Chapter 1

A Sudden End to Normalcy

Alex's phone buzzed with a reminder: "Monday Meeting at 9 AM." He groaned, dragging himself out of bed. Another day, another meaningless grind in a job he hated. As he poured a cup of instant coffee, a strange hum vibrated through his apartment. The windows rattled, and then, suddenly, the building shook with a force that knocked the mug from his hand, shattering it on the floor.

"What the hell?" Alex muttered, rushing to the window.

Outside, the sky was no longer the pale blue of dawn but a swirling mix of dark clouds and flashes of green lightning. Streets that once bustled with people and cars were in chaos. Buildings cracked like old bones, crumbling into dust, and in the distance, a vortex of energy ripped through the city center, warping everything around it. Everywhere was dark. It was a complete mess

Then he saw it—his neighbor, Mrs. White, sprinting down the street, chased by something that looked like a cross between a wolf and a machine, its eyes glowing red, its metallic claws sparking as it lunged. Her scream cut through the air, only to be swallowed by the creature's growl.

Alex stumbled back, heart pounding. This couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of nightmare, or maybe he'd finally lost his mind. He reached for his phone, only to find it flickering with static, the screen displaying random symbols he couldn't recognize. " This is a joke,wake up,Alex!" he said giving himself a slap across the face 

Before he could make sense of it, a deep rumble shook the ground again, and a glowing crack split open right in front of his apartment. From the fissure emerged creatures like the one he had seen before, but now they were accompanied by twisted, human-like figures with eyes hollow and mouths twisted into grotesque smiles.

"Survivors detected," one of the creatures said, its voice unnaturally mechanical. "Initiate elimination protocol."

Alex's instincts screamed at him to move, but his legs felt like lead. Everything was happening so fast that he couldn't make sense out of it. Just when he thought it was over, the creatures froze, their attention shifting to something behind him. A second later, the window shattered inward as a figure burst through—a woman with fierce eyes, wielding a staff crackling with blue energy.

"Get down!" she shouted.

Alex hit the floor as she swung her staff, sending a bolt of energy straight into the nearest creature. It exploded in a shower of sparks and metal fragments. The remaining monsters hesitated, then charged at her, snarling. She moved like a blur, each strike precise, turning their aggression into chaos.

When the last creature fell, she turned to Alex, offering her hand. "You need to come with me if you want to survive." she said with her hand stretched out to pull Alex up. 

" What are those?"He stared at her, blinking. "Who are you?"

"Name's Mira," she said, not wasting any more time as she hauled him to his feet. "And if you think this is bad, you haven't seen anything yet."

She pulled him to the hallway, where the emergency stairwell was already filled with people screaming, pushing, trying to escape. Mira cursed under her breath, pulling Alex toward the roof instead.

"Wait—why are we going up?" he protested. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here?"

"Trust me," Mira said. "The streets are a deathtrap. We need to get to higher ground before the second wave hits."

"Second wave?" Alex echoed, his voice cracking. "What second wave?"

Just as he spoke, the ground trembled again. He looked down from the rooftop in time to see the street below split open like a wound. From the depths emerged more creatures, this time accompanied by what looked like dungeon portals—glowing, swirling gateways from which monstrous beasts poured out.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. This wasn't some freak accident. It was an invasion.

"Listen," Mira said, gripping his arm tightly. "You've got a choice to make. Either you come with me, and we fight to survive this, or you stay here and get eaten alive. What's it gonna be?"

" This can't be happening. He had always wanted the world to end due to the nature of his job but not like this. Alex's mind raced. His logical side screamed at him to run, to hide, to deny that any of this was happening. But something deeper—some instinct he didn't understand—told him that Mira was right. This was no time for hesitation.

"I'm coming with you," he said, the words surprising even himself.

Mira nodded. "Good choice." She pointed to the horizon, where a distant rumble echoed. "We need to get to the nearest safe zone. But first, there's something you need to know."

Before Alex could ask what, Mira tapped a device on her wrist, and a holographic map flickered to life, showing the city dotted with red zones marked "Danger" and blue zones marked "Safe." But what drew his attention was the green pulse in the center—a dungeon gateway larger than the others.

"That," Mira said, pointing to the green pulse, "is the source of all this chaos. The dungeons are spreading, and if we don't shut down the main one soon, it's going to get a lot worse."

Alex stared at the map, his thoughts spinning. The green pulse seemed to draw him in, as if it was calling out to him specifically. The closer he looked, the more he felt something within him stir—something powerful, something alive.

"Do you feel it?" Mira asked, her eyes searching his. "The energy. You're connected to it, aren't you?"

Alex opened his mouth to deny it, but he couldn't. Deep down, he knew she was right. He could feel the energy pulsing, almost like a heartbeat, resonating with his own.

"What does it mean?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Mira's gaze was intense. "It means you're not just a survivor, Alex. You're something more. And if we're going to cancel this apocalypse, you're our best shot."

As her words sank in, the reality of his new world closed in around him. The mundane life he once knew was gone, shattered into pieces. And in its place stood a war he didn't understand, against enemies he couldn't yet comprehend.

But one thing was clear: he was no longer just a spectator in this nightmare. He was now a player in the game to save humanity.

And the clock was ticking.