Kain Drake blinked and the world ended.

It wasn't slow. It wasn't a warning from scientists on TV. There were no headlines. No sirens. No chance to run. The world just... shattered.

One second, he was in his cramped apartment, sitting at his desk, headphones on, staring at his computer screen. The next, the air itself seemed to fracture. Jagged cracks ripped through the sky like glass splintering under pressure. The ground lurched as if something massive had collided with the Earth. Kain stumbled to his feet, heart pounding, pulling off his headphones and staring out the window in disbelief.

His eyes went wide.

"What the hell...?"

Outside, the sky was wrong. The bright afternoon light had twisted into a swirling vortex of color—a shimmering whirlpool of deep purples, violent reds, and greens that looked like molten metal. The clouds were torn apart, sucked into the strange void in the center of the sky.

A deafening crack sounded in the distance, like a thunderstorm tearing open the world.

Kain felt it then—a pulse. A violent, nauseating pulse of energy that rattled through his bones and sent his stomach flipping. He grabbed his window frame for support, the room spinning as if gravity had stopped obeying the rules. The air felt... thicker, like he was drowning in it.

Then, without warning, a strange voice boomed directly into his mind.

Welcome to the Shattered Realm. Earth has been assimilated into the Rift.

System initializing...

"What the...?" Kain clutched his head, grimacing. It felt like someone was speaking inside his skull. His heart raced. "This... this has to be some kind of prank."

He stumbled toward the door, swinging it open to check on his neighbors, but the hallway was deserted. Worse than that, the air felt colder. Off. Like something fundamental had shifted.

Another pulse hit him, harder this time, nearly sending him to his knees. He looked up, breathless, as more words burned into his mind:

All survivors will now enter the System. Adapt or perish.

His breath caught in his throat. System? Adapt? He staggered back into his apartment and slammed the door, trying to piece together what was happening. The world outside—whatever it had become—had an alien glow to it. A bad dream, only this felt all too real.

Then his vision exploded with light. Kain instinctively threw his hands up to shield his eyes, but when he blinked away the spots, he found himself staring at something impossible: a blue screen floating in the middle of the air, right in front of him. Just like in a game.

System Initialization Complete. Welcome, Survivor.

The voice was clear and cold in his mind now. He backed away from the screen, breath coming in quick, shallow gasps. But the screen followed him, hanging there, demanding attention.

Select Class:

Berserker – Specializes in relentless physical attacks, enhancing raw strength and endurance.

Pyromancer – A master of fire, incinerates foes with ranged magic and area-of-effect destruction.

Void Reaver – Manipulates dimensions and space, using void energy for offensive and defensive abilities.

Kain's hand shook as he reached out, fingers hovering over the screen. This is insane. He had no idea what any of this meant. The air outside was humming with some kind of strange energy, and his instincts screamed danger. But something deep inside him clicked the moment he saw the third option.

Void Reaver.

A class about manipulating dimensions? Something about it just felt... right. Kain's life had always been one of struggle. Fighting for survival, even if it was in mundane ways—through dead-end jobs, financial stress, and family drama. This, though? This felt like a turning point. A chance to grasp something bigger than the life he had before.

Adapt or perish. The words echoed in his mind.

He made his choice.

You have selected Void Reaver. Class Locked. Welcome to the Shattered Realm.

New Skill Unlocked: Void Slash (Level 1)

Void Slash: Channel the energy of the void into a single, devastating strike. Can cut through physical objects and dimensional barriers. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

Kain blinked as a surge of energy rushed through him. It felt like every cell in his body was vibrating, brimming with potential. His vision flickered, and for a brief moment, he saw through the fabric of reality. Threads of dark energy stretched out in every direction, coiling and writhing like living things.

He stumbled, clutching his chest as the sensation faded.

"I... I have powers?"

His hands trembled as he held them up, staring at his palms. It was hard to wrap his mind around. In a matter of seconds, his life had been flipped upside down, and now the world was offering him abilities ripped straight from a video game.

Before he could process the shock, a loud crash echoed from outside, followed by a series of low, guttural roars.

Kain froze.

There were no more footsteps. No chatter from his neighbors. Instead, the sound of something huge dragging across the pavement outside filled the air. The roars grew louder, more distinct—and filled with rage.

His heart hammered in his chest. He had to know what was happening. Carefully, Kain crept toward the window, pulling the curtains back an inch.

His blood went cold.

Monsters.

Towering, hulking figures. Their bodies looked like something out of a nightmare—gnarled, twisted beasts with dark, leathery skin and eyes that glowed an unnatural red. They weren't anything from Earth. Each was easily nine feet tall, hunched over with massive, clawed hands dragging across the ground.

"Oh shit."

His mind raced, trying to process the impossible. Monsters. Real monsters. And they weren't wandering aimlessly—they were hunting. Kain watched as one of them ripped through a nearby building, shattering windows and roaring as it began to drag someone out from the rubble.

Kain, move!

