Everyone knew the world would one day end, but I had never expected the end of the world to come so soon. Everyone seemed to think they knew how it would happen, but who would have guessed it would come abruptly on an early Sunday morning.
Lewis sure didn't.
He had spent the entire week working his ass off, going from one shitty job to the next with barely a moment's rest. Waking up hours before the sun rose and working long into the night, he felt utterly exhausted when the weekend came around. Yet instead of sleeping in to recover from his sleep deprivation, he woke up suddenly as a scream tore its way into his studio apartment.
Jumping out of bed with a start, his mind was instantly awake as he looked around, confused as to where the sound came from. A second later, more screams sounded from outside, the street seeming to have gone mad as people could be heard running and shouting.
Quickly putting his store clerk uniform on and rushing out the door, he looked around to see the street in chaos, the sky having darkened with purple clouds covering the horizon, and strange red lights appearing from the distance.
What the hell is going on?
Following the sound of screams a block away, he peered down the street to see what appeared to be a large portal forming in the middle of the road, cars slamming their brakes and crashing into each other before the strange spectacle. Lewis had no idea what was going on, but the entire world seemed to have gone crazy as gunshots rang out in the distance and the screams were now constant.
Heart racing, Lewis took out his phone but couldn't get it to turn on. No matter how long he pressed the On button, the screen remained black.
But before he could comprehend what was happening, a blood-curdling cry came from an alley next to him. Turning, he found a man lying on the ground with a dog biting his leg. Without hesitation, Lewis rushed to help the man whose blood was pooling on the ground, his arms thrashing to dislodge the black dog that had bitten into his thigh, but the creature simply dug in with greater ferocity, causing the man to scream louder.
Lewis reached the man in a few seconds, but as he approached, he got a better look at the black dog attacking the man, the creature having released his thigh and instead clamped onto his neck and shoulder, a fountain of blood being released from the wound, the mans eyes having gone wide with terror as he slowly lost the strength in his limbs.
"Hey, get back, you damn mut, or I'll..." Lewis shouted, having been prepared to kick the dog off the injured man, only to realize it wasn't a dog at all.
With black fur and the size of a golden retriever, it was a fairly large creature, but as he approached, he found its legs to be a lot shorter and its body more elongated with a pointy snout. Since the alley was mostly in shadow, he hadn't been able to see it properly, but when the red eyes of the creature turned to him, the truth was revealed. This was a rat, a half a meter tall rat that was single-handedly killing a full-grown man with ease.
Seeing the amount of blood already covering the ground and the gruesome injuries, Lewis instinctively knew that this man was beyond saving. That revelation shocked him, frozen, he stared into the deep red eyes of the giant rat, which gazed right back. Suddenly, Lewis became uncomfortably aware of his situation.
The world seemed to have gone crazy, the sky was a strange purple color, and some sort of portal had formed down the street. Now he stood facing a man on his last breath and a rat larger than should be possible, yet he couldn't even call for help as his phone was dead. And right as all these pieces were coming into view, another bombshell revealed itself as a strange game-like message appeared in his vision.
Global quest gained: Survive integration
Your world, Terra, has begun integration into the wider multiverse. To survive this, an individual integration phase has been established to process you and grant you access to the system. Portals have appeared all around the world; find and enter one within the next hour if you wish to be part of the new world. Entering a portal grants you access to a starter class and transports you to a group tutorial based on your individual circumstances. If you do not enter a portal within the next 60 minutes, you will be left behind while your world undergoes its paring. WARNING: Remaining means certain death and is highly discouraged.
Time remaining: 59:58
The message appeared without warning, and its contents made Lewis dumbfounded. This was not what he had expected for his day off; he wanted to be in bed right now, sleeping away his accumulated exhaustion, not facing world-changing events that promise his death if he doesn't do as instructed.
But this message that just appeared in his vision wasn't even at the top of his list of priorities, the large rat that had just released its sharp teeth neck the man's neck and turned to face Lewis with crimson liquid coating its red fur being or of greater importance.
Realizing he was in big trouble, Lewis glanced once more at the man, finding his neck to have been partially severed, a large wound revealing his windpipe and collar bone, making Lewis grimace as he looked away, bile rising in his stomach, but he forced it down.
After a moment, Lewis finally got his legs to work again and turned to run, the sound of wet smacking on the ground behind him only making him speed up as he ran for his life back down the alley, his thoughts a mess of fear and anxiety as the images of that poor man flashed in his mind, his brain conjuring images of the rat jumping on his back and doing the same to him. All his energy was channeled into moving, to get out of here as fast as possible and hope the rat didn't catch up.
But as he reached the end of the alleyway, he felt the creature was closing the gap. Glancing behind himself as he turned the corner, he found it to be barely two meters away, far too close.
In a panic, he ignored the dozens of people rushing on the street, all going in the opposite direction as he ran back to his apartment building, getting the door open faster than he ever had before, the thick glass door happily having remained unlocked, or he would have been in serious trouble.
Yet as he slammed the door closed and backed up, the large black rat slammed into it headfirst, the entire doorframe shaking as a crack appeared on the glass. Through the glass, Lewis saw the creature's deep red eye and manic behavior; it moved all twitchy as if pumped full of cocaine, and the blood covering its mouth could not hide the needle-like teeth in its maw. It was a creature straight out of a nightmare, its long tail swaying erratically behind it as it backed up and rammed the door again.
More cracks formed as the rat smashed back into the door, fragments of glass flying into the hallway as the door splintered and cracked. Seeing this, Lewis didn't stick around, rushing up the stairs towards his apartment as his mind whirled with everything that was happening.
