The first thing Kai noticed was that his phone would not stop vibrating.
It was still dark outside. The thin blue light of early morning slipped through the gap in his curtains, barely touching the messy room he lived in. Clothes were thrown over a chair, empty energy drink cans sat on the floor, and his laptop was still open on the desk, paused on a video he had been watching late into the night.
His phone buzzed again.
And again.
And again.
Kai groaned and rolled over in bed, dragging his pillow over his head.
"Yeah, yeah… I'm up," he muttered.
He reached for his phone with sleepy fingers, expecting to see some stupid group chat spam or a notification from an app. But the moment he unlocked the screen, his breath froze in his chest.
A strange blue window was floating above his phone.
No, not on the screen.
Above it.
It hovered in the air like a hologram, glowing softly in the dim room.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]WELCOME, PLAYER KAI RYDER
Kai blinked.
Then he rubbed his eyes.
Then he blinked again.
The glowing window was still there.
"What… the hell?" he whispered.
Another message appeared.
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED]CLASS: UNASSIGNEDLEVEL: 1SKILLS: NONE
Kai slowly sat up in bed, his heart starting to pound.
This had to be a prank. A dream. Maybe some weird phone app update.
But when he waved his hand through the glowing text, it reacted, rippling slightly like it was made of light.
His phone fell out of his hand and hit the bed, forgotten.
"Okay… okay…" he said, breathing fast. "This isn't funny."
Suddenly, his window exploded with noise.
Not literally — but the street outside erupted.
People were shouting.
Cars were honking.
Someone screamed.
Kai rushed to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
Outside, the quiet city street had turned into chaos.
People were standing in the middle of the road, staring at glowing screens in front of their faces. Some were laughing. Some were crying. Some looked terrified. Others looked like they had just won the lottery.
A man fell to his knees, shouting, "I got a legendary skill! I got a legendary skill!"
A woman backed away from thin air, shaking her head. "No… no… this isn't real… this isn't real…"
Kai stepped back from the window, his mind spinning.
His phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a notification from social media.
His feed refreshed on its own.
Every post was the same thing.
Screenshots of glowing blue windows. Videos of people showing strange powers. Messages screaming in all caps.
"BRO I CAN SEE MY STATS""I JUST SHOT FIRE FROM MY HAND""THIS IS LIKE A GAME WTF""THE SYSTEM IS REAL"
Kai swallowed.
"This… this is happening to everyone?"
A loud thud came from the apartment above him, followed by shouting.
Through the thin walls, he heard his neighbor yelling, "I'm level five already! I killed three of those things!"
"Those things?" Kai whispered.
Before he could think more, another message appeared in front of him.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT]WELCOME TO THE NEW ERAEARTH HAS ENTERED SURVIVAL MODE
The room seemed to grow colder.
[MONSTERS WILL BEGIN SPAWNING IN ALL MAJOR CITIES][COMPLETE QUESTS TO GROW STRONGER][ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE]
Kai's hands started to shake.
"Monsters?" he said. "You've got to be kidding me…"
A scream outside cut through the air.
Not a normal scream.
It was wet. Sharp. Full of pain.
Kai rushed back to the window.
Down the street, something huge and black crawled out of thin air, as if reality itself had been torn open. It had too many legs, a twisted body, and glowing red eyes.
A monster.
People ran.
Some tried to fight.
A man raised his hand and a bolt of lightning shot out, striking the creature. It screamed and stumbled back.
Someone else pulled out a glowing sword that had not existed seconds ago.
The world had gone insane.
Kai backed away from the window, his heart pounding so hard it hurt.
"I… I have a system too, right?" he said to himself. "It said player… right?"
He turned to the floating window.
CLASS: UNASSIGNEDLEVEL: 1SKILLS: NONE
"That's it?" he snapped. "Everyone else is getting powers and weapons and I get… nothing?"
As if responding, another window appeared.
But this one was different.
It wasn't blue.
It was black.
[ERROR]PLAYER KAI RYDER DOES NOT MEET SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Kai stared.
"What?"
[REASSIGNING ROLE…]
The blue system window vanished.
The black one remained.
[NEW DESIGNATION: OBSERVER]
The air in the room felt heavy.
[YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A SYSTEM][YOU WILL NOT GAIN LEVELS][YOU WILL NOT USE SKILLS]
Kai's chest tightened.
"So I'm… what? Useless?" he whispered.
Another line appeared.
[YOU WILL SEE WHAT OTHERS CANNOT]
Suddenly, the world changed.
Kai looked toward his door — and saw a glowing outline of his neighbor through the wall.
Text floated above the man's head.
NAME: JEREMY HALELEVEL: 5CLASS: STORM BRAWLERKILL COUNT: 3FATE: DIES IN 2 DAYS
Kai stumbled back.
"What the hell…"
He looked toward the street.
Every person now had text above their head.
Names. Levels. Classes.
And something else.
Fate.
Some said: Lives a long life.Some said: Dies today.Some said: Will betray 43 people.
Kai's mouth went dry.
"I… I can see their futures?"
Another message appeared.
[YOU WILL WITNESS THE END OF THIS WORLD][YOU MAY NOT INTERFERE]
Kai clenched his fists.
"Not interfere?" he said. "Like hell."
Outside, monsters roared. People screamed. The new world had already begun.
And Kai — the only man without a system — was the only one who could see how it all would end.