March 15, 2025. 11:55 a.m.
Alex Chen stood in the center of People’s Square, surrounded by a constant flow of pedestrians.
The square was lively on the weekend. Some people were feeding pigeons. Others were taking pictures. Children ran back and forth. Elderly people basked in the sun on the benches. Couples walked hand in hand past the fountain. A long line had formed outside the café at the edge of the square, where office workers on lunch break were buying something to keep themselves awake.
Alex looked at them and counted down in silence.
Five minutes.
He found a bench and sat down with his back to the fountain, facing the open square. This position gave him a wide field of view and room to move.
He took out his phone and glanced at it.
Nothing unusual.
The news app was still pushing celebrity gossip. Social media was still full of people posting weekend lunches.
Everything looked exactly like any normal weekend.
Four minutes.
Alex slipped the phone back into his pocket and took a deep breath.
He could feel his heart beating, just a little faster than usual.
It wasn’t nervousness.
It was... anticipation?
Or fear?
He couldn’t tell.
At this exact moment in his previous life, he had been asleep in his apartment. The Global Announcement had jolted him awake. He had rushed out in panic and nearly died on the first day when a Monster suddenly appeared in the hallway.
If not for the neighbor downstairs pulling him aside, he would have died right there.
That neighbor had died in the Monster Wave on the second day.
Alex closed his eyes, then opened them again.
Three minutes.
The crowd was still the same.
A child dropped their ice cream on the ground and burst into tears. The young mother scrambled to comfort them. An elderly couple slowly passed by arm in arm, the old woman nagging the old man for forgetting to bring his medicine again.
Two minutes.
Alex stood up.
He walked to the center of the square, next to the fountain. This was the best vantage point, where he could see the flow of the entire square. And the fountain could also serve as cover. If the first wave of Monsters spawned here, he could react immediately.
One minute.
Alex raised his head and looked at the sky.
Blue.
Cloudless.
An airplane cut across it, leaving behind a thin trail.
Thirty seconds.
People around him started noticing that something was off. A young mother pushing a stroller glanced at him and hurried away warily. Two middle school students whispered to each other, probably talking about the weird guy standing motionless in the middle of the square.
Fifteen seconds.
His palms began to sweat.
Ten seconds.
He clenched his fists.
Five seconds.
Three seconds.
One second.
Ding—
Not a sound.
A voice, directly inside his mind. Like someone had struck a bell inside his skull.
Alex’s whole body jolted.
The next second—
“Global Announcement”
“Civilization threshold reached”
“Evolution Trial activated”
“Welcome to—The New World”
The sky split open.
Not a metaphor.
It literally split open.
A massive crack appeared across the heavens, stretching from east to west, spanning the entire sky. Strange light flickered along the edges of the rift, as though something were burning on the other side.
Then came a second one.
A third.
A fourth.
The cracks spread like a spiderweb, slicing the sky into countless fragments.
Everyone in the square froze.
Some screamed.
Some stood rooted to the spot.
Some fell to their knees and cried out to God.
Some pulled out their phones to take pictures—even now, there were still people thinking about posting it online.
Alex didn’t look up at the sky.
He lowered his head and looked at his own hand.
A translucent screen was forming on the back of it.
“System binding in progress...”
“Detecting host vital signs...”
“Binding complete”
“Welcome, player”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The screen expanded into a full interface.
In the upper-left corner was his name: Alex Chen.
Beside it was a number: Level 0.
Below that were three starting Attributes: Strength, Agility, and Spirit, all at 5.
Below those was an empty EXP bar.
Alex stared at the interface, his eyes stinging.
In his previous life, he had looked at this interface for ten years.
From Level 0 to Level 90.
From rookie to commander.
He had thought he would never see it again.
But it had appeared once more.
Once again, he had become a player.
“Global Announcement”
“Evolution Trial — Phase One: Awakening”
“Rule Explanation”
“1. Killing Monsters grants Experience Points (EXP) and increases Level”
“2. Every 5 Levels gained grants 1 Skill Point for learning skills”
“3. First Clear of a Dungeon guarantees a skill book”
“4. Newbie protection period: 7 days. During this time, players cannot harm one another”
“5. After newbie protection ends, PVP will activate”
“6. A Forced Evolution Event will be issued every 30 days. Those who fail to meet the standard will be marked”
“7. Death is true death. No revival”
“We wish you—survival”
The instant the announcement ended, the square collapsed into total chaos.