The world had seemed to fade into the background when he came face to face with this man-eating beast, but as he rushed up the stairs and ran across the hallway, hearing the sound of glass shattering down in the lobby and a snarling beast entering the building, Lewis realized that wasn't the only sound of destruction happening around him.
Explosions and screams rang out constantly throughout the city, the sound of speeding vehicles and honking horns creating a cacophony of chaos that truly made Lewis realize that this likely wasn't the only abnormal creature attacking people.
He didn't slow down until he reached his apartment and slammed the door, grabbing a chest of drawers and putting it against the door. Then, breathing heavily, he stayed quiet and tried to listen for the creature. It had definitely made its way inside, but he didn't hear it climb the stairs. It was around ten in the morning, so most people weren't home, Lewis having only gotten up so late because he wanted to lie in, but he really hoped the rat wouldn't encounter another of his neighbors in the building.
Not hearing anything for a few seconds, all the strength seemed to leave him, and he fell back onto his bed, his heart beating out of his chest as flashes of the man in the alley replayed in his mind, the wet sounds of biting and the fountain of blood and gore coming from his neck having been burned into his mind forever. But after a few moments, he realized that this wasn't over.
The message that had appeared in his vision had disappeared when he had refocused on the rat, but thinking about it again, the same message reappeared before his eyes.
Reading it over several times, he realized that this was indeed the end of the world. Lewis had read many stories about portals opening up on Earth and monsters flooding out. The usual trope of people then awakening superpowers to fight back was very popular recently, but he never expected something like that to come true. Admittedly, these portals aren't for monsters but to save humanity, apparently sending us to a tutorial space to learn to adapt to the 'new world'. But it was the part about classes that really piqued his interest.
If he was right, then this system that was integrating their world would grant them the ability to use magic, which was one of Lewis's most fervent childhood dreams. Becoming a wise old wizard studying the arcane would have been his ideal future, instead of being forced to work multiple jobs just to keep the lights on.
But before he could fantasize about how much better his life would be if he had access to magic, he realized he needed to get to one of those portals. Looking out of the window, he found a few people running down the street towards where he had seen that glowing portal appear in the middle of the road, but similar black rats were chasing them, the creatures not appearing as large as the one he had seen, but definitely big enough to inflict serious injuries.
More gunshots sounded, and Lewis saw one of the rats reach an older woman who was running with a group of four. The creature latched onto her leg and caused her to fall over with a scream. The others all turned, but the woman was covered by several rats in moments, her screams being drowned out by wet coughing and the sound of tearing flesh as the others were forced to leave her behind, dragging a screaming little boy with them as they headed towards the portal that was beyond his sight.
The horror of the situation he had just witnessed caused him to throw up all over his floor. He hadn't expected what he saw, nor that the were so many giant rats running about the streets. That woman didn't even stand a chance; the creatures swarmed her the second she hit the ground.
Down on all fours, Lewis began hyperventilating as he emptied everything in his stomach, feeling a coldness spread through his body that made him shiver uncontrollably. But just as he wiped his mouth and crawled away from the streaming pool of bile on the ground, the barricaded door suddenly shook.
Lewis's eyes widened as he heard the rage full snarling of the large rat that had entered his apartment building, the creature having made its way to his apartment.
The cheap wooden door was fraying as the rat rammed it repeatedly, the barricade not doing much to stop it as it shredded the entire door, its sharp teeth and claws enlargening the holes as it tried to crawl its way inside his room.
Fear rising in his chest, he rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the largest knife he had, holding it in front of him as the creature brayed down his door and began pushing the barricade out of the way. Lewis's legs were trembling, his breath coming fast and shallow as he once more stared into those deep red eyes and found the creature's strength to be far greater than expected, its claws easily shredding the door despite it only being the size of a large dog.
Forced into a corner, Lewis knew that he had to either fight or die. Taking a deep breath, he ran towards the rat while shouting, trying to scare it or hype himself up, he wasn't even sure which. The rat had pushed half its body through the door and was thrashing and snarling like a wild, crazed animal as Lewis stabbed down, the blade sinking into the creature's shoulder but only sinking a few centimeters before stopping.
Surprised it didn't go deeper, Lewis was too slow to react when the rat exited the doorway fully and collapsed on top of him, its large maw and pointy teeth gnashing above his face, the scent of iron invading his nose from all the blood around its mouth.
Straining to hold it away with his arms, Lewis used his left to keep the rat off of his face while grabbing the knife still sticking out of its back with his right.
Pulling the knife out, Lewis used all his strength to jab it back into the thrashing black rat, the creature screeching as he did, but only stopping for a moment before it continued snapping its teeth centimeters from his face, getting closer and closer with every moment as he strained to keep it off of him.
Crying out from the effort, Lewis continued to stab the creatures back its concentration wavering everytime it was stabbed, despite the blade only penetrating a few centermeters, While he pushed it back with every strick, eventually distracting it enough to push it off of him as there positions changed, Lewis now kneeling over the bleeding rat and stabbing it repeatedly in the neck, chest and stomach.
Everything was a blur as he slammed that kitchen knife down into the giant black rat, its fur slowly turning red, and its struggles slowing as he kept stabbing it over and over until he had no strength left in his arms.
When he couldn't stab it anymore, he dropped the knife and crawled away from the bleeding rat, its body covered in hundreds of puncture wounds and a pool of blood steadily expanding around it.
Lewis was breathing hard and felt as though the world was tightening around him, his heart beating out of his chest, and his hands and arms bleeding from where he had been clawed and scratched without even noticing.
But before he could do anything more than stare at the large body of the now dead rat, he felt his mind go blank and passed out.