The sun was high in the sky, basking the entire city in its warmth. I meandered along the streets, ducking in and out of stores. It felt so… freeing. I knew what was going to happen when the clock struck midnight, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to take it too seriously. After all, I had already tried my best. What else did I have to give?

The best part about the impending doom of the world is the fact that you don’t care about the money you spend. In just a day, it will all be worthless. So why not spend it now?

For lunch, I went to a secluded diner I frequented, ordering a sandwich and some coffee.

‘Mmm… coffee.’

The best I could get before just didn’t compare. When you had to boil your own water over a fire, grind coffee beans using whatever you could find - not to mention actually finding the beans - and then try to filter it on your own, the end result wasn’t even close to the pre-apocalyptic stuff.

Once I finished my meal, I left the diner and walked to the park that I had lived in for a whole two days. It was a beautiful day, and the walk was far more pleasant than any other one I'd had in ages.

I made it there without incident and began to stroll along the trail, taking my time. I fished out some earbuds, plugged them in, and enjoyed the music. It’s been a whole fifteen years since I last heard anything like it.

I supposed it was inevitable that I stumbled back into the same clearing that had been occupied by the invaders. Today, it was exploding with activity ranging from picnics to tag; couples going on dates, and children playing in the grass. It was such a stark contrast that I came to a stop from my leisurely stroll.

Suddenly, I was back fighting the goblins not a scant few days ago. Blood slick on my shoes, my nose tingling with the lingering metallic scent that accompanied death. I stopped dead in my tracks and absorbed it for a second, before everything flashed and the original scene reappeared. I moved back onto the path, and just shut my mind off for the next hour or two.

My alarm woke me from my absent-minded wanderings, alerting me to the fact that I needed to go pick up my items from the smith lady.

I arrived at the store once the dinner hours began, the sun casting an orange glow over the city. A bell announcing my presence. The smith was behind the counter looking down, and loud clinks sounded. She looked up at me, took a second, then smiled.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Your stuff is right over there,” she said, pointing to a corner of the small shop.

I walked over to it, then realized I had another problem.

“Do you have something I could use to carry them?”

From under the counter she pulled out a metal ring and a strap with several metal holders.

“This is for your axe, stick it on your belt and hang the head of it from this ring, you should be good. Alternatively, you can just buy this strap and put both your axe and your shield on there,” she boasted.

I decided to buy the strap. It would likely be worth it. Plus, all this money was burning a hole in my pocket.

“What about the spear?” I inquired.

“You’re supposed to carry that, like a walking stick.” She mimed walking with one.

Thinking back, I had found it odd that several people always had their weapons out, but I supposed that made sense if there was no other way to carry them.

“Thank you very much.” I walked out and heard a faint, “You’re welcome!” in reply.

‘What a change in attitude. I wonder why… I could probably just ask her some other time.”

Upon my departure, the world grew dark, bright pinpricks of light beginning to flicker into existence. The typical sounds of a city began to fade away as if the entire planet was holding its breath, awaiting the inevitable. The streets were empty, everyone in their house except for the beggars in the streets, but even they had moved to dark alleys to brave the night.

I patrolled the silent roads, entirely void of life, the empty stillness bringing back faint memories of long days and cold nights spent traveling, not a soul in sight.

Eleven ethereal bells rang out from every direction across the collection of hovels, spelling out the inescapable end for all who heard it, even as they remained blissfully unaware of their impending demise.

I counted the seconds, unable to allow a single one to pass me by. My hands clenched, tightening around the spear, the only safeguard against what was to come.

The darkness around me grew deeper and began reaching towards me. Out of the corner of my eye, silhouettes sprinted from shadow to shadow, eluding my scrutiny. I reigned in my thoughts, then blinked. They were gone.

Several minutes passed, and again the world lapsed into a tranquil silence, broken only by the crunching of the gravel beneath my feet. The quiet began wearing on me, every second that passed more than a million ways I would die ran through my head.

The quiet was shattered by the tolling of the first bell. A sudden chill encapsulated the area, raising the hairs on my neck. I spun in a circle, wary of any movement.

The second chime sounded. ‘I can’t remember hearing these before’. The cold grew deep. Every movement was strained, and my mouth produced thick clouds with every exhale.

Each ringing brought me closer to the end, inexplicably drawing out bloodlust I was unaware had been brewing within me, my inner demons exploding in a frenzied pitch in response.

The year climaxed into a single moment, a small speck in the vast sea of time, but one that would fundamentally change the world forevermore.

The final knell of bloody death erupted with a deafening peal. The apocalypse arrived, and I welcomed its cruel embrace with one of my own. This was my genesis, my birth, and there would be no more retreating.

I have but one purpose, and that is to eviscerate the hordes, and bring the invaders to their knees.

I will destroy them. And nothing will stop me.

Tutorial Complete. Welcome to The System, Earth #3581