While walking to school, I decided to map out my next steps. It was Thursday, and if I wanted to keep up appearances, I'd need to attend homeroom to be counted as present for the day. After that, I could coast through my first period, Social Studies, before slipping out to begin my mission. My mind raced; each thought punctuated by the urgency of what was coming. My first destination would be Egypt; if I could gain access to that specific bloodline, it would grant me the ability to absorb others, maximizing the potential of every single one I acquired afterward. This was the key to strengthening myself before the chaos began.
With each step toward the school, the weight of what was coming pressed down on me. March 24, I had just five days left before the world would face the first of many unnatural climate shifts. Temperatures would soon begin to drop at an alarming rate, averaging two degrees Celsius per day, plunging every nation into a winter more severe than anything ever recorded.
But even before the temperature drops, something unprecedented was set to happen. At exactly 9 a.m., an eerie total eclipse would darken the Earth, plunging it into shadows. For those few surreal minutes, a shared vision would pierce the minds of every living person, young, old, sighted, blind—none would be immune. In that moment, a system alert would appear in everyone's mind, a shared screen, declaring the irreversible course that lay ahead.
I had five days to prepare, to gather what I needed, and to seize every advantage. If everything went according to plan, I'd have absorbed all essential bloodlines by then, one of which would allow me to create an infinite storage space. This storage would be vital, capable of holding enough food supplies to sustain humanity through the coming catastrophe. I couldn't ignore the tragedies I knew would happen without preparation: millions of people starved, countless lives lost as desperation turned into violence over something as simple as a loaf of bread. I couldn't let that future happen, not if there was any way to avoid it.
My mother had built our family wealth to hundreds of millions through sheer brilliance, investing in profitable companies and expanding her income tenfold over the past five years. I knew I'd need to use every bit of that wealth. My plan was to buy up essentials, food, water, and other supplies that would become lifelines. In sixteen days, a week after the system's initial alert, portals would tear open across cities and towns, spilling poisonous miasma from the abyss into our world. This miasma would be deadly, mutating anyone caught in it into grotesque, zombie-like creatures, enslaved to their hunger, nothing left but primal, destructive instincts. It would kill millions and turn countless more into inhuman monsters, hollowed out and twisted beyond recognition.
Sixteen days from now, money would be worthless. All currency would be as good as scraps, maybe good enough to start fires or wipe our faces with, but not much more. So, my focus was clear. Stockpile supplies, prepare for the collapse, and equip myself with every ounce of power I could gain before everything I knew was thrown into chaos. The governments would launch a counterattack, a desperate attempt to contain the mutated, monstrous threats that would descend upon humanity. But I wasn't going to wait for them to save us. I would be ready.
I finally arrived at homeroom. As I walked in, my homeroom teacher, Mr. Robinson, a senior teacher with decades of experience, waved at me with a warm smile. I returned his greeting, feeling a bit of comfort in the familiar routine. As I turned to head to my desk, I noticed two boys waving at me: Jake and William, my closest friends. We had known each other since junior high and even chose to attend the same high school. Seeing them filled me with a sense of gratitude. They weren't just friends; they were like brothers. Brave, loyal, and selfless.
Thinking of them reminded me of our shared memories and the tough times that lay ahead. Soon, I'd be heading to Kansas with my mother and sister to visit my grandmother. Spring break would start next Monday for both our schools, giving us a week away. But when we returned, everything would be different. Shortly after I gained my bloodline, the world would spiral into chaos. Schools would close as temperatures dropped sharply, and heavy snowstorms swept across the country. Then, just after the system made its appearance, the first portals would open, releasing clouds of abyssal miasma into cities and towns, spreading terror and mutation.
One year later, in one of the first refugee settlements my family stayed in, I would find William and his family. Jake's family was there too, his mother and his two younger brothers. But Jake and his father…they were gone. They had sacrificed themselves fighting the mutated creatures that attacked, buying precious moments for their families to escape. Jake had been just as fearless as his father, facing down impossible odds to save his mother and brothers. His sacrifice haunted me, as I remembered the grief in his mother's eyes and the sorrow that clung to his siblings. Jake and his father's bravery would always stay with me, a reminder of the cost of survival and the strength of the human spirit.
