"Get the fuck up."
A sound escaped Aren - more grunt than word - as he turned, every muscle tight, breath sharp with blood. "Fine," he said after a pause, voice rough, "wait just a moment."
Two seconds left," the voice cut in - toneless, edged, worn thin by too many losses. Next moment arrives, then I haul you out by force
A figure stirred, pushing up from the ground despite a heavy throb running down his spine. Not exactly how he wanted to start - yanked forward like luggage. What a greeting. The kind that sticks
A silence came instead of words. His fingers moved across a wrist gadget, tiny red glows pulsing like breath. Who are you?
"…Aren."
A sharp beep came from the machine. Still, no response showed up on screen. Typical. With a slow curl of his hands, Aren let out a quiet curse - like he'd expected anything different
A hum crawled under the bricks, quiet yet certain. Light wavered. The ground beneath shifted slightly. Pressure built inside the room, breathing almost, and Aren felt a squeeze across his ribs - not panic, rather that quick spark when everything stops ignoring your presence.
"Emergency broadcast," the officer muttered, voice tight. "Global. Seismic anomalies, dimensional fractures, atmospheric distortions. Everywhere. Same message."
A breath came out of Aren - thin, cracked like old paper. "…Ragnarok?"
Staring without a flicker, the officer spoke one word. Ragnarok
"Of course," Aren muttered. "Why the fuck would it be anything else?"
A shiver ran through the floor - harder now - shaking grit loose from above. Leaning into the wall, he stared past glass at what should not be: crimson cracks spreading across the sky, throbbing low, steady, while figures too vast to name glided under that glow. The ground answered their passage, trembling not from weight but presence, slow, knowing, without care.
Fine, this changes things," Aren said quietly. "Right, never seen it before
Cursing under his breath, the officer tightened his hold on the gun, yet Aren refused to pause. Motion took over before thought could catch up - staying still meant death. Then came agony, swift and brutal, tearing across his chest and shoulders as if reality had thrown a fist straight into him. Legs gave way. The air turned heavy. Sight wavered.
Then darkness.
It was not a blackout. It wasn't rest either. The dark moved - thick, watchful - slipping through his mind ahead of any sense of flesh or bone.
[Human designation confirmed.]
"…Fantastic. Totally hallucinating," he muttered.
[Error detected.]
[Ragnarok System initializing.]
A shape shifted near Aren, soft lines blurring like smoke caught mid-turn. Edges of things flickered - once solid, now unsure - as if the world hesitated between forms. A sting ran through his skin, bright and close, waking each part without warning. Inside, something small but fierce began to vibrate, steady though unknown. The air thickened, not loud, just full, holding a pulse beneath silence.
A hazy screen flickered into view, soft light spilling across his sight
[System Panel – Ragnarok]
Name: Aren
Level: 1
Classification: Survivor
Health: 100/100
Mana: 50/50
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 7
Abilities: None
Status Effects: None
Odd how things line up sometimes, Aren said under his breath. Tone dull, almost empty, yet somewhere underneath flickered a hint of energy long gone. A quiet pull toward motion. The strangeness of now didn't seem so wild when looked at that way.
Now there is a goal. Stay alive first. Then get stronger along the way. Step into what the divine ones have arranged - quietly disrupt it
Out of the dark came a path made of black rock under his boots. Above, colors like fire tore across the clouds, smoke heavy, metal taste stuck in each breath. Far off, things shifted - huge, slow, fear woven into their size - pulsing through the ground as if earth itself were breathing.
Another panel flickered:
[Level Up Available One Point]
Strength +0 Agility +0 Endurance +0 Intelligence +1
A sly grin crept across Aren's face. Sure, intellect grabs the reward right away - what else makes sense? With a tap, he made the choice, eyes locked on the changing digits, sensation slipping into focus like a blade finding its balance.
A hush fell, thick with knowing. Not silence - something watching. Then the edge of the world shifted, slow like a lung expanding, not away from him but toward, as though his presence had tipped a balance long still.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's see how badly this world wants me dead."
