The city of Philinopia glittered under neon lights and flying billboards, a testament to humanity's golden age. Hover cars hummed across the skyways, skyscrapers gleamed with glass and steel, and everywhere, people prepared for the dawn of January 1, 5021 a New Year celebrated not with fireworks, but with quiet confidence in the peace humanity had built.
Rin, a young tech apprentice, leaned against the edge of a sky-bridge, sipping synthetic coffee. The air smelled faintly of ozone from the magnetic lev-trains below. He had always been fascinated by machinery, systems, and the countless algorithms that kept Philinopia alive.
But today, something felt off.
A distant boom ripped across the horizon. It wasn't a thunderstorm or an accident in the industrial district. No, this was different foreign. People below screamed as the sound echoed through the city. Rin squinted toward the ocean horizon.
A dark object plummeted from the sky, trailing blue-white plasma, before smashing into the island chain off the Philippine coast. Waves surged violently as the impact tore the earth apart. A mushroom-like plume rose, sending debris scattering across the water.
Hovercraft emergency teams sped toward the scene, their sirens cutting through the chaos. But Rin's attention was drawn elsewhere.
From the wreckage of the island, a strange formation began to rise. It looked almost natural, like a cave carved from rock but unnatural, too. Geometric patterns twisted across its surface, and a faint hum seemed to emanate from it.
Then, movement.
Something small, quadrupedal, and unnatural skittered out of the cave. Its skin shimmered like metal under the sunlight, and its eyes glowed a faint crimson.
People screamed. Some ran. Some froze. The creature leapt over the debris, teeth glinting as it advanced toward the shoreline.
Rin instinctively stepped back, heart pounding, and then he felt it a strange, faint vibration in his mind.
[Life System Activated – Faint Detection]
Rin blinked. A translucent menu floated before him. Health: 100. Stamina: 100. Luck: 50. There were other tabs, locked, unreadable. He didn't know what it meant, but it felt alive.
The system pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. The creature lunged toward a stray civilian and the menu blinked red. Rin froze, hands trembling.
"What… what is this?"
The world he had known peaceful, orderly, predictable shattered in a single instant. Humanity had faced disasters before, but this… this was different.
From the horizon, more plumes rose. Reports buzzed in over the comm-net: other unknown objects had crashed across islands and coasts. The city council scrambled. Emergency forces were mobilized. Yet, Rin knew, somehow, the worst was yet to come.
And deep inside him, something stirred. A faint glow, a whisper from the Life System. It promised survival… and opportunity.
Rin didn't know it yet, but he was about to step into a game unlike any other a dungeon-ridden, monster-infested world where only the cunning and adaptable would survive.
And the cave… the cave was only the beginning.