1 Welcome the Apocalypse

The year is 2021. Cain was a loner for yet another year. It wasn't like he tried to get friends though. His solo lifestyle just felt more fitting to him.

Walking to lunch, Cain was both happy and unenthused with being halfway through school. The moment before he could set his bags down, a massive crack sounded past the building. Students looked around in confusion before seeing a massive portal appear behind the school.

The surface of the rift could be best described as a crack in reality. The crack slowly burst, as if it were water in a dam, showing more and more of its true rage. Within the portal was a massive horde of goblins. Piling out of the crack like flowing water, they charged at the back windows.

Cain was a smart kid. Nothing good was going to come from looking, making him one of the first people to try for an exit. Having started at an even jog, Cain suddenly turned his head back at the sound of screaming. The lunch room was in dire straits.

Beating, abusing, and finally killing their victims, the goblins gave no mercy to satisfy themselves. Pain was something they enjoyed to see. After running through several hallways, Cain and several others made it to the front entrance. Not long after exiting the building, the entrance was blocked.

The small group of students could not stop running. The goblins chased them down the parking lot and into the empty street. The cars were inexplicably empty, yet the street was busy with traffic. There was no time to think.

In a battle of adrenaline, the group lost two to stamina, two to thrown weapons, and one gave up. It was down to a final three. The third person running with them actively did sports but was slowing down. "Hol-hold on, I've got to take.. a—a-AHHHHAAHAHA!!!!..."

Upon stopping on a pole, the athletic Jock immediately lost his ten foot lead. It was up to Cain and one other girl. Cain was a decent runner, so he could go for another mile. The girl seemed to be slowing down.

The police station was not far. If they could have just made it there, they might have gotten help. Somehow though, the goblins cut them off. Perhaps they predicted the movements of their prey. For brutal and flimsy creatures, they were quite cunning.

Running through a field, the two made use of their thirty-yard lead to gain some energy. However, at the end of the field was a hope crushing wall, over six feet tall. The girl collapsed to her knees crying. Cain knew he could climb, but he wouldn't be able to go on much longer.

Taking a look at the girl, he recognized her face. She was the girl who had been giving him looks in the past few weeks. Her name was Amy. The two were acquaintances, but nothing more.

Despite the vague boundaries, Cain sat down next to her. She began to sob harder at the sight. The Goblins were only twenty feet away. Putting his hand on her shoulder, he felt like it was the right thing to do.

The Goblins gloated and laughed at the two. As they leaped in for the kill, Amy leapt into Cain's arms. 'Damn. It would have been nice to live longer with her. What a shame..' Cain pushed away thoughts of the end as time seemed to stop. Holding Amy in his arms, he waited for the pain. Nothing came.

Opening his eyes, Cain saw a foggy screen before him. It was much like that of a video game. It read, 'Congratulations on surviving the test. The timer has gone out. You are now a player.' While still in confusion, his surroundings were pitch black.

A sudden change of scenery set the two of them back in the lunchroom. Cain felt Amy's warm touch before hearing Amy's best friend call out. "Amy? Amy? Where'd you go?" Amy slowly opened her eyes to see the new surroundings. She jolted up. "Amy? What are you doing on the floor? Wait, isn't that Cain? Oh my gosh, did you actually ask him?"

Her friend stopped her gossip when she saw the terrible look on Amy's eyes. "I.. I thought you were dead." Her friend Margo looked at Amy in confusion, but at least got that something was wrong. Cain was watching the back windows intently. Amy noticed his concern and began to do the same.

People asked why the two of them were hugging so tightly, but how could they answer? How could they answer after hearing so many screams, and seeing so much blood? The event was traumatizing, and it seemed like no one could remember it. The lack of understanding people had made them feel trapped.

Cain sat with Amy and her friend silently watching the window. Nothing occurred for the rest of lunch. The ending bell was like a huge weight being released. Cain could not focus on his next classes. Even with several hours gone, the fear didn't go away.

It wasn't until the end of the school day that he could finally leave those fears behind. Setting out, he hiked towards home. Cain walked three miles to school every day. Even with that natural amount of workout, he would have been dead if he had not done his own exercise.

As he made his way home, one word stuck in his mind. 'Player.. what does it mean to be a Player?' The only thing he could think of were the games he'd play in his free time. MMOs, RPGs, and stuff that had a skill or item system were his favorite games to mess around in.

Once inside his house, he headed upstairs and finished his homework. His mother was dead and his father was always away. Out of necessity, Cain had a lot of freedom. His father was a businessman and sent him a monthly allowance of 1000$ to spend however he chose. It was a dad's strange apology for being away all of the time.

Cain hated the words he was about to say. Even with no one in the house, he embarrassingly closed the door behind him. He muttered, "Status." To his thankful surprise, a new window appeared before him.

Status // Cain Fortissimus

Agility: 30. Strength: 21. Endurance: 38. Intelligence: 15

While he didn't like its meaning, Cain understood why he was twice as strong as he was smart. He had daily exercises that were equivalent to junior Olympic athletes. Despite his reputation as a nerd, Cain was easily the most athletic in his grade.

'Be the first to read your stats - +7 intelligence' A new message had appeared. Getting 7 stat points had to be helpful when it made up half of his intellect.

Cain was not a nerd. He was a muscle brain. Stepping outside, he set into a run. His plan was to run five kilometers, then ten, and maybe fifteen. This was all an effort to increase his Agility stat.

Perhaps it was the fear of today's events that set Cain into his quick pace. The numbers on his status window did not change even with the new pace. Cain put the window aside to help himself mentally.

After the 5k, he raised his agility by 3. After another 5 kilometers, it was raised by 4 more. Running a 10k was harder than it seemed. Cain was not a runner. Running wasn't something he could do again today.

Heading back home, he decided to pile on his usual workout. An hour later, he was absolutely finished. Taking an ibuprofen for his muscle fatigue, Cain checked his stats. His agility went up by 9, his strength by 7, and endurance by 14.

It was an eventful day. Collapsing in bed, Cain waited for the days to come.