My name is Magnus Stone. I’m going to tell you about the end of the world. It wasn’t a nuclear apocalypse, a zombie outbreak, or even global warming that ended the world. It was something only the geeks and nerds of the world ever dreamed of. The world became a game.

In the beginning no one was really sure how, or even why it was happening. There were no messages from “God”, or any other entity, telling us what was happening. At the same time all across the world every person saw the same thing.

Attention inhabitants of earth.

In 20:00 minutes the world as you know it will end.

That was it, no explanation of what, why or how. Just when. As one would imagine, the governments of the world scrambled to calm the public, while simultaneously rushing to prepare the safe bunkers and spaces for their leaders. Needless to say, the general public was not calm. The masses leapt straight towards a state of panic. Rioting and looting ran rampant throughout the world.  

All in all, humanity did not react well to the beginning of the end of the world. Looking back though, I don’t think anything the governments of the world could have done would have helped. Twenty minutes is not a very long time to prepare, and not much can be done with little to no warning. And in the grand scheme of things, that is exactly what we had. Little to no warning.

As the twenty minutes came closer to ending, the world collectively held it’s breath. Many hoped it was all somehow a giant practical joke. It wasn’t. When the clock struck zero, we knew. The world as we knew it was over. Electricity failed everywhere. All vehicles; land, sea and air, that used technology more advanced than what existed in the medieval age failed. Guns stopped working across the planet. In seconds, all the steps humanity had taken since the 1600’s were wiped away. And then the monsters appeared.

It was different in every corner of the world. Some places were overcome with beings from fantasy tales: orcs, goblins, giants, trolls and the like wreaked havoc. Other areas were plagued by beings from mythology: demons, angels, and all manner of creature from myth, from every religion and pantheon that ever existed. No matter where you were though, you saw them. Almost immediately they attacked. Tearing through the population centers of the world, killing more people in those first minutes than any war or disease had throughout history, combined. It’s estimated now that more than half of the world’s population died in the opening minutes. Another quarter died in the following week. With ninety percent gone within a month.

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Despite this tragedy, humanity struggled. We fought and adapted, as we have always done. Most importantly however we learned. We learned that while we had almost everything taken from us, we were also given something in return. We now call it the system. And it is what gave us hope in those early days. Hope that we could survive, hope that we could fight, and hope that, eventually, we could reclaim our planet and rid ourselves of the monsters who currently hunted us.

It was a simple thing, the system. The gamers were the first to figure it out. As it was much like the systems that governed the very games for which we called them. We learned much about “The System” in the early days. Those who didn’t, died. Those who lived… well they became more. “The System” was a collection of screens which appeared similar to the one that announced the end of the world. Each person could only access their own screens, at first. Each person had 5 screens available to them.

The first was the Personal Screen, it detailed their own information. It listed their name, level, race, class, profession and later titles. The second, and for some the most important, was the Attribute Screen. It detailed a list of attributes eerily similar to many games created by humanity in recent years. The were shown as follows: Strength, Vitality, Endurance, Agility, Dexterity, and Spirit. The third screen was the Skills Screen. It listed the abilities each person had, things like carpentry, painting and gardening. Some were unique, some were commonly held by each and every person. The fourth screen was called the Abilities Screen. It was awe-inspiring. It gave each person the chance to ensure their own survival through their own creativity and imagination. It allowed a person to create ways to fight the monsters who now plagued our world. Abilities like [Sword Slash] and [Powershot] were commonly developed by every person. Others, like [Soul Reaping] were rare, created by those with extreme imaginations. We quickly discovered the abilities a person could create were limited only by what you could imagine. The fifth, and most mysterious, was the Spell Screen. It, as one would assume by it’s name, showed what magic was available to a person. It was governed and limited similarly to the Abilities Screen, but far more exclusive. Humanity quickly learned, that only a small portion of people had the ability to wield magic. Much like anything that is exclusive, it was just as powerful as it was rare.

These five screens quickly became the beacon of hope to humanity. The sole ray of sunlight in our newly darkened world. After humanity crawled its way from the brink, these screens became the foundation of our new world.

This is my story. My recollections of the ending of the old world, and beginning of the new. My tale of battle against the creatures that brought humanity to the brink. My chronicles. The Chronicles of Magnus Stone.