Ding!
[The "First Calamity" has now begun.]
The vortex in the sky above Stark’s city twisted like a storm tearing at the heavens.
The clouds swirled faster, dragging in wind, sparks, and flashes of lightning.
And then—
[Your civilization has officially entered "Eternal Soul".]
[It is now time to face the danger that awaits you all.]
[To end this global event, either kill every single monster summoned by the vortex in your city, or survive for three days.]
The words burned across every player’s vision.
Stark didn’t react though. He already knew what this was.
This was why the [First Calamity] had ended after three days in his past life.
Not because they won.
Not because humanity rose up and cleared the event.
No. It had simply timed out.
But even then, to keep the city from being annihilated, they’d still needed to kill the mythical-rank boss of the [First Calamity].
If it hadn’t fallen, nothing would have been left standing.
And three days? That was all the monsters had needed to wipe out ninety-five percent of humanity.
Stark’s grip tightened on the [Divine Staff].
Its weight was solid, reassuring. He felt prepared.
But before diving in, he forced himself to pull up his status panel one last time.
---
[ID: Oblivion]
[Class: Mage of Oblivion (Tier-1)]
[Talent: Infinite Evolution (SSS)]
[Level: 25 (Locked)]
[Lives: 2,324]
[Constitution: 130 (+155)]
[Strength: 130]
[Agility: 177 (+43)]
[Spirit: 203 (+522)]
[Skills: Blazing Meteor (Ancient), Invincible Magic Barrier (Mythical), Vines of Fate (Mythical), Sharp Bone Spikes (Legendary), Hand of Avarice (Mythical)]
---
Weapon: Divine Staff (Legendary)
Head: Underground Witch Hat (Epic)
Chest: Undead Soul Mage Robe (Epic)
Boots: Tower Wolf Fur Boots (Uncommon)
Necklaces: Revenant Bell (Special Item), Dark Necklace (Epic)
Rings: Small Space Ring (Rare), Flame Ring (Rare)
---
Everything was accounted for, except the [Mount Bell (Ghost Wolf)].
He still hadn’t bought it since it was too expensive.
A mistake? Maybe.
Having the ghost wolf would have helped tremedously to take down monsters, but it was fine.
Not because it could attack but because Stark could have fired his spells at high speed.
’No matter.’
Right now, what mattered was simple: kill monsters, harvest Lives, and extract the other abilities.
The mythical boss wouldn’t appear until the second day.
And it was only on the third day that they killed it.
That was the timeline in his head. That was his window to prepare.
But then—
Beep!
A piercing light flared across the world. The numbers shifted.
[Lives loss rate: 1 → 100]
In an instant, the system recalibrated.
The loss rate went up quickly before everyone’s gaze.
If you had under one hundred Lives, you were done.
Just like that. Wiped. No retries, no chance to resist.
And that... was almost everyone.
Stark’s jaw tightened.
He flicked one last glance at his apartment window, then shoved it aside.
He pushed the glass open, vaulted out from the third floor, and landed hard on the street below.
His legs bent, absorbing the impact, not a scratch on him.
The moment he looked up—
’Here we go.’
Particles shimmered in the air like glowing embers.
And then they shaped themselves into forms.
Clawed feet. Crooked teeth. Weapons gripped in gnarly fists.
Monsters. Dozens of them. All across the street.
All across the city. Everywhere.
The first ones took shape before him.
---
[Calamity Goblins (Level 25)]
[Rank: Common]
[HP: 100,000]
---
Their skin was crimson, scarred with jagged black lines.
They held jagged blades and crude clubs, eyes blazing with bloodlust.
They sniffed the air, turned their heads, searching for prey.
And then, those glowing eyes landed on Stark.
The [Calamity Goblins] froze. They stared. Looked at each other.
"(⚆ᗝ⚆)"
"〣 ( ºΔº ) 〣"
Then they bolted.
They knew. They felt it. His power.
"Hell no."
Blazing Meteor!
Fwish! BOOM!
-261,000! -261,000! -261,000!
The meteor split the sky, slammed into the pavement, and exploded into a burst of fire and smoke.
The shockwave ripped outward, swallowing the goblins whole.
When the dust cleared, nothing remained.
His damage was monstrous.
The upgrades had pushed it to a new tier entirely.
And the cooldown? Five seconds.
That meant he could cast again before the smoke even cleared.
Ding!
[You have gained 12 Lives!]
Hand of Avarice!
A spectral hand clawed at the air, dragging the essence from the fallen monsters.
[You have gained 11 Lives!]
’Good.’
Even in reality, monsters dropped Lives.
He could grind here just like inside the game. Latest content published on N()velFire.net
Every kill mattered to gain [Lives], EP and also items it seems.
If he could extract even one, just one, like [Storm of Lightning], it would change everything.
Against the bosses, especially the mythical-rank one, that skill could turn the tide.
But for now, he focused on clearing the trash mobs.
Chaos spread instantly through the city. Screams rose from every direction.
The monsters didn’t spawn in one place, they spawned everywhere.
Stark clenched his teeth. He already knew the spawn logic.
The bigger the crowd, the nastier the monsters.
Which meant the central squares were about to turn into slaughterhouses.
And he couldn’t save everyone. Impossible. He’d learned that before.
But still. He’d try.
After all, one of the [First Calamity]’s conditions to end was to kill all the monsters.
That meant there was a set number of monsters that spawned.
If players could eliminate all those in his current city, then it could be saved.
Of course, all other countries and cities outside were facing the same issues, but he’d rather focus on this right now.
He dashed down the street, his agility stat making him little more than a blur.
More [Calamity Goblins] spawned ahead.
Blazing Meteor!
BOOM!
Another street cleared.
The monsters here were weak, common rank only.
High HP pools, yes, but they were fodder.
Against anyone who hadn’t focused on [Eternal Soul], though, they were deadly.
It would still take a small team to get rid of a group of them though.
Most players didn’t even hit level 25. They were lambs.
The scenes of the monsters attacking anything that moved were horrifying, but he quickly dealt with all.
Sometimes he was quick enough to save the person, but many others...
"Ahhhh—!"
Slash!
[You have died.]
Stark’s eyes narrowed.
Since the majority of people didn’t even have 100 Lives, they didnt stand a chance.
The moment they were killed, their bodies would disappear into particles, never to be found again.
Not even a corpse left behind. That was the system’s "mercy".
Humanity didn’t have to bury its billions of dead, making it easier to start anew.
But mercy or not, the result was the same.
Empty streets. Vanished lives.
He kept running, kept burning through monsters.
But half an hour in, the city was already overrun.
Ding!
[Player "Starfall" has sent you a private message!]
[Starfall: I’m with "Ghost". We’re in the same city, but what is happening is crazy...]
[Ghost: We’ll be fine. We deal with the [Calamity Goblins] and [Calamity Wolves] extremely easily.]
Stark exhaled slowly. Good. Grace was safe.
Ghost was strong enough to guarantee that.
At least someone he knew wouldn’t fall here.
At that moment, he turned a corner, entering one of the large squares he had been looking for.
And... he froze.
Buildings crumbled around the plaza. Fires burned unchecked.
The ground was slick with blood, though no bodies remained.
And in the middle of it all stood a monster unlike the others: a boss.
Bosses like these were the ones that could cause the most destruction
---
[Iron Maiden (Level 25)]
[Rank: Legendary (Boss)]
[HP: 500,000]