The world didn't end with fire.
It ended with a ding.
[Welcome to Tutorial Stage: Survive or Die]
Time Remaining: 00:59:59
The glowing blue text floated in front of me like a hologram, sharp and solid enough to cast faint light on my hands. I blinked once. Twice. I even rubbed my eyes, but the words didn't vanish.
"This… this has to be a dream."
Except it wasn't my apartment anymore.
Gone was the cracked monitor I'd fallen asleep in front of. Gone was the half-empty cup of instant ramen.
Instead, I stood in the middle of a vast stone arena. Cracked tiles stretched endlessly, marked with scars of battles I hadn't fought. The air was heavy with the faint metallic tang of blood, though I couldn't see where it came from.
And I wasn't alone.
Hundreds of people surrounded me — men, women, kids, even an old man in a bathrobe. One girl clutched a cat in her arms, shaking so hard the poor animal hissed. Another guy, still in his office suit, stared dumbly at the phone in his hand. It didn't turn on. None of our devices worked.
The only thing that did work was that merciless countdown floating above us.
59:48… 59:47… 59:46…
The noise started like ripples: confused whispers, then raised voices, then outright panic.
"What the hell's going on?!" someone shouted.
"Is this some kind of prank show?!"
"This… this can't be real. I was just at work"
"This looks like a game," a teenage boy muttered, staring up at the timer. His voice cracked as he tried to sound braver than he was. "It's… it's like a VRMMO, right? Right?"
Nobody answered him.
Because another notification dropped.
[Objective: Defeat the Tutorial Boss]
[Failure Condition: Death]
The ground shook.
A low rumble rolled through the arena like thunder. Dust fell from the walls. Then, from the shadowed archway on the far side of the coliseum, something crawled out.
The thing was huge. A body like a lion, thick with muscle. Eight spider legs jutting out from its sides, stabbing into the ground with each step. And its mane writhed like snakes, hissing and snapping, alive in ways hair had no right to be.
When it opened its jaws, the sound wasn't a roar. It was a screech — a sound that clawed through my ears, scraping directly against my skull.
The girl with the cat screamed. The animal leapt from her arms and bolted. The old man in the bathrobe dropped to his knees, muttering a prayer.
Someone — I didn't see who — broke first.
"RUN!"
And just like that, chaos exploded.
People scattered in every direction, pushing, shoving, trampling each other in blind panic. A man tripped, and three others stepped on him before he could even stand.
The spider-lion's red eyes glowed brighter. It lunged, faster than anything that big had any right to be.
The first victim was a teenager who thought he could fight. He clenched his fists, let out a war cry, and charged the monster bare-handed.
For one second, I actually admired his guts.
Then the monster's fangs sank into him. One bite. The crunch echoed across the arena.
Blood sprayed across the tiles. The boy's scream cut off before it fully started.
And that was when the first death notification appeared, floating above his falling body.
[Game Over]
[No Continue Available]
I froze. My stomach turned ice-cold.
Because the message didn't vanish. It hovered there, cruelly bright. And as the monster tore into him like meat, I saw the same message popping up over the heads of others.
One woman, too slow to run, got her chest torn open. Game Over.
Another man tripped, begging for help, but nobody stopped. Game Over.
They were dying like NPCs in a raid gone wrong.
But this wasn't a raid. This wasn't a game I could log out of.
The monster's shadow fell over me.
And that's when a different message appeared in front of my eyes.
[Player: Kai]
[Unique Trait Unlocked: Respawn]
[You may return after death. Unlimited attempts remaining.]
I stared. My brain struggled to process. Respawn? Unlimited?
I looked around frantically. Everyone else's death screens were permanent. They had no second chances. But mine—
Mine promised something else.
I barely had time to register it. The spider-lion shrieked again, and in the next heartbeat, it was on me.
The fangs filled my vision.
Pain followed. Blinding, unbearable pain. My chest ripped open like wet paper, bones shattering as I was hurled across the floor. Blood gushed hot down my skin. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't even scream.
Then everything went black.
[You Have Died]
Silence. Cold, endless silence.
Until—
I gasped awake.
I was back.
Same arena. Same timer, still ticking down. Same people screaming.
My chest was whole. My body unbroken. Blood? Gone.
A new notification blinked in front of me.
[Respawn Successful]
[Hint: Every death makes you stronger.]
I staggered, staring at my hands. They didn't even shake. The pain was gone, but the memory wasn't.
I remembered dying.
And I remembered coming back.
Nobody else was looking at me. They were too busy running, screaming, dying.
I was the only one who'd risen from the dead.
Slowly, I exhaled. My lips curled, and before I knew it, a laugh bubbled out of my throat.
Not hysteria. Not panic. But a sharp, hungry sound.
"Alright," I muttered, clenching my fists. "If that's how it is… let's grind."
The spider-lion roared again.
And I ran straight toward it.