Seeing Anya's worry, Milo wanted to step forward and explain right away.
"Sis, it's me!" he blurted out.
But the only thing that came out of the strange creature's mouth was a guttural growl—low, menacing, and completely unintelligible.
That only made the two people in front of him even more terrified.
Instinctively, Clayton raised his fist, ready to smash the creature, just as Milo hurried forward.
Watching everything spiral out of control, Milo cursed his own carelessness.
He quickly deactivated his character card.
In an instant, the rat monster vanished, replaced by the clean, bright-looking young man they knew.
Witnessing such a fantastical scene, Anya and Clayton froze in place.
"You…?" Anya whispered, her voice tight.
Before she could say anything more, Milo grabbed both of them and pulled them into the apartment.
Anya and Clayton tensed up immediately. They weren't sure if the person in front of them was really Milo.
Meanwhile, Milo shut the apartment door tightly, making sure no one had seen his strange form earlier.
When he turned around, he found the two people closest to him staring at him suspiciously.
They both stepped back slightly, as if afraid the monster form would reappear.
"Is that really you, Milo?" Clayton asked quietly, breaking the silence.
"Sis…" Milo hesitated.
Anya cut in, impatient. "What exactly is going on?"
For a moment, Milo didn't know what to say.
His story sounded too fantastical to believe. But seeing the mix of suspicion and curiosity on their faces, he finally spoke.
"Have you seen the changes outside the apartment complex?"
Anya and Clayton nodded. When they woke up, they were annoyed because the lights, water, and all the facilities weren't working.
But that annoyance turned to horror when they looked outside: the city had vanished, replaced by an endless green plain—silent, as if the world were holding its breath.
Once they realized the change, panic struck, and they immediately went to Milo's place to check on him.
They never expected what they would find instead.
"It's not just the city that changed," Milo said softly.
"The world did. Its rules. Everything."
"I just killed a rat, and some kind of light shot into my head… awakening some sort of ability."
"And the monster I killed—the giant sewer rat—dropped cards that work like game mechanics," Milo continued, trying to explain as clearly as possible.
Anya and Clayton looked confused; the apocalypse they could accept, but game-like systems felt far too fictional.
Seeing them struggle to process it, Milo decided to show proof.
Three cards suddenly appeared in his palm—as if summoned from thin air.
Anya covered her mouth, Clayton froze. Neither had seen anything in his hands before this.
Whether they liked it or not, they were beginning to believe him.
They carefully took the cards and examined them.
The cards shimmered like manufactured items, yet their texture felt like incredibly tough leather—hard as steel.
"Try communicating with it or storing it," Milo said.
Anya and Clayton tried, but nothing happened.
"Looks like these only react to someone who's 'awakened'," Milo said, a bit disappointed.
"You probably have to activate your grimoires first. Maybe the same way I did—by killing a mutated creature."
Milo sighed. He wanted Anya and Clayton to gain abilities as soon as possible for their own safety, but he had no idea what creature they could hunt.
And even if they found one, there was no guarantee they could defeat it.
The memory of the mutated rat was still fresh—clearly, animals in this world had changed.
After some time, Anya and Clayton finally began accepting the information and calmed down.
They caught sight of Milo's uneasy expression and grew worried in turn.
"What's wrong, Milo? Is there a problem?" Anya asked.
"No, Sis. I'm just trying to figure out how you two can awaken your grimoires, but I don't know where to find an animal to kill."
"So killing an animal is all it takes to awaken it?" Clayton asked, curious.
"I'm not sure… but killing that rat activated mine."
Clayton nodded—it made sense.
Anya, hesitant, suddenly asked, "Would a crab work?"
"A crab? I don't know… but if we have one, we can try."
"Yeah, we still have leftover crab from last night in the kitchen."
Milo immediately perked up. "Great! Let's check it out."
They locked up Milo's apartment and headed to Anya and Clayton's.
Milo walked carefully, ready to activate his character card if something happened. Thankfully, they arrived safely.
Once inside, Anya shut the door and led them to the kitchen—only to scream loudly.
Milo and Clayton panicked and rushed over.
When they arrived, they were stunned. A cluster of crabs was scattered everywhere.
The crabs were now the size of basins, their shells thick as stone, their claws clacking menacingly.
Their legs were covered in coarse bristles like ruined paintbrushes—disgusting enough on their own.
But that wasn't what made Anya scream.
Among them, several smaller crabs were holding objects—including knives—and swinging them around like children playing swords.
"This is… absurd," Milo muttered.
Clayton could only stare in shock.
Not wanting anyone to get hurt, the two men sprang into action.
Clayton grabbed a rolling pin and hurled it without thinking.
Thud!
It smashed into a crab, cracking its shell.
As the crab died, a streak of white light shot into Clayton's forehead.
He stumbled, feeling a strange heat surge through him before returning to normal, panting heavily.
Watching from afar, Anya grew increasingly convinced Milo was telling the truth.
Moments later, three cards floated above the crab's corpse.
Seeing the glow, Milo called out excitedly and activated his Rat Character Card again.
The humanoid-rat form reappeared.
Anya and Clayton still weren't used to it, but they held it in when they saw how nimble Milo was—taking down the crabs using nothing but a broom handle.
Milo and Clayton worked together.
At first, everything was under control—until the crabs got smarter and copied Clayton, starting to throw things too.
Bang!
Crack!
Pots, jars, even cutting boards went flying.
Snap!
A knife embedded itself in the wall right beside Milo.
He swallowed hard.
They retreated for a moment, hoping the crabs would tire out or run out of things to throw.
After things quieted down, Milo and Clayton checked again. The kitchen was a complete mess.
The crabs had scattered—some hiding, some staying still, some stealing food, even some escaping out the window.
Milo and Clayton quickly finished off the remaining ones to avoid bigger problems.
After the chaos ended, they let out long breaths of relief.
Amid the disaster, the crab corpses and the pile of strange cards were valuable rewards.
Milo examined them: crab meat item cards, crab shell cards, crab character cards, even a Crab Grip skill card.
He felt satisfied—this was a good start for day one in their new world.
Milo handed the cards to Clayton to choose from. Clayton picked one at random and used it.
His body trembled, muscles swelling, skin hardening into a layer of reddish-blue shell that gleamed like wet steel.
Unlike Milo's bizarre appearance, Clayton looked like the protagonist of a sci-fi anime.
Milo felt a little jealous, but he had no intention of giving up his rat character card.
Once he confirmed he was fine, Clayton brought a half-dead crab to Anya.
"Alright. You just need to kill this one, and your grimoire will awaken."
Anya trembled, terrified, but she wasn't weak. She forced herself to breathe steadily.
After a long inhale, her body stopped shaking.
She nodded firmly.
Milo stood guard beside her, ready for anything.
When everything was set, Anya swung the knife.
Swoosh!
It cut clean and fast, splitting the crab in two.
A burst of white light shot into her forehead. Her expression went blank for a moment before clearing—joy flooding her face.
Milo exhaled deeply, as if the entire day's burden had finally lifted.
"At last… we've made it through the first step."