Marcus Chen had never been good at praying, which made his career choice as a seminary student particularly ironic.
He sat in the back seats of St. Michael's Cathedral, staring at his phone instead of the scripture passage he was supposed to be memorizing. The afternoon light filtered through stained glass windows, painting the empty church in blue and gold light. Father Matthews had sent him here to "contemplate his commitment to the faith" after Marcus had fallen asleep during morning mass for the third time that week.
"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this," Marcus muttered, scrolling through social media. His parents would be disappointed, but they'd been disappointed in him for years. Dropping out of medical school to pursue theology had been strike one. Actually failing at theology would be strike two.
The phone buzzed. Emergency alert.
SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Marcus frowned. Seattle didn't get tornado warnings. But Before he could process it further, the ground rumbled beneath him. The ancient building groaned, and the stained glass windows shattered.
Marcus threw himself to the floor, his arms covering his head as glass rained down. The tremor lasted thirty seconds, an eternity when you're convinced the world is ending. When silence finally returned, he slowly lifted his head.
The church was ruined. Seats lay splintered, and daylight streamed through gaping holes in the walls. But that wasn't what made Marcus's blood run cold.
The sky was.... different.
Through the destroyed ceiling, he could see tears in the sky....in reality itself, jagged rifts of purple and black energy that pulsed like infected wounds. They spread across the sky like cracks in glass, and from them poured... something. Light that wasn't exactly just light. Energy that made his eyes water to look at directly.
Marcus scrambled to his feet. He needed to get outside, to understand what was happening. As he stumbled through the debris toward the entrance, a scream cut through the air.
"Kyaaaaa!! Help!!!!"
He burst through the cathedral doors onto the street and immediately wished he hadn't.
Cars had crashed into storefronts and each other. Buildings crumbled as the earth continued to shake in irregular pulses. But worse, far worse, were the people.
A woman stood in the middle of the street, convulsing. Her skin had taken on a grayish colour, and her eyes... God, her eyes were completely white. As Marcus watched in horror, she lunged at a man trying to help her, teeth sinking into his throat.
Blood sprayed across the asphalt.
"No, no, no," Marcus breathed, backing away. This couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of nightmare, a gas leak hallucination, anything but—
"Kyaaaaa!!!"
"No, stop!!!??"
"Please! Somebody help me!!"
More screams erupted around him. People were running in every direction, some fleeing from the gray-skinned attackers, others already transforming into them. The infected moved with unnatural movements, but they were fast. Terrifyingly fast.
Marcus's survival instinct finally kicked in. He turned to run back into the church when a translucent blue window materialized directly in front of his face.
He stumbled backward with a yelp.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[Welcome to the New World]
[Mana saturation has reached critical levels. Humanity has been granted access to the System as compensation for dimensional incursion. Survive. Adapt. Overcome.]
[Scanning user... Complete]
[Assigning Class based on soul resonance...]
Marcus stared at the floating text, his brain refusing to process what he was seeing. This was impossible. Video game interfaces didn't just appear in real life. Unless...
"I'm dead," he said aloud. "I died in the earthquake and this is some kind of afterlife—"
[USER: Marcus Chen]
[CLASS: Faith Keeper (Epic)]
[LEVEL: 1]
[Congratulations! You have received a Special Super Rare-tier class. Faith Keepers draw power from the belief and trust of others. Your strength grows with your followers.]
[Starting Skills Unlocked:]
[Divine Amplification – Rank F: Increase nearby allies' combat effectiveness by 10%]
[Minor Heal – Rank F: Restore small amounts of health to a target]
[Sanctuary Sense – Rank F: Detect safe zones within 50 meters]
[Current Faith Points: 0/100]
[Current Believers: 0]
[Quest Available: Survive Your First Day]
[Reward: 100 EXP, Basic Skill Selection]
[Failure: Death]
Marcus waved his hand through the blue screen. It rippled like water but remained visible. A growl snapped his attention back to immediate danger.
Three of the infected had noticed him. They shambled forward with that distinctive unnatural movements, their mouths hanging open to reveal their bloodstained teeth. Their eyes were completely devoid of intelligence—just hunger and rage.
"Stay back!" Marcus shouted, raising his hands defensively.
To his shock, a faint golden light flickered around his palms. It sputtered and died almost immediately, but the infected hesitated. One of them tilted its head, confused by the brief flash of energy.
Marcus didn't wait to see what they'd do next. He turned and ran.
His sneakers pounded against the pavement as he ran with no destination in mind except "away." Behind him, the infected chased.
He cut through an alley, leaped over a fallen bicycle, and nearly collided with a parked delivery truck. His lungs burned, and his legs screamed of exhaustion. Marcus had never been athletic, another reason medical school had seemed like a better fit than anything physical.
"Come on, come on," he gasped, spotting a fire escape ladder hanging from a building ahead. He jumped, caught the bottom rung, and hauled himself up with strength born of pure terror.
The infected reached the base of the ladder seconds after he climbed beyond their reach. They clawed at the air, unable to coordinate enough to follow. Marcus collapsed on the metal grating of the first landing, chest heaving.
From this vantage point, he could see more of the city. Smoke rose from dozens of fires. Those reality-rifts still tore across the sky, and he could swear he saw shapes moving within them, massive, incomprehensible shapes that hurt to look at.
The blue System window pulsed in his peripheral vision.
[Quest Progress: Survive Your First Day – 1% Complete]
Marcus laughed. a slightly hysterical sound that echoed off the alley walls. One percent. He'd survived one percent of the day.
"What the hell is happening?" he whispered to no one.
The System didn't answer. Below, the infected continued their mindless vigil, waiting for him to come down.
Marcus closed his eyes and did something he hadn't done genuinely in months.
He prayed