Broken Anomaly

“…don’t actually know how to solve this one…. umm…,” the professor mumbled as he raised his hand, semi-closed it into a fist and put it against his chin.

To think Medellin was once one of our favorites just because he has no problem going with the general vibe of the class. Whether we were goofing around or totally serious, he’s always right there with us.

“Maybe if I just… hmm… this could work,” Medellin said as he erased what little he had done with the equation and re-did it, this time using a different approach.

During online classes, he showed a side that nobody liked. Specifically, he started showing a clear focus on the female students. In a class of 22 with only 3 women, it was kind of hard to ignore that special attention. Some of them would even leave for prolonged periods of time just so that he would stop asking questions about their personal lives.

“And that’s how it’s done,” Medellin said as he turned around and pointed to the solved equation, with the chalk in his hand. “Any questions?”

You could blame the isolation for his sudden change, but he was always kind of an ass outside the classroom. Now that I think about it, he called me stupid once… I think… I don’t actually know because I paid very little attention during online classes. I was usually playing or watching something on my second monitor.

“So, nobody has any questions. Are you sure? I won’t explain this again,” the professor said as he moved toward his desk, picked up a sheet of paper, crumpling it and throwing it toward a student that was watching videos on his laptop.

“Pay attention!” he said firmly. “I don’t want you begging for a better grade later on,” he added as he turned around and sat at his desk.

Watching all of this unfold was Eric, a young man with brown eyes, short black hair, and a height of 178 cm. Who was resting his chin on top of his backpack, with his phone lying flat in front of him.

I was watching that, he thought as his phone lit up and started to vibrate. He grabbed his phone and exited the classroom.

When he left the classroom, he saw people sitting on the grass that was in front and lightly nodded at them. Lifting his phone, he saw the name Marcus. As he answered the phone, he was blasted by the loud sound of gunshots.

“Hey!” Eric yelled into the phone, knowing that the noise came from a video game.

“Hey Eric, did you go to class?” Marcus asked.

“In the middle of one, why?” Eric answered as he nodded at some people that were passing by.

“Is it an important one? You should—” Marcus’s voice got cut off by someone else.

“It’s Medellin! Just—” the person who had interrupted was also cut off.

“Mark? Hello? Marcus? Maaarcuuuss?” Eric said into the phone, confused by the interruptions.

Eric brought his phone down and realized it was off. He pressed the power button repeatedly but had little luck in getting his phone to turn back on. He turned and started to walk back toward his classroom, thinking that maybe his battery died, when in front of him appeared a blue transparent window.

WELCOME!

We are happy to welcome Galaxy N24-895 to the System.

Eric was stunned for a second, then his mind began to race. He had read about this same scenario from various web novels, manga and webtoons. If I’m right about this… he thought.

“Status. Status. Status. Status,” he said in a low voice, feeling his heart thump louder each second he didn’t receive the response he wanted. However, after a few seconds, his worries lessened.

Eric Aguilar

Rank F

Level 1

Experience 0/100

Stats

Vitality 6

Endurance 10

Strength 5

Dexterity 6

Constitution 5

Agility 4

Perception 6

Charisma 5

Intelligence 6

Wisdom 3

Skills -

Concepts -

Titles -

Magic -

It was a status window. Within it, he could see his physical and mental attributes in a quantified manner. He looked through his status, not knowing if what he was seeing was good, bad, or average. Despite his lack of understanding, he was filled with excitement.

Unbeknownst to him, he was grinning from ear to ear. Though nobody was paying enough attention to notice, they were also occupied looking at windows of their own.

The excitement that Eric was feeling didn’t last long, as he remembered another aspect of the stories he had read: mass casualties. In every story he had read, a large number of people always died.

It can go one of two ways, he thought. Either we’re invaded by monsters, or we’re taken into a world full of unknown dangers. He paused and added, also humans, either by losing it or by being influenced by outside forces.

Planet Earth does not meet system requirements.

Preparing adjustments.

Please hold.

Eric‘s mind had become too jumbled to properly process what the new windows said. Forcing all other thoughts to stop, he read the windows once more.

“Adjustments…” he said in a low voice. He had an idea as to what it could be, but a part of him feared the possibility of him being right. Because if he was, mass deaths would be unavoidable.

Before Eric could think any deeper about the situation, a notification sound came from his phone. It was to notify him that he had an unread voicemail, even though he didn’t. It was a notification that he had tried to get rid of before, but was unsuccessful. As he was putting his phone away, it started to ring and without looking; he answered.

