Since I was young, I loved playing video games. Being an orphan, I didn't really have money to buy a PlayStation or a PC. So I could only play games on my shitty Android, a cracked slow phone that heated up as soon as a game was a bit too heavy. There were so many games installed on it that it had almost no storage space left.
One day, while deleting photos and useless apps again, I saw a link sent by an unknown email. I didn't even know you could completely hide the sender's name. There was no logo, no signature, just a link and a short sentence.
"Try it."
At the moment, I hesitated. Then I clicked.
The link led to downloading a game. I installed it anyway, without thinking too much. The file was strangely light, but once launched, the game ran perfectly. And above all, it was addictive.
It was a gacha game, even though at the time I didn't have a penny to buy anything. The universe unfolded in a post-apocalyptic world, with the appearance of the seven pantheons: Norse, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian. Everything worked by Acts, with a universal system and angels overseeing each phase.
In Doomsday: All Dead, as its name indicated, the difficulty was extreme with very explicit gore and obviously dying was very easy. Some acts could even change depending on choices made from the beginning. There were overpowered creatures and beings far beyond what a normal player could face.
I died constantly in the first Act.
Eventually, I searched for information about this game. On forums but weirdly, there was absolutely nothing.
"It's maybe a small indie game..." I told myself at the time, even though the graphics clearly showed it must have received quite a bit of funding.
In Doomsday, you could play as one of the protagonists.
The fallen angel, having lost his divinity, returned to the past to avenge his destroyed pantheon.
The Trickster, the nightmare destined to trigger Ragnarok.
And the Immortal Killer...
If you played as one of the protagonists, the others automatically became enemies.
I swallowed again.
And the problem was that I wasn't playing as any protagonist.
You understand what that means?
It meant that a god who lost his divinity, a mad god, and the only mortal locked in Tartarus were now my enemies, whether they wanted it or not. In addition to this hostile environment where everyone must kill to survive.
"Kylian? What's happening?" Mei asked.
Her voice brutally snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Well..." I sighed while running a hand through my hair, messing it up nervously. "We're all gonna die, Mei."
'I'm going to die...'
Seeing my face become totally livid, Mei approached quickly. She placed her hands on my cheeks and forced me to look her in the eyes.
"Hey. Calm down."
Her gaze was serious and calm.
"Even if I don't understand any of this, we're going to survive this Doomsday or whatever."
That's when something clicked in my head.
'Actually... I understand exactly what's happening.'
And above all, I remembered the majority of the Acts.
I took her hand.
"You're right, Mei."
I had an advantage that others didn't have. And I had to use it to survive.
"Listen to me carefully. I'll explain later. But for now, if we want to survive, we have to be selfish."
Mei nodded slowly, a bit skeptical, but without contradicting me.
"We have to leave this office immediately and go to my room. The boys' dorm is close enough to this building."
"Okay... but why the dorm? Shouldn't we try to gather in the gym or..."
"No time!" I cut her off sharply. "I'll explain later."
I pulled her toward me and kicked open the office door without turning around.
***
*January 22, 2025, Moscow*
Red Square was bustling with a peaceful demonstration against corruption. Thousands of people waved signs under a gray and cold sky. Suddenly, the celestial vault split with a perfectly straight black line above Saint Basil's Cathedral. The fissure remained motionless for a moment. Then, dozens of luminous points emerged from it and quickly took the shape of dazzling white winged silhouettes.
More than forty angels descended slowly, their wings deployed masking part of the winter sky. One of them, more imposing, spoke directly into the crowd's mind. He pronounced the exact words that Nanael had used in the United States:
{Ignorant Mortal, You will now receive the Ether. I am the manager of Quadrant 371. You can call me Angel Varhmiel. If you have questions for the rest use the system don't come bother me.}
[Act 1: Doomsday]
[Part 1: Survive! (48h)
Failure: Death]
Many demonstrators fell to their knees on the frozen cobblestones. Elderly women clasped their hands and began praying aloud. Men crossed themselves repeatedly, eyes raised to the angels. Some cried, convinced that the Orthodox prophecies were finally coming true.
Then the meteors crossed the fissure. One of them, several tens of meters wide, crashed into the Baltic Sea a few hundred kilometers from Saint Petersburg. The impact raised an immense column of water that propagated quickly. The waves submerged the port docks and carried away cars, cranes, and bodies in a continuous flow.
On Red Square, a smaller meteor struck the crowd directly. The shock pulverized hundreds of people instantly. Fragments of flesh and clothing were projected dozens of meters. Fire spread to the coats and abandoned signs. Those still praying didn't have time to flee.
...
In all this chaos, a young woman was giving orders to her commando, her voice firm despite the turmoil. She was one of the chiefs of Russia's paramilitary forces, surrounded by satellite map screens and nonstop piling reports.
She had received a clear order a few minutes earlier: protect civilians at all costs and determine the technological level of this supposedly terrorist threat. Around her, the men and women of her unit ran.
"Ground situation?" she asked without taking her eyes off the screens.
"Multiple impacts on Moscow and major cities," an operator replied. "No known ballistic signature it looks more like meteors made of an unknown metal. Defenses couldn't intercept anything however."
Another officer, bent over his keyboard, looked up abruptly.
"This doesn't look like a terrorist attack, Marshal. The United States is suffering the same attacks."
Silence fell for a second in the room.
Tamara Romanova crossed her arms, her face remained calm but her gaze was heavy with thoughts. She watched the satellite images showing luminous points crashing everywhere on the globe. Being the descendant of a tsarist lineage, she knew far more secrets than most current leaders.
'Obviously it's not a terrorist attack...' she thought.
'I'm afraid grandfather was right.'
She breathed in slowly, then straightened up.
"Call our president. Now," she ordered in a sharp voice. "We need to prepare the bunker as soon as possible."
An officer stood up immediately.
"Understood, Marshal."
While he walked away, Tamara remained facing the screens, fists slightly clenched, aware that what they were seeing was only the beginning.