It was Monday, October 7th, 2030. 7:00 AM. China. The most universally despised day of the week had reared its ugly head once again. Across the vast expanse of the country, a collective groan echoed, a symphony of Monday morning misery.
Adults shuffled towards jobs they'd rather set on fire, muttering darkly about deadlines and demanding bosses. Children, robbed of their precious weekend screen time, trudged to school, their faces etched with the existential dread of double maths. Monday. It's like the universe's way of saying, "Hey, remember all the fun you had? Yeah, that's over now. Get back to work, peasant."
---
In Beijing, the usual Monday morning chaos reigned supreme. Traffic was a tangled mess of honking metal, stretching as far as the eye could see. Drivers sat slumped in their seats, faces contorted in a mixture of boredom and simmering road rage. It was the kind of traffic where you could legitimately consider selling your car and investing in a high-quality pair of running shoes.
Then, something extraordinary happened. The sky, already a dull, polluted grey, began to darken further. This wasn't the gradual dimming of an approaching storm. This was different. An unnatural, inky blackness was spreading across the heavens, like someone had spilled a cosmic bottle of India ink. It swallowed the sun whole, leaving behind an unnerving twilight.
Inside a family sedan, a family of five waited impatiently for the traffic to budge. Three children, dressed in pristine school uniforms, stared out the window, while their parents, clad in work attire, wore the weary expressions of seasoned Monday warriors. Their faces mirrored a shared hatred for the start of the work week, a silent camaraderie of Monday malaise. But their shared grimace soon turned to shared bewilderment as the strange darkness enveloped the sky.
"What is that, honey?" the woman asked, her voice laced with a touch of anxiety.
Her husband frowned, squinting at the encroaching darkness. "I don't know. It doesn't feel like a normal weather change."
In the back seat, the children pressed their faces against the glass, their earlier boredom replaced by a mixture of curiosity and unease.
Across the place, people emerged from their vehicles, craning their necks skyward. A wave of murmurs rippled through the stalled traffic. Phones were raised, capturing the bizarre phenomenon for posterity, destined for a brief but intense viral moment. Others frantically scrolled through news feeds and social media, searching for an explanation.
"Honey, stay in the car!" the husband called out, stepping onto the street and pulling out his phone. He quickly navigated to a news app, his brow furrowing as he read the headlines. "Japan is experiencing the same thing," he muttered, showing the screen to a nearby pedestrian.
"Look here! It's happening in America too!" someone else shouted, their voice tinged with panic. The crowd huddled around, sharing screens and exchanging worried glances. News reports from across the globe confirmed the phenomenon: the same unnatural darkness was blanketing the entire planet.
"What the hell is that?" the husband thought, his gaze fixed on the sky. The darkness had become absolute, plunging the city into an eerie, oppressive gloom. A palpable sense of dread hung in the air, heavier than the stagnant traffic fumes.
"This is it! The end of the world!" someone screamed from the crowd, their voice cracking with hysteria.
"It's not too late! You can still accept Christ as your..." another voice began, before being abruptly cut off.
"Shut the hell up!"
"What do you know?!"
Arguments erupted, adding to the growing sense of chaos. The husband fumbled for his phone's flashlight, activating the beam in the near-total darkness. Others followed suit, creating a constellation of small, flickering lights in the inky blackness.
"Honey, what's going on?" his wife called from inside the car, her voice trembling. The children huddled close to her, peering out at the strange, shadowed world outside.
"I don't know. You and the kids stay inside the car. I'm not sure what this is," he replied, his voice strained.
His wife nodded, herding the children away from the windows. Just then, an emergency alert flashed across the husband's phone screen, urging citizens to remain indoors or in a confined space until the cause of the phenomenon could be determined. He glanced one last time at the swirling darkness above before hurrying back to the relative safety of the car.
Others, similarly alerted, scrambled back to their vehicles, their faces pale with fear. The street preacher continued his apocalyptic pronouncements, but his words were lost in the panicked rush. Returning to the perceived safety of their cars was everyone's top priority.
But it was already too late.
Unseen in the suffocating darkness, tendrils of dark energy snaked through the air, reaching out to the huddled masses. Silently, insidiously, they slipped into bodies through every available orifice – mouths, nostrils, pores, ears – a chilling invasion from an unknown source.
Oblivious to the insidious changes taking place within their own bodies, the people of Beijing returned to their cars, sealing the windows against the lingering unease. They waited, a shared breath held, for whatever came next. The reprieve, however, was short-lived. A mere ten minutes later, the oppressive darkness receded as swiftly as it had arrived, revealing the mundane Monday morning sky.
A collective sigh of relief swept through the city, though a residue of apprehension remained. Many dismissed the event as a bizarre weather anomaly, a strange hiccup in the predictable rhythm of the day. Their minds, eager to return to normalcy, quickly refocused on the task at hand: navigating the still-horrendous traffic.
