked different. It felt like she belonged here and he was the one out of place. This was his old apartment, the one he had moved into after leaving his parents' house.

He closed his eyes as he was overwhelmed by pain and frustration. This place had witnessed both his greatest moments and his lowest points.

“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no... it’s impossible.”

He sprinted to the closet and pulled it open. Hanging inside was an old hoodie he hadn’t laid eyes on in years. His breath hitched. He turned to the desk and flipped open his laptop. The login screen appeared, featuring a wallpaper of a half-naked Nicole Kidman. With trembling fingers, he opened the calendar widget.

The date staring back at him was March 3rd, 2042.

Damon stumbled backward, falling into his chair as if his knees had turned to jelly. That was three years ago. It was the exact day Earth Online was launched.

The color drained from his face. Somehow, in some way, he had returned. He was back before the betrayal. Before his downfall. Before Aiden had stabbed him in the back and stolen everything he owned.

Damon gripped his head, cradling it between his palms. How did this happen? The last thing he could recall was standing in the Resurrection Lake to reset his character and start over from scratch. He had planned to create a new character and fight his way back to the top one more time.

This wasn't something players were advised to do, because a character reset came with heavy penalties. They would naturally gain fewer stats per level and required more experience points to level up, along with several other drawbacks.

However, Damon was already at rock bottom. Because of his guild mate and his so-called best friend, everything he had built had been destroyed in a single day.

Bloodreign.

The legendary artifact he was supposed to claim. The item that would have secured his name at the top of the leaderboards. He had done everything right. He had a maxed-out build. He had the first-clear pathing. He had worked tirelessly for days on the hidden quest.

But in the end, none of it mattered. Aiden had revealed his true colors just before the final phase and stabbed him through the back, live on a stream. The kill, the loot, and the credit were all stolen by him.

Normally, this wouldn't have been the end, but this was his hidden quest boss, and the drop was a requirement for his special class. Without that item, the backlash was too severe, and the quest failure resulted in a massive penalty.

Damon had been left paralyzed within the game, his character bugged beyond any hope of recovery. He was crippled with no escape. The guild abandoned him. The community mocked him.

And Damon had never truly recovered.

Until last night.

He had returned to Earth Online despite everything. Not to win or to climb the ranks. He just wanted to bury what was left of his pride and start as a new low-level player. He had stripped off his gear and deleted it. He had walked into the Resurrection Lake and confirmed the irreversible reset.

Right. That was when he had fallen asleep, and when he woke up again...

He was here. Back in his old apartment, back in his old body, and somehow, defying all logic, back in time.

Three years ago. March 3rd, 2042. The morning everything started.