"Damn it… I can't believe they dumped all the work on me. I swear, once my debts are finally paid off, I'm quitting this fucking job."
The deadline was approaching, and it was certain the work wouldn't be finished in time. The boss, as always, didn't hesitate to pressure the person he could most easily force into overtime—Alexander.
Alexander was a programmer at a mid-sized game company, and what he was currently working on was the faction known as The Endless Hunger in the company's new RPG game. This faction was created by an alien race called the Nuxali, and their sole purpose—just as the name implied—was to eat.
What made this race special was the fact that they were a hive-minded swarm. The swarm was birthed, ruled, and evolved by a Queen.
Evolution…
That was the very thing that made this race powerful, and at the same time, cursed.
Evolution had doomed them to endless hunger, because it had determined that consuming was the shortest and easiest path for them to continue advancing in their evolution.
The reason for this was the Queen's extraordinary biological structure. By consuming fragments of DNA, she could learn from them, allowing her to adapt the traits of related species—or even species that had absolutely no relation at all—into her own race.
Even though Alexander hated this job, he was satisfied with having created this race. In fact, the idea of adding such a race to the game had come from him in the first place. Still, now all he could do was curse his own big mouth.
As amazing as it sounded, of course things couldn't be that simple. Otherwise, there would be no balance in the game, and the Nuxali race would simply consume everything.
Alexander was already busy making the final balance adjustments, and before long, his work was finished. While working, the time had crept up to nearly 2 a.m., and it was finally time to go home. He checked his phone—there were no messages or calls.
That was normal for him. He had no friends, and his relationship with his family was bad. There was no one in his life who truly cared about him. Alexander picked up his phone, slipped it into his pocket, and put on his jacket.
Just as he was about to shut down his computer and leave the office, he sensed something strange, as if there was something wrong with the air itself.
He thought he was just tired from working too long and decided to leave, but suddenly, barely a meter away from him, the world began to collapse inward on itself.
"What the hell is this!?"
The air filled with a loud, rumbling roar, and Alexander screamed with all his strength, "Help! Somebody help!"
But he was alone. There was no one else in the office.
Then the ground beneath him collapsed. Gravity slid sideways. The buzzing of the lights turned into a low, agonized moan. In blind panic, he lunged for the nearest solid thing—his monitor. His fingers clung to it like a lifeline.
And then—
A blinding explosion of light.
A deafening cracking sound.
And everything went dark.
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The first episode will be released this evening; if you'd like to read it, you can follow my book.