I Awakened the Apocalypse System

Ethan Cole had always lived a simple life. At twenty six, he worked every day and earned just enough money to survive, sharing a small apartment with his mother and following the same routine day after day: waking early, going to work, coming home exhausted, sleeping, and starting it all again the next morning.

He did not come from a wealthy family, and he had never known powerful friends or expensive things. His life was far from perfect, but he held onto one dream, the hope that he could one day become successful enough to give his mother the comfortable life she truly deserved.

That evening, as Ethan made his way home from work, heavy rain poured from a dark sky, soaking through his clothes while he waited at the bus stop among a small crowd of equally tired and impatient strangers. The bus was running late, and everyone around him seemed to be losing patience by the minute.

Checking the time on his phone, Ethan realized it was almost ten o’clock when the screen suddenly lit up with an incoming call. He smiled the moment he saw his mother’s name appear.

“Hello, Mum.”

“Ethan, where are you?”

“I’m waiting for the bus.”

“You are still outside?”

“Yes, it hasn’t come yet.”

His mother let out a worried sigh before asking, “Did you eat anything?”

Ethan smiled, already knowing exactly where this conversation was heading. “Yes.”

“You are lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“You always say that.”

He laughed softly under his breath. “I’ll eat as soon as I get home.”

There was a brief pause before she spoke again, her voice softer this time. “Okay. Just come home safely.”

“I will.”

After the call ended, Ethan slipped his phone back into his pocket and glanced around at the busy street, where cars moved slowly through the rain and people hurried along the sidewalks despite the late hour. Tall buildings rose up around him, their lights glowing brightly against the darkened sky.

His eyes drifted toward the tallest building nearby, one that belonged to a company known throughout the entire city. He often found himself wondering what it might feel like to have enough money that he never had to worry about rent again, enough to buy whatever he needed without hesitation, and enough to guarantee that his mother would never have to struggle for anything ever again.

One day, he told himself quietly, my life is going to change.

Without any warning, every light around him went out at once. The streetlights vanished, the glow from the surrounding buildings disappeared, and the massive screens above the road turned completely black. Even the traffic lights stopped functioning, leaving the entire street in an eerie stillness that lasted only a few seconds before people began shouting in confusion.

“What happened?”

“Why are the lights off?”

“My phone isn’t working!”

Ethan pulled out his own phone and stared at the blank screen, pressing the power button over and over without any response, which struck him as strange since he knew for certain it had been fully charged earlier that day.

Then, just as suddenly as they had gone out, every light came back on at once. The sudden brightness forced Ethan to shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found something floating directly in front of his face that made him freeze in place.

A transparent blue screen hung silently in the air before him.

“What is this?”

He glanced around, expecting others to react the same way he had, but the people nearby continued talking about the blackout and checking their phones as though nothing unusual had appeared. When Ethan reached out and moved his hand toward the screen, it passed straight through without resistance, and he stepped back in disbelief.

“Am I seeing things?”

Words began forming across the surface of the screen.

APOCALYPSE SYSTEM ACTIVATED.

Ethan read the message once, then a second time, still convinced this had to be some kind of dream. The words shifted and were replaced by another line.

PLAYER FOUND.

More text followed shortly after.

NAME: ETHAN COLE

His eyes widened in disbelief. “How does it know my name?”

The screen continued to update.

AGE: 26

STATUS: PLAYER

He looked around once more, noticing a woman nearby still absorbed in her phone call and a man struggling to start his stalled car, neither of them paying any attention to the glowing screen that only he seemed able to see.

WELCOME, ETHAN COLE.

He swallowed hard before speaking. “What do you want?”

YOUR FIRST MISSION HAS STARTED.

His heart began pounding as he waited anxiously for whatever would come next.

SURVIVE FOR TWENTY FOUR HOURS.

Ethan frowned in confusion. “Survive what?”

The screen offered no answer. Instead, a countdown timer appeared before him, showing twenty three hours, fifty nine minutes, and fifty nine seconds, and the numbers immediately began ticking downward.

He stared at the falling digits, still struggling to accept what was happening. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Before he could think any further about it, a terrible scream tore through the air from across the street, and everyone around him turned toward the sound at once. A woman stood frozen in the middle of the road, her shopping bag fallen from her grip and fruit scattered across the wet pavement, her entire body trembling as though she could no longer control it.

“Are you okay?” someone called out to her, but she gave no response.

Slowly, the woman bent forward until her hands touched the ground, and a wave of fear rose inside Ethan as he sensed that something was deeply wrong. When her head lifted again, her eyes had turned completely black, and the crowd around her began to scream in terror. Her mouth opened, releasing a sound that was deep and unnatural, nothing close to a human voice.

A red warning flashed in front of Ethan.

WARNING. DANGER DETECTED.

He watched in horror as the woman’s body began to change, her fingers stretching unnaturally long while dark smoke curled from her open mouth. People scattered in every direction as someone shouted for everyone to run, and in the blink of an eye the woman moved from the middle of the road to stand directly in front of a man who had been trying to reach his car.

The man’s scream cut through the chaos as she seized him and hurled him into the road, his body striking the pavement hard and never moving again.

Panic spread through the street as people ran in all directions and cars collided with one another in the confusion. Ethan finally forced his legs to move and began running as well, uncertain of where he was headed and only knowing that he needed to get as far away from that creature as possible.

The blue screen reappeared before him even as he ran.

MISSION TIME REMAINING: 23:58:12

“What is happening?” he whispered to himself, fear tightening around his chest.

Then his phone rang again, and he stopped the moment he saw his mother’s name on the screen.

“Mum?”

“Ethan!” Her voice trembled with fear. “Something is happening outside.”

His own fear deepened instantly. “Are you at home?”

“Yes.”

“Lock the door.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, please.”

“Ethan, you’re scaring me.”

He glanced back down the street, which had grown nearly empty except for the distant sound of screaming still echoing through the night.

The blue screen appeared once more, this time with the words glowing in red.

NEW MISSION. RETURN HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

He checked the time and saw it was already eleven forty seven, and his home was still far away. Another line of text appeared beneath it, and his face went pale as he read it.

IF YOU FAIL, YOUR MOTHER WILL DIE.

For a moment, he could barely breathe. “Mum,” he said quietly into the phone.

“Yes?”

“Lock every door in the house.”

“Ethan, what is going on?”

“I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

He ended the call and stared down the empty street ahead of him, realizing that the world he had always known was gone, replaced by something he did not yet understand. All that mattered now was reaching home before midnight.

Then he heard movement behind him and slowly turned around.

The woman with the black eyes stood at the far end of the street, staring directly at him. A slow smile spread across her face, and Ethan turned and began to run.