Meanwhile, in labs and observatories across the globe, scientists puzzled over the inexplicable event. Theories flew back and forth, each attempting to provide a rational explanation for the global blackout. Governments, however, reacted with a more primal instinct: fear. The unexplained darkness, coupled with the oppressive energy that had accompanied it, sparked a flurry of activity. Some suspected a hostile act by a rival nation, a covert attack of unprecedented scale. Others whispered of extraterrestrial involvement, a prelude to an alien invasion. Still others clung to the hope of a natural, albeit unusual, cosmic event.
NASA scrambled to find answers, while military forces around the world were placed on high alert. Troops were deployed, defenses reinforced, but a nagging question lingered: how do you prepare for the unknown? How do you defend against a threat you don't understand? The world held its breath, unaware of the terrifying transformation already underway.
Back in the family sedan, the atmosphere had returned to its pre-darkness state of mundane Monday morning frustration. The traffic remained stubbornly gridlocked. The children, bored by the endless wait, resumed their bickering and games, the strange darkness already fading from their young minds.
Then, without warning, their father began to shiver uncontrollably, as if gripped by a sudden, intense chill.
"Honey, are you okay?" his wife asked, her voice laced with concern. The children, sensing the shift in mood, stopped their playing and looked at their father with wide, apprehensive eyes.
He didn't respond. The shivering intensified, quickly escalating into violent convulsions. Animalistic growls and gurgles erupted from his throat, the sounds utterly alien and terrifying.
The wife's eyes widened in horror. Her mind flashed back to the ominous darkness. Had her husband been infected by something? Some strange disease carried by the unnatural cloud? The thought sent a jolt of fear through her. She had to get herself and her children out of the car. Now.
It seemed she wasn't alone in her realization. Car doors flew open across the highway, people stumbling out in a rising tide of panic. The air crackled with fear and confusion.
Galvanized into action, the woman reached for the door handle, desperate to escape. But just as she pulled the door open, a powerful hand clamped down on her arm, holding her in place.
She turned, her blood running cold at the sight that greeted her. Her husband's face was contorted in a grotesque grimace, dark veins bulging beneath his skin like writhing worms. His hand, grotesquely swollen and misshapen, had ripped through the fabric of his shirt. It gripped her arm with unnatural strength.
Terror seized her. The man before her was no longer the loving husband she knew. He was something else entirely, a monstrous parody of the man he once was. Only a flicker of his former self remained, a sliver of consciousness trapped within a body overtaken by something… other.
"Get out of the car and run!" she screamed at her children, her voice raw with desperation, struggling against her husband's inhuman grip.
"Mummy!" the children cried, tears streaming down their faces.
"Go now!" she yelled again. As if jolted awake, the older child, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, scrambled for the door handle.
But it was too late.
As the boy reached for the door, a grotesque tentacle erupted from his father's back, piercing through the car seat and into the boy's chest with sickening speed. The boy's eyes went wide, his scream choked off as his chest cavity imploded. The life drained from his eyes, leaving behind only the vacant stare of death.
Blood sprayed across the car's interior, painting the dashboard and seats crimson. The boy's lifeless body slumped back against the seat. The mother screamed her son's name, a raw, animalistic cry of grief and terror. Her younger children shrieked in the back, but their cries were lost in the cacophony of screams erupting from the surrounding vehicles. No one was coming to their rescue; everyone was fighting their own desperate battle for survival.
Two more tentacles ripped through the back of the seat, impaling the remaining children. Their screams were cut short, their small bodies jerking with the final, violent spasms of death. One died with a shattered heart, the other with a shattered skull.
The woman watched in horror, paralyzed by her husband's inhuman grip. Her children's blood, mingled with the fragments of their shattered bones and brain matter, splattered across her face.
"You!" she shrieked, primal rage surging through her veins. She thrashed against her husband's grip, desperate to inflict even a sliver of the pain she felt.
But her efforts were futile. With a casual flick of his monstrous hand, her husband tore her shoulder apart, the flesh ripping with a sickening sound. Her hand hung by a thread of sinew, dangling uselessly.
A scream of agony tore from her throat. As if drawn to her pain, one of the tentacles snaked towards her, piercing her open mouth and exiting through the back of her head. Her scream died in a gurgling choke, her body slumping against the seat.
The transformation complete, the creature that was once her husband let out a guttural roar that shook the car violently, shattering its windows and those of nearby vehicles. The creature's face was a grotesque mask of flesh, five eyes staring blankly from a pulsing mass where a nose should have been. Its mouth, a gaping maw filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, stretched across its distorted face. Three tentacles writhed and danced on its back.
One of the tentacles reached into the backseat, seizing the corpse of one of the children. Without hesitation, the creature began to devour its own offspring, ripping flesh and crunching bone with horrifying ease. It moved on to the next child, then the next, consuming its family in a grotesque act of cannibalism.
Outside, the street was a scene of unimaginable carnage. Grotesque creatures of all shapes and sizes stalked their former human companions. The only vestiges of their humanity were the tattered remnants of clothing clinging to their monstrous forms.
