The year 2059, the Ruins of Ho Chi Minh City.
Ash drifted down like a bleak, gray snow, blanketing the rubble of what was once the Pearl of the Far East. The wind howled through the skeletal frames of buildings, composing a mournful, desolate dirge.
Lam Minh was the last man standing.
Well, "standing" might be an overstatement. He was leaning against the charred husk of a Type 99 tank, his breath rattling like a torn bellows. His high-tech combat suit was in tatters, revealing deep, gruesome wounds. His right hand still gripped a shortsword made of Graphene alloy, the weapon that had been his companion through 20 years of slaughter on the battlefield.
Opposite him, a Madakaros nearly three meters tall, with a powerful physique and gray-blue skin, was leisurely wiping black blood from its long saber. Its third eye, centered on its forehead, narrowed, regarding Lam Minh like a dying insect. This was a Golden Core Realm commander, an existence against whom conventional firearms were almost useless.
His entire company, his brothers in arms, had fallen to this creature's blade.
"You humans... so weak, yet so stubborn." The Madakaros's voice echoed in Lam Minh's mind through a psychic wave, cold and filled with contempt. "This battle is over."
Lam Minh spat a wad of blood and saliva onto the ground. "Over, my ass. I'm still fucking here."
The Madakaros's lips curled into a slight smirk. "Merely prolonging your suffering for a few more seconds."
It was right. Lam Minh knew it. Humanity had fought for nearly a century, ever since these three-eyed bastards appeared in 1998. From a population of 8 billion, he was now the only one left. His father, his mother, his little sister... To Quyen... all of them were gone.
Humanity fought with technology, with an iron will. They fought with an absurd power they called "cultivation." It had been an unbalanced war from the very beginning.
"If only..." Lam Minh gritted his teeth, trying to force himself upright. "If only we knew how to become strong like them... If only I could live again..."
The Golden Core commander gave him no more time to ramble. It lunged forward, its blade carving a deadly arc.
Lam Minh summoned his last ounce of strength, raising his shortsword to block.
CLANG!
The shortsword shattered. The cold blade pierced through his chest.
A familiar pain. He had felt it countless times on the battlefield. But this time, it carried an absolute despair.
It was really over.
In his final moments, images of his family, friends, and lover flashed through his mind. He saw To Quyen's smile, heard his mother's nagging, saw the stern yet proud look in his father's eyes.
If there's a next life... I swear... I'll skewer every last one of you bastards!
Darkness fell.
...
In 1998, Earth was invaded by the Makadaros.
No one knew where they came from, only that they were overwhelmingly powerful.
Humanity, once 8 billion strong, had dwindled to fewer than 500 million by 2025, all concentrated within one final bastion: ASEAN.
ASEAN — an alliance of 11 nations (including Vietnam, Thailand, and others) — became humanity's last stronghold.
Surrounding it was a true Great Wall: a colossal, impenetrable barrier that shielded the alliance from extinction.
From 1998 to 2030, humanity waged what came to be known as the Wall Defense War — a desperate, all-out battle to protect those within the wall and preserve the hope of rebuilding.
But after 2030, the wall was breached.
The Makadaros launched a full-scale invasion. They poured into ASEAN, and what followed was a massacre that lasted 29 long years — until the day humanity was utterly defeated… and extinguished.
…
[IMMORTAL BATTLEFIELD SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[DETECTING HOST'S EXTREME WILL TO SURVIVE AND OVERWHELMING HATRED...]
[INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL!]
[WELCOME BACK, HOST LAM MINH!]
A series of cold, mechanical sounds rang in Lam Minh's head. He jolted awake, gasping for air as if escaping a nightmare.
The smell of fried eggs with scallions. The rustle of a newspaper page turning. The sound of the morning news on TV.
"...yesterday, at the northern front of ASEAN's Great Wall, the 17th Legion successfully repelled an attack by the Madakaros tribe, eliminating over 300 enemies. However, we also suffered heavy losses, with 52 soldiers having sacrificed their lives heroically..."
Lam Minh stared blankly around him. A white ceiling, an old ceiling fan, a messy desk...
His room!
He scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping, and rushed to the mirror.
In the mirror, a sixteen-year-old youth—tall, strikingly handsome with sharp, angular features and deep-set eyes—stared back at him in horror.
He raised a hand to his chest. The skin was smooth, without a single scar, let alone the gaping hole that had just been there.
"What... what the hell is happening?"
He snatched the phone from his desk.
Monday, April 10, 2025.
2025!
He had returned 34 years in time! Back to a time when the great wall of ASEAN still stood strong, protecting the remaining 500 million of humanity. Back to a time when his family was still whole!
"Dad... Mom... An An..." A lump formed in Lam Minh's throat, and tears streamed down his face.
Just then, a translucent blue panel materialized before his eyes, visible only to him.
[IMMORTAL BATTLEFIELD SYSTEM]
Host: Lam Minh
Core Talent: Immortality
Description: Whenever the host dies on the battlefield or is killed by an enemy, they will automatically revive after 10 seconds. Each revival grants [Immortality Points].
Side Effect: After revival, gain the [Invulnerability] state for 30 minutes (HP and Energy are locked at 100%).
Current Immortality Points: 0
Cultivation Level: Unawakened (Requires 1000 Immortality Points to unlock Initial Qi Refining Realm)
System Note: Kill me if you dare! The more you die, the stronger you get! Become the nightmare of every enemy!
Lam Minh read and reread every word on the panel, his shock turning to trembling, and finally, to a wild, ecstatic laugh of utter relief.
"Hahaha... HAHAHAHA!" He laughed like a madman, tears still streaming, but they were no longer tears of grief, but of liberation and hope.
A system? Immortality? Cultivation?
So this was the path! This was what humanity had been missing!
"Minh! What are you laughing like a lunatic in there for? Get up for school!" The voice of Mrs. Mai, his mother, called from outside the door, cutting through his euphoria.
"Yes! I'm coming!" Lam Minh replied quickly, trying to suppress the mania in his heart.
He took a deep breath and dismissed the system panel.
In his past life, he was a warrior. In this life, he would be an immortal god of war!
Lam Minh opened his door and stepped out. His father, Lam Dao, sat at the dining table, his face grim as he listened to the war news. His mother was serving a plate of hot fried eggs. His little sister, Lam An, was yawning widely.
A scene so peaceful it broke his heart.
"Good morning, everyone!" Lam Minh said, his voice clear and full of life.
His family looked at him in surprise. What was wrong with this kid today? So unusually cheerful.
"Eat up and get to school. You're in the 10th grade now, not a little kid anymore," Mr. Lam Dao said, but his gaze had softened slightly.
Lam Minh sat down and devoured his food as if he hadn't eaten in 34 years. The taste of his mother's cooking was so good it made him want to cry.
"Big bro, slow down or you'll choke," Lam An pouted. "You're eating like you're about to march off to war."
Lam Minh paused at her words, then grinned widely. "I am, little sister. Very soon."
In just two more years, when he and his peers turned 18, they would be drafted and sent to fight at the wall.
In his past life, it was a one-way ticket to death.
But in this life... it would be his playground! A place for him to farm "Immortality Points"!
"Kill me if you dare, in 10 seconds I'm back for more..." Lam Minh muttered the system's slogan, a dangerous smile playing on his lips.
You Madakaros bastards, get ready.
Your daddy's back! And this time, I'm going to show you what hell on Earth truly is.