Avery cracked one eye open, then immediately regretted it. His head throbbed with the particular ache that came from staring at a screen until four in the morning. The rhythmic pounding against his window only worsened the sensation.
Rain. Not the gentle patter of a spring shower, but a furious assault that rattled the glass. Avery pulled himself upright, dragging a hand through his messy black hair. His dorm room was a disaster zone of empty ramen cups and energy drink cans—evidence of his all-night anime binge.
"Worth it," he mumbled, though his body disagreed.
The storm outside seemed to intensify as he shuffled to the window. Water streamed down in sheets, distorting the view of Georgetown's usually picturesque campus.
For the past year, the world's weather had become absurd from one day to the next. Deserts were suddenly flooded with all kinds of storms and the earth's poles began to defrost due to high temperatures. However, this was not all. Even when icy places like Antarctica began to thaw overnight, the next day temperatures plummeted again, freezing everything over.
Scientists simply had no way of explaining the phenomenon. However, as a consequence, the major nations of the world practically forced the rest of the smaller countries to be careful with pollution, attributing everything that happened to malfunctions in the planet's protective layer.
Avery leaned his forehead against the cool glass. The climate chaos had become background noise in his already complicated life. Between his full course load at Georgetown and his two part-time jobs—barista mornings and campus library evenings—he barely had time to think about global catastrophe.
His phone buzzed with a text from his mother: "Did you get the money we sent for your books?"
Avery sighed. His parents tried so hard, his dad working overtime at his tech company job, his mom taking on extra tutoring beyond her English teaching position. All to keep him at Georgetown and save for his sister's tuition next year.
"Just one day," he whispered to himself, ignoring the strange way the raindrops seemed to pause mid-fall outside his window. "One day to myself."
The rain suddenly stopped. Not gradually, but as if someone had flipped a cosmic switch. Every droplet hung suspended in the air, caught between heaven and earth in perfect stillness.
"What the—" Avery backed away from the window.
The world outside shifted. The sky—normally gray with storm clouds—blazed crimson. Not just patches, but the entire heavens transformed into a sea of blood-red that bathed everything in its unnatural glow.
Pain ripped through Avery's body. His muscles contracted all at once, as if crushed in an invisible vise. He collapsed to his knees, a scream locked in his throat as pressure built inside his skull. His bones felt like they were dissolving and reforming simultaneously.
The air thickened around him, becoming almost solid. Each breath required tremendous effort, his lungs straining. Avery's chest tightened as if bound by iron bands. Time stretched like taffy—that single second of crimson sky expanding into what felt like minutes of agony.
Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the red vanished. The normal world snapped back into place. The rain resumed its downpour, striking the window with renewed fury.
Avery stumbled forward, catching himself against his desk. Something felt profoundly wrong. His body seemed lighter in places, heavier in others. His center of gravity had shifted.
"Congratulations. The system has activated in your world."
The voice was cold and mechanical, echoing inside his head rather than through his ears. Avery spun around, searching for its source.
"Who's there?"
No answer came, but a translucent blue screen materialized in the air before him. It hovered at eye level, displaying information in neat, organized rows:
[Avery
Level: 0
Race: demon
Job: None
Title: None
Strength: 12 (10)
Agility: 11 (10)
Health: 10 (10)
Stamina: 10 (10)
Mana: 109 (0)]
"What the hell?" Avery reached out to touch the screen, but his fingers passed through it.
Something caught his eye—his hand looked different. Smaller, with longer fingers and... were those painted nails?
Avery rushed to the bathroom mirror and froze in shock. A stranger stared back. No, not entirely a stranger. The face held echoes of his own features, but transformed. Long, silky black hair cascaded past his—no, her—shoulders. Crimson eyes glowed faintly in the dim bathroom light.
Most shocking were the small horns curving back from her temples and the slim tail that now swished anxiously behind her.
"What the hell is going on?!" Avery screamed, the voice that emerged higher and melodic despite the panic it carried.
Avery staggered back from the mirror, tail whipping anxiously behind her. Before he now she could process her transformation further, screams erupted from outside. Horrible, desperate screams.
She rushed to the window, crimson eyes widening at the chaos below. Georgetown's pristine campus had transformed into a nightmare.
Students and faculty fled in all directions, pursued by creatures straight from horror films. Giant insects—wasps the size of small dogs and spiders big as beach balls—skittered between buildings. Even more disturbing were the shambling figures that moved with jerky, uncoordinated steps. Their skin hung gray and loose, eyes vacant.
"Zombies? Actual zombies?" Avery whispered, her new voice still jarring to her ears.
Below her window, a particularly gruesome scene unfolded. A man in a torn security uniform stumbled backward, movements unnatural. A massive wasp—easily four feet long—circled him with predatory precision. The zombie's head jerked upward just as the wasp dove, its stinger piercing directly through the skull with a sickening crunch.
Avery pressed a hand to her mouth, fighting nausea as the wasp seemed to suck something glowing from the zombie's head. The creature withdrew its stinger, leaving the body to collapse in a heap. Then, as if sensing her presence, the wasp slowly turned and locked eyes with Avery.
"Oh shit—"
The wasp shot upward with frightening speed. Glass shattered as it crashed through her window, sending shards flying across the room. Its wings beat furiously, filling the small dorm with a deafening buzz.
Avery lunged for the baseball bat beside her bed—a gift from her father who'd worried about campus safety. Her fingers closed around it just as the wasp lunged, stinger aimed at her face.
"Get away!" She swung wildly, catching the creature's thorax.
The wasp screeched, a sound no insect should make. It recovered quickly, darting at her again. Avery rolled across her bed, narrowly avoiding the stinger that embedded in her pillow.
Her heart pounded as she scrambled to her feet. The wasp pulled free and circled for another attack. This time, Avery planted her feet and swung with everything she had. The bat connected with a satisfying crack, sending the wasp crashing into her desk.
Before it could recover, she brought the bat down again and again, until the creature stopped moving.
As the wasp died, small orbs of white light emerged from its broken body. They floated toward Avery, absorbing into her skin. Warmth spread through her limbs as a blue window appeared:
[You have slain a Level 5 Soul Beast. +4 Soul essence. Agility +2, strength +2]
[You have reached level 1. You acquire two status points to distribute freely]
Two messages flashed before Avery's eyes. He was surprised to discover how that strange energy seemed to nourish his muscles and bones, making his body more powerful quickly.
A small scroll dropped from the wasp's corpse. When Avery cautiously picked it up, another window materialized:
[Gravity Magic Scroll: Learn Spell?]