[ "WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE" ]
A very loud robotic and terrifying voice echoed across the cafeteria, causing all the students to stare around them, looking for the source of the voice.
"What was that? That voice doesn't sound human at all."
"Could the intercom be malfunctioning? Or is the timekeeper playing some kind of prank?"
Some students came to an abrupt conclusion, not even understanding the dire situation preparing ahead of them.
Dorian, still under the tight grasp of Brandon, couldn't help but frown as he found this particular situation peculiar, similar to the kick-off plot of 'Ethereal Descent'
'Is this just some weird coincidence?' he wondered.
Brandon was also kind of distracted by the strange voice and was looking around for a sign to show this was a prank by the timekeeper.
[ "WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE, YOU HAVE 120 SECONDS TO PREPARE" ]
The same voice sounded again, this time spreading a warning across with the same message.
As usual, the students could not understand the situation and questioned themselves if the school was trying to play a prank on them or something.
"Hey, look at the sky! What the hell is that?" Suddenly, a student drew the attention of the others as he pointed at the strange phenomenon taking place in the clouds.
Curious, everyone, including Brandon, ran towards the glass windows of the cafeteria to have a proper look at the sky.
Dorian was dropped on the ground, landing butt first. On his face, there was a puzzled and almost scared expression like someone who had just seen a ghost vanish before them.
"This warning... I can't forget it. It's just like 'Ethereal Descent', with the two-minute countdown before all hell breaks loose! This can't be a coincidence."
Dorian frantically reached for his phone. Luckily, it was still intact after the fall, and the screen was still on. Coincidentally, he hadn't left the novel app yet.
However, he discovered that the novel was no longer in his library, making him panic a little. Even though he already knew the author was going to delete it, he did not expect him to delete it so quickly, especially now that something similar to the novel's plot was taking place in reality.
He quickly hit the search bar and typed in the title of the novel.
-[ This book does not exist.... Click to enter advanced search ]-
"It is deleted already!!" Dorian's eyes widened in shock.
At that moment, the screams of terror from the other students jolted him back to the chaos brewing around him.
He could see all the students gathered close to the sea through the glass walls of the cafeteria, looking at the sky with terrified looks on their faces.
"It can't be, it can't be..." Dorian repeated as he hurried towards the others.
He struggled through the crowd of students until he found himself in front of everyone.
Behold, the calm afternoon sky had turned into a grim opposite of its original self. Black clouds drifted across it, covering the sun and plunging the world into darkness.
Within these dark clouds, several glowing pillar-like structures could be seen descending slowly from the sky in different locations. There were so many of them—some appeared very huge, and some appeared pretty tiny due to the distance between them. The closest one should land approximately ten streets away, and the furthest in sight should be landing in four cities away from the academy.
"The towers of foreign realities!" Dorian whispered loudly to himself as he instantly recognized these structures.
The towers of foreign realities appeared across the earth the moment the apocalypse began. They are structures of unknown origins and possibilities, each holding different realities with different possibilities, including death, wealth, powers, memories, myth and others.
Even in the recent chapters of the novel before its abrupt end, the protagonist still hadn't been able to figure out the true mysteries behind these towers.
"What is all that falling from the sky?"
"Ahhhh! No!! The world is ending!"
"No, Mommy, Daddy, I am scared!"
"Where is the security of this damned academy when we need them?"
"I knew it, one day our planet would be attacked by bad aliens!!"
"This is not good at all; we are all going to be crushed by that thing. Who knows if all these nuclear weapons and these dark clouds are just a special effect to make our death more glorious?"
As Dorian struggled to piece together the events from the early chapters of 'Ethereal Descent', the other students' minds raced with fear, and they began conjuring up all kinds of terrifying possibilities.
A group of young ladies could be seen kneeling with their eyes closed and hands clasped in front of their faces, seemingly praying to their gods. Close to them, a group of guys grabbed chairs while shivering, trying to appear bold and ready for whatever was to come.
The others just watched as everything took place, not wanting to miss a thing. However, no matter what activity they were all involved in at this moment, it couldn't hide their fears.
Even Brandon, the most intimidating bully in the academy, was shivering behind the see-through glass walls as he observed the unnatural phenomenon taking place in the sky.
[ 60 Seconds remaining, brace yourselves, humans ]
This time, the same voice announced again, but everyone noticed that it wasn't just coming from the cafeteria but across the entire world.
Because of the tall fences of the academy, they weren't able to see the streets around the academy, which were equally engulfed in the same emotional chaos—albeit far worse, as no walls confined them like the students.
[ ANNOUNCEMENT: Everyone will be presented with a newbie package to select from. Each package contains either a relic, a special ability, or a natural boost ]
Following the system's countdown warning, an announcement was made.
Simultaneously, several holographs began to pop up in front of every student, featuring three bright, glowing cards and a message prompting them to pick one.
Each holograph could only be seen by those it appeared in front of. Due to this, every student in the cafeteria appeared to be looking at empty midair like lunatics.
Just like every other student, the same cards appeared in front of Dorian but carried a different message.
[ You have been selected for the VIP Newbie package...]
'VIP newbie package? Did everyone receive the same package as me?' Dorian wondered. Part of him wanted to shout out, to ask if anyone else got the same thing, but his cautious side held him back.
Letting others know about his VIP reward might result in a lot of targets on his back in the future. His cautious mind, which he had built over the years as an avid reader and introvert, wouldn't want that to happen.
Looking at the three glowing golden cards floating in front of him, Dorian became stuck between which one to pick.
Any card he picked here would accompany him through the apocalypse. He needed to get something strong and reliable that would guarantee his survival. But each package is a mystery that would only be revealed after he made his choice.
----
"Holy heck, I got a Warrior class named Dashing Knight!"
"I got a sword!"
"Mine is a pyromancer!"
One after the other, everyone began to reveal their packages with surprise, excitement, and fear in their voices.
A beautiful blondie, Clarissa, the same young lady with the annoying friend group earlier, stared at her package with a slight frown on her face. "Why is my class called the unnamed?"
----
After a few seconds of contemplating, Dorian finally made his choice and clicked on the mystery card in the middle.
His heart began to beat rapidly as he anticipated what his newbie package might be. Would it be a skill, a relic, or perhaps a supernatural boost? He wondered.
DING [You've received special ability: CHARACTER BIND ]
DING! [You've received a special ability: CHARACTER BIND]
[CHARACTER BIND: Bind your character with gods, devils, monsters, mythical creatures, favored sons of heaven, etc.
➟ Ability current rank is Tier-1
➟ Only works on living targets. When a bound target dies, the bind is deactivated.]
DING! [Due to your special ability, you have unlocked the following features:]
[Reader's Viewpoint (Passive skill): Allows you to view the status of every entity.]
[Copycat (Active skill): After binding with any character, you can copy their special aspect—skills, abilities, talent, bloodline, etc. COOLDOWN (7 DAYS).]
[Extraction (Active skill): After binding, you can extract 20% of their total exp. COOLDOWN (For each character, there is a 7-day cooldown).]
[Index of Myth (Special Tab): Access a list of powerful mythical beings you can unlock and bind with.]
-More will be added as your ability evolves-
-Cooldown time decreases as your ability evolves-
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AUTHOR NOTE:
Thanks for reading, do not forget to comment and add to library