In a dimly lit room, I sat in my chair, browsing the internet for something to entertain me.
Most shows and videos populating my feeds felt stale; I could predict their outcomes.
The same games and memes had become tiresome topics that no one seemed to care about anymore.
As I scrolled through my feeds, hoping to discover something new and enjoyable, I spotted it again: the game that changed the world— [All the Female Characters Love Me].
This harem game had been popular for the past 15 years, never growing old or boring, no matter how many times I encountered it.
I sighed in disbelief at its continued prevalence.
In the year "0004," also known as the years following the "Great War of the Graduates," this game had become a cornerstone of our society.
In the old world, a "graduate" was someone who completed a degree or academic program.
In this current era, however, it refers to an "Awakened Person"—someone who has completed the game.
How should I begin this? I suppose we should go back at least two decades.
More than seventeen years ago, a content creator from New Zealand introduced the internet to [All the Female Characters Love Me].
It is a game where players can explore a vast world, battle ferocious monsters, and uncover intriguing mysteries.
What makes this game particularly interesting is the endless routes players can take, depending on their choices.
While I'm not an expert on the game, I've heard enough from those who played it.
The experience always begins with academy enrollment—a week-long event where players must fight against a thousand competitors for the chance to be among the top 100, thus gaining official student status at the academy.
...It seems like I've digressed already. Anyway, the plot of the game is simple.
You enter the game and are immediately placed in the enrollment phase.
To get into the lowest class, F class, you need to earn at least 500 points.
And by becoming a student, you'll already overcome the population of humanity.
And by completing the five-year-long student year, you'll graduate and end the game itself.
Got it!? No... Alright then, let's put it somewhere I can express how it works but in my understanding.
Join the game - Enrollment phase - become a student - Graduate.
In those academic years of yours, you are free to do what you want, become a hero, an assassin, a sage, a saint, and whatever you want to be.
Depending on what you did in those five years as students, the moment you graduate or finish the game; you'll receive the power and abilities you obtained inside the game in reality.
Making you a Graduate -an Awakened People in the real world... Of course, this all sounds stupid, I mean a computer game that can give you power in real life!?
"That's stupid, no matter what."
Well, that's what everyone thought at first. The first person who completed the game as an academy student was a swordsman.
After he received his power, he made a video of himself slicing a tree in half, as soon as possible, and showed it on the internet.
But people only took it as a good editing ability and ignored him completely.
Then the second graduate appeared, a mage player with the ability to control the weather itself.
He livestreamed himself and told the world that the entire planet would experience a snowstorm, and the entire world experienced what he said.
This alone made a revelation to everyone and they rushed forward to play the game and obtained power.
But not everyone can get one.
The restrictions of the game were too much for everyone to be awakened, the first requirement alone destroyed the hope of the people in becoming awakened.
The game only allows you to have one gameplay and nothing else... So if you failed the enrollment, you'll fail to awaken.
The requirements to receive the power you obtained in the game were; become a student of the academy, reach level 700 in the game, have more than 100 skills, and be in the top 5 students in the end.
These requirements were too hard for everyone to attain leaving only 10,000 awakened in the current era.
***
Well, that's just part of the game's history. About five years ago, there was another graduate who, unlike others who became either swordsmen or mages, he became a Demon Lord.
No one understood how he did it or managed to graduate as a Demon Lord, especially since the game's main antagonist is the Demon Lord himself.
After gaining his power, he declared war, attempting to take over the world and enslaving all seventeen billion people to make himself the world's sole leader.
"Remembering this is annoying."
I still recall the moments before the world fell apart. I was in class, listening to my teacher's lesson, when suddenly we found ourselves hovering mid-air, thousands of feet above the ground.
Then, with a single breath, everyone started to fall, crashing to their deaths and splattering like bugs run over by a truck.
Somehow, I survived that fall. At the time, I thought I needed to help the other survivors, but I was the only person who made it out alive.
As I was about to cry, the corpses of everyone else began to merge, forming a gigantic zombie that devoured anything that breathed or moved.
For an entire week, I ran from it, trying to survive the chaos.
I fought against the zombie versions of the people I once knew and considered friends, focusing on my survival.
