Tick Tock On The Clock [LITRPG Deckbuilding with Time Ticking down]

[06: 00: 38: 40]

...

Cassian's consciousness drifted through the void, weightless and unmoored. There was no pain, no sound—only a formless dark that wrapped around him like a shroud. Am I dead? The thought came without emotion, numb and distant. Is this it? Is it time to let go?

For the first time in a long while, there was no struggle, no screaming alarms in his head, no monsters clawing at his throat. Just silence. Just peace. The sweet, aching allure of rest pulled at him like a tide.

Maybe I should let go? At least then I'll be with Mom.

Just then, a burning sensation flared around his neck, sharp and searing, cutting through the void like a blade. It wasn't agony—it was warmth. Familiar warmth. And then came the voice. Soft. Gentle. A whisper pressed against the edges of his fading mind.

"Cassy… there's more to life than just giving up and chasing revenge"

His mother's voice. A memory. A fragment. Real or not, it didn't matter. That warmth pulsed again—his hand instinctively reached it, toward the glow igniting at his throat. The world snapped back into focus.

Cassian jolted awake with a gasp, coughing violently. He gagged on dirt and grit, spitting out blood and dust as air forced itself into his lungs. His entire body screamed in protest. Rubble pressed down on his limbs, heavy and suffocating.

"Ugh…what… where? Behemoth…" he muttered, voice hoarse and ragged.

He was buried—again. Crushed under slabs of debris and torn stone, his back screaming with strain. He groaned, shifting just enough to look around. Dim light filtered through cracks above, shafts of reddish gold slicing through the gloom. Everything smelled like smoke and blood and something deeper—ash and endings.

With a grunt, Cassian braced his arms and pushed upward. The rubble shifted slightly—then slumped back down, sending a fresh cloud of dust into his face. He coughed again, grimacing.

"Great. Back to a full circle. I started in this exact same situation," he muttered with a bitter chuckle.

Even with all his strength, the wreckage barely budged. His muscles ached. His mana felt fractured, ebbing instead of flowing. Whatever energy he'd had left after the blast was gone. He was running on fumes.

Lying back against the stone for a moment, chest heaving, Cassian stared upward through the fractured ruin of the world above. Somewhere beyond that wreckage, the sky waited. The others waited.

He wasn't dead.

But if he wanted to stay that way, he'd need a new plan.

Cassian drew in a slow, steady breath, letting his mind sink deep into himself. He reached past the pain, past the debris, past the trembling exhaustion in his limbs. In that stillness, he found it—the quiet sensation and flow of essence threads pulsing faintly within him. He followed one, feeling its rhythm, tracing its flow back to the center of his being.

His heart.

The connection was weaker than before. Both of his temporary reservoirs were gone.

So that's why I felt so weak...

He calmed his breathing. Channeled what little essence remained in his core well through the fractures of his body. Slowly, steadily, warmth returned to his limbs—a gentle heat spreading through his muscles like an ember being stoked. Peace washed over him, calm and quiet.

Cassian cracked a faint grin, "It's warm… kind of cozy, honestly. If it weren't for the damn dust clogging my lungs."

Letting the warmth carry him, he reached into the mental space of his soulkeep, calling upon the familiar weight of one specific card. The summoning pattern flickered in his mind, faint but present.

He focused.

"Come forth," he whispered, voice hoarse. "[Behemoth]. Get me out of here."

He felt the sharp tug as essence drained from him, thin strands of power extending somewhere out above connecting him with his summon strengthened.

A deep, thunderous bellow echoed from above, shaking the debris overhead.

Cassian winced.

"Please tell me you didn't just land on me…"

Thankfully, he hadn't been flattened. The Behemoth had materialized somewhere else, not on top of him. Good boy.

What followed was a long process—metal groaned, concrete cracked, and stone shattered as his summon tore through the collapsed ceiling. Cassian could hear things being hurled aside, the clash of steel-reinforced debris snapping like twigs.

Time blurred.

Minutes? Hours?

Eventually, a shaft of light broke through. Thin at first, then widening, piercing the darkness with dusty gold. A clawed hand reached in, and the next moment, Cassian was hauled upward.

The Behemoth's massive form towered above him, covered in dust, its slitted yellow eyes glinted with recognition and silent loyalty.

Cassian squinted against the light, half-laughing, half-coughing.

"You always know how to make an entrance," he rasped, patting the summon's wrist. "Thanks for the lift."

Cassian coughed hard, the air burning in his lungs as he staggered to his feet. His body throbbed with deep, blooming soreness.

Probably because I nearly died, he thought grimly.

If not for the [Angel's Embrace] card activating in those final moments, this patch of scorched dirt would've been his grave. He didn't want to imagine what that death might have felt like—or if he'd even had time to feel anything at all.

He took a slow look around.

The immediate area was silent, eerily so. Just smoke curling into the air and the whisper of wind brushing through devastated treetops. Where once the facility had stood—labs, tunnels, reinforced walls—there was now only absence.

A hole.

A massive, yawning crater carved into the world like a god had punched through it. The earth around its edge was torn and blackened, scorched smooth in some places, shattered in others. Nothing remained. No sign of structure, steel, or technology.

Swallowing hard, Cassian stared down into that abyss, the weight of what he'd unleashed settling like lead in his gut.

That was [World Cinder], huh? He shivered. Yeah… the damage is ridiculous but If have cards like [Angel's embrace] it would be safe to assume my enemies in the future would also have hidden aces.

Just then, a breeze swept across the edge of the crater, and Cassian felt a chill run down his spine. He looked down—and froze.

He was naked.

Completely, unequivocally, naked.