System Update Adds New Feature
Name: Survival Instinct
Type: Passive
A flicker of danger flashes before it happens. Sometimes the body moves faster than thought when trouble strikes. A thin thread of foresight tugs at instinct mid-fight. Slight edges appear, just enough to notice. Reactions sharpen without warning. The mind reads signs others miss. Small advantages rise on their own.
A tremor ran through Aren's fingers as he lifted his palm. Skin glowed, softly, like breath on glass. Not loud. Just there - present. Alive in a way that stuck. If the end truly came, brought by Ragnarok's weight, then fine - he'd last long enough to even the score.
Out there, the huge forms shifted once more. One foot then another, dragging through time. Every motion felt like a test, yet also hope, proof that sure things did not exist. A soft alert blinked inside his sight, naming tasks it thought mattered
[Optional quest explore the horizon]
Objective: Identify major threats in visible range.
A spark of progress shows - experience grows by ten. Potential stirs awake, ready to shape what comes next.
Right, because that totally isn't strange, Aren grumbled under his breath. His frame shifted slightly, reacting to the hum in the air, senses tightening like drawn wire. When disaster comes knocking - because it will - he'll grab it by the edge, turn its force back on itself, stay standing.
A new shake came, harder than before. Clouds of dust dropped from above. Under him, the dark rock split open. Down he went, tumbling into a low stance, pulse loud in his ears. Light flashed on the console, warning him
[Massive Entity Identified as Threat]
Classification: Godly Presence
Distance: Unknown
He grinned, bitter and dry. "…Of course. And they think I'm nothing."
Running came before waiting. Every motion kept him alive. He breathed slow, looked sharp, thought quicker than everyone else. Surviving Ragnarok started not with bravery but simply being aware - seeing what others missed, moving just ahead of disaster. Speed mattered most when the world blinked.
And Aren moved.
Footsteps split the earth behind as he raced ahead, wires of light threading through what he saw - nudging, whispering, lighting things up. Change crept into his bones, slight, quiet, barely there - yet loud enough to tell him this body wasn't the one that had tripped through falling skies just moments before.
Level Up One Point Earned
[Survival Instinct Improved]
Wind tore at his hair as he smiled. The edge of the world tilted, just slightly. Dark shapes darted, sharper than before, noticing him. Fine then, let them come
Born right then, Aren stopped merely getting by. Trouble followed his name now.
Cracks split the dark rock underfoot, branching out like threads pulled too tight. With each movement, warmth rose - just shy of pain - but loud enough to whisper danger. His eyes narrowed, catching silhouettes past the scorched edge of sky, forms vast enough to crush whole towns without rushing. They advanced with eerie calm, making everything else seem frantic by comparison.
[System Notification]
New Objective: Explore immediate area.
Bonus: Gain 15 experience points, then uncover a hidden trait. Chance arrives after success.
A breath left Aren, thin and brittle. Not quite a laugh, that comment about exploring - like calling a god's war zone just another place to walk through. One foot slid back, then the other tensed, ready before he even decided. Thoughts snapped like wires under tension: how fast, how far, what breaks first. Light hummed at the edge of sight, soft yet constant, slipping numbers into his head, suggesting moves instead of ordering them.
Fleeing felt right in his bones. Yet reason kept pulling him back, demanding patience. Still, gut feeling and clear thinking rarely matched here, Aren thought. Surviving Ragnarok meant using either wasn't enough.
A flash crossed the screen, soft light spilling out, almost floating just beside him
[Attributes]
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 8
Survival Instinct: Lvl2
Health: 100/100
Mana: 50/50
Survival Instinct Passive with Danger Analysis
His fingers tensed, picking up a quiet hum beneath the skin. Not spectacle, not light - just knowing. Knowing that whatever shifted beyond the red haze would cut through him without warning should he slip even once.
Well then, Aren," he said quietly, his voice strained yet edged with a wryness he saved for moments just like this one - curiosity laced with something sharper now, wondering whether the world might wish it had looked away
A low sound rose from below, not the pulse in his chest but a presence - huge, aware, precise. Then, as if stirred by unseen motion, cracks in the dark rock began to crawl, branching unevenly in his direction.
