That day,
The world was still immersed in a false sense of peace. Children went to school, adults buried their faces in their phones, and social media was still filled with pointless jabs and meaningless hashtags. No one paid attention to the first crack—as thin as a hair—that silently appeared in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean. But a week later, similar cracks began to appear more and more frequently all over the world, regardless of continent or ocean. At first, they were just faint lines in the air, but then they began to widen, glowing a dark purple and emitting strange energy fluctuations that distorted the space around them. A week after that… a whole section of the sky was torn open.
Global newspapers reported it in a frenzy. Television broadcasted live footage of the gigantic cracks, which looked like dark, roaring whirlpools in the sky. Military forces from all nations deployed lockdowns and began investigations in a state of utter panic. The public was divided: some were extremely worried, seeking ways to protect themselves; others panicked, rushing to find shelter; while a significant portion vehemently criticized the event, seeing it as an elaborate hoax, created with multidimensional imaging technology to manipulate public opinion.
They called it the Rift—the spatial tear.
Initially, it was just a dark, ethereal purple with a humming sound like metal scraping in a vacuum, a sound from an unfathomable abyss. Then came an extremely powerful energy explosion, creating a shockwave that spread across the planet. Strangely, this shockwave killed no one and destroyed no buildings—but it wiped out all electronic devices, modern weapons, and military technology. Everything humanity had ever relied on for self-defense—vanished in a single breath.
Right after that terrifying moment of silence, they appeared.
The Unknown poured out of the Rift—lacking any clear form, as if they were patched together from humanity's most primal fears. Some looked human, but were jet-black and distorted; some were like giant, monstrous beasts, growling savagely; and some were impossible to describe with any words, a chaotic mass of nightmares. Humans instinctively called them Monsters—and they could tear through steel with a single, blurry swing, their strength so absurd it was terrifying.
The island nations were the first to fall. Maldives, Tuvalu, Marshall, Fiji—all collapsed within hours after the Rift expanded near the Pacific Ocean.
Communication signals were completely lost. The last recorded images showed gigantic fissures opening in the air, followed by grotesque dark-purple creatures plummeting straight down into the capitals of these island nations. The places that were once tourist paradises were now just dead waters, with no trace of life remaining. No one could save anyone. No one understood what had truly happened—only that the speed of the destruction was faster than any war in human history.
Reconnaissance satellites lost their signals just hours after the Rift opened. Some were destroyed by the chaotic energy flow from the Rift; the rest only had time to transmit one final image: a colossal shockwave spreading throughout the atmosphere, accompanied by thousands of unidentified creatures pouring out from the dark-purple portals suspended in mid-air. A black pillar of light shot up through the atmosphere, then enveloped the entire Earth, like a funeral shroud.
Guns, laser weapons, missile systems—all of humanity's most advanced technology suddenly oxidized, rusted, or spontaneously exploded. It was only later that people discovered the truth: the strange energy from the Rift had broken the atomic bonds of humanity's sophisticated weapons, rendering them useless.
The creatures that poured out of the Rift were initially called "Unknown," but gradually, the survivors—the first players—began to name them: Shadow Wraiths, Eye Fiends, Night Stalkers, Dark Dragons…
An entry-level Unknown could initially be taken down with crude weapons. While their attack power was strong, their defense was far too weak. However, the majority of humanity had lived in a world that was too peaceful; they didn't know how to fight back against a creature that was beyond their comprehension and so bloodthirsty. They mostly chose to run and scream, even though the only outcome was:
• Death!
After just a few hours of frenzied killing, the Unknown could no longer be destroyed by crude weapons… and in that moment of ultimate desperation, some people began to awaken extraordinary abilities as they fought back against the monsters.