Apocalypse Tutorial System

Chapter 8 : Countdown to Chaos

The violet eddies in the sky swirled closer, their rhythmic pulsing casting a strobe-like shadow over the gravel roof. Rendi wiped a bead of cold sweat from his eye and looked at the drop down to Sari’s balcony.

“Ayo, System, give me a clutch landing here,” Rendi hissed, positioning himself on the ledge. “If I clip into the floorboards now, it’s a total skill issue.”

[ NOTICE: AGILITY PENALTY REDUCED TO 50%. RECOMMENDED ACTION: CONTROLLED DESCENT. ]

“Say less. Controlled descent it is.”

He swung over the edge, his boots scraping the brickwork as he lowered himself toward the small metal railing below. He dropped, his sneakers hitting the balcony with a soft thud that vibrated through his reinforced calves.

“Mbak Sari! Unlock the screen! Move with haste, fam!” Rendi yelled, banging his fist against the sliding glass.

Sari, who had been staring blankly at her destroyed kitchen, spun around with a scream. “Rendi? Are you—did you just come from the sky again?!”

“Open the door, Mbak! No cap, the atmosphere is about to turn into literal acid rain! We need to lock this down!”

Sari fumbled with the latch, sliding the glass back just enough for Rendi to squeeze through. “What are you doing? Adit is out there with a shrink and the police! They think you’re a domestic threat!”

“I am the threat to the NPCs, Mbak, not to you!” Rendi grabbed the edge of her heavy wooden dining table. “Is there anything in this room you unironically care about? Because I’m about to reorganize the layout for maximum defense.”

“What? My table? Rendi, stay away from the furniture!”

“No can do, Sari. We’re in a survival wave now.” Rendi braced his shoulder against the table. With a low grunt, he shoved it across the linoleum. It didn’t slide—it flew, slamming against the front door with a force that made the hinges groan. “Bet. Level 50 Strength coming in clutch.”

“You just moved a six-seater table like it was a Lego block,” Sari whispered, her hands shaking as she watched him move toward her massive oak bookshelf. “Rendi... how are you doing this?”

“It’s the stat spread, Mbak. High-key optimized,” Rendi panted, his chest heaving. “Help me with the curtains. Close them. All of them. We need zero visibility from the outside. If the Phase-Spiders see light, it’s game over.”

“Spiders? More spiders?” Sari lunged for the drapes, her movements frantic. “Is that what’s in the sky? The red light?”

“It’s not just light, Sari. It’s a server-wide reset.” Rendi hoisted the sofa over his head, his face turning a dark shade of red, and wedged it vertically against the barricaded door. “There. That should hold off the regular mobs. Adit included.”

“Rendi, stop for a second!” Sari grabbed his arm, her eyes watering. “Look at me. Look at my face. Are you actually serious? Or am I in the middle of a shared psychosis with you? Because if we’re both crazy, I’d rather know now before we starve behind a sofa.”

“Mbak, look at the purple clouds,” Rendi said, his voice dropping into a rare, quiet sincerity. “Listen to the sirens. Those aren't typical noises for a Tuesday in the city. The server is cooked. I’m just trying to make sure your save file doesn't get deleted.”

“You sounds so... detached. ‘Save file’? Rendi, I’m a human being! I have a cat! I have a lease!”

“And I have a quest to keep you alive, fr,” Rendi said, meeting her gaze. “Look, I know I’m a total loser in the standard meta. I live in a shoebox, I eat garbage, and my personality is mid at best. But I’m the only one who sees the health bars. You have to trust the protagonist energy.”

A heavy, authoritative bang echoed from the hallway.

“Police! Open up! We know you’re in there, Rendi!” a muffled voice shouted.

“Ayo, Officer! Terrible timing!” Rendi shouted back. “The tutorial is expiring in T-minus sixty seconds! If you’re standing in the hallway, you’re in a high-danger spawn zone! Get into a room and lock the door! No cap!”

“He’s got a hostage!” Adit’s voice shrieked from the hallway. “He barricaded the door! Officer, look at the bookshelf through the peephole! He’s actually cracked!”

“Adit, you literal snitch!” Rendi hissed. “I’m literally saving your content-farming life right now! Go find a closet and stay there!”

