Riley snapped out of his thoughts and scrambled across the bed, grabbing a small, cracked Android phone resting near the pillow.
His fingers moved quickly, pressing the power button. The screen flickered to life with faint static lines and a dull glow.
1:58 PM, June 14th, 2025.
The ti stared back at him—and for a second, he didn't even breathe.
His lips parted slightly as realization struck.
'This... this is ten years ago... before the ga launched...' He thought, eyes wide. 'I really did go back in ti.'
He swallowed hard.
The date was burned into his mory. This was the day everything changed. This was the day the ga Apocalypse officially launched—the ga that turned the world upside down and dragged humanity into an era of blood, chaos, and monsters.
He knew the exact ti it had started, too. It was 2:00pm.
That ant he had two minutes, or even a bit less.
His heart pounded. It was true. All of it.
The beta phase of the ga had launched two weeks prior, but only ten million people worldwide had been allowed to participate.
Most of them thought it was just a revolutionary new VR ga—ultra-realistic, groundbreaking chanics, sothing no one had ever seen before.
But they had no idea what they were walking into.
Riley hadn't been one of the beta testers. His invitation never ca.
All he could do back then was scroll through forums and watch live streams, completely unaware of the tragedy that would soon unfold.
Even when the official launch ca, he didn't jump in right away. He had waited, thinking it was just another overhyped ga that didn't have any benefit.
He had never been one who fancied gas no matter how hyped they might be, feeling they were nothing but distractions from the real world.
He hadn't logged in until about three weeks later, and by then, it was already too late.
The world had already changed. Monsters had started appearing in reality. Cities fell. Governnts crumbled. People he knew—neighbors, friends, strangers in the street—were slaughtered.
And Riley? He was weak. Too weak to defend anyone. Too late to change anything.
Since he joined late, he barely had enough ti to level up, and was nothing more than common fodder during all the chaos.
'Not this ti,' He thought sharply. 'This ti... I'm getting in early. I'll use every second I've been given.'
He stared hard at the ti again.
1:59 PM.
The seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow, and yet all too fast.
And then—
DING!
A light-blue notification screen suddenly appeared before him, right in the middle of his vision.
[The Beta Phase has finally ended. All remaining humans are now granted access to the ga: Apocalypse.]
Before he could fully absorb those words, another notification blinked in.
[From this mont forward, humans must use this chance wisely and fend for themselves, or else they would have no way to defend themselves from what is to co.]
Riley's eyes flickered as a strange light glinted within them. His jaw clenched, and he let out a slow, shaky breath.
This sa ssage had appeared in front of every one above the age of fourteen in his past life, and now seeing it again, he felt a bit nostalgic.
"...Yeah," he muttered to himself. "That's right..."
This ti, there were no excuses. No heroes were coming. No mysterious saviors would appear. It was all up to them.
He looked down at his wrist, and his breath caught.
A glowing circle of runes was slowly forming there—blue and ethereal, cooling and precise. The shapes twisted and curled, looping around his wrist like a bracelet before gradually embedding themselves into his skin.
There was no pain—just a strange warmth, followed by an instinctive click in his mind, like a key turning in a lock.
Riley stared at the glowing band in disbelief.
Even though everything still felt like a dream... he already knew.
It wasn't.
This was real.
Another notification appeared, floating clearly in his vision:
[Do you wish to enter the ga?]
[Yes / No]
He hesitated.
His finger hovered over the [Yes] option.
His eyes scanned the words again and again, waiting for the illusion to break—waiting to wake up in his bed, sweaty and confused, and realize this had all been a vivid dream cooked up by stress and fantasy.
But nothing changed.
The room stayed the sa. The bracelet on his wrist still glowed. The runes didn't vanish. The notifications didn't fade.
'No... this is real.'
With a final exhale, Riley pressed [Yes].
Imdiately, the world around him shifted.
A wave of dizziness swept over him, as though soone had yanked the ground from under his feet.
His vision blurred, his knees buckled, and the room stretched and twisted like a reflection in disturbed water—
—then silence.
When he opened his eyes again, he stood in an infinite white space.
There was no floor, no ceiling—just white stretching endlessly in every direction, pulsing gently like it was alive.
[Scanning identity... Riley Voss]
[Welco to The Apocalypse, Riley!]
[Please enter an ID...]
A blinking cursor appeared beneath the words.
Riley blinked, gathering himself.
He rembered this part. In the ga, every player had to choose a unique ID—one that everyone in the world would see. It was your na, your brand, your banner. A mistake here could haunt you forever.
And in a world where strength ant survival, a na could inspire—or invite death.
'Let's see...' He mumbled inwardly, placing a hand on his chin.
He thought about it for a mont, arms crossed.
It would be dumb to use his real na, as he already knew how risky that could be. He'd seen how powerful players were hunted, tracked, and betrayed in the na of alliances, war, or fa the mont their true identity was discovered.
Sothing low-key, subtle... forgettable.
Finally, a small smirk tugged at the edge of his lips.
He typed slowly, watching the letters appear:
[ID: A Random]
It was simple. Deceptive.
And in this new life, that's what he would be—just a random.
It was the sa na he had chosen in his past life, and he felt it was simply the perfect one for him.
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