The Billionaire's Last Game

Chapter 3: Not Just a Grandson... But a “Son”

An old woman, hunched with time, sat before an unknown figure, a player draped in formal attire, a silent weapon floating at his back like a ghost.

“Oh no, my dear..." the old woman began, her voice soft with memory. "His father... he saved him with his very last breath. I owe it to the System... no, not just the System. I owe it to my grandson, too. You see, his father returned from death... exactly four seconds. Four. But those four seconds were enough to save him," she said warmly, her eyes glistening as if the memory itself threatened to overwhelm her.

"So this man... Kyle’s father. Died... and then came back to life, just to save his son?" the unknown player asked quietly.

"Yes," she whispered, wiping the corner of her eyes. "And from that day on, my grandson vowed to follow the legacy his father left behind."

The player leaned forward, his voice curious yet gentle. "You mentioned owing it to the System. What exactly do you mean?"

The old woman smiled sadly. "If not for the System, my son would never have been given the chance... the chance to awaken, to return, even for a fleeting moment. His body was already too broken to sustain life. He couldn't hold on. But in those precious four seconds, he lived, not to survive, but to see." Her voice cracked, emotion thick in her throat. "To see his son alive. To see his wife waiting beyond this world, at the gates of heaven’s grace."

Meanwhile, where Kyle now stood, those same four seconds unfolded.

The player before him, corrupted and ready to strike the final blow, froze mid-attack. Time itself came to a halt.

Kyle, gifted with a moment that defied reality, moved. In that sliver of eternity, he purified the attacker, freeing her from the corruption that bound her.

As the last heartbeat of the four seconds passed, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Kyle’s vision blurred, darkness washing over him, and he, too, crumpled into unconsciousness.

> System Notification:

Wand Upgrade – Tier: Unknown.

Please Claim Your Reward.

> System: As a System, I Congratulate You: You Are Now an Awakened Player.

> Info: You've acquired the skill of your late father... "Use it Wisely.”

Chapter 3: Not Just a Grandson... But a “Son”

A couple of days had passed.

Kyle had been transferred to a SafeZone, where the System's healers worked tirelessly to mend his shattered body. Even so, it would likely take him more days to recover, and in the four days since his arrival, he had yet to open his eyes.

Across that time, the captains of the major guilds had gathered. Even the Sovereign Guild was present.

They crowded his room in silence, waiting, staring, each bearing the same unspoken reason.

No matter how long it took, they would remain. Because sometimes, survival was not enough. Sometimes, the world had to witness the awakening of the one who defied death itself.

While they waited, so too did their unfinished quests. Many of their hideouts across the dangerous zones remained lightly defended, guarded only by lower-level players... though even then, their superiors kept constant watch from afar.

Yet none of that mattered now.

Inside the room were only the highest-ranking captains, eight in tota, each one a proven force in the brutal world of the System.

Among them was the Sovereign Guild's captain: a Level 459 Necromancer, though his lean frame and shadowed presence made him seem more assassin than mage.

Beside him stood the captain from the Angel Guild, the woman who had once been corrupted. She was no ordinary player: a Level 600 Engineer, a class once thought mundane in the normal zones. Yet she wielded her mechanical arm and the gift to craft weapons from mere scraps with a strength and speed that defied logic.

The others ranged from Level 400 and below, but titles and numbers meant little. Every soul here was skilled enough to change the fate of battles.

Eight captains. Eight guilds. One silent vigil, for the boy who had done what even they could not.

The room was silent except for the soft hum of the medical equipment. Some captains sat, others leaned against the walls with arms crossed, their eyes shifting now and then to Kyle’s still body. Each of them carried their own scars, their own reasons for being there, but right now, all their paths pointed to him. Kyle. The boy who survived what seasoned players could not. The one who might carry the answer they all were too late to grasp.

Kyle stirred, his fingers twitching first, then slowly stretching out to his side. Every captain in the room leaned forward, holding their breath, not daring to move as they watched him.

> System: Reward claimed. Congratulations. You have received the Time Crusade Manipulator Wand. ”Tier S.”

> Info:

Instead of burning all your mana within four seconds, you may now use your wand to control time: stop it, rewind it, or slow it, all within a four-second window. Activation through the wand costs no mana, but once used, the wand enters a 30-minute cooldown.

Suddenly, Kyle's body lifted into the air, weightless. A soft blue bubble formed around him, shimmering like stardust. From nothingness, a wand materialized in his hand, intricate, ancient-looking, and as he gripped it, a wave of power pulsed outward.

Time itself buckled. For four heartbeats, everything... slowed.

The captains, hardened veterans all, floated inches above the ground as the pressure wrapped around them. Their eyes widened in shock, their instincts screaming at the unnatural sensation.

One whispered, almost reverently, "So this... this is the power of an Awakened Player?"

Another captain, fists clenching, felt the surge of mana that poured from Kyle, a force far beyond anything they had ever witnessed, even among the elites.

Even in the warped slowness of time, their hearts pounded violently against their ribs.

They were witnessing a phenomenon that should not have been possible, and it came from the boy they had once thought needed protection.

The shimmering blue bubble flickered, then burst into silver motes of light. Kyle slowly lowered back to the bed, the wand still gripped loosely in his hand, now dormant.

Time snapped back to normal. The captains stumbled slightly as their boots touched the ground again, no words spoken, only awe lingering in the air.

Kyle's eyelids fluttered. His breathing deepened. His eyes, once heavy and shut for days, finally opened, glowing faintly blue for a heartbeat before fading back to normal.

The room stood frozen, not by power, but by reverence. Even the Sovereign Guild captain, hardened and ruthless, bowed his head slightly.

"...You have awakened," he said, voice low, almost reverent. "And with you... something that has long slept beneath this broken world."

Another captain, one from a minor guild, stepped forward cautiously. "Kyle... do you remember what happened? Do you know who you are now?"

Kyle sat up slowly, the wand's weight comforting in his hand. His voice, when it came, was hoarse but steady...

"I remember... I remember... my father."

And just like that, a new thread of fate had begun to spin, not just for Kyle, but for every captain who had witnessed it.

They knew it in their bones... the next era of battle... would begin with this boy.

At the Billionaire's mansion, the soft glow of the moonlight barely lit the darkened room. He reclined in his bed, swirling a glass of red wine, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His fingers lightly tapped the rim of his glass as he awaited the call.

The phone buzzed, and he answered with a calm, almost detached tone. “So? There’s another awakened this year? That makes a total of four of them... That’s quite a lot.”

A brief silence followed before he spoke again, almost too casually. “Send me their data.”

He hung up, his hand lingering over the phone for a moment. The cool glass of wine settled into his hand, but the smile on his face only grew wider. His eyes, however, betrayed something colder, a predatory gleam that shimmered for just a fleeting moment.

Then, he let out a soft, almost melodic laugh, a sound that echoed in the otherwise silent room. A tear slipped down his cheek, unnoticed, as he wiped it away with the back of his hand. It wasn’t sadness. No. It was joy. Pure, unrestrained joy.

“Well, well… this is just the beginning,” he murmured to himself, his voice barely more than a whisper in the quiet room. He gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought, his fingers still holding the glass, but now the wine was untouched.