[Time: 10:55 AM]
Aiden Cross parked the Rezvani along the edge of a spacious city square, where he had a clear view of everything. The plaza bustled with life, surrounded by commercial buildings crowned with towering holographic billboards, the perfect vantage point from which to witness history.
He switched off the engine, and the cabin fell into an almost unnatural silence, sharply contrasting with the vibrant city beyond the windows. Leaning back in his seat, he settled into a posture that was both relaxed and ready to move at a moment’s notice, his calm gaze sweeping across the sea of people below.
Children chased one another around the fountain. Couples sat shoulder to shoulder on benches, whispering to each other. Office workers hurried past with coffee in hand, while street vendors called out to passing customers, offering balloons, snacks, and souvenirs.
It was a perfectly ordinary busy morning.
No one realized that the countdown to humanity’s destruction, and rebirth, had entered its final five minutes.
Almost absentmindedly, Aiden rubbed the [Damaged Ring of Greed] on his middle finger. Its cold, metallic touch grounded him, keeping his mind perfectly composed. He was nothing more than an indifferent spectator, patiently waiting for the curtain to rise on a performance that fate had long since written.
With time to spare, he activated the local news broadcast from Ashford City on the car’s display.
The anchor, wearing a bright professional smile, enthusiastically reported on the worldwide launch of the fully immersive virtual reality game Eclipse Online. Industry experts followed, confidently predicting that the revolutionary title would redefine entertainment, reshape the global economy, and usher human civilization into a new era.
The irony was almost laughable. It was almost noon, the apocalypse is coming...
[AM 11:58:01]
Without the slightest warning, the sky darkened.
Not with the gradual gray of gathering storm clouds, nor the fading glow of approaching evening.
The light simply... vanished.
An immense, unnatural darkness spread across the heavens in an instant, as though some invisible force had swallowed the entire sky whole. The sun disappeared without a trace, and broad daylight collapsed into an eerie twilight darker than dusk itself.
The square erupted into restless murmurs.
People instinctively looked up, their faces etched with confusion and growing unease.
"What’s going on? Is it a solar eclipse?"
"There wasn’t supposed to be one today!"
"The forecast didn’t mention any storm..."
"Look at the sky!"
Questions and frightened voices rose from every direction as unease spread through the crowd like a contagious disease.
[AM 11:59:30]
Across the unnatural darkness overhead, countless thin, luminous blue lines suddenly appeared.
They resembled the intricate circuitry of a colossal circuit board, twisting, branching, and multiplying with impossible speed. Within seconds, they had spread across the entire visible sky, weaving together into an immense, glowing network.
Then,
CRACK!!!
A deafening sound beyond description tore through existence itself. It was neither thunder nor an explosion.
It did not travel through the air. Instead, it echoed directly within the soul of every living being, as though the very foundation of reality had shattered. A primal chill swept through every heart, freezing blood and breath alike.
The immense web of blue lines fractured. Like a gigantic mirror struck by an invisible hammer, the heavens split apart.
A colossal rift stretched from one horizon to the other, so vast that its end could not be seen. Beyond the crack lay neither stars nor empty space.
It was an endless torrent of flowing data. Countless streams of 0s and 1s, incomprehensible symbols, and cascading lines of luminous code surged from the breach like a celestial waterfall. Brilliant yet cold, the torrent poured into reality itself, ignoring every law of physics as it passed effortlessly through clouds, skyscrapers, steel, and flesh alike before raining upon the stunned world below.
"Ahhh!"
"What the fuck is that?!"
"It’s the end of the world!"
"Run!"
"Mom! I’m scared!"
Panic exploded like a chain of dynamite. Within moments, the entire square, and soon the entire city, descended into chaos.
People fled in every direction without reason or destination. Some screamed. Some cried. Others shoved desperately through the crowd, trampling anyone unfortunate enough to fall. Vehicles crashed into one another as terrified drivers lost control, their blaring horns joining the chorus of screams.
In the face of heaven and earth collapsing, every trace of civilization proved as fragile as paper.
And this... was only the beginning.
As the rain of data descended, the laws governing the physical world began to warp. The asphalt streets writhed like living flesh before splitting open, sprouting twisted vegetation that shimmered with an eerie fluorescent glow.
Translucent windows resembling game interfaces materialized across the walls of buildings, complete with borders, status bars, and unreadable system prompts.
Streetlights flickered violently. One moment they dissolved into clouds of glowing data particles, the next, they reassembled into grotesque metallic abominations that writhed with unnatural life.
The places where the data rain fell most heavily became even more horrifying.
Space itself rippled like disturbed water.
One after another, monstrous creatures that should have existed only in myths and fantasy games gradually materialized from the distorted air, their bodies assembling piece by piece amid the harsh, grating sound of data being loaded into reality.
Stone Golems lumbered into existence, their bodies hewn entirely from jagged rock. They moved with ponderous slowness, yet every step carried overwhelming strength.
Mutated Dogs emerged with arcs of blue electricity dancing across their fur, their exposed fangs glinting as they darted forward with terrifying speed.
Above them floated Inferior Wraiths, ghostly figures with translucent bodies that drifted soundlessly through the air while emitting piercing psychic shrieks.
The moment they materialized, they attacked.
"ROAR!"
A Stone Golem brought its massive fist crashing down onto a parked car, flattening it into a twisted sheet of metal before the driver could even open the door.
WHOOSH!
A Mutated Dog became little more than a streak of lightning. In an instant, it pounced on a fleeing woman, tearing her to the ground as blood splashed across the pavement.
"SKREEEE!"
An Inferior Wraith glided effortlessly through a man’s body.
His eyes rolled back. Foam spilled from his mouth.
Without uttering another sound, he collapsed lifelessly onto the street.
The slaughter unfolded without restraint upon the crumbling ruins of civilization.