Some people were still standing there blankly. Some started crying. Some shouted that this had to be a prank. Some ran for the edge of the square, trying to get away from this nightmare.
Then the first scream rang out.
Alex whipped his head around.
On the east side of the square, a man had fallen to the ground.
Something was on top of him.
Something like a dog, but larger by a size, with black scales all over its body and three layers of interlocking bloodstained fangs in its mouth.
Corrosion Rat · Normal · Level 1
The Monster lifted its head from the man’s body. Blood dripped from its mouth as its yellow eyes swept across the square.
It saw the crowd.
Then it pounced.
Screams erupted everywhere.
Alex didn’t move.
He knew this Monster was just an appetizer. Level 1. Normal. Aside from its terrifying appearance, it was only a little stronger than a wild dog. If handled calmly, even ordinary people could kill one.
But these people weren’t calm.
They screamed. Ran. Shoved. Trampled each other. Someone fell in the panic and was immediately stepped on by the crowd behind them. People ran for the edges of the square only to realize Monsters were spawning in every direction.
Chaos.
Total chaos.
Alex took a deep breath and opened the System Interface.
At the very top was a flashing icon:
Class Selection
He opened it.
“Please select your initial class”
“Option 1: Warrior” — melee class, high health, high defense, suited for frontal combat
“Option 2: Archer” — ranged class, high attack, low defense, suited for damage dealing
“Option 3: Mage” — ranged class, high burst, low health, suited for area damage
Three options.
Exactly the same as his previous life.
But Alex knew all three were traps.
Warriors couldn’t tank in the late game.
Archers lacked burst later on.
Mages were as fragile as paper.
Of the people who chose these three, fewer than one percent survived the first year.
He needed a Hidden Class.
Alex closed his eyes and dug through the information he had heard in his previous life.
Hidden Classes required trigger phrases.
Different phrases corresponded to different Classes.
He remembered there was a time-type Hidden Class, incredibly rare. Only three humans had ever obtained it. One of them had survived to the very end and become one of humanity’s strongest commanders.
What was the trigger phrase again?
Time...
Space-time...
Fate...
He remembered.
Alex opened his eyes. Without tapping any of the three default options, he looked at the System Interface and clearly spoke three words:
“Chrono Observer.”
The System fell silent for half a second.
Then—
“Trigger phrase detected...”
“Hidden Class unlocking...”
“Class: Chrono Observer”
“Rarity: Unique”
“Initial Skill: Temporal Perception (Passive)”
“Effect: Detect abnormal temporal flow within a 3-meter radius and gain limited prediction of enemy movement.”
“Confirm selection?”
Alex’s finger hovered over the confirm button.
A unique Class.
A Class that only three people had obtained in the previous life.
And now, in this life, he had it.
He pressed confirm.
“Class binding successful”
“Welcome, Chrono Observer”
A warm current rose from inside his body.
Very faint, but undeniable.
It was the sensation of the System altering his body—the process of an ordinary human becoming a player.
Alex clenched and unclenched his fist.
His raw strength hadn’t changed, but his perception had.
He could feel the flow of time around him—vague, like ripples on water. But if he focused, he could faintly sense...
A System Notification suddenly popped up.
It wasn’t the usual gold color.
It was garbled.
“Time anomaly detected...”
“Regressor identification in progress...”
“Count...”
“ERROR—”
“Data correction in progress—”
0.3 seconds.
That was all.
Then the scrambled text vanished, and the interface returned to normal.
Alex froze.
The System... knew he was a Regressor?
He stared at the panel, heart pounding.
He had never heard of anything like this in his previous life.
Could the System identify a Regressor?
And what did that “count” mean?
Count what?
Count how many?
He remembered the starfield image from the rooftop the previous night.
Countless points of light.
Earth was just one of them.
That wasn’t a hallucination.
