"Rowan Palmer, would you like to start the apocalypse?"
A thin black panel appeared above his head, giving him a prompt. Confused, the man blinked. Still there. And then he blinked again.
Still there.
What the?
It was a Tuesday afternoon. Having adjusted to college life, he had a few hours before his next class, choosing to spend it in his dorm room. But, as he charged his phone with a cord that was just too short to use on his elevated bed, he had given some thought to his life.
A disappointment. That was the only way to describe it.
But, alas, after a bit of self-reflection and a gnawing despair eating away at his chest from the sheer pain of reality, this… thing had shown up.
Then, another black panel showed up beneath it.
"WARNING: This action will be irreversible. Monsters will assail this world if response 'YES' is chosen. All of humanity will be given the ability to fairly fight back and earn their survival. However, usage of weapons outside established perimeters is prohibited and will be made null."
"...Huh."
In truth, he had thought about this. Well, not this, but more-so about the way the world currently operates.
Who was in control? Well, only the fools would say the control is in the hands of the people.
It wasn't that the common man was powerless, but merely that they did not try to change anything. Those who did attempt often failed, simply because they were unable to rally enough people to bring about change. The people were, more often than not, puppets for their oppressors.
If not the people, then the power was in the hands of the rich. They, on their lonesome, could change this world as they saw fit. That was their strength.
Rowan, however, was not rich. He wasn't even smart, or talented, or adept at any skills. In fact, he had failed to even be a proper human being, often warding off potential friendships by being (who else?) himself.
But now, as he reflected on his life and the wastefulness of it, he came to a grim conclusion.
This was his only chance at living. Yet, he had failed to seize the moment. One chance at life, and he chose the path of mundanity—no, he chose to sink even lower than that. He was a disappointment, first and foremost.
But that wasn't how it was supposed to be. Here in this world, where life was as fleeting as the light of sun and moon, why would he choose to be anything but the absolute best?
…Looking at the messages, he held the back of his hand to his nose, thinking over it all.
The world is going to be attacked? Ah, but we'll be able to fight back. And I'm assuming the latter part of the message means that the rich and the governments won't be able to fight back, right? Or, at least, not as effectively. Nukes and guns might not work against these creatures…
Most of the truly powerful, those who really did have this "ideal life" never actually earned it. They inherited it, or got lucky. Rowan was neither son of the rich nor particularly lucky.
But, if this new world allowed even the common man to be great…
Why not? This is the only action that benefits me. I've been ready, why would I care if it's by a monster's hand or my own? Even if it's still a gamble, I might as well put the odds closer in my favor. Everyone starts anew—let's see who comes out on top.
Extending his pointer finger, he tapped one of the responses.
The panels vanished. And outside, there were tremors. Great, great tremors…
***
Looking out through the window of his dormroom, Rowan saw, in earnest, the destruction of the world. Reality itself had cracked and given way to unnatural weight, splitting open and allowing…
What the heck are these things?
Their bodies were… vaguely humanoid. Purple, cracked skin that made them seem like walking bruises. Scaly, boney tentacles squirmed and writhed around in the air protruding from their lower jaws, their massive bodies crawling around at terrifying speeds. Their big bald heads carried exaggerated ears and radiant red eyes.
Fast, fast crawlers, they were. And he saw it quite well. When they got their hands on their prey, it was over. The bone-like tentacles ensnared the neck, acting less like fluid strangulation devices and more like unholy vices, clamping the frailty of the human body in between two unbreakable rods. Needless to say, the results were… loud.
…Ah. I see, now.
This was the world he made.
All that was left was to act on the reason. The reason why this had to happen.
The black panel re-emerged, giving him and all the rest of humanity a message.
"WARNING: This world is being attacked. Fight back by using these messages. More information will be provided in time. To start, invest a stat point to begin your journey."
In the safety of his dorms, watching as those outside had to both read and hide (there was no running) from the monsters, Rowan navigated the System.
It was quite simple, activated not by the hands but by the will of the user. Opening up a panel, he saw a graph of his entire body. Or rather, the muscles on his body, alongside both the heart and lungs off to the side..
What the…
The muscle groups were labeled. His chest had its own stat, biceps and triceps shared one, forearms as well. All of the muscle groups, however, started off at a firm zero, no points entered just yet.
Looking out at the window, watching comfortably as the world was ensnared by a vicious nightmare, Rowan thought it over for a moment.
Well, I'll definitely need to run away eventually, so…
Three stat points were already available. He invested all of them into his legs, boosting their strength and endurance capabilities at the same time, without one taking away from the other.
Sweet. Now then, I should probably haul ass. I don't want to have to deal with all those monsters outside…
Ah, wait.