I greeted Jake and William, chatting with them until the school bell sounded, signaling the start of the day. Mr. Robinson began roll call, going over details like spring break dates and other announcements. Twenty minutes later, the bell for first period rang, and everyone in homeroom started filing out to their scheduled classes. Jake and I both had Social Studies, so we walked together, happily chatting about the latest movies we planned to watch over spring break.
Forty minutes later, the bell for the end of first period echoed through the halls, followed by the five-minute warning for second period. I slipped away to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and whispered to the system, "Teleport me to Cairo, Egypt." Checking the time, I noted it was almost 10 a.m. here, which meant it should be almost 5 p.m. in Cairo.
A sharp ding! sounded in my mind as the system responded,
Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me, my stomach churning as everything around me became a blur. I squeezed my eyes shut against the disorienting sensation. When I opened them, the air felt much hotter, and my surroundings had transformed. I was now in a quiet alley somewhere in the bustling heart of Cairo, Egypt.
As I walked through the bustling streets, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the city around me. The conversations in Egyptian Arabic felt unfamiliar yet captivating, but thanks to the system's language function, everything translated instantly. Better yet, it did more than translate, it fed the entire structure of the language directly into my mind, making it feel as though I'd been speaking Egyptian Arabic all my life. However, the real priority was following the system's guidance to locate the hidden treasure chest and the powerful bloodline inside.
After half an hour of weaving through the streets, I reached a desolate area at the edge of the slums, a place where life seemed to stand still. The system led me to a neglected corner nestled within Sudan Nest, a makeshift neighborhood where the poorest of the poor struggled to survive. There, under a small bundle of old newspapers, I found it: a one-foot-long chest, weathered and unassuming, yet instantly recognizable as my target.
The moment my fingertips brushed the chest, a faint glow shimmered around it. The lid popped open, revealing a small vial filled with a thick, golden liquid. I took a steadying breath, popped the rubber lid, and downed the vial in one swift gulp.
Immediately, an agonizing pain ripped through my body, sharper and fiercer than anything I'd ever endured. It was worse than when I'd first absorbed my original bloodline, this pain felt deeper, as if it reached beyond my bones and into the very fabric of my being. My entire body felt like it was being dismantled and rebuilt, cell by cell, each piece shattered and then forced back together with a brutal precision.
I felt blood seeping out of my pores, a crimson river flowing only to be replaced by something new, golden blood, thick and radiant, coursing through my veins. It was a strange sensation, this cycle of breaking and healing, as each wound tore open and immediately began to mend, over and over again in a merciless loop. I watched, dazed and horrified, as the original blood pooled at my feet before evaporating, transforming into a faint, eerie red mist that floated toward the window, drifting out as if drawn by some invisible force.
Time warped, stretching the agony into eternity. Each second felt like an hour, each minute a lifetime. The torment seemed unending, a battle raging inside me, though it must have lasted only fifteen minutes. Yet in those fifteen minutes, I felt like I'd lived through ages, as though I were being reforged into something… otherworldly.
Finally, as the pain ebbed away, I opened my eyes and felt an intense rush of strength and energy coursing through me, powerful, unstoppable, exhilarating. Every cell in my body seemed to hum with a force I'd never felt before. Despite the blazing heat surrounding me, I felt only a pleasant warmth, a steady comfort that shielded me from the harshness of the weather. It amazed me that no temperature could affect me anymore; it felt as though the elements themselves had become irrelevant.
As I looked down, I marveled at my transformed body. I'd grown a full five inches taller, and every muscle, every inch of skin, was flawless, strong, balanced, and perfectly sculpted. I was a vision of power, my physique radiating strength with every subtle movement. Out of sheer excitement, I threw a punch, testing this new power surging through me.
But the impact far exceeded my expectations. A shockwave blasted forward, leveling many buildings in front of me. I watched, horrified, as windows shattered and walls collapsed, and I caught glimpses of people tumbling out amidst the destruction. The raw strength of my punch left me in stunned silence; this was the weakest strike I could manage right now, yet the devastation was overwhelming.
Snapping out of my shock, I could hear distant voices rising, anger, panic, curses in every language. Realizing the gravity of my power, I took a deep breath and focused, calling on the system for an immediate teleport to Yakutsk, Russia. In Cairo, it was almost 6 p.m., which meant it would be almost 1 a.m. the next day in Yakutsk, a far quieter place for what I needed to explore.
Just then, I heard a sharp Ding! resonate in my mind, and the system's voice responded: