Prologue

Fifty years prior, the world was introduced to a great catastrophe. An anomaly that punches a hole in the sky, harboring monsters from the other side.

Portals to different dimensions.

Creatures with overwhelming strength and capabilities swarmed from the rupture, killing all living beings in sight. And for all those years, the people had suffered devastating losses and fought back with the help of unknown warriors from unknown lands until this very day.

{Congratulation! The final boss "Plague Lord" has been defeated.}

A floating screen appeared as the warriors triumphed over the last remaining foe, thus ending its tyranny on the world. They roared in triumph as the uproar reverberated through the corrupted lands, shaking the battlefield littered with the bodies of allies and enemies.

"You've done well, heroes!" An angelic voice spoke then light descended into the earth, revealing a lady filled with pure light glowing from within. It was a goddess, or what these warriors had called it.

An entity that represents light itself.

These heroes from distant lands are known as Players—individuals who hail from another world.

Compared to a normal human being, the weakest is just par with an athlete who could get a gold medal in a tournament. And they only get stronger the more they fight.

It was a triumphant moment for the Players, a victory against the sinister entity responsible for the devastation of the lands and human suffering. They defeated the harbinger of death and the animator of lifeless bodies.

But not all rejoice from this end.

For the remaining survivors, it was nothing less than a massacre within their kind, and a tragic fate awaited those who were left behind. The memory of this disaster would forever leave scars and haunting images in the minds of the survivors who had witnessed the tragedy they had stumbled upon.

"It's finally over," Gabriela spoke, gripping the sword that impaled the ground to maintain her balance, but eventually succumbed to her injuries as they finally took a toll on her, causing her to collapse. "W-where's Nathan?"

"He's…" Cipher gazed back and forth until he found him, leaning on a rock as he was covered in wounds. However, he was no longer showing signs of movement. He was already… "…gone. Nate's gone, Gabby"

Tears welled up in her eyes as Cipher wailed in response to Gabriela's dying breath until her hand finally lost its strength and touched the grimy soil.

While all the survivors mourned the loss of their loved ones, the players celebrated. Cipher's animosity towards these warriors only intensified.

Despite the Players' human-like appearance, Cipher never regarded them as true humans. To him, they might have looked, sounded, and even thought like humans, but they were never seen as equals in his eyes.

To him, they were just like these other entities who invaded our world. A monster with immeasurable power wearing human skin. Entities who grew stronger by killing another. A creature who thirsts for blood and power.

What had happened was a true tragedy to the powerless humans. Being used as nothing but pawns and fodder in the war, and a distraction to the weaker forces for them to hunt the leader. As for these players, they only think of the humans of this earth as non-playable characters. An NPC whose life holds no value at all.

But they couldn't be more wrong. And what is worst, the job was done and they are leaving.

Just like that.

{Final Scenario has ended. Returning all surviving players}

"... Once again, I congratulate you, Players. The world is in your debt" the players' goddess stated.

"We're finally returning home!" a woman cried, wearing tattered clothes and wounds covering most of her body.

"Wait, what?" from afar, Cipher heard the woman's words, further infuriating him.

"Yeah, it was fun. Wasn't it?" a man claimed in response to the woman while she just smiled back.

"F-fun? Wait! Where are you freaks going!?" Cipher scowled, dropping the lifeless body of his friend as he ran as fast as he could in the direction of the remaining Players. Yet their body slowly dissipates in the air, as if they are made of light until not a single one of them remain in sight, leaving the lands tainted and the people dead and dreaded. "Come back here, you freaks!"

His action though was noticed by the entitled goddess and with its magic, his body slammed into the corrupted soil beneath in an instant with the number of gravity multiplied.

"You ungrateful insect! Have you no gratitude to those who save you from these evil lords!? The heroes who saved your world!?" the entity scowled.

"G-Gratitude, m-my ass. You think they even saved us nor the earth, you bitch!?" his claims were true as the lands were no longer suitable for life. Aside from the corrupted land he was on, the others were as doomed as well. Flourishing green lands had become desserts, sea level had risen that drown most of the cities,

"You insolent, bas-" its words were cut as a grin drew on its face then the creature who was viewed as a goddess disappears. And in its absence, the earth started to tremble.

Tremors after tremors, the world around Cipher collapsed. Mountains break, land cratered and split, as humans frantically run amok in the breaking soil until every piece of land explodes.

"Nate! Gab!" Cipher screamed as their bodies were thrown along with the earth's remains. He couldn't do a thing as the pressing gravity was still trapping him on the soil beneath.

And the world, the earth where Cipher and humanity had lived for a thousand years, was gone.

Everything was scattered in space, drifting into the void. And only the voice of the sick goddess resonated in his head as punishment for his action.

"This is what you mortals get for your insolence."

"Curse you!" he growled with the very last air he had as the heavy pressure lightens its press, leaving him floating in space.

All of their struggles and sacrifices were for not. Gabriela believed in players and Nathan dreamed of becoming like them while the rest of Humanity believed that in the end, they could attain peace with their help. Attain freedom from the invading creatures with the Player's aid. Yet all of them were just used, played then ditched in the end.

And now, Cipher's consciousness slowly drifts into nothingness. Slowly dying with unquenched hatred in his heart.

"Enough, child!" a growling voice stated then within Cipher's fading vision, an abyssal dragon gazes with its soul-white eyes. It had been watching for what had happened, from then til now. "I've seen enough!"