The last thing I remembered was the blinding glare of headlights and the sickening crunch of metal.
Then… nothing.
A long, silent, peaceful nothing.
Until this.
My eyelids slowly opened, and the first thing I saw was a sky that didn't belong to Earth.
Alien stars shimmered above me.
They weren't arranged in any constellation I recognized. Instead, they swirled across the sky like scattered jewels, glowing in strange shades of violet and emerald. A faint nebula drifted lazily through the darkness, painting the night with colors I had never seen before.
For a moment, I simply stared.
My brain struggled to understand what my eyes were seeing.
Cold air brushed against my skin.
It smelled like damp earth mixed with something sweet and unfamiliar—like flowers, but sharper… almost electric.
Panic suddenly stabbed through my chest.
I bolted upright with a gasp.
My heart pounded violently in my ribs as I looked around.
"W-where…?"
My voice came out dry and shaky.
The ground beneath me was soft, covered in thick moss that glowed faintly with a pale blue light. Surrounding me were enormous mushrooms—some taller than houses. Their wide caps radiated soft bioluminescent light, illuminating the forest in ghostly shades of blue.
The entire place looked like something out of a fantasy movie.
Except this was real.
Too real.
"Okay… okay… calm down…"
My hands trembled as I quickly checked my body.
Arms.
Legs.
Fingers.
Everything was there.
No broken bones.
No blood.
No pain.
But my clothes…
They weren't mine.
Instead of my usual jeans and hoodie, I was wearing a simple brown tunic and loose trousers made from rough fabric, like something from the medieval era.
My phone was gone.
My wallet was gone.
Everything from my life…
Gone.
"What the hell is going on…?"
I slowly stood up.
The moss beneath my feet felt strangely warm, almost alive. A faint blue glow spread across the forest floor with every step I took.
Strange insects chirped softly somewhere in the distance.
Other than that…
Silence.
A deep, unnatural silence.
"Hello?" I called out.
My voice echoed weakly through the glowing forest.
"Is anyone there?!"
Nothing answered me.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Just the distant chirping of creatures I couldn't see.
A cold realization slowly settled into my stomach.
I was completely alone.
"Think, Liam," I muttered to myself.
My mind tried desperately to make sense of the situation.
Maybe I was dreaming.
Maybe I was hallucinating.
Maybe I was in some kind of coma.
I pinched my arm hard.
Pain shot through my skin.
"Yeah… definitely not a dream."
I looked up at the alien sky again.
If this wasn't Earth…
Then where was I?
Trying to stay calm, I began walking through the glowing forest.
The massive mushrooms illuminated my path as I moved forward. Strange trees surrounded me—tall, twisted trunks with bark so dark it looked like polished obsidian.
Their branches stretched across the sky like skeletal fingers.
The deeper I walked, the more uneasy I felt.
This place felt ancient.
Forgotten.
Like a world abandoned long ago.
After what felt like nearly an hour of wandering, something finally appeared ahead of me.
The forest was thinning.
A break between the trees.
Hope surged through my chest.
"Finally…"
I started jogging toward the opening.
Then I broke into a full sprint.
Branches scraped my arms as I pushed through the last line of trees.
And then I stopped.
The sight in front of me stole the air from my lungs.
A city.
But not the kind of city I expected.
Before me stretched an enormous ruin.
Towering structures made from pale spiraled stone rose toward the alien sky. Many had collapsed long ago, their shattered remains buried beneath thick vines and creeping plants.
Broken towers leaned dangerously.
Massive statues stood cracked and weathered.
Empty streets stretched into the darkness.
The entire city was dead.
Yet the scale of it was overwhelming.
This wasn't some small ancient ruin.
This was a massive metropolis.
A civilization that once must have been powerful beyond imagination.
But now…
It was nothing more than a graveyard.
"What happened here…?"
My voice barely came out as a whisper.
I took a slow step forward.
Dry grass crunched beneath my feet.
The silence of the ruins pressed against my ears like a heavy blanket.
Then—
A sound.
Behind me.
A faint grinding noise.
I froze.
Slowly… I turned around.
From the glowing forest behind me, a figure stepped into the clearing.
Relief flooded through my body instantly.
Another person.
Thank God.
"I thought I was al—"
The words died in my throat.
It wasn't human.
The creature stood nearly seven feet tall.
It had two arms and two legs like a person, but that was where the similarities ended.
Its skin was smooth and pale like polished moonstone.
Its head was elongated and featureless.
No nose.
No ears.
And its eyes…
Two large crystal lenses glowed softly from within its face.
The creature tilted its head as it looked directly at me.
Studying me.
Confused.
My blood ran cold.
Then suddenly—
A mechanical voice echoed inside my mind.
[Unknown Lifeform Detected]
My vision blurred.
Blue light flickered across my eyes like a holographic screen.
[Scanning Biological Structure…]
My heart pounded violently.
"What the hell…?"
The voice continued.
[Analyzing Species…]
A short pause followed.
Then—
[ERROR…]
[ERROR…]
[Species Classification Conflict Detected]
Cold sweat rolled down my neck.
The creature took another step toward me.
My body refused to move.
The voice spoke again.
But this time…
It sounded shocked.
[Human Lifeform Confirmed]
My mind went blank.
A new message appeared in front of my eyes.
[Initializing Humanity Preservation System…]
Glowing text filled my vision.
[Welcome, User.]
[You are the last surviving human.]
"What…?"
The screen flickered again.
[Planetary Scan Complete]
Human Life Signs Detected: 1
Species: Human
Extinction Status: Critical
My throat went dry.
The creature was now only a few meters away.
Watching me.
Waiting.
The system continued.
[Primary Mission Assigned]
The glowing text slowly appeared.
Mission: Rebuild the Human Race
Another line followed beneath it.
Sub-Mission 1: Survive
Survive.
The word echoed in my head.
A bitter laugh almost escaped my mouth.
Survive?
Against that thing?
The creature suddenly stopped moving.
Its glowing eyes flickered slightly.
Another system notification appeared.
[Hostile Entity Detected]
[Threat Level: Unknown]
[Emergency Protocol Activated]
A new window appeared.
[Starter Reward Unlocked]
[Basic Survival Skill Granted]
Before I could even react—
The creature moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
It lunged toward me with terrifying speed.
My heart nearly exploded in my chest.
"Move!" I shouted at myself.
At that exact moment—
Another system message flashed across my vision.
[Skill Activated: Instinctive Reflex]
Suddenly my body moved on its own.
I dropped low and rolled across the glowing moss.
The creature's arm sliced through the air where I had been standing a second earlier.
I slammed into the ground, gasping for breath.
The creature slowly turned toward me again.
Its crystal eyes burned brighter.
And in that moment…
A terrifying realization settled into my mind.
This world wasn't empty.
It wasn't peaceful.
And it definitely wasn't safe.
This world belonged to monsters.
And somehow…
I was supposed to bring humanity back to it.
Alone.
The system screen glowed silently before my eyes.
[Humanity Preservation System Active]
Objective: Restore the Human Race
The creature stepped toward me again.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like a predator closing in on its prey.
My hands clenched into fists against the glowing moss.
If I wanted to survive…
If I wanted humanity to exist again…
Then this was only the beginning.
And somewhere in the ruins of this forgotten world…
The fate of the entire human race had just been placed in my hands.