NOVEL NEXT Summary of Book One
The apocalypse happened, and it closely resembled the deep-immersion games created by a company called Atlas Inc.
While it wasn't nearly as devastating as most stories made the apocalypse out to be, Emie's brother and niece disappeared as the system interfaces appeared, and her parents were murdered before the power even failed.
More than a decade later, Emie created and used a complex formation to return her consciousness to the past. Instead of arriving at the start of the reintegration as she'd expected, Emie returned more than four years before the reintegration even began. But she didn’t just bring back her memories. She returned with heightened affinities for both Time and Space.
Knowing the game was meant to be a primer for the upcoming apocalypse, Emie threw herself into training, hoping to be much more prepared this time. Stopping the apocalypse was never an option since it would lead to planet-wide death and destruction. Her only choice was to adapt and prepare.
Unintentional butterfly effects manifested from small changes, resulting in Emie getting hired as a beta tester for the company she knew was a shell for the aliens ‘behind’ the apocalypse. Her new position granted her access to resources and training she wouldn't have otherwise received, giving her more of an advantage than she anticipated.
Likely due to the addition of a bit of her soul from the other timeline, Emie 'awakens' years early - gaining access to the system and magic well before the most generous estimates suggested it was possible. This drew more attention than she wanted, but there was little she could do now that she had gained access to the system.
Emie attempted to continue progressing without drawing further attention, with only moderate success. She was given several advantages (like access to a rift with a dedicated protector) due to her status as the first naturally awakened native - advantages she had little issue leveraging in hopes it would keep her family safe this time around.