The world held its breath for one final moment before hell arrived.
My whisper slithered through the cracks in reality: "Look up, Samuel." His coffee cup froze mid-fall as the sky exploded with a sound like a thousand spines snapping. The diner window reflected his face, but when Samuel moved, his reflection stayed perfectly still. My luminous fragment burned its way into his soul, branding him as the world's last hope.
╔ SYSTEM INITIALIZED ╗
USER: Samuel
STATUS: [DEATH SUN IN 7 DAYS]
TITLE: [NONE]
╚═══════════════╝
Samuel screamed as his forehead split open vertically. The golden Third Eye forced its way into existence, showing him visions of the coming apocalypse:
The Death Sun - a 60-second eclipse that would turn the living into ravenous. The Crystal System that could grant him the power to survive:
▸ Awaken - for new abilities (Beast/Elemental/Eldritch)
▸ Mutant - to evolve existing powers
▸ Eldritch - reality-warping effects
▸ Hollow - instant ascension
╔ FIRST MISSION ╗
OBJECTIVE: Prepare for the eternal cataclysm rise (0/7)
REWARD: [Awaken Crystal: Space]
╚═══════════════╝
Blood dripped from Samuel's nose as he made his choice. Without hesitation, he slammed his palm against the glowing [ACCEPT] option. Outside, every streetlight in the city blew out simultaneously.
THE GOLDEN CARD
Joe's testament burned like a hot coal in Samuel's pocket. The System's voice was cold and mechanical: "Convert your most valued possession into capital. Emotional value multiplier: 10x."
A crooked smile twisted Samuel's lips. He knew exactly where to go.
The luxury office door nearly came off its hinges when Samuel kicked it open. Joe's uncle - freshly released from prison after a year inside - didn't even look up from his cigar. The stench of greed and arrogance filled the room.
"I need everything," Samuel said, his voice steady. "I'll repay you...in one week. Come to my house for payment."
The contract's interest rate would have bankrupted small countries. Both men signed anyway. Both knew the debt would never be paid.
THE CITADEL
Space itself hummed around Samuel as his new powers awakened. With methodical precision, he:
1. Stored enough supplies in the Sacred Realm to survive the apocalypse (including exactly 87kg of pizzas, because priorities mattered).
2. Convinced a skeptical Hayze by yanking a pepperoni slice straight from a void portal.
3. Accepted the pulsating Key and Cord artifacts that whispered of a distant, impossible structure
The System's final message seared itself into his vision:
╔ MISSION COMPLETE ╗
LOCATION UNLOCKED:"The Spire That Devours Heaven"
╚═══════════════╝
Far above them, hidden by the polluted city sky, something massive and black began its descent through the atmosphere.
DEATH SUN ARRIVES
Seven days later, the world ended with a whimper.
Samuel stood outside his crumbling apartment building with Hayze and Tsuki. The air smelled like copper and rotting meat. Right on schedule, the uncle arrived with his golden umbrella, idiot playboy son, and two steroid-pumped bodyguards.
"You better have my money, boy," the uncle sneered.
Samuel simply pointed at his watch.
Two seconds after the eclipse began:
The son vomited black bile before his skin sloughed. The bodyguards' muscles twisted into grotesque shapes as they. The uncle's golden umbrella snapped shut when his own son bit into his neck
When the dust settled:
The bodyguards dropped nothing, but the spoiled son left behind a Level 1 Leveling Crystal. Through some cosmic joke, the uncle's corpse glittered with a Lightning Awaken Crystal
Tsuki yawned as Samuel drew his newly-purchased sword. The blade flashed once, twice, and three undead heads rolled across the pavement. Somewhere above them, the Spire waited.