It all started in late 2023, when the monsters came.
They appeared without warning, emerging from thin air through shimmering, otherworldly portals.
No one knew where they came from, only that they brought death and chaos wherever they landed.
Governments around the world scrambled to respond, deploying troops, imposing curfews, broadcasting messages to try and maintain the illusion of order.
It wasn't enough.
Despite their efforts, systems collapsed within months. Civilizations that had stood for centuries unraveled like poorly stitched fabric. Economies crumbled. Borders blurred. Law and order turned into fragments of memory.
In the ruins of old nations, new factions and self proclaimed rulers rose, carving out pieces of what was left.
And then came the 'Awakened'.
People, chosen by forces no one could understand, who suddenly gained access to something called "The System", an invisible interface only they could see and interact with. With it came power. Real, tangible, supernatural power. Enough to level buildings, fight monsters, and tip the scales of survival.
Each Awakened received different skills, traits, or abilities. There was no pattern. No explanation. Only chaos, and the raw luck of being chosen.
The monsters didn't just appear on Earth, they came from somewhere. Each portal was a doorway into another realm.
Those who stepped through entered hostile dimensions teeming with creatures that defied science and sanity. But with danger came opportunity.
Within those warped landscapes were rare resources, materials more valuable than gold, essential for crafting, bartering, or survival.
Only the Awakened could enter and exit these gates at will. For everyone else, stepping inside was a death sentence.
Even the Awakened, if caught inside when a gate closed, were never seen again. No one's figured out how to close them manually.
They vanish as unpredictably as they appear, sometimes minutes later, sometimes days.
The System also gave Awakened individuals access to something called ‹Channels.›
In them, they could communicate, trade, and exchange information in real time, like a built-in global network that required no satellites or servers. It was like a twisted version of an MMO, real, and far deadlier.
For the unchosen, the non-Awakened, life became a brutal game of hide-and-survive. No powers. No second chances. Just flesh, fear, and whatever you could carry.
This is now reality.