"What is this?" I uttered coldly as I threw the stack of paper on the floor in front of my desk. My subordinate looked stunned, as the stack of paper hit the ground and he winced upon the sound of the impact.

"Tell me what's wrong" I stared at him, who has been a loyal employee for over 5 years. Around the time when this place was still considered a start-up, he had proven himself to be hardworking and I had been giving him the best benefits possible. "How could such a thing happen!?" I raised my voice which sounded fiercer than I had expected. Once more, he flinched and hung his head down.

"Haaaa" I sighed loudly in frustration. In response, he lowered his head even more.

"I'm sorry, sir" he apologized, as he lowered his head more into a 30-degree bow. At this point, he might as well kiss the floor with how flexible he was.

To think that our algorithm was snatched away from us right under our nose was frustrating. To think that they had the nerve to flip the tables and claimed that we stole their technology instead was unspeakable. I stared at the report on the lawsuit that I had thrown onto the floor.

"It was my oversight sir, I'll take responsibility for this..." he said, as he bowed even further.

"And how?" I replied coldly. My mind was racing, taking out my anger on him was useless and a waste of time. The lawsuit didn't matter that much as we had the evidence that we developed it at worse in the same time period, but the public sentiment isn't going to be good. I looked at the stream of emails coming in from investors on my constantly buzzing phone. The first thing we had to do was to find the spy... The company emails had to be combed through to see if he planted any damaging evidence anywhere...

"Sir" he cut off my train of thoughts. I stopped and looked at him.

"I think I know who the spy might be..." he said with a somewhat strange confidence and a sorrowful look.

"Get rid of him and any damaging evidence he might have planted" I looked towards the door as I hurried him to leave the office. "Search through everything he might or might not have touched" I added on, as I watched him hurry out of the office.

"I really need a drink" I muttered to no one in particular. Opening the fridge in my office and taking out the liquor with a nice hand-crafted glass, I began to pour the drink with a single cube of ice settled down in the middle. At nights like this, I really miss the comfort of my wife... Not that I can ever get that anymore.

"Bzzz" my private phone buzzed this time. It then started to buzz rapidly, reminding me of the days when we were young and constantly spammed texts. The nostalgic memory of muting group chats as I texted my wife because of the notifications hit me rather hard. I smiled once again, craving the warmth that was lost. I opened up the group messages and started reading.

Marcus: [ Hey, open the news! No, just look outside!]

Noi: [ I see a goblin! Orcs and shit! Holy]

Feder: [ Broo, there literally a fucking dragon flying over the city right now]

Aaron: [ There's monsters all the way here ]

Elton: [ Time to fight monsters LOL]

Calvin: [ Guys they are actually killing humans and shit. We can meet at my house if you have nowhere else to go.]

Marcus: [ On the way]

Aaron: [ I need to get my daughter]

Closing my phone in half disbelief, I headed to the windows. Located on the 70th floor, my office had a view of the entire city. And there I saw it, monsters out of nowhere, large ones big enough to cover the skies. Dragons, unknown beasts, and a city slowly being covered in flames. Gulping down the glass of alcohol in my hand, I felt more awake than ever. Remembering the fantasy novels that I used to read, I muttered out "status".

Status

Health: 60 (300)

Mana: 10 (10)

Condition: Severely Fatigued

Title: Boss

Skills

Pain resistance (A)

Sleepless (B)

Confident demeanor (S)

Blessing: None

I almost expected it to happen, but looking at the status in front of me, I can only imagine a life full of fighting monsters and surviving ahead of me. Maybe, that might just be better for someone like me.

"Hahaha," I lightly chuckled as I saw the health stat. My wife would have scolded me for being unhealthy and then proceed to spoil me with her kindness. I recall the times when I would find her to be naggy as she made me exercise with her. In fact, I miss it. It was true that you only cherish the things you had when it's gone.