I stole what I could to help myself and destroyed anything that might aid me in fighting against that zombie world.
I smashed their head and ran when given time, then went to another area, slept, woke up, ate, killed, and repeated.
This was my situation back then.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
In the end, I managed to kill all the zombies even that giant zombie, in my town and survived alone for a month.
While I was doing my best to survive, the Awakened united and defeated the Demon Lord, reclaiming peace in the world.
Somehow, during that one month I was alone, the geography of the entire world changed—the seven continents became three, and over ten billion people died.
Eventually, I met one of the Awakened and followed her to help save the other surviving people living in the zombie apocalypse.
It took humanity two months to regain its footing after the Demon Lord appeared and wreaked havoc on the world.
Thanks to my contributions during that time, I am living well today.
I'm currently living in an apartment complex on one of the new continents that replaced the original ones.
Sometimes I miss the days when I lived in the Philippines, but now I find myself alone as the sole survivor of my town.
Although there are still people from my nationality on other continents, the chances of meeting them and spending time together seem nearly impossible.
This era is ruled by the Awakened, who fought against the Demon Lord and its army to restore peace.
Thanks to their efforts, I'm now sitting in my chair, browsing the internet to find some way to entertain myself and escape the boredom.
It's still strange to look up at the sky and see three moons.
The Awakened explained that this is a measure to prevent another Demon Lord from using their powers.
However, it's quite odd seeing the glowing lights in shades of green, pink, and blue.
***
At the end of my browsing, I just played an indie game that I found a month ago and let loose.
I could have played the game, but having to avoid it all this year seems to be a bad idea now.
Besides I don't want to be an Awaken People too; not just that the gameplay will take at least three years at best to complete the five-year-long student years to complete the game.
Stretching my arms out, I felt my bones cracking. Looking at the clock, it was midnight. Did I spend the entire sitting in my chair?
Since it was already late, I decided to order some food for breakfast tomorrow.
The delivery service in this world now has a limit where you can only receive them till eight at night and start at five in the morning.
But you can still order the food you want, past eight, and it will be delivered to you in the morning.
Thanks to this I don't have to worry about starving in this apartment of mine.
Kinda feel bad for the delivery guy, since my room is on the sixth floor and there's no elevator to use; but I made sure to give them a good review and tip for the trouble.
I washed my face and cleaned up for the night and slept the night away.
...
"Ding.. ..ding... ding"
"What is that?" So annoying...-that's my delivery!
I was pissed at myself, standing up, I storm in my bathroom and washing my face before opening the door.
"Sir! Are you there?" The delivery guy asked.
"Yes! I'm here! Give me a few seconds" I answered back, quickly finishing my needs.
Opening the door I tapped my pocket looking for my watch. The tools that are used in today's era act like a level, a bank, and an identification ID.
Thanks to this, everyone can have an easy life.
Do you need to show your identity? Just raised your hand and they know it.
Bank account? The watch would already register all the money you make and keep it safe for you.
Opening the door, I smiled at him and thanked him for his service, taking my food and paying him for the trouble...
I waved my hand to him as he went down the stairs before turning back to my door.
Out of nowhere, I decided to look at the sky today, seeing the endless blue sky, I wondered what would happen to me now?
In the present, the world already has dungeons and monsters, thanks to the existence of the Demon Lord years ago.
But I can't enter it and earn money from it. I need to be awakened first to get inside of one.
I sighed and looked at my watch to see how much I had left.
{Identification}
[Name: Mark H. Tambalo]
[Level: 6]
[Age: 20]
[Single]
[Money: 1,235,082]
One million only, in the past five years I have been using the money I earned from the zombies I killed when the world was destroyed.
Back then, I had over four million; now I'm at a million only. I sighed again, turning back at the door... Turning the handle of the door I pushed it, entering my ro—
"Welcome, everyone, to the Academy enrollment!
For the next six days, thousands of young adults will undergo trials created by the academy's teachers and students.
By meeting the requirements, these new adults will have the opportunity to advance to the next stage.
They will fight, explore, and uncover the secrets that the academy has hidden within this world, all while determining whether they can become students of the academy."
"With that being said, let the first trial begin!"
—What!?