His clothes, his gear, his backpack—gone. Vaporized. His gun? Gone. Even his comms unit? Gone.

"Goddamn it…" he muttered under his breath, turning slightly to confirm it. Yep. No boots either. Nothing but bruises, scrapes, and a thin layer of soot clinging to his skin.

Almost nothing.

Because around his neck, resting against his chest, was the single thing that had survived: the pendant his mother had given him. The thin chain glinted faintly in the morning light, undamaged, untouched. His fingers curled around it, holding it tight. Warmth bloomed in his chest—raw, aching, but real. He let his head bow for a moment, eyes squeezed shut, holding the pendant close like it might fall away if he let go.

"…Thanks, Mom," he whispered, voice hoarse.

He didn't cry. Not quite.

But the tears were close.

And the smile that tugged at his lips, shaky and hollow though it was, felt like the first real one in a long time when a sudden cascade of system messages lit up across Cassian's vision, golden letters shimmering against the smoky remnants of the ruined battlefield.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Cassian let out a low whistle, a breath of tired awe escaping him as he wiped soot from his brow. "Holy…"

"Instant rewards? Wait," he muttered, brow furrowed. "System… are these all the rewards for clearing the hidden scenario?"

"Right, got it. So these are just the up-front goodies. But…" He narrowed his eyes, already running possible mechanics through his tired mind. "If I claim them now—will that change anything later? Can these instant rewards be altered somehow?"

"Nice," Cassian grinned. "Alright then… show me the loot."

Cassian's lips curled into a grin as the reward list finished scrolling. The general rewards were absolute bangers. The '+1 Card Slot Token' alone made the entire hell he'd survived worth it.

"I'll save that one for now," he murmured, already plotting. "After a few more banner pulls, I should have a clearer idea of what I want to slot in."

His gaze drifted to the attunement card bundles, and his smile widened. "This many… I should be able to hit Creation's first star tier easily," he said, eyes gleaming. With a flick of his fingers, he opened the next set of rewards.

Cassian blinked once and then laughed aloud. "Oh, hell yes," he said. "That means I can bring back [Angel's Embrace]…"

Essentially, a second lifeline. One he wasn't about to pass up.

"System, use the token on [Angel's Embrace] before I forget."

Cassian exhaled with a little more ease. "Good. That's one safety net I'll be glad to keep."

His attention moved to the last unopened reward.

"Hmm?" Cassian leaned forward slightly, raising an eyebrow. "So I get to pick one?"

He instinctively tried to select one of the items to bring up its stats.

"System, can I see more information on these artifacts?"

"Of course not," Cassian muttered. "It's a blind pick." He stared at the list, scratching the back of his head.

"I've already got the White Rose—that one restores HP. Makes sense if the Black Rose does something with Essence instead…"

His eyes drifted over the next items. "The Armor of Cindel… tempting. I mean, I'm buck-naked right now. Could use anything that covers the important bits. But knowing my luck, it'll turn out to be a bikini. Or a cursed thong. Or something weird."

He eyed the next line with suspicion.

"The Robe of Kral… sounds like a male name, so maybe it's not as bad? Still. Robe. Kinda vague. Might be some sleepwear for all I know."

Finally, his gaze stopped on the last option.

"The Blade of Dmaia. Normally I'd take the safe bet and pick a weapon, but... I've already got «Sindivinity». And nothing's topping that beauty."

"I'll take [Black Rose] then"

"System, equip the card and activate it."

Cassian exhaled, feeling the subtle shift in his internal flow immediately. A cool pulse traveled through his veins, the artifact syncing to his essence.

"Mmm... this is good," he muttered, flexing his fingers. "I'll have even more essence recovery now. Honestly, I can stay naked for a while. How hard can it be to find clothes, right, Behemoth?"

His summon turned its massive head, bright yellow eyes locking on him with a deadpan stare. Unblinking.

Cassian narrowed his eyes. "Hey, don't judge me."

The Behemoth's silence persisted.

He cleared his throat. "Anyway. We should get moving. You can climb the walls, right?"

The Behemoth gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Perfect. Just give me a few seconds first and then we move"

But the system wasn't done yet.

"Haaa!… Legendary…?"

He didn't speak for a moment, just stared at the notification as it shimmered with soft, ethereal light.

Cassian's fingers curled into fists, not from fear, but exhilaration. This was it. This was why he crawled through hell and spit in the face of monstrosities.

As he tapped the icon, the card materialized in midair before him, floating with slow, graceful momentum. Radiant light shimmered from its surface. The borders looked like they were forged from liquid gold, constantly shifting, almost breathing. A soft hum echoed in the air, a sound too perfect to be natural—like a whisper from a divine archive.

_______________________________________________________________________

AKASHIC MIRROR | [ 日 ] [ 文 ] [ 无 ]

_______________________________________________________________________

DECK CARD [CREATION, SACRIFICE KNOWLEDGE SPELL]

[LEGENDARY]

_______________________________________________________________________

❂ This card has no active effect on its own.

❂ Sacrifice one deck card you have to the Akashic Mirror. That card is permanently transmuted into a [Pseudo-Legendary] version of itself—enhancing its effects, cost, and rarity.

❂ The transformed card is marked as an [Akashic-Echo], retaining its original name with a new sigil or subtitle. This transformation is irreversible; the sacrificed card is lost to the Mirror.

❂ The Mirror begins with [1 sacrifice slot]. Additional slots may be unlocked by offering [10 cards of each rarity] to the Mirror.

❂ "Even the weakest spell has a perfect form, hidden in the folds of time. The Mirror sees it. The Records keep it."
– Archivist Veyru, Keeper of the Fifth Reflection

__________________________________________________________________

...