STEP 1 Rebirth
Alright, let's do this one more time.
My name is Arush. I was hit by a truck.
And now I'm in a parallel universe, back in 2006.
In the body of my best friend from my past life?
This Earth had many things in common but a lot was different too. For instance, the British never colonised other countries and only focused on peaceful trading. The progress was slower than my original earth, but I think it was way better this way.
Four years passed.
I have a loving family, a father, a mother, an older sister, and my dad's American colleague's daughter, whom we adopted after her parents died in a car crash.
We were happy.
We were whole.
We were... a family.
11:59 PM, December 21st, 2012.
The world had moved on from the doomsday prophecy, mocking the preachers, and posting memes about "surviving the end."
It was just another night.
Until it wasn't.
As the clock struck midnight, everything changed.
Trumpets.
Not from a speaker. Not a prank. Not a hallucination. Real, resounding trumpets blared from the heavens.
Then the drums began. Deep, primal, like the heartbeat of the universe pounding in panic.
Thunder tore through the sky, and the very air buzzed with static.
Our house groaned, windows rattling as the ground beneath us trembled violently.
We rushed outside.
The neighbors stood frozen on their lawns. Some held their children, some were on their knees praying, and all were silent.
Above us, the sky split in two, like paper torn down the middle. Blinding light poured through the crack, and through it "they" descended. Beings that transcended logic, beings that transcended human comprehension , beings that could end the world in an instant if they so desired. They were the harbingers of the apocalypse, they were "Angels".
"Your world has been deemed unfit," one of them announced, his voice booming across continents. "Judgment has begun."
Then came the gateways to another dimension.
Portals opened across the world. Enormous, swirling rifts, some floating midair, some embedded in the earth. From them poured creatures that didn't belong here. Beasts of nightmare. Giants of stone. Insects larger than houses. Shadows with no form but eyes.
Humanity tried fighting back, but it was all for naught. Bullets bounced off like rubber. Tanks were crushed like toys. Even nuclear strikes only angered them.
Chaos reigned.
For weeks, cities burned, nations fell, and hope faded. But then… a miracle happened.
Roughly 50,000 people across the world awakened.
One moment, they were puny humans like all others, the next, they were superhumans whose power knew no bounds. Wielding fire, lightning, shadows, and weapons made of pure will, they turned the tide.
The war lasted three years. Civilians died left and right, holding the monsters back till their last breath, just so their heroes could fight freely.
The monster outbreak finally came to an end. The portals, however, remained.
We called them Gates.
At each gate, a massive countdown timer appeared, ticking toward the next possible wave of destruction.
Humanity adapted.
We called those who awakened "Bearers," those who bore the power of the system.
A global organization, the Bearers' Association, was formed to monitor awakeners and protect the world.
People began receiving status screens, a floating window only visible to the individual, showing their stats, class, and most importantly… their Awakening Date.
Yep, receiving the status window doesn't mean you have awakened, you need to wait for a while to really awaken.
Fast forward 7 years. Today, I received my status window.
09:00 AM September 12th, 2023, a red floating screen spawned before my eyes.
[You have been chosen to awaken.]