In a military base somewhere in Siberia

A large African American man with a hideous scar across his face was walking through the chaotic corridors of the camp. The entire military personnel was in scrambles, each person shouting over each other in confusion and shock. But one by one they all saw a man with a 7-star general rank decorating his uniform. And one by one they all saluted in a fluid motion.

He continued walking without consideration.

Eventually, he reached an eight-inch-thick steel-reinforced concrete vault laced with titanium, two huge stone-faced guards were guarding it with eagle eyes

They immediately let him pass

Inside were rows upon rows of cramped scientists all shouting out their theories and calculations on...the matter.

The general strode to the front row where a man sat, his chest wore a badge spelling-

"Dr. Wadacky Quinn, I presume?" The general asserted.

"That is corr-"

"No time for your petty chit chat, give me all the detail about the matter at hand."

Wadarky's eye twitched in anger, but he held his tongue. The man he was talking to was a man held in such high regard in the military that his position was at the level of George Washington.

"We are dealing with-" Wedarky began.

"Aliens." The general added like he knew it coming for years.

A bulky vein crawled across the doctor's skull.

"Why are you here if you already know all this!" He shouted...in his head.

After a brief silence, the general asked-

"How advanced are they?"

The doctor coughed awkwardly before he answered

"They are are advanced enough to plant 1104 "drones" in some of the major cities in the world in our troposphere without us noticing and each drone spoke the language most spoken based on its position on earth. They mastered almost all of our languages...and they spoke of some sort of game."

"A game?" The general retorted

"If we are lucky it's a friendly game of tic tac toe." The doctor joked

"If we are not...they want us to fight in some sort of gladiator game...to the death."

"They are comparing us to ants." The doctor spoke in a deadly serious tone

..................................................................

The maniacal voice continued to laugh for several minutes straight like a mad man

...Until finally, he spoke"Okay..." he announced while wiping away his tears

"Welcome to your hell."

The titanic blue pillar of light started to tremble and vibrate, dwindling and eventually collapsing in on itself. It disappeared.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!

The temperature skyrocketed to 100,000,000° Celsius and produced a brilliant fireball. Everything within 500 square kilometers that could burn, started burning.

Almost simultaneously, a huge shockwave faster than sound pushes out in all directions. Shattering anything from glass to eardrums, buildings where ground down to their base by the enormous pressure and started falling like dominoes.

Miles away I hear a loud boom,but I am hardly able to process it when a shock wave smashes into me, flinging me like a rag doll straight through the kitchen window.

I collapse violently on the floor with a-

Krunch!

I hear screams outside as my body becomes limb and my eyes heavy and drouse...

Darkness

I feel droplets land on my face

"No mom, I don't wanna go to scho-

Mom... My mom!

My eyes slowly open as memories flood my mind.

I try to get up, only to the response of my whole body aching.

I want lie down...just for a bit longer.

B-but mom is out there...I have to help her!

With a tedious push, I manage to turn my belly towards the sky.

And with one more I manage to sit up.

With a dozen more I manage to get onto my shaky legs.

My jaw went slack and my eyes widened in a comical manner

Everything... was ...it was...

It was raining dark incky droplets and the sky was blood red. The air was filled with a thick oily soot, making every breath a painful experience, like breathing in fire.

Speaking of fire...it was everywhere.

On the rubble...and debris.

And...more rubble and debris.

The ground was covered in rocks and the remains of a civilization. As far as the eye could see it was just full-on destruction.

"Like an Apocolypse." A weak voice managed to escape my dry and blistered lips.

My heart stopped...my mom.

I ran frantically over to where my mom was standing before the... what even happened?

But I had no time for those questions.

I pushed away the rocks where my mom was standing before. My hands now wet from a mixture of blood and tears.

I kept on carrying and pushing the heavy rocks and shards of metal

I looked down in horror as a black bloody charred hand stuck out of the rubble.

I froze.

......................................

I was sitting in silence for what appeared to be an hour.

I didn't need to see the rest of the body... I wasn't delusional.

My view warped and twisted as reality fliped upside down.

But somehow... I didn't feel anything. It frankly disgusted me.

Then something clicked and all my bottled-up tears and emotions flowed out.

My mom...well I can't lie and say that my mom was the best or I wasn't annoyed at her sometimes but she was a good mother and...and...

It was their fault.

They took her away...for what...a game?

The Network.

My eyes narrowed and jaw tightened

I would make them pay...no matter how long it took.

Boiling hatred formed in my heart.

I felt the core of rage in my heart and formed it...molded it into pure motivation.

"One day."

"I will make i-?"

Congratulations! You are one of the few survivors of the [New World]. You have the potential to become powerful. [The Network] has now bonded with you and you are now its property. For exchange of power, you will give [The Network] entertainment.You will compete [Quests] and will be given [Equipment],[Runes],and [Skills] in exchange. Begin on your journey to become [Divine] and serve [The Network].

I was stopped mid sentence when a strange translucent blue screen appeared inches from my face

At first I was confused by the sudden event

But soon a smirk found its way on my face.

[My journey begins]