That was the only way Kai could describe it—as if the air itself had a voice and it was panicking. The rift above the warehouse tore wider, and something ancient pushed through: twisted horns, molten eyes, and scales like black stone cracked with fire.
[Rift Monster: Abyss Wyrm – Class B – Level 12]
[HP: 2100 / 2100]
[Status: Unstable Rift Presence. Weakness: Cold, Radiant.]
Kai's mouth went dry. "That's not a 'monster.' That's a final boss."
Mina didn't hesitate. She charged, fire rippling from her bat as she launched herself into the air and slammed down on the creature's face. The impact cracked the pavement and staggered the beast—but only just.
[Mina: Skill Activated – Flame Lash Lv.3]
A whip of fire shot from her weapon and wrapped around the wyrm's snout. It roared, swiping wildly.
Kai ducked behind a half-crushed car and shouted, "Okay! Think, think—what do I have? Skills, skills..."
[Available Skills: Blink Lv.1 | Arc Strike Lv.1 | Analyze Lv.1]
[Skill Points Available: 3]
[Upgrade Now?]
"Yes! Put two points into Arc Strike, one into Blink!"
[Skill Upgrades Applied]
[Arc Strike Lv.3 – New Effect: Chain Spark]
[Blink Lv.2 – Cooldown Reduced to 6s]
Lightning surged through Kai's limbs. He sprinted from cover and blinked onto the wyrm's back. "Please work!"
He slammed his pipe—still glowing with magic—into the creature's spine.
[Arc Strike Lv.3 – Chain Spark Triggered!]
Lightning danced across the beast's body, stunning it. Mina took the opening, leaping forward and driving her flaming bat into its eye.
The wyrm shrieked and twisted, collapsing into black smoke that spiraled into the rift above—and vanished.
[Convergence Event Cleared]
[Kai: Level Up → Lv. 3]
[Mina: Level Up → Lv. 5]
[System Stability Improved]
[New Perk Available: Dual Awakening Detected]
Kai flopped to the ground, gasping. "Okay... that was terrifying and awesome. Mostly terrifying."
Mina stood over him, grinning now. "You're not half bad for a freshie."
Then both their systems pinged again.
[Warning: The World Has Taken Notice.]
Meanwhile: Tokyo, Newsroom HQ – 9:32 PM
"Cut to camera two. Now zoom in—there!"
On the massive monitor wall, footage played in slow motion: a giant claw reaching from a tear in the sky. The video had been captured by a drone that had flown too close to the warehouse district and barely made it back.
"Tell me that's CGI," the anchor muttered.
"No, ma'am," said the technician, white-faced. "We have six separate feeds showing similar phenomena across the city. No edits, no VFX markers. And that's not all."
He pulled up another file: stills from satellite imaging. Rift energy—if that's what it was—had been spreading across the globe. Beijing. London. Johannesburg. New York.
And every location had one thing in common:
Someone had Awakened.