Liam Cross woke up with a sharp gasp under a sky split by violent lightning. The air was thick with the acrid stench of burning metal and rot. His heart pounded against his ribs as he pushed himself up, only for a jolt of electric pain to shoot through his side. His breath hitched. His thoughts were a scrambled mess—just last night, he had been in his cluttered apartment, slumped over his desk, staring at a flickering screen while trying to fix a buggy AI script for a game that had never even launched.
Now, he was lying on cracked asphalt in the middle of a ruined city. The shift was so abrupt it felt like reality itself had glitched.
A distant scream—high, raw, and unmistakably human—ripped through the air, carried by the wind's hollow howl. The sound echoed off the skeletal remains of towering buildings, their shattered windows like hollow eyes watching over the destruction. The street ahead was a wreck, littered with overturned cars, their frames twisted and broken. Glass shards glittered beneath each flash of lightning, reflecting the chaos like tiny, fractured mirrors. Smoke curled up from fires burning in the distance, their glow flickering against the storm-choked sky, staining it in deep shades of gray and black.
Liam's breathing quickened. His coder's mind tried—desperately tried—to make sense of this nightmare. But no variables aligned. No logical explanation existed. Civilization had collapsed overnight, and he was caught in the wreckage.
Then, a voice—one that was not his own—spoke inside his head, crackling through his mind like distorted audio.
[System Initialization: Omniversal System Activated]
[User: Liam Cross]
[Status: Unawakened]
His entire body tensed. His chest tightened, breath coming in shallow bursts. A system? Like those in the web novels he had binge-read between coding marathons? But this wasn't fiction—this wasn't some escape into fantasy. The wind's sharp cold bit at his skin. The distant crackle of flames reached his ears. His senses screamed that this was real.
His hands trembled as he clenched them into fists, his nails digging into his palms in an attempt to ground himself. But something vast and unseen pressed against his consciousness, like a force rewriting something deep inside him, rewriting his very existence.
Then, a guttural growl tore through the silence.
Liam's head snapped to the left. A figure emerged from the ruins—or what was left of it.
It had once been human. Now, its limbs were stretched unnaturally long, its skin pulled tight over a frame that wasn't quite right. Sickly green veins glowed beneath the surface, pulsating with some unnatural energy. Its hollow, soulless eyes locked onto him, and the hunger inside them was almost tangible.
[Survival Tip: You are unarmed. Escape is recommended.]
Liam's instincts screamed at him to run, but his legs refused to obey. He was frozen in place, his mind caught in a cycle of panic—trapped in a logic loop with no clear exit. His heart slammed against his ribs as the creature released a shriek, the sound scraping against his nerves like metal tearing against metal. Then it lunged—
[Emergency Skill Unlocked: Void Step]
The world blurred.
One second, claws were slashing toward him—aimed right where he had been standing. The next, he was behind the creature, his lungs burning from the sudden displacement. His body had moved before his mind could even process what had happened—like an external force had hijacked his reflexes and rewritten them in real-time.
"Holy hell," he breathed, voice ragged. "This is real."
The monster whirled to face him, its twisted form silhouetted against another flash of lightning. Then the system chimed again, sharp and urgent.
[Quest Activated: Kill or Be Killed]
[Objective: Eliminate the Mutated Stalker]
[Reward: First Awakening Tier Unlock]
Liam swallowed hard. If this was his new reality, then there were only two options—fight or die.
The stalker lunged, its claws slicing through the air toward him. But this time, Liam moved before he could think—his body sidestepping with a speed and grace that defied his fear. His muscles burned, but his movements felt precise—unnaturally precise.
[Combat Adaptation Unlocked]
A surge of energy exploded through his body, making his veins feel like they were buzzing with electricity. His mind sharpened, hesitation burned away by raw instinct. Without thinking, he lunged forward—his fist slammed into the creature's throat. A sickening crack rang out.
The beast staggered, convulsing, before collapsing in a twitching heap. Green ichor oozed from its mouth, pooling beneath its body.
[Kill Confirmed: Mutated Stalker Defeated]
[Reward Processed: Awakening Tier 1 Unlocked]
Fire roared through his veins. Strength filled his limbs, his body thrumming with newfound power. He reached down, gripped the edge of a fallen car door, and lifted—metal screeched as he tossed it aside with ease.
His mind cleared. The system hadn't just saved him. It had upgraded him.
The battlefield had gone eerily silent, only the wind carrying the echoes of distant destruction. Liam scanned the ruined cityscape. Fires still flickered in the distance, jagged shadows shifting among the wreckage. Some figures moved—some human, others not.
A sudden explosion rocked the ruins, sending debris flying. Liam turned his head sharply, his eyes locking onto a distant tower. Its upper floors burned, flames licking at shattered windows. And there—standing against the backdrop of fire—a lone figure waved a flare, its red glow piercing through the thick haze of smoke.
[System Alert: Unawakened Entities Detected]
Liam's jaw tightened. That could mean survivors. It could also mean a trap. In a world this shattered, trust was a dangerous gamble.
Then—a screech shattered the air.
More stalkers. Their footsteps came fast, pounding against the broken asphalt as they closed in.
Liam sprinted toward a ruined storefront, dodging past collapsed shelves and shattered glass. He crouched low, breath coming in quick bursts as his eyes darted around for a weapon.
A rusted metal pipe jutted from beneath a collapsed counter. Crude, but functional.
[Weapon Acquired: Improvised Pipe]
He exhaled sharply, gripping it tight. "Alright, system. Let's do this."
A floorboard creaked.
Liam twisted just in time. A shadow lunged—too fast, too erratic to be human. Claws gleamed in the dim light as the creature slashed at him. He barely rolled aside, concrete scraping his shoulder.
[New Combat Skill: Riposte]
His body reacted before his thoughts could catch up. The pipe lashed out—
Crack. Skull shattered.
The stalker screeched, reeling back. Liam swung again, his muscles coiled with new strength—this time, the impact crushed its head into the floor.
Silence.
Then—more footsteps. Dozens.
His pulse hammered. Fight or run? His gaze snapped to the tower. The flare still burned bright. A beacon in the darkness.
A deafening, guttural roar rumbled from behind him.
[System Alert: Major Threat Detected]
He turned slowly. A massive shape loomed from the gloom, armored in jagged black plates. Its red eyes burned like molten steel.
Liam's grip tightened on the pipe. Every instinct screamed at him to flee, but something deeper, something unbreakable, kept him steady.
[Quest Updated: Defeat the Alpha Stalker]
A slow, sharp grin tugged at his lips. "Fine. Let's see what you've got."
Lightning split the sky, illuminating the monstrous form before him.
The world had ended—but for Liam, this was just the beginning.