Synyster woke up after getting knocked unsconscious when some small debris hit his head and all hell broke loose. Thankfully buildings in LA are built with disasters in mind, thought not of this scale, so some buildings still stood; luckily enough he was in one. While they did still stand they were in shambles, as was his mind. In front of his eyes appeared something that he would never have dared even think of. Half of his wifes body was completely smashed under the debris, only her head and upper torso was left untouched. In her wide open eyes a look of utter horror and pain reflected his own. He wanted to scream, thrash, cry but he could do none of those; he became numb and he couldn't even register much less proccess any information his senses were trying to send to his brain. 

He was a soldier, and when he first became one he couldn't have been more proud, because he was going to be part of the force making sure his country stays safe. But just a few short months later he realized how wrong he was. He was no defender, he was just a mercenary sent on missions to poor countries with resources within their borders they just couldn't defend or even make much use of. All that pride he felt at the beginning was giving way to shame, so much shame; that overwhelming sense of shame was way stronger that the pride which was slowly crumbling with every passing day.

He still had nightmares of that period. The faces of those he had slain, and the faces of his comrades who had been slain kept surfacing in those. Many nights he couldn't sleep and on such nights he would drink until he passed out from the alchohol and exhaustion. Luckily for him, he never dreamt when he was passed out.

Now seeing the one he loved, oh so dearly, die in such a brutal manner made his PTSD kick in, full force and with his mind as it was something finally broke, that last stand of humanity was torn to shreds.

In the next moment, he felt weightless and suddenly he was in a luscious forest and in front of his eyes was a blue screen.

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Greetings, citizens of Earth!

Your planet has been claimed by our glorious Kerberi Empire. As you were, and still are, too weak to be used even as a slaveforce we have decided to implement some changes on the planetary level.

First example of that is the terrain makeover. Do you like what you see? You were much too safe in those cities of yours and you were encroaching on the last few places not completely under your control, which we just can't allow. In order for you to progress and become strong enough you need to live on the edge.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

The next thing we did was give you mana. Mana is a resource, which I recommend you learn how to use as fast as possible, as I believe it will be key to your survival. Now, we have to be fair, so every living organism will gain access to mana. With that in mind, let me give you an another tip, be careful of them, as anything, even the least dangerous of organisms before the change, could become deadly if you aren't careful.

And the last thing which we have done is "import" some sentient organisms from other planets. Many of which you will be able to recognize as you had quite accurately depicted in many of your stories or mythologies.

All of you have been given some basic tools and equipment which could help you survive. Just say or think the word "Inventory". To check out your status screens "Status screen" and to see your skills say "Skill book". You will also receive certain Paths which will give you rewards based on how many Path points you put in. Said Path points are received each time a skill is learned or a skill levels up.

Work hard until the next examination! If you do you may be rewarded, but if you don't, well, let's just say you better do! :) [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/smile.png]

Bye for now! 

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Syn looked up from the screen, a murderous look in his eyes. 'They did this for no other reason that to make us "worthy" in their eyes!? Hmph, they shall pay'. He thought for a while more and came to the conclusion that this made it so no government in the wolrd can function anymore as it did, which means that new types of government will have to be made when people eventually banded together. And that is something he will definitely now allow. If they were to manage to succeed in doing so in this new "Dog eat dog" world, that would probably make them get ahead of the regular people, and as soon as the world stabilizes it will be more of the same old, same old.

While he contemplated all of this, he scouted out his surroundings to make sure there were no threats nearby before he found a safe place to spend the night in. Before he fell asleep he tested out the commands and found a long military knife, a blanket and a weird stone with a red sigil on it, which he later figured out was a fire stone. It didn't provide much in the combat potential side of things, but it was perfectly safe and easy to use to light a fire. 

He then checked out his stats and the stats that stood out compared to his other stats were intelligence and agility, with the former at 16 and the latter at 18. His other stats except for strength averaged around 10, strength being at 13. And at the moment he had no skills, so he didn't know what to expect yet. His mind finally relented with all the shock and tragedy that happened today and he drifted away to blissful sleep.