Having devoured the remains of his family, the creature let out another earth-shattering roar. Its tentacles latched onto the roof of the car, ripping it away like paper. It leaped from the wreckage, its multiple eyes locking onto a new target.
The same horrific scenes were playing out across the globe. Anyone who had come into contact with the dark energy, human or animal, was undergoing a terrifying transformation, plunging the planet into chaos.
---
"ROME >ITALY"
Near Vatican City, a sixteen-year-old boy ran for his life. His lungs burned, his legs ached, but he couldn't stop. Not while that thing was chasing him.
It had once been his beloved dog, a loyal companion. Now it was a monstrous abomination, its fur matted with gore, its jaws dripping with saliva. It had slaughtered his family in their sleep, tearing them apart with savage efficiency. He was the only one who had escaped.
He was fast, but the creature was faster. Its mutated form granted it unnatural speed and agility. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that he couldn't outrun it forever.
The streets of Rome, usually vibrant even in the late hours, were now a terrifying tableau of death and destruction. It was the dead of night, somewhere between 3 and 4 am, but the darkness was punctuated by the flickering flames of burning buildings and the eerie glow of the mutated creatures' eyes.
The screams of the fleeing citizens mingled with the roars of the monstrous creatures, creating a horrifying symphony of terror.
The elderly cried out in fear.
Children sobbed for their parents.
The mutated beasts roared their triumph.
Buildings burned, their skeletal remains silhouetted against the fiery sky. The air was thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood. The sickening sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bone echoed through the narrow streets.
It was a scene of pure, unadulterated chaos, a nightmare made real. The world, as they knew it, had ended.
Just as the chaos reached a fever pitch, a brilliant pillar of light erupted from within Vatican City, illuminating the ravaged landscape. The light carried with it an aura of divine power, a wave of tranquility that washed over the scene. The fighting stopped. People and creatures alike froze, their gazes drawn to the radiant pillar. The creatures, seemingly cowed by the holy aura, trembled in place. The screams and roars died away, replaced by an awed silence. Even the flames licking at the burning buildings seemed to flicker in reverence.
Then, the pillar of light exploded, fracturing into millions of motes of light that scattered in all directions. These motes zipped through the air with incredible speed, some disappearing into the bodies of the stunned onlookers.
A holographic screen materialized before the young Roman boy's eyes.
-[You have received a D-tier Talent - Fire Manipulation]
"What the…?" he muttered, his voice barely a whisper. He wasn't alone. Across the city, and indeed the world, similar notifications appeared before the eyes of those who had been touched by the motes of light.
The momentary peace shattered as a chorus of enraged roars erupted from the monstrous creatures. The holy aura had faded with the pillar of light, and the creatures, no longer restrained by fear, surged forward, their fury reignited.
The boy snapped out of his daze just as the mutated dog lunged at him, jaws gaping wide. There was no time to think, only to react. The notification, the strange message about fire manipulation… It reminded him of the fantasy novels he devoured, stories of systems and magical abilities.
With a surge of adrenaline, he thrust out his hand towards the oncoming creature. He closed his eyes, picturing fire, imagining the heat and the flames.
A burst of fire erupted from his palm, a wave of heat that slammed into the creature's open maw. The flames roared down its throat, consuming it from the inside out. The creature collapsed, its body twitching as the flames extinguished its unnatural life.
-[Your FE has increased]
Another notification flashed before his eyes.
"It worked!" he exclaimed, a mixture of shock and elation coursing through him. He hadn't truly believed it would, but the fantasy novel tropes had come through.
His celebration was short-lived. The roars of the other creatures echoed around him, a stark reminder of the ongoing battle. He steeled his resolve, his face hardening with determination. He was no longer just a boy running for his life. He was something more.
Around him, others were discovering their newfound abilities, joining the fight against the monstrous horde. The tide of battle began to shift, the humans now armed with more than just fear and desperation.
Across the globe, the same scenes were playing out. Millions of motes of light descended, granting powers to people across the world. The war for Earth's survival had begun in earnest.
Military forces mobilized, deploying conventional weapons and experimental technology in a desperate attempt to push back the monstrous tide. Explosions rocked the landscape as tanks and fighter jets engaged the creatures. The creatures, however, were relentless, their numbers seemingly endless. The battle raged, a bloody stalemate with heavy losses on both sides.
Neither side showed any sign of yielding. The line had been drawn. The battle for Earth's domination had begun. On one side, humanity fought for survival. On the other, the mutated creatures fought for… what? Domination? Consumption? Their motives remained a chilling mystery.
One thing was certain: the world would never be the same. The familiar landscape of cities and towns was transformed into a battleground, scarred by fire and littered with the remains of both human and monster.
The outcome of the battle hung precariously in the balance. The future of Earth, the future of humanity, rested on the shoulders of ordinary people who had suddenly become extraordinary. The fight would determine whether humanity would reclaim its planet or be consumed by the monstrous horde.