Dealer of Fate—that was the phrase displayed on the back of the deck of cards Remir held.

He studied the set of twelve cards. Ten of them were blank, but two featured an image and a rating.

One card depicted an "S" at both the top and bottom, accompanied by three stars beside the letter.

At the card's center, a dark-scaled dragon stood breathing flames, its name, Eldritch Dragon, displayed at the top of the beautifully illustrated card.

This dragon was his lucky summon; it wiped out the four creatures that chased him when he arrived.

Though it was overkill, he welcomed the monstrosity that aided him.

The creature was truly terrifying—a colossal being whose mere roar almost made the young man faint.

Remir shuddered, recalling the wails of the beasts whose remains now splattered the ground knowing he was incredibly lucky that his mana ran out just before his own monster could turn on him.

Remir was even able to sit in one of the large dragon's footprints, looking around as dark flames consumed his surroundings—flames he dared not approach.

Waiting in place until they hopefully dispersed, he was stuck in that same spot.

Turning to look at his other card, it was the most useless thing he had ever seen: a picture of a normal blue backpack, a garbage item he could have bought from any random supermarket.

He didn't even know why he would need to summon more than one of these garbage items.

Luckily, since it was so low-level, it could sustain itself until it became something real in this new continent with magic.

Trying not to breathe too often as the dark flames devoured nearby vegetation and caused a lot of smoke, Remir thought about the past month that had changed his life—the new continent that had emerged in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, shaking the world and saving it just before a third world war could occur.

It was just before the announcement that nukes were about to be fired when a grand earthquake shook the world.

Satellites soon detected a new landmass rapidly forming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, along with images of emerging large monsters.

The new continent opened like a budding flower, revealing endless forests for governments to quickly identify through satellite imagery.

What was strange was the new power detected in this land and the appearance of dragons and other large-winged creatures. One of the largest was a huge whale-like animal that floated like a blimp, eating clouds as storms surged around the new continent.

No one dared to get close, as the few fighter jets that arrived were easily taken down by the monsters now reigning in the skies.

Yet somehow, these creatures did not leave or try to cross into the old world continents.

Scientists theorized that the new energy found was only present around the new continent, and leaving this area could pose a grave consequence to the monsters.

That was how the world grew in size in less than a day.

The old continents had to settle for a few weeks as aftershocks occurred around the world, with the new land continuing to expand.

Remir was the son of a baker before all this happened.

He was busy trying to find a new job after a fallout with his father, who kept insisting on keeping him as a worker—something Remir detested.

The young man loved creating unique breads and selling them to people, savoring the expressions of fascination they made at the artistic style he added to each creation.

Yet his father constantly brought him down whenever he presented his ideas.

"A waste of time" was his father's favorite phrase, one Remir heard far too often while growing up.

Tired of the negativity, he decided to quit baking altogether and abandon anything to do with wheat and dough.

On the day the great event happened, Remir was getting ready for a car salesman interview.

He had studied hard to prepare, making up for the lack of focus on studies in his younger years.

But everything crumbled as alarms rang out, warning of a grand war that was about to occur.

Worrying about his family was the first thing he did at that moment.

He ran back home, or at least tried to, as the ground oscillated in a way he had never felt before.

At first, he thought it was a consequence of the announcement, but then he checked his phone.

The live news showed that this was happening not only in his area but throughout the whole world.

He couldn't keep standing, just like the others around him.

Buildings crumbled, roads split in half, and pipes spilled both clean and dirty water all over the place.

The town he grew up in was quickly becoming a mess.

Fires erupted, and smoke covered the sky.

Screams, yells, and cries filled the air from those around him.

Remir was busy trying to call home, only to find that he no longer had no signal on his phone.

He got up and tried running through the destroyed district.

This must be the apocalypse everyone had spoken about for so long, the one that would kill off humanity.

Remir ran through streets littered with cracked floors, holes, and everyday objects that obstructed his path.

He got used to running as the tremors weakened.

His family surfaced in his mind: his stern father, whom he always fought with; his kind mother, who always pushed him to be a better man; his sweet little brother, who had Down syndrome; and his sister, who worked at a nearby fast-food joint where he often visited to get free meals.

He quickly arrived at his destination, a medium-sized house whose first floor was used as a bakery.

The smell of burned wood entered his lungs.

Remir looked around, trying to find his four family members who should be in the house or the two workers his father had hired to help him.