Remnants of titanic stone walls enclosed the burning inferno of the city. Buildings were on fire, most already turned to piles of ash and coals while the demon's army plundered. Kal's breathing was erratic and time moved slower. He could take everything in. The last sanctuary of humanity was overrun, everyone he knew was dead and he was the last one left. It wouldn't be for long, Kal knew as his battle with the greater demon was almost over. The crimson being stood over twelve feet tall with black horns complimenting his black runes carved all over his body. One of his four arms was missing, the only injury Kal was able to sustain before the demon put one of his arms through Kal's body, grasping his heart. Kal felt like he had all the time in the world, he could clearly see every detail, every bat and imp that covered the battlefield, all the corpses that were once his compatriots. He felt a strange sort of melancholic bitter sweetness, he spent his life training, getting stronger, and preparing but in the end it all amounted to nothing. The dungeon raids, the friendships and rivalries, the dreams they had, everything was gone before they knew it.

Kal started to feel like what he could only be described as dying, he could feel his soul leaving his body and it felt like his body was being ripped apart muscle from the bone, but it had a strange sense of safety and comfort that stopped him from feeling true agony. His vision started getting blurry and he heard a faint, angelic voice telling him something in words he couldn't comprehend.

Kal's eyes focused back into reality, he felt cold water pour over himself and his stomach churn. His mind spun and he vomited, ending up in a shower drain. Kal was in his bathroom, in his house from more than twenty years ago. The dots started connecting in Kal's mind, and he realized what was happening. Somehow, someway he ended up back in time to when the first cataclysm hit. The night the Earth changed forever, the worst night in Kal's life. He cringed at the thought, the world was going to hell and the day it did he ended up being heartbroken, drunk, and bleeding in the shower. This day he just got back from a party where he saw his girlfriend go into a room with another man, and left immediately, then following after he accidentally broke his glass shower curtain and was in a pile of broken glass after drinking enough alcohol that it would give an alcoholic irishman alcohol poisoning.

Vomit came out once again, thoughts coursing back to Kal was more than he could handle right now, and he tried slowly leaving the shower. Shards of glass cut deeper into his feet, despite his best tries he couldn't overcome how drunk he was. He reached for the towel on the rack and dropped it to the floor stepping on it in relief. He opened the small drawer under the sink and sifted through his various junk to find his medical kit. Opening it revealed some cheap bandages and gauze, a pack of painkillers, and hydrogen peroxide. Digging more into the drawer he got some nail clippers as well, and once he had that he got to work. Sitting down and inspecting his foot, he could see the nasty gashes that had opened. Luckily being in the shower meant they were clean wounds, but his head was still spinning and he knew pulling out the glass shards was not going to be easy.

Using the nail clippers as tweezers and his hand to open the cuts at times to make it easier, Kal was able to bite his tongue and remove all the visible glass shards before he used the gauze to cover his own feet. Standing back up and looking in the mirror, Kal saw himself, his reflection showing that he didn't look like the grizzled man he once was. He was definitely the young man he was twenty years ago, before everything went to shit. He wanted to use his status panel, but that was only available once a person had killed a monster, so his attempts were in vein. Today was the day the first dungeon portals opened and let out monsters though, so hopefully he could change that soon. Using his extra towel to dry himself then wearing it around himself, Kal thought about his future steps and what he would do today. If he was truly back in time, he must have been given a chance and needed to use his knowledge to survive longer and thrive, and lead humanity to a future where they won.

Before that, Kal decided he needed some pants and started to walk down the hallway. He noticed some smoke coming from his kitchen, then it hit him. He tried making pizza in the oven before he showered, but he stayed in the shower for too long and it ended up setting his house on fire. His house being in flames caused the first of the spawned monsters to be attracted to his house, and that was the first day he experienced the cataclysm and entered the system. a single "Fuck" ran through Kal's mind, his bedroom was across the hall from the kitchen, and he couldn't risk going in his room now to get clothes because his house would be falling apart by the time he got dressed, but he also was not in any shape to go outside to where the monsters were converging. Deciding indecision was worse than no decision, Kal went back to the bathroom to pick up his dirty socks, cleared them off of any glass shards that may have been on them and put them on before running to the front door, putting on his shoes, and exiting his house. Hopefully leaving soon was the right choice, he rationalized his choice to himself, hopefully if he left sooner less monsters would have aggregated near his house.

It was far past dusk outside, the moon high in the sky leaving the world dark. Kal lived in a suburban area and he could see some small shapes in the distance moving his way. They looked to be far away, but it was clear they were coming for the light and smoke drawing attention from the scenery. The first Cataclysm, was the initial dungeons opening and Kal knew they were tutorial levels. Only small fry monsters like large spiders and rats, and at the most a zombie would be in the dungeons for one week. After that it would start progressively getting harder, but Kal's adrenaline made his mind clear and he was confident about taking on some rats, even in his current form.