Liam Crest groaned as he pushed himself up from the rubble, his muscles screaming in protest. The Safe Zone—once a sterile white room—was now a collapsed ruin, its walls shattered like a dropped snow globe. Dust hung in the air, catching the dim light filtering through cracks in the ceiling. His head throbbed, a relentless drumbeat behind his eyes.
"What happened? Are we in an apocalypse?".
Right. Apocalypse. Alien blue screens. Monsters. And… oh yeah, the part where I got cheated out of leveling up.
A shadow moved nearby. Aria Thorn crouched amid the debris, her collapsible staff extended, scanning for threats. Her ice-blue eyes flicked to him, unimpressed.
"You're alive," she said flatly. "Good. I didn't stick around to babysit a corpse."
Liam coughed, spitting out dust. "Charming as ever." He patted his pockets, relieved to find his drone camera intact. The little machine—nicknamed Eye of the Apocalypse hummed weakly in his palm. Its battery icon blinked red. "Shit."
Aria tossed him a half-crushed chocolate bar. "Eat. Then explain why the hell your system is broken."
Liam caught it, tearing the wrapper with his teeth. The taste was like cardboard and regret. "Long story short? An Astral corpse crashed my tutorial party. Now I'm stuck at Level 0 with a skill called [Cameraman Never Dies]."
Aria's eyebrow twitched. "What does that even mean?"
Liam activated the drone. It whirred to life, hovering beside his shoulder. A faint blue light pulsed from its lens. "It means," he said, grinning despite the ache in his ribs, "I can't die as long as this thing is recording."
Aria stared. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course. The apocalypse gives you immortality via vlogging."
"Hey, I didn't pick it!" Liam gestured to the ruins. "But if I'm gonna be the universe's joke, I might as well monetize it."
A low growl echoed through the wreckage.
Both froze.
Something scraped against metal—a slow, deliberate drag, like claws testing a surface. Aria's grip tightened on her staff. Liam's drone pivoted, its lens focusing on a shadow slinking between broken walls.
"Wait, I thought we were done with the apocalypse." Rita asked.
Liam swallowed. "So, uh. Wanna test my new skill?"
Aria shot him a glare that could melt steel. "If you die, I'm taking your shoes."
The creature lunged.
It was a grotesque fusion of wolf and centipede, its segmented body coiling as it sprang. Liam barely dodged, rolling behind a collapsed desk. The drone followed, capturing every second.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Liam yelled, his voice cracking only slightly. "Welcome to Apocalypse Live! Today's episode: How to Not Get Eaten by Whatever the Hell That Is!"
Aria moved like a wraith. Her staff snapped out, cracking against the monster's leg. It screeched, whirling on her—but she was already gone, melting into the shadows with [Shadow Step].
Liam's heart pounded. Okay. Camera's rolling. I'm immortal. Time to be stupid.
He grabbed a broken pipe and charged.
The monster turned, saliva dripping from jagged teeth. Liam swung and missed spectacularly.
The pipe clattered to the ground. The creature hissed, looming over him.
Oh, this is how I die.
Then Aria dropped from above, but she was slapped away by the beast paw. Aria slammed into a nearby debris, missing a broken stucked out iron rod by few centimetres.
With the distraction, Liam picked up his pipe and drove the pipe through its skull. Black ichor sprayed. The monster convulsed, then collapsed.
Silence.
Liam pushed the beast aside, exhaled. "And that, folks, is why you always bring a sacrificial best friend to the apocalypse."
Aria yanked her weapon free. "You're insane."
Before Liam could retort, a notification flickered in his vision:
[Astral Viewer Detected]
[Current Audience: 1]
Aria frowned. "What was that?"
Liam's grin returned. "We've got a viewer."
The Astral's "gift" arrived an hour later.
Liam and Aria had scavenged the ruins, finding little beyond shattered tech and dried blood. Then—
Ding!
A small, glowing orb materialized in midair, hovering at eye level. Inside, something pulsed like a heartbeat.
Aria tensed. "Trap?"
Liam reached out. The orb dissolved into his skin.
[Skill Acquired: Flash Step (D Rank)]
[Description: Short-range teleportation. Maximum distance: 5 meters. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]
Liam blinked. Then he moved and reappeared behind Aria in a burst of displaced air.
She spun, staff raised. "What the fuck?"
Liam laughed, giddy. "The Astrals tipped me! This is amazing!"
Aria's expression darkened. "They're treating this like a game."
"Yep." Liam stretched, testing his new skill. "And if we play along, we get paid."
A distant howl cut through the air. More monsters.
Aria sighed. "We're going to die because of your streaming career."
Liam activated the drone. "Nah. We're gonna be stars."
The camera light blinked on.
[Live Stream: Active]
[Audience: 3]
Liam grinned at the lens. "Alright, folks! Let's give 'em a show."
Rita dragged Marcus's ear to the hut in which they had settled immediately they were able to escape the hordes of monsters in the war room.
"Who ate all the breadfruits we gathered to sustain us till we're done?" Rita barked.
"Ouch! Breadfruits? I don't know anything about breadfruit." Marcus moaned.
"We're only three in that hut, how come both you don't know who ate the breadfruits?" Rita shrieked.
Something moved nearby and the bushes shifted.