There were still at least ten to fifteen minutes until the system finally descended upon Earth.
When it did, countless portals would manifest all around the world.
These portals served as pathways to unknown dungeons from countless worlds across the universe.
Monsters from these dungeons would invade Earth through these portals, which the system referred to as gates.
There were two types of gates: red gates and blue gates.
The difference between them was significant.
Blue gates allowed a grace period before a dungeon break occurred, giving ti for preparation or intervention.
Red gates, however, provided no such respite.
The mont a red gate appeared, monsters would begin pouring out of the dungeon imdiately.
On the day of the Awakening, the gates that appeared across the world were all red gates.
This was one of the primary reasons the monsters caused such catastrophic chaos so quickly.
Humanity was blindsided, unable to comprehend the ssages the system provided or grasp the scale of the danger.
This unpreparedness led to the deaths of three billion people.
"The population of 8.2 billion will soon drop to 5 billion. It's unfortunate, but it can't be stopped. I just need to focus on my survival," Damian thought as he arrived at the exact spot he had stood before his regression.
It was here, at this precise mont, that the system had descended, unleashing untold horrors and countless opportunities.
The rain was still falling, just as it had in his previous tiline.
But it would stop soon, right about now, and people would begin to erge.
That was when it would happen.
Damian glanced at the small burger joint beside his forr office building where he had once worked.
"That couple... they should be stepping out any mont now."
As if he had foretold the future, a couple exited the burger shop just as the rain ceased.
He rembered clearly. When the tamorphosis process began, the boyfriend had been unable to withstand it.
The result? He mutated into a Corruptant.
A cold gust of wind rushed past Damian, followed closely by a warr breeze.
"He should be having a seizure right about now," Damian murmured, a smile tugging at his lips.
Sure enough, as though his words were a prophecy, the man suddenly collapsed to the ground, writhing in the throes of an intense seizure.
His girlfriend scread for help, tears streaming down her face.
What most people didn't understand before his regression to the past was that the tamorphosis had already begun before the system descended.
That was why the man was experiencing a seizure, as his body couldn't handle the tamorphosis.
Then, as Damian had anticipated, a system prompt appeared before his eyes, followed by a rapid series of ssages.
[An unawakened solar system with a viable star and planets has been identified in the Milky Way galaxy in Sector Oga-8.]
[Locating lifeforms capable of awakening evolutionary traits...]
[Two planets housing lifeforms with evolutionary traits have been found.]
[Registering the solar system with its star, referred to as 'Sun' by the inhabitants, into the database.]
[Arousing the planets in this solar system to release otherworldly essences into the atmosphere simultaneously...]
Damian grinned, sweat rolling down his cheeks. "The system is really here... it's true. I really have regressed."
Though Damian had already accepted the possibility that he had regressed and that everything he experienced wasn't a dream, a small part of him had held onto doubt.
Now, seeing the system prompt before his eyes, that doubt vanished entirely.
As the system ssages faded, he noticed the peculiar flow of various types of energies leaving the earth and rging with the atmosphere.
At the sa ti, a new sensation gripped him. "What is this I'm feeling? I didn't feel like this before my regression."
He chose to ignore the strange feeling for now and quickly prepared himself.
He pulled out a 10-by-10-inch cage containing a live rat and, in his other hand, gripped the axe he had purchased earlier.
His breathing quickened, a wave of nervousness stirring in his chest as he carefully moved behind the boyfriend and girlfriend duo.
The boyfriend was still convulsing from the seizure.
Then, the ground began to shake violently.
"This is it. This is when the towers will manifest," Damian thought, his eyes fixated on the boyfriend.
He could already see the transformation beginning.
The man's body was starting to turn into a Corruptant, though the process was incomplete.
Within seconds, the earthquake subsided, and the Tower of Evolution had manifested at the heart of the city.
Another wave of system ssages appeared before his eyes.
[The System has arrived on your habitable planet, known as 'Earth,' and has forced its inhabitants to undergo tamorphosis. You have gained the right to evolve.]
[In five seconds, monsters from countless realms will invade Earth.]
[Remaining Ti: 5 seconds.]
[Kill monsters, and you might survive.]
[Remaining Ti: 4 seconds.]
[You can now view your attributes, talents, abilities, and skills by simply thinking about them.]
Damian glanced at the rat inside its cage.
Blood trickled from its mouth, and its five-inch body was expanding rapidly.
His gaze shifted to the flytrap sapling he had bought in a bottle.
The plant, too, was responding to the tamorphosis.
Its leaves began to spread, its stem thickening as sharp teeth blood along its edges.
[Remaining Ti: 3 seconds.]
"Co on, just two more seconds," Damian muttered nervously, eyes fixed on the countdown.
He couldn't kill it just yet.
The system had to deliver the final ssage before the leveling and achievent functions beca active.
Only after that could he act.
Timing was everything.
If he struck too soon, his efforts would fail.
[Remaining Ti: 2 seconds.]
Damian's hands trembled.
He was painfully aware that he was the weakest person here.
If he let even a second slip, the man, already close to finishing his mutation into a Corruptant, would complete it in a few seconds.
Once the mutation was complete, the Corruptant would go on a killing spree.
There was no margin for error.
He had to act decisively and kill the Corruptant in a single strike.
If he failed to kill the Corruptant in one shot, he would be the one to get killed instead.
[Remaining Ti: 1 second.]
"It's here," Damian whispered, swallowing hard as a red gate began to materialize just a few ters in front of him.
The rat had grown to the size of a cat, the cage struggling to contain its grotesquely enlarged body.
Two sharp fangs jutted from its mouth, its bloodshot eyes glowed with malice, and spikes had ford along its elongated tail.
The flytrap sapling had also completed its mutation.
Its roots burst through the plastic bottle, anchoring themselves into the ground and piercing the asphalt below.
anwhile, the man who had fully transford into a Corruptant stood ominously still.
His forr girlfriend cowered nearby, paralyzed with fear at the monstrosity before her.
[Remaining Ti: 0 second.]
"Shit," Damian hissed under his breath, his heart pounding as the final mont approached.
...
[A/N: Co on, everyone! You've made it this far, so why not add my novel to your favorites? And if it's not too much trouble, please leave a review or drop so POWER STONES!]
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