Prologue: The Day the System Came
The day it started, the world died in silence.
At 6:32 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, every screen on Earth—phones, televisions, billboards, even digital watches—flashed the same message:
[THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN INSTALLED.] [YOU HAVE BEEN INDUCTED.] [ADAPT OR PERISH.]
Then came the dungeons.
They tore through reality like wounds. Shimmering rifts opened in the skies and streets, belching out monsters that didn't belong to Earth—scaled wolves with acid-dripping jaws, skeletal soldiers wielding black steel, and swarms of things that looked like shadow and teeth. Cities fell within hours. The military fought back, but bullets meant little against creatures that regenerated faster than wounds could be inflicted.
Humanity screamed. The world burned.
But amidst the chaos, every living person felt the same cold sensation slither into their mind—a flood of data, menus, numbers. A System Interface appeared before each person's eyes, like a video game HUD made real.
Classes. Skills. Stats.
Suddenly, ordinary people had the potential to fight back. But potential was nothing without strength. Without the will to adapt, you died.
And in the middle of it all was Ethan Cross, a young man with no future, no family, and no idea that fate had just chosen him to be humanity's last hope.
Chapter 1
Ethan Cross woke up to the sound of screaming.
Not the kind of screaming you heard in horror movies or nightmares. No, this was worse—raw, panicked terror that cut through the morning air like shattered glass. He blinked groggily, rubbing his face as he sat up on the couch of his one-room apartment. His phone buzzed on the coffee table.
The screen displayed words that made his blood run cold:
[THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN INSTALLED.]
"What… the hell?" he muttered.
Then came the second message.
[YOU HAVE BEEN INDUCTED.] [PLEASE SELECT A CLASS.]
Before he could react, a holographic window sprang into existence in front of him, as real as the couch beneath him but shimmering with pale blue light. A menu of choices hovered before his eyes:
[Warrior] – Gain strength and endurance. Fight with steel.
[Rogue] – Strike fast. Kill faster.
[Mage] – Command the arcane. Burn your enemies.
[Healer] – Restore life. Support allies.
Ethan froze. "This has to be a prank. Some AR hack?" But then, the walls shook. A distant explosion echoed through the city, followed by the faint sound of… howling? He stumbled to his window and looked outside.
The sky was ripped open.
A tear—like someone had taken a knife to the heavens—hovered over downtown Chicago, pulsing with violet energy. From it, dark shapes dropped like predators onto the streets below. He saw something with too many legs tear through a car as if it were paper. People ran in all directions, many holding glowing weapons that hadn't existed minutes ago.
"This… is real," Ethan whispered.
His System menu flashed:
[CLASS SELECTION REQUIRED.] [Failure to select within 60 seconds will result in RANDOM ASSIGNMENT.]
"Shit, shit, shit," Ethan muttered, his pulse pounding. He hovered his hand over [Warrior]—a safe pick, probably. But as he went to select it, his screen glitched. The menu flickered, lines of code running like a corrupt program.
[ERROR: CLASS SELECTION FAILED.] [ASSIGNING DEFAULT CLASS...] [CLASS: UNDEFINED]
"…What?" Ethan gawked. "What do you mean undefined? Is this some kind of bug?"
A new window appeared, cold and clinical:
[Welcome, Ethan Cross.] [Class: Undefined] [Traits: Adaptive Growth (x10 Exp), Unlimited Skill Paths, No Class Restrictions] [Warning: Undefined Classes are unstable. Proceed at your own risk.]
"Unlimited… skill paths?" Ethan's confusion turned to curiosity. His eyes drifted to the new tabs now open in his interface—dozens of skill trees, some labeled "Swordsmanship," others "Pyromancy," even ones like "Beast Taming" and "Alchemy."
Most normal players—if that's what they were now—could only pick one path. He could pick them all.
Before he could explore further, a screech erupted from the stairwell outside his apartment. Something was coming. Something big.
Ethan grabbed the nearest thing resembling a weapon—an old aluminum baseball bat. As he gripped it, the System chimed.
[Weapon Detected: Improvised Club] [Would you like to learn Basic Blunt Weapon Mastery?] [Y/N]
He blinked. "Uh, yes?"
[Skill Learned: Basic Blunt Weapon Mastery Lv. 1] [+10% Damage with Clubs and Bats]
A rush of knowledge flooded into his mind—how to hold the bat, where to aim, how to pivot his stance. It was instinctive, like remembering something he never learned.
The door burst inward.
The creature was like a wolf but wrong—its eyes glowed red, and its body was covered in shadowy, oily fur that seemed to writhe like living smoke. Its teeth dripped acid.
"...Shit."
The wolf lunged. Ethan swung.
The bat slammed into its jaw with a sickening crack, sending the beast skidding across the floor. A glowing number popped into the air:
-14 HP
The wolf snarled and charged again. Ethan gritted his teeth and swung with everything he had. Another -17 HP flashed, but the wolf kept coming.
[Skill Activated: Adrenaline Surge Lv. 1] [+20% Attack Speed for 10 seconds]
His movements sharpened. He swung again, shattering the wolf's skull. The creature collapsed with a dying whimper, dissolving into black smoke that left behind a glowing orb.
[You have slain Shadow Wolf Lv. 2] [+50 Exp] [Level Up!]
Ethan's body pulsed with warmth. A new screen appeared:
[Level: 2] [Stat Points Available: 5]
Ethan stared at the corpse—no, the lack of a corpse. His hands shook as he opened his stat window.
Ethan Cross — Level 2STR: 5DEX: 5VIT: 5INT: 5WIS: 5CHA: 5LCK: 5Points: 5
"Five points," he muttered. "What do I even put these in?" He thought about the fight, how close he'd been to losing. "Strength. Gotta hit harder."
He dumped three points into STR, two into VIT.
[STR: 8 | VIT: 7]
He grinned faintly. He felt stronger already. "Okay… I can work with this."
But outside, the world was ending. Sirens wailed, and in the distance, the sky tear grew larger.
Another System notification appeared:
[Main Quest: SURVIVE THE FIRST WAVE.] [Objective: Live until the first Dungeon Gate closes.] [Reward: Class Evolution Token (Unique)] [Failure: Death.]
Ethan took a deep breath, gripping his bat.
"Alright," he muttered. "Undefined or not… I'm not dying here."
And with that, he stepped out of his apartment into the apocalypse.