SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God Chapter 2: Earth Online

From the very beginning, Damon was obsessed.

He spent countless weeks scouring obscure forums for leaks, analyzing developer interviews, and debating conspiracy theories. Driven by a reckless certainty that defied his parents' warnings, he poured nearly all his savings into the high-end immersion hardware as soon as pre-orders opened. He sensed that this project was far from a typical game. He was right.

Standing now in his modest apartment—the first place he had rented after leaving home—he felt as though he were staring at a past that had never actually ended. His gaze landed on the shelf where his VR helmet sat in its usual spot. Moving with slow, deliberate steps, he reached out and lifted the device.

A storm of questions battered his mind. Was this a hallucination? A vivid dream? How could he possibly be back in this time and place? He tried to apply logic to the situation, but the facts refused to align. The date on the calendar, the familiar walls of the room, even the woman he had encountered earlier—all of it defied the laws of reality.

Yet, in his gut, he knew the truth. This was real.

By some miracle or anomaly, he had been sent back through time.

To be honest, the "how" didn't matter to him—not at this moment. If this second chance was legitimate, he refused to squander even a single heartbeat. Life had cheated him once before. He would not allow a repeat of that failure.

Looking down at the hardware in his grip, he drew a long, grounding breath.

"Let's do it right this time," he whispered to the empty room.

He set the helmet back on the shelf and retreated for a moment. He needed to clear his head and reset his focus.

Entering the bathroom, Damon let the sharp hiss of the shower drown out the silence. Ignoring the heat of the water, he stood beneath the spray, hoping it would wash away the lingering fog of confusion, fear, and the deep-seated grief that still haunted him.

For the first time in years, he didn't feel like a total loser. For the first time, he hadn't woken up burdened by a soul-crushing exhaustion. Fear and uncertainty were still present, of course, but something much more potent was rising beneath them.

Purpose.

He studied his face in the steam-covered mirror. He looked younger and far less weary. The world hadn't yet broken his spirit in this timeline.

Depression had been a silent killer, eroding his will like rust on iron, and Damon had spent months simply decaying. There had been periods where the act of standing up felt like an impossible feat. He had been unable to look his parents or friends in the eye, and even a simple walk outside invited mockery. He had tried to stay strong, but eventually, the weight had crushed him.

This time, however, the script would be rewritten. This time, he possessed the ultimate advantage: foresight.

Damon changed into clean clothes, noting they were in better condition than he remembered. The stains were gone, as were the stacks of old pizza boxes that usually cluttered the corners. The entire apartment seemed to have been restored alongside him. Had he really been this organized once?

With a sigh, he ordered a feast from his favorite Indian spot. He treated himself to extra naan and a mango lassi, savoring the luxury.

When the food arrived, the aroma triggered a wave of comfort and nostalgia. He ate with the desperation of a starving animal. Once finished, he actually took the time to clear the table and wipe it down. He glanced around the room one more time and gave his hand a sharp pinch. He half-expected the illusion to shatter, but the room remained. He was still here, alive and breathing.

Shaking off the last of his nerves, Damon realized he couldn't afford to waste time debating the nature of reality. It was happening, and he had to move. That was all that mattered.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he grabbed a pen and a notepad. Sitting at the table, he began to write. The sheer volume of future events made it difficult to organize his thoughts, but as he focused on that first day, the memories began to flow back in vivid detail.

He recorded every detail he could manage. There were only four hours remaining until the official server launch.

Four hours. It felt like an eternity and a split second all at once.

Damon tapped his pen against the paper, his mind racing through fragments of the future. Significant dates. Critical events. Hidden quest triggers. Exploits that the developers hadn't patched yet. He noted the spawn times of secret vendors and the exact moment the first world event would cause the servers to buckle. His handwriting was a chaotic scrawl, but the information was gold.

While other players would spend their initial hours admiring the scenery or wandering aimlessly, he would be moving with surgical precision. He had a strategy.

He continued writing, detailing experience-stacking methods, specific NPC dialogue paths for secret affinity, and early bosses with hidden loot drops. It felt surreal to document things that, in this timeline, hadn't occurred.

He paused, his pen hovering over the page.

Aiden.

Just thinking the name felt like a physical wound. His former best friend. The person he had trusted above all others.

The man who had publicly destroyed him in front of millions of viewers.

Damon’s jaw tightened, his grip nearly snapping the pen in half. He took a breath and forced his hand to keep moving. Revenge fantasies were a distraction he couldn't afford yet.

First, he needed power.

Everything else would follow.

By the time he stopped, two pages were covered in notes—a rough but effective roadmap for the next forty-eight hours. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was leagues ahead of his previous life. He folded the paper and hid it beneath his keyboard for safekeeping.

He checked the time. Only fifteen minutes left.

Standing up, Damon stretched his limbs and walked back to the shelf.

He picked up the VR helmet, holding it with both hands as the light reflected off its polished surface. He was ready. He sat on the edge of his bed, slid the visor over his eyes, and reclined into a relaxed position.

The internal display flickered to life.

[EARTH ONLINE SYSTEM BOOTING...]

Damon closed his eyes, letting the physical world dissolve into the void of the digital frontier.