บท 2: The Beginning of the End
On a small island belonging to the USA, an enormous University was constructed in 2040, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, it soon become the most reputable university in the world and students and professors alike flocked to it, it is a place where the elite from around the globe can be found in.
Ever since the year 2018, technology had stagnated, many religious fanatics were sure it was the sign of the end of the world, and in a way, they were right.
The sudden stagnation in terms of technology was the last thing anyone anticipated, because of that the game industry, movie industry, and anime all had to slowly change, it became boring, the stories, the games, it all looked the same as previous so people had to become more imaginative, more creative.
Because of the stagnation of technology, the smaller countries around the world slowly gained more power and it looked like World War III was descending, miraculously though, it never came.
In 2038 scientists discovered something even more mysterious, the human body had slowly started changing, there was a weird power in all of us, people became physically stronger, their immune systems got better and all of that made them healthier, the average lifespan on people went up by 10 years. It was speculated that in the year 2140, all humans on Earth would be completely different, vastly stronger than now, oh if they had only known.
Martial arts became much more popular, the best MMA fighters and boxers were making more money than the biggest soccer players, suddenly the world was crazy about martial arts again, and every school now had martial art classes which students had to participate in to be able to pass.
Right now, in front of the principal's office, a young man was sitting down and waiting for the principal to arrive.
His name is Reign Ashburn, once a top student and the best martial artist at Baker University, but now he was just an ordinary teenager who was close to being expelled. Six months ago he was called by his uncle who told him his parents have died in a car accident, since then he became isolated, barely speaking to anyone and when he did it would usually end up with a fight, the same happened today, he beat up his classmate and is now waiting for the teaching committee to finish their discussion of whether or not he will be expelled.
"So, it seems like I'm finally going to leave this place, huh, like I care, they can do whatever they want, I just wish that THIS FUCKING BABY WOULD SHUT UP!!"
In the principal's office, a baby was crying, his wife came to visit him today and left it to go to the toilet, it's been 10 minutes and the baby simply wouldn't stop crying.
"I swear to god, I will go in and tickle you until you pass out, just stop crying, okay?!" mumbled Reign.
Suddenly the baby let out an excited laugh and stopped laughing.
"Seems like God has not abandoned me, it finally stopped, what's up with the smell though."
Reign got up and saw a horrifying scene, the baby was enveloped by a green ball of slime and it was actually getting dissolved.
"What the... !"
Reign immediately opened the door and went into the office only to find something puzzling when watching the green ball of slime.
[ lvl 1 Slime ] was written above the green ball, it looked like something you see in those animes where people are playing VR MMOs.
"What the hell is this!?"
Suddenly, the ball jumped at Reign, leaving the baby on the sofa but luckily Reign managed to duck and evade it.
"What the hell, this fucking thing just attacked me, well alright then!"
Reign took a chair next to him and right when the slime jumped again he hit it, splashing it on the wall.
"That's what you get for attacking first you bastard."
The slime suddenly started moving, the parts were getting together, enveloping a small ball.
"What the hell?!"
Reign hit it again with the chair, and again, and again, he continued hitting it until the ball broke.
[ Congratulations player Reign Ashburn, you have successfully managed to find a monster and defeat it before the terraforming and became a pioneer, from now on you will be given the codename 06 and as a reward, you get 4 levels and an innate ability, let the lottery begin! ]
"Wait, what, wait a second!" Reign was suddenly enveloped by a bright light and disappeared from the office
"What is this, w-wh-where am I?"
[ Congratulations player 06, by being one of the first humans to slay a monster you have been awarded a lottery pick for an ability and a weapon.]
Suddenly everything around Reign was cleared, he was in a dark room, and in front of him, a huge hologram was blinking with a start in the middle.
[ Player 06, please press the start button, to begin with, the lottery, the ability you get will depend on your luck since all abilities ranging from rank F to Z will be available for you. ]
[ The ranking for items, abilities, and skills uses the same system, from the lowest to the highest, it goes: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, Z ]
"First give me an explanation, where is this, what was that monster from before, and most importantly, what the hell is happening here?!"
[ Apologies player 06, everything will be explained to you after the terraforming process, for now, please start the lottery. ]
"Fuck, don't tell me this is something like in those novels when the Earth goes through the apocalypse."
[ Player 06, you have 10 seconds remaining to start the lottery, should you choose not to, you will be immediately erased from this place. ]
"E-erased, what do you mean by erased?!"
[ 10, 9, 8, 7... ]
"Alright, alright, I'll do it!"
[ 4, 3... ]
"Damn it all!"
Reign pressed the button and suddenly the hologram expanded, blinking every second until it slowed down and Reign could see that images were moving from right to left and there was a frame in the middle.
It was only after 30 more seconds that the images stopped and on the frame was an image of a man enveloped by lightning.
[ Congratulations player 06, you have successfully gotten the rank S ability 'Lightning manipulation']
"L-lightning?''
"Wait, does that mean I can freely use lightning, fuck, now I know what's happening, I probably fell asleep and started dreaming, yes, that's it, I'm only dreaming, none of this is real.