Threat Detected – Entity Class Lesser God
[Estimated Power Level Unknown]
Fists clenched tight, he bit down hard. Once more, the system throbbed to life
Combat Option Available Quick Check
Check the target. Look for soft spots. Gauge how much harm could land there. Size up what breaks easiest. Measure force against flaws. Peek at fault lines. Test where it cracks first.
A grin tugged at Aren's lips. Time to move, then
A wave of scorching heat hit hard, knocking the breath right out of his lungs. To the left he rolled - no thought, only movement. Where his body stood moments before now cracked open, jagged pieces flying, grit mixing with fire falling from above. All while that thing stayed still, observing, slow in its motions, eyes faintly questioning.
Survival Instinct Kicks In Faster Reactions Activate
A hush settled inside his head, real enough though it broke no clock. A stream of guesses poured through - where chunks would crash, how strikes curved, even air tugging sideways. Up he twisted, foot catching splintered rock. Momentum hurled him skyward, breath ragged, pulse slamming ribs like fists. Stillness hung just behind.
A light blinked across his sight. It danced once, then held still
From Basic to Intermediate
EXP Gained: 30
Attribute Points Earned 2
A small smile tugged at Aren's mouth. Level two already - decent progress after barely scraping five minutes in a place built on violence. Right then, he spent the points without hesitation. One went to strength, another to agility, each choice sparking a quiet shift beneath his skin. His arms felt denser, movements quicker, responses slipping ahead of thought like his body now saw danger before it arrived.
Out there, shadows crawled along the edge of sight. Quickening their pace now. Cracks in the dark rock stretched wider. A hum filled the air, pressing against everything. Still, what rose in him wasn't fear. Hardly ordinary. A rush, sure. Sharp attention, definitely. That pulse of staying alive when everything lined up to take him down - each gut feeling, each guess, each tiny edge made the difference.
"…Alright, you massive fucker," Aren muttered under his breath, fists clenched. "Show me what you've got."
A heavy blow hit, shaking the ground close by. Up he sprang, twisting through the air, touching down just as the inner mechanism sparked into motion - whispering choices, sharpening his sense of where the next move would come from, hinting at shifts seconds ahead. The hum stayed constant, like a thread beneath everything, guiding without speaking.
[New Ability Available Tactical Reflexes]
Some small sense of what comes next appears when motions repeat. A flicker shows before the strike happens. Patterns whisper where danger leans. Slight shifts give hints if eyes stay open. Timing slips through consistent flaws. Repeats train instinct over time. Body learns before mind notices.
Cooldown: 10 seconds
A small smile touched Aren's lips once more. "…Thanks, Ragnarok," he said, voice low, completely serious. Each added piece - skill, understanding, moment of clarity - meant staying alive. Power came from that. So did movement ahead. Should the gods believe they can push him off the path, they've missed how fast he changes.
Fissures tore wider. Closer now, the huge shape moved - not rushing, just inevitable, folding space like it meant nothing. Light blinked on the screen
[Quest Update First Meeting]
Objective: Survive first engagement with Godly Entity.
A small boost of fifty experience points arrives. The first ability for battle becomes available.
A breath filled Aren's lungs as muscles tightened, Survival Instinct buzzing beneath his skin, while Tactical Reflexes began tuning each motion like a blade on stone. Quiet words slipped out - "You want to fight me?" A pause settled before he added, "Wrong choice."
Faster than the cracks spreading across the ground, he shifted - outpacing even what the creature predicted. For once since the battles began tearing through everything, a sharp spark rose inside him: not just escape, but striking against the force that hunted him.
Backtrack impossible now. Each stride forward mattered, each shift of muscle, each new ability gained, each score added up. Survival alone no longer fit him. Trouble followed where he walked.
Fate cracked open, then - Ragnarok barely started.
End of Chapter One
Thanks for reading!♥️