No one remembered exactly when the rumors began.
Some said it started with the astronomers.
Others blamed the strange videos that appeared online—brief clips of crimson stars flickering in the middle of the day before vanishing seconds later.
There were stories of people hearing whispers in empty rooms, of children speaking names that didn’t exist in any language, of shadows moving a little too slowly under the evening sun.
Most people laughed.
Humanity had seen enough conspiracies to stop caring.
By the time the world realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
For Ethan Vale, however, the end of the world began with an overdue electricity bill and a cold cup of coffee.
He sat in the corner of his tiny apartment on the twenty-third floor of a crumbling building overlooking New Haven City.
Rain tapped softly against the windows while the glow of his laptop illuminated the dark circles beneath his eyes.
Twenty-four years old.
No degree.
Three part-time jobs.
Zero achievements.
If life were a game, Ethan was fairly certain he would qualify as an NPC.
He leaned back in his chair and stared at the notification on his banking app.
Balance: $17.43.
“That’s enough for instant noodles for a week,” he muttered.
His phone buzzed almost immediately.
MOM.
Ethan hesitated before answering.
“Hey.” “Ethan, have you eaten?” He smiled despite himself.
Somehow, mothers always asked the same questions, regardless of age or circumstance.
“Yeah.” “You’re lying.” “I’m surviving.” There was a brief silence on the other end.
“You know your sister got accepted into medical school.” “I know.” “You should come visit sometime.” “Maybe next month.” “That’s what you said last month.” Ethan looked toward the rain-soaked skyline.
Thousands of lights stretched endlessly across the city, each belonging to someone with dreams, ambitions, and lives that seemed to move forward.
His had stopped years ago.
“I’ll visit,” he said quietly.
“You promise?” “…I promise.” His mother laughed softly.
“You always sound so serious.
Don’t spend all your time working.
You’re still young.” Young.
He wasn’t sure he felt young anymore.
After hanging up, Ethan sat in silence for several minutes.
Eventually, he opened the fridge and found exactly what he expected: half a bottle of water and expired ketchup.
“Fantastic.” The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then they died completely.
“Great.
They actually cut the power.” He was about to stand when the room suddenly became brighter.
Not from outside.
From above.
Ethan frowned.
The ceiling glowed with an eerie crimson light, as though someone had painted the sky red.
“What the—” He rushed to the window.
The entire city had stopped.
Cars stood motionless on the highways.
Thousands of people stared upward.
Even the rain seemed suspended in the air for a brief, impossible moment.
The sky was cracking.
There was no other way to describe it.
Massive fractures spread across the heavens like shattered glass, revealing something beyond.
Darkness.
Not the darkness of night.
This was older.
Deeper.
Alive.
A low sound echoed across the world.
It wasn’t thunder.
It was laughter.
Every screen in the city suddenly turned on simultaneously.
Billboards.
Phones.
Televisions.
Laptop monitors.
Each displayed the same message.
[THE INTEGRATION OF WORLD-731 HAS BEGUN.] [ESTIMATED SURVIVAL RATE: 12.4%] [WELCOME TO THE GREAT ASCENSION.] For several seconds, silence dominated the world.
Then came the screaming.
Ethan’s phone slipped from his fingers as people flooded into the streets below.
Somewhere in the distance, an explosion lit up the horizon.
“What is this…?” The message changed.
[AWAKENING TALENTS…] [PLEASE WAIT.] A blinding light descended from the sky.
People collapsed where they stood.
Others began to glow.
A man across the street suddenly erupted into flames, his terrified screams quickly turning into hysterical laughter as he realized the fire wasn’t harming him.
Nearby, a woman lifted a parked car into the air with one hand.
The world had gone insane in less than a minute.
Then Ethan heard it.
A whisper.
Not from outside.
From behind him.
Hungry.
He turned sharply.
His shadow stretched unnaturally across the floor, twisting against the crimson light.
For a moment, he could have sworn it looked back at him.
[AWAKENING COMPLETE.] [TALENT ACQUIRED.] [TALENT: CONSUME] [TALENT RANK: UNKNOWN] [TALENT DESCRIPTION: ERROR.] [ATTEMPTING REEVALUATION…] [ERROR.] [ERROR.] [WARNING: TALENT NOT FOUND IN RECORDS.] Ethan blinked.
Unknown?
Around the world, people were shouting their abilities.
“Lightning Manipulation!” “SS-Rank Sword Saint!” “I can control metal!” “Regeneration!
I got regeneration!” The internet exploded almost instantly despite the ongoing chaos.
Someone had apparently gained the ability to teleport.
Another could summon wolves.
One video already showed a man flying over Tokyo.
And Ethan?
Consume.
No explanation.
No rank.
No information.
“That’s it?” he said.
A laugh escaped him.
Of course.
Even at the end of the world, luck had found a way to avoid him.
The system message continued.