Something hit him. Not physically of course (at least not yet), but rather something he'd forgotten until now. He had planned to just run away from the monsters, maybe kill those he absolutely had to, and then live long enough to receive the second message the System had promised him and all humanity.
However, there was one thing getting in the way of that…
What was his name again? James…? No, no, couldn't have been that. Was it… Jasper? No, obviously not… Wait, did I even bother to get his name?
He did not. However, the man was very important to Rowan.
Short story short, Rowan had spent his last few dollars on a vending machine one night. He was craving some chips (the kind of craving known only at night), but the piece of shit that was his dorm building vending machine did not allow the bag of chips to fall.
All hope had been lost.
Until a brave hero arrived on the scene, paid for the same bag of chips, and allowed him to keep the extra one.
That's why he has to survive. The rest of this world can struggle, but not him. I want him to live.
It was fairly insignificant, but it made Rowan grow quite attached to the man. So, he resolved himself—save the hero or die trying.
In a rush, he raised his right leg into the air. And, testing out the three invested stat points, he delivered a swift, weighty kick to the window. Instantly, the glass shattered, scattering outwards and falling from the third story of the building.
Ah, that sound was very satisfying.
What was left was to leap from the third story, rush around campus, and eventually find the hero…
Wait… on second thought, I don't actually want to jump down three stories.
So, he took the pussy… the pedestrian… way down.
***
"Wait, if that dude sees me again, I might get to hit him with the 'No time to explain, come with me!' line."
Speaking aloud as the elevator whirred, Rowan tapped his thighs repeatedly, playing to the beat of a drum.
"Pfft, that'd be pretty funny, I think. But I might need to seem a bit more energetic if I say that… Well, I guess that's fine. I'll have to be very outgoing this time…. Yeah!"
Doing his best to be more outgoing for this special someone, he gave a peace sign and flashed the biggest grin he could.
The elevator doors opened, revealing two people standing outside. Terrified beyond measure, their first sight was… Rowan.
He wasn't exactly eye-candy, especially not with his stupid grin in this harrowing situation. But due to him laying down on the bed, his hair was a bit messy… surely that had to make him more appealing… right?
Uh, I don't think so…
The two students ran inside the elevator, repeatedly clickclickclicking the button to make the doors shut quicker.
"Ah, excuse me," Rowan said, leaving the safety of the metal box.
"What're you doing?!" One of the students shouted, grabbing him by the sleeve and tugging him in. But, upon investing a stat point, his body had improved and become stronger as a whole—especially his legs. He didn't budge.
"Me? I'm going off to save some dude. Don't mind me."
He swatted his hand from their grasp, turning his back on them. It was then that the System gave him yet another prompt.
"NOTICE: These people can be useful allies. Consider keeping them around?"
Rowan looked at the panel, frowning slightly.
"...Huh. Actually, you two head up to the third floor, Room 307. Stay there and wait, I'll explain this situation more in depth. Or, until the System decides to give the second message."
The two students looked at him like he was a lunatic. They must've been the stupid type, because they seemed to trust this stranger, simply because he acted with a bit of confidence.
"O-okay??"
The elevator doors closed, sending them up to the third floor shortly after.
Rowan sighed, darting past the Bruises just outside his dorms.
But, while he was moving, the System whispered to him. Likely due to his ability to read being diminished while being chased or having to move quickly.
The voice itself was unnatural, inhuman, utterly foreign and deeply disturbing, whilst being strangely sweet.
However, among all those things, it was by no means unfamiliar. After all, it was the voice of a computer. The first computer to ever sing.
But instead of performing Daisy Bell, it whispered thus.
"Your journey has begun. Before you gain your Ability, you must choose a weapon first. What weapon shall you choose? Note: Guns and weapons outside of perimeters will not be considered valid."
Using his powerful legs like they'd never been used before, Rowan dashed to the main lobby of the university. The Bruises continued to rampage, wrenching any neck they could get their hands on. Naturally, Rowan was going to become one of them.
Weapon?
There were many options, like the spear, and—
"Shit!"
But he couldn't give much thought to it. The monsters crawled at him with speed that sent a jolt through his entire body, forcing him to leap away with his newly powerful legs.
However, there was a downside to this as well.
"Ghk, no way…"
Suffice to say, Rowan was the kind of person who did nothing with their life. This, unfortunately, included the fact that he hadn't spent any time at the gym.
Though his legs could keep up, being rather fatigue-resistant…
Shit…!
"Hah, huh, hghhk…"
After running for so long, and being forced to explosively jump to avoid the Bruises, he was beginning to run out of breath.