[ Unfortunately, everything you see here is real 06, your world is about to change and only the strongest will be able to survive, I hope you can be one of them, now please start the item lottery, the system wishes you good luck! ]
"Yeah, yeah, let's just finish this shit, and then I can wake up and continue my grandiose student life."
Reign pressed start again and the screen started blinking only to slow down again, Reign could see the images were different from the last time, numerous axes, swords, and armor pieces were flashing by, and then it finally stopped.
"I-is this some kind of a joke?!"
[ Congratulations to player 06 for getting the rank F weapon 'A wooden stick' ]
"Don't congratulate me for something like this!!"
[ The lottery has been finished, player 06 will be teleported back to Earth, be advised, the terraforming will begin in 5 minutes ]
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Reign was again enveloped by a bright light and he disappeared from the black room. Suddenly in the seemingly empty room, two shadows formed.
"Another S rank ability huh, seems like Earth has a possibility of survival, after all, 10 seeds of hope have already been found, but more importantly, it seems as if you saw something in this human, didn't you Eiona?"
"I can't explain it, but that human, I believe he is more than just a seed of hope, I have a feeling that he will surprise us all."
"Oh, well that's interesting, especially coming from the Divine Oracle herself."
The two shadows then blended in the darkness and vanished.
Reign opened his eyes and saw the windows in front of the office, the sun was high up and blinded him, he turned around and saw the office, the baby was on the sofa, still crying, and there were no signs of the slime he smashed before, everything was normal.
"So it was a dream, after all, huh, of course, it was a dream, with all the stuff there, like anyone could just simply get teleported and get awesome powers like in light novels, what was it again, lightning manipulation right?"
[ S rank ability "Lightning Manipulation" description is available, would you like to see it? ]
"Fuck."
[ F rank weapon "A Wooden Stick" description is available, would you like to see it? ]
Suddenly Reign saw a wooden stick in his hand.
"Why would I need to see something like that?!"
[ Player 06, the terraforming process will start in 4 minutes, please try to remain calm during the process ]
"I don't understand what that is but alright, let me see my ability."
[ S rank ability "Lightning Manipulation- allows the player to channel lightning through his body and to use the lightning in the surroundings, current level 1/100, current ability exp 0/20, user can use a small amount of lightning to give small shocks to his opponents, power scales together with the players level and the ability's level ]
"Small shocks, isn't that just useless?!"
[ With every level up of the ability the power will increase ]
"Oh, alright then, but how do I level up the ability?"
[ By using the ability the player will gain exp, when the exp is full the ability will level up, furthermore by using creative ways of the ability such as making skills the player will get rewards such as level-ups, attributes, and more. ]
"I-I'm not dreaming aren't I?"
[ I assure you 06, everything that happened and everything that's about to happen is real. ]
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
[ All your questions will be answered after the terraforming process 06. ]
"Again with the terraforming, what does that even mean?!"
[ Terraforming starting in 10, 9, 8, 7... ]
"W-wa-wait!"
[ 3, 2, 1, terraforming is about to start, teleporting everyone away from Earth. ]
Reign was again enveloped by a bright light and when he opened his eyes he found out he was in outer space, looking straight at Earth.
"I-Impossible, what is happening, wait, is that?!"
When Reign looked around he saw people, an enormous number of people were all around him, making a circle all around Reign.
"Reign!"
Reign turned around and saw his best friend Lee Hwang there, Lee is at the same university as Reign and their parents have known each other for a very long time, in fact, after his parents died, unlike the rest of his family who stayed for a day and left Reign like it was no big matter, the Hwang's and his uncle were there every days for a month taking care of him, making Lee a brother in his heart.
"Lee, w-what's happening?"
"I don't know, the voice said everything will be explained after this."
"The voice?"
"Yeah, I went in the woods for a run and I stumbled across some creature, it looked like a goblin from the games, it attacked me and I kicked it, the poor bastard hit a rock with his head and died, then some I could hear a voice in my head and see some notifications like in a game, it told me I became..."
"A pioneer?"
"Yeah, how did you..."
"The same thing happened to me but I got attacked by a slime."
"I see, wait, Reign, w-what is that?"
Lee wasn't the only one with that question because right above the earth a huge shadow formed, and around Earth, two enormous hands seemingly made of darkness came and grabbed it, and then an unimaginable scene happened, Earth actually started expanding, the landmasses were moving, some cracking away while some coming together, it was like a scene from a sci-fi movie.
"T-this is the terraforming?!"
[ Yes player 06, the overseer has noticed a hidden power inside the planet that will be triggered by the system, and with its help, the planet will start reaching its full potential so that it will be easier for you to clear The Game. ]
"The overseer, a game, w-what are you talking about?!"
[ Since the terraforming has started I am allowed to tell you what is about to take place on Earth, the overseer for your Galaxy has deemed you, earthlings, as a species fit to take the trial to join the Alliance, the trial is set by a system overlooking the universe. ]
"That's just...crazy, you're telling us you're about to destroy our homes and make us play some twisted game for your pleasure, so we can join your so-called alliance, fuck that, we don't care about that, let us be, return our home the way it was!"
[ That is not something you can decide 06, neither is the rest of humankind, you will take part in this, if you survive you will learn about things that seem unimaginable right now, if you lose, however, Earth will be destroyed. ]
"What?"
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