Now it's time to go on some adventure, isn't it? Maybe some kid somewhere would pick up an amazing power and save the world. I took a casual walk out of my office as every single window shattered from the roar of one of the monsters outside. I flinched internally as I continued to walk forward. I didn't forget to send a message to the group that I was heading over as well. To be very honest, the idea of me surviving a 70 story ride down the escalator while huge flying creatures roamed around was low. It was a miracle that I had even managed to still be alive right now. But, there was no need to panic. All I can do now is to hope that I survive riding the lift down the escalator. I notice my subordinate, Jason the man I was shouting at just moments before busily searching through the computer. To think that he was a high school dropout just 5 years ago...he's young, hardworking, and had a whole life ahead of him. The shattered windows didn't even faze him as he was so preoccupied to even hear a dragon's roar.

"Hey, Jason!" I approached him and tapped on his shoulders. "The world is ending, let's leave" I chuckled as I got him to stand up. It was only then that he noticed the poor state that the office was in. His eyes began to wander around as he panicked, before coming to a quick conclusion to leave. Watching him scurry quickly to the elevator, I slowly followed along behind.

"Sir hurry up! Let's go!" he shouted at me as he held the door to the elevator, knowing full well that every second mattered.

"Alright" I replied calmly, as I walked faster. Jason continued to urge me on every step I took. He would have made a better bodyguard than those downstairs hahaha. Which reminded me to check my phone for any new messages. Walking into the lift, I powered on the screen to look for any texts left from the guards downstairs. To my surprise, there was a single text.

[ run monsters]

As if on cue, the entire lift started to shake. Jason quickly grabbed onto the handles at the side and urged me to do so.

"Jason looks like there will be monsters waiting for us downstairs," I told him, as I calmed my beating heart. His face scrunched up as he seemed to be deep in thought.

"When the door opens, be prepared to run," I told him.

The shaky lift somehow, one way or the other managed to reach the ground floor with a nice soft ding. The gentle tone against the chaos that was happening outside was a funny contrast that made me smile. The door opened and revealed me to a rather disgusting scene. There were dead bodies littered and piled up in the middle of the lobby like a tower. Jason looked pale as he clenched his fist. I notice large monstrous spiders without eyes and scythes for front legs roaming around the area. They were the size of large dogs and were covered in pitch-black fur. They appeared to have dragged in their victims from the outside and formed a nest in my lobby.

Their bodies twisted as they faced us in an unreal fashion. Jason began to run, pointing opposite of where the tower of dead bodies stood. I broke off in a sprint as well, utilizing the muscles that I havent touched in a really long time. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me. The monsters swarmed along behind at incredibly fast paces. I could hear the sounds of their footsteps slowly edging closer.

We ran towards the staff exit at the opposite end of the main entrance swarmed by the nasty creatures. Out of nowhere, a blue screen popped up much like that of the status screen.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

New Mission

Survive (10:00)

Rewards: 10p

I didn't manage to take a good look at it while running, but I could somewhat get the idea that it was some sort of task to be completed.

Hurrying my legs to move, the back of the lobby we were heading to was not clear of monsters. They were crawling around everywhere and began to chase us the moment we approached their vicinity. I crouched down as one of them came jumping from my right, letting it fly by right above me, before continuing on my sprint. The monsters were getting closer. I could feel the hairs stand across my whole body, the chilling fear of being eaten alive pushed me to go faster.

In around 5 minutes, we managed to reach the exit. It was surprisingly clear, and the door remained shut and seemed to be undisturbed. There was the strong smell of blood that filled the air and yet a strangely quiet atmosphere from beyond the doors. The world should be in absolute madness right now, and yet the particular area ahead was as quiet as a library on Monday morning. When Jason was about to open the door, I called him to stop.

"What's wrong?" he asked while breathing heavily.

"The monsters have stopped chasing us" I replied while panting. He took a look around and realized that I was right. "There's a pretty strong smell of blood up ahead as well," I told him.

