The sky was gone.
Replaced by a dark, endless haze—gloomy and torn, with bright spots scattered across it like stars, but not stars.
[ Fight to Earn the Right to Survive ]
The words hung above us, seared into the air itself.
Beatrice looked at me, then out the window.
In the distance, shadows moved—amorphous, trembling silhouettes that clawed at the edges of existence. Dregs of beings trying to cross through the rift between worlds. The earth could not sustain their full forms, so they lingered here as half-beings—distorted, whispering, powerful but incomplete.
Within minutes, the city fell. The streets screamed with chaos as houses were torn apart and people were dragged into the dark. Only those who had already awakened—those talented enough to wield mana—stood even the slightest chance.
"Beatrice, let's get out of here!" I grabbed her hand, my voice trembling with urgency.
Her eyes darted from me to the window again.
"Go where?!" she cried. "Can't you see what's out there? We're safer here than—"
"We're not!" I snapped. "Now move!"
I pulled her through the door. She followed silently, her face pale, her fear almost tangible.
The world outside was chaos given form. Creatures of shadow slithered through the air, whispering in a thousand dying voices. We ducked behind a collapsed wall, gasping for air, the cold stench of mana thick around us.
From our corner, we watched the shadows crawl.
I looked up at the heavens above and thought to myself, We just need to make it out of here. Stay alive long enough for this madness to end.
[System Error Has Occurred]
[Rectifying Error]
I stared at the message, confused. What error had occurred?
I hadn't seen such a message—at least, not at this point in time.
Maybe things were different from my previous lives.
"Beatrice, can you see that message?" I asked her, hoping she could offer some clue.
"What message?" she asked back, eyes narrowing.
She couldn't see it.
So it was just me.
But why?
Whatever the reason, I didn't have time to think about it now. We needed to move—fast.
The monsters were drawn to mana, to the energy that flowed through all living beings. If they gathered enough of it, they would fully cross into this world.
We just had to make it to the forest outside the city. There, maybe, we could hide for a few days. Wait until the first wave of the apocalypse passed.
[Administrator is watching you.]
[Warning.]
"What…?" My heart froze.
Why was he watching me?
The King of Dwarfs—Goldemar.
Then, the realization hit.
[Error Correction has begun.]
[You are the error.]