The air thickened.
Not gradually—instantly.
Rian felt it the second the countdown crossed the final hour, a pressure that pressed inward rather than down. It wasn't gravity. It was expectation, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Outside, the city stopped pretending everything was fine.
⸻
The Second Wave
The hum beneath the streets deepened, turning into a low vibration that rattled windows and set nerves on edge. Streetlights flickered out in entire blocks. Cell towers blinked offline one by one.
People screamed.
Not from monsters—there were none yet—but from the sensation.
It felt like something invisible was brushing against their insides.
Humans began dropping to their knees in waves.
Some clutched their chests.
Some vomited.
Some went completely still.
Rian watched from the balcony, eyes sharp.
"This is it," he murmured.
"The threshold."
⸻
Human Awakening Begins
This time, the system didn't stay silent.
Across the city—across the world—interfaces appeared.
Not Rian's.
Everyone else's.
They flashed into existence mid-panic, mid-scream, mid-collapse.
⸻
Player System Initializing...
Synchronizing with Planetary Energy...
Assigning Core Attributes...
⸻
People froze as translucent screens filled their vision.
Stamina.
Strength.
Agility.
Mana.
Some stared in disbelief. Others screamed harder, swiping at nothing. A few—very few—went silent, eyes widening with something dangerously close to awe.
Rian exhaled slowly.
"So it's begun."
⸻
Not Everyone Makes It
The energy didn't distribute evenly.
Some bodies rejected it violently.
A man across the street convulsed, veins glowing briefly before the light burned out. He collapsed, unmoving. A woman nearby screamed as her interface shattered mid-initialization, dissolving into static.
The system didn't apologize.
It moved on.
Rian's jaw tightened.
Same as before... but earlier. Faster.
⸻
Animals Cross the Line
The animals finished changing.
The alley cat from earlier let out a low, distorted growl—not aggressive, but alert. Its pupils split, Yin and Yang energy balancing unnaturally well for something that had once been ordinary.
Dogs howled in unison across the city.
Birds took flight in massive flocks, wings cutting through the air with unnatural precision.
Nature had adapted.
Now it was humanity's turn.
⸻
Rian's System Reacts
For the first time since the countdown began, his system changed.
Not unlocked.
Adjusted.
⸻
Primordial Bloodline System
Global Player Systems: Online
Synchronization Phase: Complete
Bloodline Lock: Partial Release Pending
Absorption: Still Restricted
Techniques: Unavailable
Note:
User classified as Anomaly.
Standard Player Protocols not applied.
⸻
Rian's lips curled slightly.
"Of course."
Everyone else had become a player.
He hadn't.
He never would.
⸻
Classes... Not Yet
People waited for more.
A class.
A title.
Something to explain what they were now.
Nothing came.
Only a message, appearing universally:
⸻
Class Awakening Unavailable
Requirement: Level 10
Survive. Grow. Adapt.
⸻
Panic surged again.
Rian nodded once.
"Good," he said quietly.
"Let them struggle first."
⸻
The World Breaks—Softly
The ground trembled.
Not an earthquake—alignment.
Somewhere far away, something tore.
Not open.
Not yet.
But close enough that Rian felt it in his bones.
The system answered with one final notice.
⸻
Planetary Phase Update
Apocalypse Status: Active
Dungeons: Dormant
Portals: Dormant
Monster Emergence: Pending
Countdown Removed.
The game has begun.
⸻
The clock vanished.
Time, suddenly, felt different.
Rian stepped back from the balcony and closed the door behind him.
Outside, humanity screamed, celebrated, cried, and collapsed—all at once.
Inside, Rian sat down slowly.
Calm.
Focused.
Prepared.
"This time," he said to the empty room,
"I move first."
⸻