Chapter 8: Signs of the End
Immediately after that, a blinding light engulfed everything.
The last thing I heard was:
"Welcome, Host. I hope you make the most of this experience."
Then darkness.
—
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a white, sterile room that smelled too clean to be real. A hospital? My head throbbed, and distant voices echoed through the walls. One of them... sounded like Madam Li. Agitated. Pacing?
I tried to sit up but winced—every muscle in my body screamed in protest. I felt like I'd been crushed under a truck and stitched back together with regret.
Madam Li burst in the moment I moved. Her face was a mess of relief and exhaustion. Puffy eyes, red nose—she had definitely been crying.
"Why didn't you call me?!" she scolded, even as she hugged me gently, like I'd break again.
She explained what had happened. Apparently, after I collapsed, strange phenomena began popping up across the world. She got worried and came to check on me, but my door was locked. Thank God for the spare key I gave her. She found me barely breathing on the floor and rushed me to the hospital.
Doctors said it was poison—something strange and slow-moving through my system. They tried everything, but it was my own body that fought hardest. I'd been unconscious for an entire month.
A whole month... gone.
I let out a shaky breath and whispered a soft "Thank you" to Madam Li. She smiled through her tears.
Once she left to give me space, I reached for the remote and turned on the news.
It was worse than I imagined.
All around the globe, the world was falling apart in slow motion. The equator was scorching, hitting highs of 70°C. Polar regions were flooding—ice melting at rapid speeds, rising tides swallowing coastlines. But that wasn't the most terrifying part.
The Earth's landmasses were moving.
Continents drifting—back toward their original Pangaea-like positions. It was as if the planet itself was resetting. Rewinding.
Some were calling it the beginning of Judgement Day. Others? Claimed to be time travelers, warning of events yet to come.
And me? I just woke up with a talking slime, a new body, and a front-row seat to the end of the world.
Sitting up fully, I pushed the covers off my legs and swung them over the side of the bed. My body protested, trembling slightly, but I didn't care.
There was no time to waste.
Less than a year—that's all I had before the first wave of the apocalypse would hit.
And I refused to be caught off guard. Not again.
Now that I was awake, I had to move fast. The signs were already there: burning equator, flooding poles, shifting lands. And the worst part? The government knew. They'd known for months, maybe years. But instead of warning people, they kept it quiet—for their own disgusting profit. Classic.
I clenched my fists. I couldn't rely on anyone. If I wanted to survive this, I had to prepare.
Just as I pushed myself to stand, a soft, glitchy voice pinged in my head.
"Master, you can't move yet," Sysi whispered firmly, its tone unusually serious.
"Your body is still adjusting. You've been unconscious for a month. It's not safe to push yourself."
I blinked. That little blob of blue light I named... was now trying to baby me?
"Sysi, we don't have time for naps. The world's ending."
"Which is exactly why you need to recover. If you fall apart now, everything else falls with you."
I sighed, leaning back a little. Maybe it was right. Just maybe.
But that didn't mean I was gonna sit around doing nothing.
Sensing the unease swirling inside me, Sysi suddenly piped up.
"Master, you've got mail!"
I blinked. "Mail?" I glanced at my phone, expecting maybe a message from Madam Li or spam from some scammy self-help guru.
Instead, it was a flood of well-meaning DMs and alerts: news reports, rumors, and people asking if I was okay.
"Sysi, there's nothing useful here," I mumbled, scrolling.
"Pfft—Master, I meant my mail system, not your boring human inbox."
"Say Sysi Menu, and I'll show you something way cooler."
Rolling my eyes but curious, I muttered under my breath,
"Sysi Menu."
Ping!
A holographic window flickered into life right before me. A 3D model of myself hovered beside a mini chibi-like Sysi, wiggling in the corner. The screen displayed what looked like RPG stats:
⸻
🧬 Name: Nyx
💪 Strength: 1
💨 Agility: 2
🧠 IQ: 2
❤️ HP: 200/350
🧙 Mana: None
🌀 Skills: None
🌱 Race: Human (No new branches unlocked)
🧬 Mutations: Present
📈 Level: 1
😷 Current State: Sick
🎁 Newbie Pack: Available
🍀 Lucky Draw: Available
💰 Bank Balance: $1.7 million
💼 Net Worth: $15 million
🐣 Companion: Sysi
🔹 Level: 2 (Systematic Helper)
🎖 Host XP: 100
✨ Companion CP: 10
⸻
My jaw dropped a little. "Mutations present? Wait, what mutations?? And why is my strength only 1—hello?! I've literally survived dying twice."
"Master," Sysi giggled, "you're barely out of the coma. Chill. Your real stats will kick in after system sync completes. I did say you need rest~"
"Yeah well, we'll see about that..."