The battlefield was filled with smoke and dust, piles of collapsed buildings, and the smell of fresh blood, steel, and char, all swirling together and turning Noid's mind into mush. He stood there in a daze, his body encased in heavy metal armor. It was so heavy that even breathing was difficult.
"Aaaaaaa, it's eating me!! It's eating me!!!"
A scream pulled Noid back to reality. Around him was a chaotic battle between armored soldiers and grotesque creatures. In front of him was a swarming mass of monsters. These creatures looked like they had stepped right out of a sci-fi comic book. Their bodies were like beetles, covered in exoskeletons, with bony spines growing out of their limbs. Their mouths were split into four cavities filled with rows of sharp teeth and saliva that made him want to vomit. The most horrifying thing was the sharp, bony spines on their two front limbs, which were nearly a meter long, combined with their height of nearly two meters.
He realized that he, too, was wearing armor and was one of the soldiers.
"How... how am I supposed to fight this!!!"
He hated nightmares, but at this moment, Noid truly wished this was a nightmare and he would wake up. But reality slapped him in the face when a fresh arm, he didn't know where it came from, flew out and hit him.
Noid trembled, tears and his bladder nearly giving out. Even the gun in his hand and the armor didn't give him any sense of security.
The battle had erupted, and thousands, even tens of thousands, of monsters surged forward like a tsunami, scattering the armored army before his eyes. Noid could only stand there, frozen, shooting frantically in all directions. The monsters' sharp bony spines were something the steel armor couldn't block.
He saw with his own eyes a person cut in half at the waist, falling to the ground. Another was pulled alive out of his armor and torn apart by the monsters, becoming a shower of blood in the air. Someone was pushed to the ground and then trampled into a mangled pulp by a mob of monsters.
Limbs, bodies, blood, and internal organs deeply shocked Noid. He froze on the spot, his hand unconsciously dropping his gun. Just a few hours ago, he was a normal young man; facing a scene like this apocalypse, it was a miracle he hadn't shot himself.
A sharp bony spine sliced through, cutting straight through the chest plate of his armor and tearing open Noid's chest.
The pain once again pulled him back to reality. Looking at the monster less than 10 cm from his face, he fell backward. He aimed the gun in his hand directly into its wide, four-cavity mouth and squeezed the trigger frantically, firing until his finger went numb and the monster's head was smashed like a watermelon.
Noid immediately vomited, and the gun fell from his hand. At that moment, many more monsters approached, trampling over the mangled corpses of their companions and beginning a second wave of slaughter.
"Retreat!!! Retreat!!!"
Someone yelled out, and the surviving soldiers began to flee. Noid didn't even bother to pick up his gun, struggling to his feet. His vision was blurry, and he felt extremely dizzy. He only started running when the wave of monsters was almost upon him. Because of his poor physical condition and the heavy armor, Noid became increasingly exhausted, his steps faltering. Not paying attention, he tripped over a steel column lying in the middle of the road and fell headfirst.
He was in despair, his whole body trembling. Noid didn't want to imagine himself dying with his body torn to shreds.
Suddenly, a rocket flew from the sky, slammed into the swarm of monsters, and turned into an incredible amount of thermal energy, transforming the entire battlefield into a sea of fire. The shockwave from the attack sent Noid flying dozens of meters. He went into shock, and his vision went black.
…
Noid was born into a well-off family with successful parents. He was supposed to grow up to be an elite, a respected member of society. But a single shipwreck changed everything.
Both parents died, and their assets were divided. Fortunately, he still had a large sum of money, enough to live two lifetimes, along with a house. But Noid changed after that, wanting only to hide in his room. If not for his parents' dying wishes, he would have even dropped out of school. After finishing high school, he resolutely decided against going to college, almost completely isolating himself at home.
Today was like any other day. Noid had long since forgotten the concepts of days, weeks, and months. His entire life was a repeating chain of events. But today, something was different.
"You have been selected."
Noid frowned at the computer window with the words "You have been selected," wondering if it was a software bug or a virus. Only when he clicked on the window did the anomaly occur. The surroundings gradually became blurred and distorted. Noid felt his body become light, his vision stretched to infinity, and a genderless voice echoed in his ears.
"Synchronizing timeline."
"Unique property activated."
"Welcome, Traveler #999."
His vision returned to normal, and Noid found himself in what looked like a military camp with dozens of other people. Then a deafening alarm blared, followed by a loud explosion. He was summoned in a daze, put on armor, and sent onto the battlefield. After a series of events, he lost consciousness.
Noid woke up in the infirmary, completely drained of strength. The wound on his chest from the bony spine was still stinging, but fortunately, it hadn't gone deep into the bone.
"Traveler #999, you have been selected by the Infinite. Below are the privileges that #999 can review."
World Synopsis.
Accumulated Points.
Storage.
Shop.
For fans of sci-fi and transmigration, this moment would have them jumping for joy, feeling as if they had been given a divine blessing, and then gallivanting through various worlds. But Noid saw this as a curse. Being immediately thrown into a bloody battlefield with a bunch of disgusting monsters that had nearly shattered his sanity, what else could it be but a curse?
Seeing Noid dazed and holding his head, the others in the room didn't comfort or mock him, because most of them were the same way. Most of the people in this room were young, and many had never been to battle before. If not for the surprise attack, it would not have been their turn to fight.
The monster's sudden attack was meant to prevent them from opening a path into the city and turning the entire city into their dinner table. Young people who weren't even skilled at handling weapons had to put on armor and grab guns to fight.
Many in this room had witnessed with their own eyes people they knew being torn apart and eaten by monsters. This wasn't like a sci-fi monster movie. It didn't just cut away when the monsters charged, it showed them the horrific scene of monsters eating people up close.