I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 0

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: Xrecker

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I lay sprawled on the floor, staring at the message window hovering before my eyes.

Just a moment ago, it had read 60.

Three seconds passed, and it became 57.

Now, it was 56.

I first realized it represented time around the age of ten.

That’s because that’s when I learned how to tell time.

Some kids my age had figured it out earlier, but well…

That’s when I learned.

Those were the numbers I saw back then.

131,306 hours.

It was only when I learned about time at ten years old that I understood these numbers represented time and that they were counting down.

A psychiatrist once asked me when I first started seeing it. I was seven or eight, maybe.

I told him I’d probably seen it since birth, and he gave me medication.

Pills that made me incredibly drowsy.

I hated those pills, so I lied and said I didn’t see it anymore. My parents were overjoyed, my grandparents were thrilled, and the psychiatrist looked pleased.

After that, I never told anyone about the message window.

Being dragged to the psychiatrist since childhood because of this message window… was it all bad?

Not entirely.

It wasn’t just a countdown timer.

Sometimes, when a mischievous kid at school tried to push me from behind or trip me, a new message would appear.

I’d just sidestep them. That’s why my nickname was Ninja.

Thanks to the message window, I never lost a fight against those school show-offs who challenged me, but fighting wasn’t my thing.

Even when I won, it was because the messages told me what to do, not because I was a good fighter. Winning or losing, it just felt awful. Fighting just wasn’t for me.

I preferred playing games, reading comics and novels, you know, enjoying life.

Hmm…

Was it middle school? Or maybe sixth grade?

I calculated when this countdown started and when it would end.

Since I could remember seeing it from a very young age, I assumed it had been there since birth.

219,000 hours from the moment I was born.

It was set to hit zero precisely on my 25th birthday.

As I graduated high school, retook the college entrance exam, entered university, and finished my military service, I grew closer and closer to 25.

The more the time dwindled, the more it bothered me. So much so that I quit my part-time job last month while waiting to go back to school.

What would happen when it reached zero?

Was it my lifespan?

Was I… going to die?

With those thoughts swirling in my head, how could I possibly focus on a part-time job?

That’s why I was lying on my bed in my gosiwon near the university, watching the message.

Six seconds left.

What would happen at zero?

Would I die?

Three seconds left.

If I die…

I hope it doesn’t hurt.

Two seconds.

One second.

The countdown ended.

The timer vanished.

And a new message appeared.

…?

Chosen One?

Huh. The message disappeared.

A new message appeared.

…What?

…The apocalypse?!

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