"I think that the smell of blood...correct me if I'm wrong, but it's coming more from the outside... plus, it's awfully quiet as well" Jason widened his eyes and told me. "Sir, what should we do now?" I almost laughed out loud at his respectful tone. The world he knows of probably already ended and yet here he is addressing me so politely.

"The basement. We can try heading to the basement and getting a car." I replied him. We already determined that there was something horrible on the outside, something horrible enough to scare away the monsters from coming near, the only hope we have of leaving this place would probably be via car.

The lift to the carpark was nearby, but I could see the monsters patrolling the area near us. We had to wait for them to clear the area in search of food, or for whatever that's outside to come in. If not, any move we make would just lead to our deaths. It's best to see what kind of stimuli these monsters react to as well, for instance, if it's sound, we can just keep our mouths shut and our footsteps softer. If they actually could see without eyes, we should just run as we did before and prayed for the best.

"Sir" Jason called out to me.

"May I borrow your phone?" he politely asked.

"You do know that with the way things are, I'm no longer your boss right?" I replied as I passed my phone to him.

"Does that mean that I'm fired?" he replied.

"No, but... the company is probably gone. The whole country or even the world we know of will actually disappear. You do realize that right?" I stated the obvious.

"So that means that I'm not fired" he smiled as he replied.

It was strange. His words weren't answering my questions, but it still managed to cheer me up a little. I could imagine him as the same cheeky brat that I once picked up.

"You know, I was an orphan, right? Barely managing to scrape by in life, with no relatives or kin, attending school was even too much of a financial burden for me who struggled to feed himself" Jason began to speak about himself. I could feel the weight behind his words.

"I know" I replied solemnly. I was surprised at my own tone. Maybe all of us are a little more emotional when faced with death.

"So why did you hire me, who had nothing to his name?" Jason asked me.

"It was just on a whim" I replied. I recalled him as a teenager who tried everything he could to prove others wrong. He wasn't deluded nor stupid, he was unlucky. And I merely gave him a chance to prove himself. That was all.

"I see" he replied.

"Sorry for messing up the project, I should have known better" he carried on talking about the things that no longer mattered. It was strange how my worries about the company felt so far away as if it was about something a long time ago.

"Its alright. I'm sure it would have worked out one way or the other" I entertained his apology, making him turn silent.

"Have u seen your status?" I broke the awkward atmosphere and asked. Thinking about status in my mind, the familiar blue box popped up once again. Nothing had changed.

"Oh, so that was what the floating box that popped up before was! I thought I was seeing things" I saw Jason looking at his own status gleefully.

"Do u also receive weird messages about donations, sir?" Jason asked.

"Donations?" I questioned.

"Yeah it says here that the 'Bridge Judge' is pleased with my actions and has donated 100 points" Jason pointed at the blue screen that appeared in front of him.

"Points? What's that?" I slightly frown as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. Just as I thought about it, a blue screen appeared in front of me.

Current Points: 0

It's money, isn't it? The points are basically money. And donations? Does that mean that there were people watching us? Could they have been behind all this whole mess in the first place? I pondered upon the questions and fell deep into thought. To think that my employee would already have deeper pockets than me in the world now, I'm kinda shocked.

"Hey, can you transfer those points to others or do anything with them?" I asked Jason who shook his head and was busy looking at his status.

"Let me try" I saw Jason pointing his blue screen towards me.

You have recieved 50p : "Test"

It was surprising that it could even act as a messaging function. Facing Jason, I tapped at the screen showing my points.

How many points would you like to send?

I thought of the number 50 in my head.

Would you like to leave a message?

No. I issued the command in my head. The points were instantly depleted, and I couldn't help but stare at such a thing in amazement. It was just like a game. Maybe people will start trading with this system instead. I could imagine a future where the survivors traded for food or equipment using these points, though the value of these points has yet to be determined.

"Sir" Jason called out again.

"I think it's a good time to go," he told me as he pointed towards our surroundings. It wasn't dark, and I couldn't see a single one of those creatures in sight. The stench of iron in the air got to me, as I held my breath. The reality of the situation was that we were going to die if we did nothing.

