Kael's room was dark except for the phone's glow painting his face blue-white. The fan rattled overhead, stirring his black hair as he scrolled through another chapter.
" Bryn was a darkness-type magic user who'd fully merged with a demon body. He gazed down at the four figures below, their faces twisted in pathetic rage.
"I am now the Demonic Emperor," Bryn declared, his voice like frozen thunder. "The undisputed Lord of Darkness."
A dramatic pause. Then, quieter, deadlier:
"I am the one who transcended death itself. I. AM. DEATH." "
"Peak dialogue," Kael muttered as he read the chapter out loud, a laugh escaping. "Absolute cinema."
It was generic trash, sure. But at least the characters sounded like actual people instead of ChatGPT having a seizure.
That was worth celebrating.
His thumb hovered over the screen, ready for the next chapter-
Then the bed lurched.
Kael hit the floor hard, phone clattering beside him. "Ow—what the hell?"
An earthquake? But there'd only been one tremor.
He grabbed the phone and stood, rubbing his back of his head and muttered. "Probably a truck. Or the neighbors finally—"
The thought died the second he reached the window.
His blood went cold.
The night sky had been slashed open. A perfect, glowing circle hung above the street, edges rippling like heat haze.
Exactly like every apocalypse gate in every manhwa he'd ever binged.
And things were crawling out.
Twisted silhouettes dropped to the asphalt—too many limbs, proportions that hurt to look at, mouths in places mouths shouldn't be.
They immediately started tearing into anything that screamed or ran. A woman's shriek cut through the air. A dog's bark ended wetly. Blood sprayed across the road in a perfect arc.
"No. No, no, no—" Kael stumbled backward, knees hitting the bed."This isn't real. I'm just tired. I just need to sleep and—
He forced himself to look again.
Still there. Gate. Monsters. Bodies.
He slapped his own face. Hard. The sting was real.
"Fuck."
Down on the street, people were convulsing.
Bones cracked outward like blooming flowers. Some were already halfway transformed, still wearing pajamas or office shirts.
Then they turned on the ones who hadn't changed yet.
Suddenly glass shards exploded inward.
An eagle—what used to be an eagle—smashed through his window. Half its body was still feathered, the other half covered in molten grey scales and too many twitching eyes. Glass shards pinned it down, but it kept thrashing. Kept changing
"Shit, shit, shit—" Kael's hands were shaking. He looked around wildly and spotted the scissors on his desk.
He grabbed them. The metal felt cold and completely useless.
"I don't want to do this," he whispered. "I really don't—"
Another loud shriek. A shard clattered to the floor.
His body moved before his brain could stop him.
Kael lunged and slammed the scissors into the creature's skull.
Wet crunch.
'splurttttt----'
Grey-red blood spurted across his hands. it was hot and it's stench was disgusting. The creature kept twitching.
"Die!" he screamed, stabbing again. "Just—die already!"
Again. Again. His arms burned. His stomach rolled. Blood everywhere—on his hoodie, his face, in his mouth when he gasped for air.
Until it finally stopped.
The eagle-thing went limp, half-hanging through the broken window.
Kael dropped the scissors. His whole body was shaking. He was going to throw up. He was going—
A voice cut through the chaos. Cold. Mechanical.
[Unevolved entity neutralized.]
[Condition met: Minimal survival threshold exceeded.]
[Auxiliary authority granted. Welcome to the System, Player.]
His phone—still on the floor—lit up on its own. Text raced across the screen too fast to read, then stopped.
[NAME: Kael]
[AGE: 19]
[STATUS: VIABLE]
[CLASSIFICATION: UNASSIGNED]
[AUXILIARY ASPECT: ENABLED]
[ASPECT: Network Access]
Kael stared breathing heavily, hands dripping monster blood onto his carpet.
"Network… Access?" he croaked.
The phone didn't respond.
Outside, the screaming reached new heights. Glass shattered nearby. Something heavy slammed against the building.
Kael looked at his blood-smeared palms, then at the glowing screen, then back at the apocalyptic hellscape beyond his broken window.
A laugh escaped him. Manic. Trembling.
"So this is it." He wiped grey blood across his cheek. "Fine. If the world wants to go full manhwa..."
He straightened, still shaking but standing.
"...then I guess it's time for the cheesiest protagonist arc in history."
He glanced at the phone again.
"Alright, System. Show me the tutorial. Make it quick—I've got monsters to deal with."
Outside, another inhuman screech answered him.
Kael cracked his neck.
"Let's see who levels up first."