[PHASE ONE COMMENCING.] [MONSTERS WILL ARRIVE IN:] [00:05:00] The timer appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Five minutes.
Panic spread faster than wildfire.
People ran through the streets.
Some prayed.
Others looted stores.
Military helicopters filled the skies.
The world governments attempted to restore order, but how could anyone prepare for something like this?
Ethan watched the countdown tick downward.
04:32.
04:31.
04:30.
He should run.
He knew that.
Yet his legs refused to move.
Instead, he found himself staring at the city.
There was a strange sense of unreality to everything, as if he were watching someone else’s life.
Perhaps this was a dream.
Perhaps he had finally worked himself to death.
“Consume,” he repeated.
His shadow shifted again.
This time, he was certain.
It moved independently.
The apartment suddenly became colder.
“You can see me.” The voice was quiet.
Ancient.
Ethan froze.
His shadow had risen from the floor.
Not completely.
Only its upper body emerged, featureless except for two faint silver eyes.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run.
“What are you?” he whispered.
The shadow tilted its head.
“Hungry.” “What?” “Hungry.” Before Ethan could respond, the timer reached zero.
The world screamed.
The sky shattered.
Something massive descended above New Haven City.
At first, Ethan thought it was a mountain.
Then it moved.
A colossal hand larger than several city blocks emerged from the darkness beyond the fractured sky.
Buildings crumbled beneath its weight.
People scattered like insects.
The hand belonged to a creature so vast that its body remained hidden behind the cracks in reality itself.
Its eye opened.
One eye.
Larger than a stadium.
And it looked directly at him.
A system notification appeared instantly.
[WARNING.] [WORLD BOSS DETECTED.] [ENTITY: THE HUNGER BETWEEN STARS] [THREAT LEVEL: IMPOSSIBLE] [RECOMMENDATION: PRAY.] The city descended into madness.
The creature’s voice reverberated across the planet.
“I remember this world.” The words were spoken in no known language, yet everyone understood them.
Thousands died simply from hearing its voice.
Blood poured from Ethan’s ears as he collapsed to one knee.
Impossible.
This was impossible.
Humanity couldn’t fight something like that.
No one could.
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, dozens of figures emerged across the globe.
Some wielded swords made of light.
Others rode dragons.
One man split the clouds with a single swing of his spear.
“They’re Ascendants!” someone shouted from below.
Videos had appeared online only moments earlier.
People whose talents had awakened at impossible levels.
The first heroes of the apocalypse.
The battle lasted less than thirty seconds.
They died.
Every single one.
The giant eye blinked once.
And they ceased to exist.
Silence followed.
Humanity had lost before the war had even begun.
The creature began descending further.
[WORLD DESTRUCTION IMMINENT.] Ethan stared blankly at the messages flooding his vision.
This was it.
No glorious destiny.
No hidden power.
No miraculous awakening.
Just an ordinary man watching the end of existence.
His thoughts drifted unexpectedly to his mother.
He had promised to visit.
He wondered if she was still alive.
Something touched his shoulder.
The shadow.
Its silver eyes stared upward at the impossible being in the sky.
For the first time, Ethan noticed something strange.
The shadow wasn’t afraid.
It was excited.
“Hungry,” it whispered again.
“That thing?” Ethan said hoarsely.
“You’re hungry for that thing?” The shadow nodded.
Ethan laughed.
Actually laughed.
Perhaps he had finally gone insane.
“Sure,” he said, wiping blood from his mouth.
“Why not?
The world’s ending anyway.” The shadow’s gaze turned toward him.
“Permission?” “Permission for what?” “To eat.” Lightning illuminated the ruined skyline.
Somewhere in the distance, millions continued to scream.
And for reasons Ethan would never fully understand, he answered.
“…Go ahead.” The moment the words left his mouth, the world stopped.
Every sound vanished.
Even time itself seemed to freeze.
The shadow beneath Ethan’s feet expanded.
Ten meters.
One hundred.
One thousand.
Darkness spread across the city like a living ocean, swallowing streets, buildings, and light itself.
For the first time since its arrival, the colossal entity in the sky moved.
Not in attack.
In fear.
The system notifications began appearing so quickly Ethan could no longer read them.
[WARNING.] [WARNING.] [SEALED AUTHORITY DETECTED.] [IDENTITY CONFIRMED.] [THE DEVOURER OF DIVINITIES HAS AWAKENED.] [ERROR.] [ERROR.] [ALL SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED.] Somewhere beyond reality, countless beings suddenly opened their eyes.
Ancient thrones trembled.
Forgotten gods rose from their graves.
And in the endless void between universes, something smiled.
The shadow wrapped itself around Ethan like a cloak.
Its voice was no longer a whisper.
It was a chorus of a billion souls.
“At last,” it said.
The giant eye in the sky began to retreat.
Too late.
A single hand formed from darkness and reached upward.
The heavens screamed.
Then came the final notification.
[Congratulations, Host.] [Your Shadow Has Found Its First Meal.]