"Let's go" I answered him. I could see the same confident gaze in his eyes that appear from time to time. "I'll lead the way" he replied. And thus, we went.

Every step we took was as quiet as we could make it out to be. I couldn't help but remember the time when I and my wife were quietly sneaking back to her parent's house. She had really strict parents. I smiled as I wondered why I'm thinking about her so much today...maybe it's because I'm not really thinking about anything else? The bittersweet taste in my mouth only lasted for a short while as soon, we found the creatures towards our front. They had built another tower of corpses ahead, just outside where the lifts to the basements were. The sight was not one to behold. I took glances trying to focus on the creatures instead to ignore the grotesque sight. I recognized a few of my employees among the pile. They weren't working directly under me, but I had had the chance to talk to a few of them before. It made me want to vomit in disgust, but I held it back. They had talked to me before, telling me about their wishes, their family, and their aspirations. I found myself gritting my teeth. Not in fear nor worry, but in grief and anger at all the people that had been killed so unfairly.

I recalled the words people had used to console me at her funeral. "It was a freak accident. Nobody could have known..."

I snapped out of my thoughts.

I and Jason exchanged gazes. Our path was now blocked by the tower and many of the monsters. He seemed to be furious as I could see his fist clenched to the point where his nails were digging into his skin. But still, he tried his best to make a calm face. He signaled towards the lift and was slowly attempting to creep his way to the buttons. A monster that was nearby beginning to move, we didn't notice its presence previously. I could feel my heart skip a beat as it crawled past Jason who did his best not to move.

We watched as it slowly and leisurely headed for the tower to feast like it was going for a casual supper snack. It helped me confirm my suspicions that the monsters couldn't see. They seemed to react mainly to sound. As soon as it reached the tower, Jason clicked on the button, making a small beeping sound. This alerted some of the creatures nearby.

Luckily, or rather, unluckily this was covered by the sound of a screaming woman. It was from the office lifts where we first came from. We turned around to face the location. I and Jason watched as all the monsters present started rushing towards the woman.

I could make out a human figure running for her life, heading towards us. For some reason, I and Jason decided to move to save her. We didn't say a single word and started running in her direction. Maybe both of us had enough of watching corpses get piled up.

"Hurry to the basement lift!" Jason shouted, catching the attention of the monsters around. There were many around him, as he attempted to lead them away. I could see that he had his back against the wall, literally, and that he wasn't in a position where he could realistically escape. He was too careless!

"Over here!" I shouted as loud as I could to cover his voice. My voice was really loud. It was significantly louder than Jason's as it roused up many more monsters, including the ones chasing after him. My plan was simple. As I was the one closer towards the door, I'll lead the monsters there and wait for them to disperse. Making a break for it, I ran as fast as I could. I could hear the sound of the stampede following along behind, as I once again made my way back to the door. However, this time the doors were no longer closed. The heavy stench of iron assaulted my nose, as I stared at the eye of a snake that was the size of the double doors. The doors were missing, and the snake let out a menacing roar. I covered my ears in an attempt to salvage myself, but the ringing sound in my ears and the blood that flowed showed that it was futile.

I could feel myself getting dizzy. My vision blurred for a moment, as I saw the snake broke down the walls and entered. To my front, the snake, and to my back, the spider monsters. I guess fate was simply asking me to choose which way I should die.

I looked behind and saw Jason heroically charging towards me. It was bad, he was going to die if he tried to save me. The stampede brought by the woman was about to reach the lift. If he ran back, he can still make it on time.

"RUN TO THE LIFTS" I shouted as loud as I could. Since I was partially deaf from the roar, I didn't know how loud I sounded. Seeing Jason still hesitant, I steeled myself and headed towards the snake. I couldn't help but smile that this would be the way I would go.

Maybe that was why I was thinking about my wife the whole day. It was a sign that we were about to meet soon. I smiled at that thought and ran straight ahead towards the snake that reeked of human blood.