1 Broadcast

People who tell stories and legends focus on the heroes, the villains, the epic weaving of love and war. Almost no one spares a thought for Villager Three whose crops were all nuked from orbit by the floating Demon Castle. In games a Villager Three will never get a name, and forget being assigned a unique voice actor if they got voiced at all. Sometimes they'll be allowed to give a useful tidbit but often it was just some random tutorial blurb that no one bothered listening to after their first time through a save file. Villager Three, with their farm and their rake, was always bypassed and forgotten.

Most people hearing stories like to imagine they'd be the hero or the damsel or the cool anti-hero sidekick, not the merchant whose life was ruined by some adventurers who failed to protect his goods. People played games to be a badass not an accountant, and they didn't consider what blasting open someone's doors to get to their life savings hidden in a pot would do for that poor peasant's retirement plans.

What would it be like to watch the world ending around you while having no inkling of the events leading up to it? One day watering tomatoes and pulling weeds, and the next day the moon starts dripping blood and the demons of Hell erupt from the ground. What if you weren't a key player in the storyline?

Maybe some people knew what was going on. Maybe there was an organization, or a branch of some country's government, or a cult with diabolical plans working behind the scenes.

Most people had no clue about any of that though. They were just continuing along with their day, minding their own business, doing their best to provide for their families and live a good life, when suddenly enormous cracks in the sky tore open revealing a deep void beyond.

In that moment everyone on Earth was just another Villager Three.

[Ah, ah, testing. 1, 2, 3. Can everyone hear me? Good, good! I'll begin the broadcast now.]

Floating semi-transparent windows of light appeared in front of everyone in the world, like holographic screens from science fiction movies. Obviously the blind couldn't see them, but somehow the deaf could hear and understand the words being spoken.

On each screen was displayed the same figure: a man in a garish Hawaiian shirt wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat decorated with tacky flowers, whose facial features seemed strangely obscured. He leaned on a long staff, one hand on his hip where a ring of keys swung freely back and forth.

Most unforgivable of all, he wore mismatched patterned socks with gold and silver sequined crocs.

Humanity cringed as one.

The man held up his hand in a peace sign, the keys on his waist jingling merrily. [Yo! I'm Janus. God of Beginnings, Ends, Entrances and Departures. In less complicated terms I'm the God of Change. Or the Custodian of the Universe if you prefer.]

[As you can imagine, the fact I'm showing up means there's a big change happening. Have you all seen the cracks already? Ah, yep, there's panicking. You've seen the cracks. They're not harmless but it's fine as long as you don't touch them, so don't go flying any aircraft near them okay? They'll go away soon.]

[The most recent War of the Gods has concluded and I'm sorry to say your realm didn't do too well. In fact it was... downright abysmal. You didn't place in any rankings, losing your rights to operate independently.]

[Ah, in short... a hostile takeover?]

[Good news, you weren't last in the competition at least which means you don't get subjected to a full reset. Bad news, you're a winner's prize instead.]

[The realm that's assimilating you has a different underlying set of rules which means the rules governing existence are changing as far as you're concerned. I won't divulge too many details since it's pretty complex stuff and you'll figure out the intricacies on your own.]

[You were previously a Science-type realm but now you'll be Magic-type. To make acclimation easier I'm installing a System to help everyone adjust. For the sake of survival and not because I'm a fan of your realm's many System novels. Don't be absurd!]

[I've already had it working in the other realm for awhile from their perspective. Time is relative and everything. They won't find anything strange with you using it too, but that also means you won't have any abnormal advantages.]

[Let's see... Gates will manifest as part of the assimilation process. Gates can have great benefits but they're dangerous too so you know. Caution.]

[Dungeons will show up a bit after Gates. Maybe after a century or so? They're similar to Gates in some ways, but are far more lethal and strict with their Rules. Pay close attention to Dungeon Rules! Especially regarding Soul Gems!]

[Some of you watching this broadcast are actually already inside Gates. If you are looking around wondering what the hell is happening, good job! That's an opportunity you have in your hands there. Don't worry, the first Gates are very simple so you'll be fine.]

[Mm. Probably.]

[Your planet Gaea is the Origin of Humanity and will be protected from aggressive invasions for a maximum of one thousand years as a Newbie Blessing. Your realm didn't rank even among the losers so you only get a millennium at most, sorry about that. If you wanna blame anyone blame your Pantheon. Your representative Gods were weak.]

[During the Newbie Blessing's duration Classes and Skill Books and other such useful things can only be obtained via Gates, but monsters and whatnot may spawn and develop naturally as mana permeates your world.]

[After the Blessing falls you're on your own so use the time wisely! But don't push yourselves toward progress for the sake of progress, for your own sake. Take your time to build a strong foundation!]

[Or don't. Whatever. But your world will change fast, clinging to what you understand of common sense will only hurt you in the long run. I recommend you adjust swiftly if you want to avoid extinction. I like humans, I hope you'll do your best!]

[Anyway, I'll wrap this up since I've gone on long enough, you've got plenty of hints now. The old tend to ramble, you know how it is.]

[I know some of you won't believe me. Good luck with that, you won't last long.]

[Full realm assimilation will be completed in a few million years give or take and then the Gates will stop appearing, use them while you can. The next War of the Gods is scheduled to start in about 15 billion years, practice hard until then.]

[See ya around!]

With that simple farewell, the screens disappeared and the world changed forever.

Humans were above all else an adaptable species. When faced with the unknown, they rose to the occasion and overcame adversity with a tenacious determination that other species swiftly learned to fear.

Civilization fell, then rose again even more grand than before. As it did so many times in the past, as it would many times in the future.