“Mr. Rendi, we have a breach-and-clear team ready!” the officer shouted. “Dismantle the barricade now, or we will engage!”

“Sari, listen to me,” Rendi whispered, ignoring the banging. “When the sky cracks—and it will crack—don’t look at the flashes. It’s a sensory overload debuff. Just stay behind the sofa. I’m gonna watch the window.”

“Rendi, they’re going to shoot you,” Sari sobbed, clutching his sweat-stained hoodie. “Please, just open the door. Maybe they can help us.”

“They can't help, Mbak. They haven't leveled up. They’re still running on Version 0.8 logic,” Rendi said, a grim smile touching his lips. “I’m sorry it had to be like this. I’m sorry I ruined your drying rack. And the fridge. And the silk.”

“You’re talking like you’re saying goodbye,” she said, her grip tightening.

“I’m saying goodbye to the demo,” Rendi said. “The Real Game is strictly solo-leveling, but I’m making an exception for my neighbor.”

[ TEN SECONDS UNTIL RE-INITIALIZATION. ]

[ NINE... EIGHT... ]

“Here it comes,” Rendi said, bracing himself.

“Officer, we’re going in!” the voice outside yelled. A heavy boom rattled the door as a battering ram hit the oak bookshelf.

“GET BACK!” Rendi roared, his voice echoing with a power that wasn't human.

The hallway fell silent for a micro-second, and then it happened.

The world didn't just turn bright; it shattered. A sound like a trillion crystal glasses breaking simultaneously rolled across the sky. To the unobserved eye, it looked like a lightning strike, but to Rendi, the sky literally peeled back like wet wallpaper, revealing an obsidian void filled with millions of floating white strings of code.

[ INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL. WELCOME TO THE REAL GAME. ]

A shockwave of static electricity surged through the apartment building. Outside, the sirens stopped. Not because the crisis was over, but because the machines they came from had suddenly turned into piles of rust.

“Rendi? Rendi, I can’t... I hear it,” Sari whispered, her hands over her ears. “There’s a voice inside my head. It’s cold. It’s saying something about... compatibility?”

“Don't accept the terms and conditions yet, Sari!” Rendi warned. “Wait for the patch details!”

Suddenly, the banging on the door stopped. Instead, there was a scratching sound. Long, rhythmic, and heavy.

“Uhhh, Officer?” Adit’s voice came from the hallway, but it was thin, high, and trembling with a primal terror. “Officer, why is your radio bleeding?”

“Adit! Get in here! Through the window!” Rendi dove for the glass, sliding it open.

“There are creatures on the highway!” a voice screamed over the officer’s static-filled radio, the sound leaking through the barricaded door. “They’re not animals! They’re—oh god, they’re made of metal! Control, they’re literally harvesting the cars!”

“Rendi,” Sari gasped, pointing at the gap beneath the front door.

A thin, grey liquid was beginning to seep inside, moving with a deliberate, searching intelligence. It didn't pool like water; it moved like a snake.

“Ayo, that is high-key a Tier 1 Nanite-Swarm,” Rendi whispered, his eyes wide. “System, tell me I have a defensive spell. Give me a W, just this once!”

[ MISSION UPDATED: SURVIVE THE FIRST HARVEST. ]

[ OBJECTIVE: PREVENT THE SWARM FROM TOUCHING THE SECONDARY COMPANION. ]

“Secondary companion?” Rendi looked at Sari, his expression hardening. “Ayo, Sari... get on the counter. Right now. If you touch that grey stuff, your DNA is getting uninstalled.”

“Rendi, look at the balcony!” Sari shrieked.

Rendi spun around. Hanging off the metal railing was a figure. It looked like the police officer from the hallway, but his face had been replaced by a glowing blue screen that displayed a single, pixelated word: [ LOADING ].

“Yo, Bang Officer?” Rendi raised his fists, his body humming with the resonance of the void. “I think you need a firmware update. And I’m about to give it to you. Strictly physical.”

The creature lunged, its fingers extending into long, jagged needles.

“The tutorial is deadass over,” Rendi growled.

*

[ CLIFFHANGER: THE LOADING SCREEN ON THE OFFICER’S FACE SUDDENLY FLASHES TO 99% AS HIS MOUTH OPENS TO REVEAL A NEON RECEPTACLE. ]