That was...
“Ahhh—!”
A scream cut through his thoughts.
Alex jerked his head up.
The square had fully turned into hell on earth. More than a dozen Corrosion Rats were weaving through the crowd. Every time one knocked someone down, another Monster appeared—
They were devouring corpses and evolving.
Two of the Corrosion Rats had already grown larger. Bone spurs were beginning to protrude from their bodies.
Corrosion Rat · Elite · Level 3
Alex’s pupils contracted.
Elite rank.
Already.
He had to get out of here.
He turned and ran for the edge of the square—not to flee blindly, but with a destination in mind. He knew People’s Square had three exits, and one of them led to the subway station, which was relatively safe. The metal barriers there could block the Monsters, at least for now.
As he passed the fountain, he saw a little girl.
Five or six years old.
She stood frozen beside the water, motionless.
Her mother had collapsed a few meters away, a Corrosion Rat crouched on top of her body.
The little girl was crying.
Not wailing.
It was the kind of silent crying that came after terror had gone beyond the point of sound—mouth open, tears flowing, but no voice coming out.
One Corrosion Rat had already noticed her. It lowered its body, preparing to pounce.
Alex’s steps halted.
One tenth of a second of hesitation.
In his previous life, he had learned not to meddle.
Saving people = exposing yourself = dying faster.
That was the first lesson of the apocalypse.
But that little girl...
She looked a little like Iris.
Alex cursed and sprinted toward her.
The Corrosion Rat pounced.
Alex had no weapon in hand.
He had a combat knife tucked at his waist, but there wasn’t enough time to draw it now.
But he had Temporal Perception.
In that instant, he focused, and the temporal flow around him became clear. He could sense the Corrosion Rat’s trajectory—
It would hit the girl’s left shoulder first, then twist its head and bite her neck.
Alex sidestepped the attack, scooped the little girl up in one arm, and kept running forward.
Behind him came the sound of the Corrosion Rat landing.
Then a roar.
Alex didn’t look back.
He charged into the subway entrance, the girl pinned against his side, and took the stairs three at a time downward.
Behind him came the scraping of claws against the ground.
The Monster was coming after him.
Alex rushed through the ticket gates—no one was manning them anymore—and onto the platform. He spotted a duty room with its door half open.
He darted inside, slammed the door shut behind him, and locked it.
A crash sounded outside.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then silence.
Alex leaned against the door, breathing hard.
He set the little girl down on the floor.
She was still crying soundlessly.
Alex crouched down and looked into her eyes. “Don’t make a sound, okay?”
The little girl stared at him blankly, no reaction at all.
Alex took a deep breath and opened the System Interface.
He had leveled up.
That Corrosion Rat just now? Or the rescue? The System had judged him as a participant in the kill.
Player: Alex Chen
Level: 1 (0/100)
Class: Chrono Observer
Skill: Temporal Perception (Passive)
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 5, Spirit 8 (Class bonus +3)
Spirit 8.
Three more points of Spirit than an ordinary Class.
That was the advantage of a time-type Class.
Alex closed the interface and looked outside through the window of the duty room.
On the platform, more than a dozen people were huddled in corners. Some were crying. Some were trying to make phone calls—the signal was already gone. Others, like him, were hiding in convenience kiosks and stairwells, observing the outside in terror.
At the far end of the platform, two Corrosion Rats were prowling.
Alex’s gaze passed over them and landed on the wall.
There were several etched marks there.
Strange symbols.
They weren’t Chinese. They weren’t English. They didn’t resemble any known written language. They glowed faintly, standing out in the dim station.
Alex stared at them, and the image from last night flashed through his mind again—
The starfield.
Countless points of light.
Earth was only one of them.
The glow of those symbols was the same color as those lights.
A chill ran through Alex.
He had seen these symbols in his previous life.
In many Dungeons.
In Boss rooms.
In the most dangerous places.
But he had never dug deeper into what they were.
Now that he thought about it...
“Waaah—”
At the other end of the platform, both Corrosion Rats lifted their heads at the same time and turned toward the duty room.
Alex slowly tightened his grip on the combat knife.
They had heard it.
