Nero sat there.
Blank.
Motionless.
Except for the slow blinking. Like his brain had blue-screened and forgot how to reboot.
"…Wait. Did that actually… work?"
He didn't dare move at first.
The room was quiet. Too quiet. Even the buzzing from his PC fans had disappeared, like it got scared and dipped.
"...Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool."
He pinched his cheek. Hard.
"NGHH—FffffUCK!"
Yup. That stung. Very real.
He slapped his face next. Both cheeks.
*SMACK–SMACK!*
Then he blinked.
Again.
Once… Twice…
It's still there.
Still in front of him, hovering in mid-air like some glitchy AR overlay…
A generic system window.
Something you would often see in most anime and manga.
No, it's not on his phone. Not on his PC. Not on any screen.
Just... floating. Right there. Dead center in his vision.
A neon blue box with a subtle pulse, like it was breathing.
"… Oh my god."
He leaned forward.
Narrowed his eyes.
Read every glowing letter.
---
Name: Nero Walker (Jobless Degenerate)
Race: Human
Level: 1
Stats:
STR: 1.1/10
DEX: 0.9/10
INT: 1.2/10
VIT: 1.2/10
LUCK: 1/10
CHA: 0.8/10 (oof.)
Active Skills:
– [Empty]
Passive Skills:
– [Empty]
Unique Abilities:
– [Empty]
---
Nero's jaw just... hung there.
He waved his hand in front of it.
He even tried rubbing his eyes just to see if his sleep deprivation was causing him to hallucinate.
But the system window didn't go away.
Needless to say, he knew it was showing his status.
Though… He also swore that the system added an unnecessary remark next to his charisma stat.
He knew he wasn't handsome, but he knew his looks weren't that bad… right?
"...What the actual—"
But he didn't finish what he was about to say… or rather, wasn't.
The monotonous voice came back.
[Dimensional Merging will commence in 3…]
"…Wait, what?"
[2…]
"WHOA WHOA WHOA! NO, WAIT! WHAT'S MERGING—?!"
[1.]
*BOOOOOOOOM!!!*
The entire apartment shook.
His apartment walls cracked from the massive pressure.
Glass shattered in the kitchen.
His precious waifu body pillow flew off the bed like it tried to escape the mortal plane.
His limited-edition anime posters?
Ripped into pieces.
His collection of anime figurines that he spent thousands of dollars on?
It fell into oblivion.
It was a slow motion Nero would rather not see in his whole lifetime.
"HOLY SHI—"
He scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over a half-eaten bag of cheese rings.
He swore felt like a part of him broke when he saw one of the smiles plastered from one of his figurines smile sadly at him… as if saying goodbye.
But just as Nero was about to tear in misfortune.
"What the…"
His gaze suddenly fixated on the scene outside his window.
Something was odd…
He then ran to check what the hell was going on.
Outside... No, beyond his window…
The sky was cracking.
Like glass.
Like ACTUAL glass.
Thin lines spread out across the heavens, glowing like neon spiderwebs across a digital dome.
And then—
*CRRRRRAAAAAK!!!*
The cracks split wide open.
Purple light spilled out. No, not light—flames.
Ethereal, reality-tearing flames that made his eyes water.
He slammed the window open, chest heaving.
From that second-floor view, he watched the world unravel.
It was a scene Nero would never forget in his life.
High above, things started falling through.
Massive silhouettes. Inhuman. Roaring.
Some with wings. Some with too many legs. Some with eyes… just eyes, floating in the air.
A dragon tore through the clouds, roaring.
An ogre the size of a three-story house stomped into the main avenue, smashing a row of parked cars like they were soda cans.
Countless huge bats wavered through the sky as if it's their free real estate.
He heard the chaos building from every direction.
Screams. Sirens. More explosions.
The night sky was oddly tinged with red.
As if the world had blushed into a tsundere and no one was there to answer her confession.
… And now, she's showing her wrath upon the world.
The whole skyline was going full isekai and no one got a tutorial.
Shit went from 0 to 100% real fast.
It felt like Nero skipped a page or two from the plot.
'How did a normal day turn into… THIS?'
Nero's knees wobbled.
He couldn't speak.
His body moved backward, slowly, until his legs hit the edge of his gaming chair.
And still… he couldn't look away.
His heart was racing. His breath caught. Every rational neuron in his brain screamed for him to hide.
But then more than that...
Something snapped within him.
"He… hehe.. hehehehehe."
He grinned.
Wide. Unhinged.
"OH HELL YEAH!!"
He slapped his own chest.
"THIS IS IT! THIS IS MY MOMENT!"
He bolted back to the window like a lunatic who just got hired to star in his own anime.
"Come on, status screen! Gimme a damn sword or a waifu or SOMETHING!"
He started flipping over his stuff—yanking open drawers, looking under his bed, like an overcaffeinated raccoon searching for plot armor.
But then—
*BOOM!!*
Something massive slammed into the rooftop above him.
Dust and chunks of concrete rained down.
"Ah fuck—"
*KRSHHHHHH!!*
The ceiling exploded.
Wood. Metal. Brick.
Gone.
Blasted inward like a grenade.
Nero dove behind his home desk, arms over his head.
*THUD! THOOM! SHHKRRR-K-K-KK!*
Something landed in the room.
Something big.
The dust cloud swallowed everything.
He coughed, waving away the smoke—eyes watering, heart still going full drum solo.
And then—
He saw it.
Lumbering out of the hole in his ceiling was a creature that looked like a rejected boss fight from five different games.
Six legs. Crooked, armored.
A hide covered in bony plates that shimmered like oil.
No eyes. Just a single glowing mouth that split open sideways with vertical fangs.
Its body twitched in quick jerks like it lagged in real life.
And it made a noise—
*K-KRRRRRRR-GKKKKKHHHHH!*
Metal and bones grinding together.
Nero didn't breathe.
He stared. Wide-eyed.
Then, quietly…
"…Yo. That thing just no-clipped into my apartment."
The monster took a step forward. The floor cracked.
Another step. The bookshelf collapsed.
It turned its head—or what he assumed was its head, toward Nero's trembling form.
And what did Nero do?
Cry? Panic? Run?
No.
He wasn't a pussy.
Instead, he grinned. Again.
Manic. Wide.
A glint in his eye that could only mean one thing:
Delusion.
"…I knew this day would come."
He stood up. Slowly.
Shoulders squared. Legs shaking.
"Alright, you eldritch reject—" He cracked his neck,
"—you picked the wrong guy's anime phase to interrupt."
The monster snarled, low and guttural.
Nero cracked his knuckles.
No sword. No shield. No superpowers… yet.
Just him. In pajama pants. And a system window floating beside him like a smug imaginary friend.
Still…
He took a step forward.
"I'm ready."
The creature hissed. Its mouth opened wider than physics should allow.
Nero didn't flinch.
He raised his index finger.
Then pointed straight at the abomination.
"You're my tutorial boss, bitch."
The monster lunged.
Then his first fight began.