The sudden urgency in his head snapped him into motion. He grabbed the kitchen knife from his counter, eyes wide as he stepped toward the door. It was stupid—he knew it was stupid. What was a knife going to do against monsters that size? But he couldn't just sit and wait for them to find him.

His thoughts raced. You have skills now. Use them.

"Void Slash," he whispered, focusing on the knife.

To his amazement, the blade shimmered with dark energy, tendrils of black light wrapping around it. The knife felt heavier, pulsing with strange power. It wasn't just a knife anymore—it was a weapon.

Suddenly, his screen flickered back to life.

Quest Unlocked: Defend the Survivors

Objective: Eliminate the Lesser Ravagers (3)

Reward: Experience Points, Basic Armor

He didn't have time to question it. With a final glance out the window at the monsters rampaging through the streets, Kain knew his options were limited. His apartment wouldn't hold up for long. He couldn't run—not fast enough.

Which meant there was only one choice left.

Fight.

With a deep breath, he gripped the knife and burst out of his apartment. The second he hit the pavement, the full intensity of the Shattered Realm hit him. The air was thick, buzzing with strange energy. The cracks in the sky above seemed to warp in and out of existence, as if the world itself was trying to stabilize.

The monsters—Ravagers, the screen had called them—were closer now. Three of them. One was halfway through tearing down a brick wall across the street, another already feasting on what Kain could only hope wasn't a neighbor.

Kain swallowed hard. He didn't have a choice. The System had said three Ravagers. Three targets. He'd leveled up before by picking his battles in life. This? This was just another fight. A more insane one, but still—he could do this.

The first Ravager, closest to him, turned its glowing eyes toward Kain. It let out a low growl and began to lumber forward, massive claws scraping the concrete.

Kain's grip tightened on the knife. His heart pounded, but something had clicked inside him. The fear was there, but alongside it was the pulse of something deeper—an instinct.

And with this instinct as his guide, a single phrase dominated his mind:

Void Slash!

As the Ravager charged, Kain moved. He darted forward with a speed that surprised even himself, closing the gap between them. The dark energy flared around his knife, and with a quick slice, he aimed for the beast's chest.

The blade cut through the air, and to his shock, it sliced clean through the monster's thick hide. Black void energy followed in the wake of the attack, tearing through the creature's chest like a dimensional rift had opened up inside it. The Ravager let out a guttural scream, stumbling back as dark energy crackled along its body.

Kain didn't wait for it to recover. He'd opened a wound—now he had to finish it.

He launched himself at the creature, ignoring the burning in his muscles. The knife was a blur as he drove it into the Ravager's chest, again and again. Each strike flared with void energy, tearing through the monster's flesh and leaving behind trails of darkness.

With a final roar, the Ravager collapsed to the ground, twitching as the energy from Kain's strikes consumed it from the inside out.

Kain staggered back, panting, heart racing.

Lesser Ravager eliminated. 100 XP gained.

He blinked as the message appeared, feeling a rush of satisfaction. But there wasn't time to celebrate. The second Ravager had noticed the commotion and was barreling toward him now, a look of fury in its glowing red eyes.

Kain gritted his teeth, glancing at the cooldown timer for Void Slash ticking down in the corner of his vision. Ten seconds.

He didn't have ten seconds. The monster was on him now, swinging one of its massive claws toward his head.

Kain ducked just in time, rolling to the side as the claw slammed into the pavement, cracking the ground where he'd been standing. He scrambled to his feet, gripping the knife tighter.

This was it. Sink or swim. Fight or die.

As the Ravager turned toward him again, Kain's screen flashed.

Skill Unlocked: Void Step (Level 1)

Void Step: Teleport short distances through the void. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Kain's eyes widened. Teleportation? He didn't hesitate.

Void Step!

In an instant, the world around him blurred. He felt himself pulled forward through a dark tunnel, slipping past the fabric of reality for just a heartbeat. When his vision cleared, he was behind the Ravager, disoriented but still standing.

The monster turned, confused, but it was too late.

Kain's cooldown was up.

"Void Slash!"

He swung the knife upward, slicing through the creature's back. This time, the energy surged even stronger, ripping open a larger gash that crackled with black void energy. The Ravager howled, stumbling as its body began to dissolve.

Kain finished it with a single strike to the neck. The massive beast crashed to the ground.

Lesser Ravager eliminated. 100 XP gained.

Breathing hard, Kain stood over the body of the fallen creature, knife still glowing with residual void energy.

He could hardly believe it. He'd done it. He'd taken down two of them. His body screamed in protest from the exertion, but there was no time to rest. The third Ravager let out a blood-curdling roar, charging at him from across the street.

Kain wiped the sweat from his brow and readied himself. The third and final beast was bigger than the others, its eyes burning with an even more intense red light. But Kain wasn't the same person who had been thrown into this nightmare minutes ago.

He was stronger. And he had a system backing him up.

As the Ravager closed the distance, Kain smiled grimly, the adrenaline coursing through him.

One more fight, he thought.

"Come one then! Let's see what you're made of."