“Eric, where are you?” Marcus asked with a hurried tone.

“Hallway in building D,” Eric answered as soon as Marcus asked the question.

Static could be heard as Marcus answered, “... All going ………... gym……. there…... waiting... you..” was all he could say before the call was cut off again by his phone turning off.

Eric pieced the message together. “They’re all going to the gym and will be waiting for me,” he said in a low voice.

He quickly resumed his walk toward the classroom. When he entered, he walked straight to where he was sitting. Luckily, it was right next to the aisle and near the door. As he reached for his backpack, Medellin called to him.

“Where are you going?” Medellin asked in a stern tone.

“Gym,” Eric answered briefly as he slipped his arm through the strap and swung it toward his back.

“We should—” Medellin started to say but was cut off.

Applying adjustments.

Please hold.

Eric read the new windows and answered, “You do what you think is best.” Without waiting for a response, he opened the door and stepped out.

As he exited the classroom, he looked at the open area before him and felt that something was off. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but there was definitely something different.

Other than the difference that he couldn’t pinpoint. The people that were outside had shifted, some leaving and others arriving. Most of them looked confused, while some were visibly panicking.

He turned right, heading toward the main walkway that led directly toward the gym building. When he reached it, he saw that it was covered in cracks.

It wasn’t like this, was it? he thought, as the cracks started to grow. That’s when it clicked in his mind. The distance is wrong.

At first, the difference was too small to actually notice, but now, as he saw the concrete, he was sure of it.

“The distance between the buildings has increased,” he said in a low voice as he glanced at the nearby buildings.

He heard sharp cracks from the walkway above and quickly moved back. A moment later, a slight shaking could be felt, and the walkway collapsed with a loud crash. The debris crushed two people that were running underneath it and injured another that was on it.

Eric glanced at the victims for a second and decided to ignore them as he jumped over the rubble and started running toward the gym.

A large crowd of people was running alongside Eric. However, none of them noticed each other, as they were all too preoccupied with their own objectives and worries.

As he ran, the shaking didn’t subside, and he would occasionally hear a scream. He only stopped running to catch his breath. As he glanced around, he noticed he had barely reached building B, the arts building, and that he was now alone.

“Shit…” he said through labored breathing as he looked at the distance that remained. He took a deep breath and started to run once more, noticing the trees that had appeared out of nowhere.

After running for what felt like an eternity, he was but a few meters from the gym entrance. He could make out some people near the glass door, but couldn’t make out who they were because of the distance. As he started to inch forward, a figure appeared before him.

Habitats incorporated.

Applying further adjustments.

Please hold.

“Shit,” he muttered as he read the notification.

Before Eric stood a dog that resembled a skinned rottweiler, except he was pretty sure that was just the color of its skin. Its upper body was nothing but muscle, and it had two sharp bones protruding from the corners of its chin like fangs.

It was also covered in blood. Eric forgot about the pain on his sides, or how every breath he took hurt, as his mouth started to form a smile. But stopped when he heard yelling from the gym.

“Run!” said one voice.

“Hurry!” said another.

“Get over here. Now!” the third voice said, with much more urgency.

Eric recognized the last voice and was getting ready to run past the monster before him when suddenly, it ran away on its own. Not questioning what had just happened, he dashed toward the gym.

At this point, he was just flinging his legs forward, afraid that they would crumble every time his feet touched the ground.

Endurance +1

Eric glanced at the window that appeared before him and willed it to close. Soon, he was in front of the gym doors, which opened as if to welcome him.

Once he was inside the lobby, he flung his backpack and fell on his back, breathing heavily. As he lay there, he thanked his younger self for sticking with all the running his parents had made him do.

After his breathing had calmed down, he sat up to see that there were at least ten people around him in the small lobby, with some more being inside the gym itself. Eric got up and headed toward the door, where a 190 cm tall wall of pure muscle stood. The man had short, light brown hair and blue eyes.

“Marcus?” Eric asked as he approached the man.

“Second floor with Stella,” the man answered without turning around.

The man’s name was Alex, one of Eric’s best friends, and his math tutor. They had met during their first week of university, in front of the bathrooms.

Eric was waiting for Stella when Alex arrived. They looked at one another, bumped fists, and began speaking as if they had known each other for far longer than the few seconds they actually did.

“Anna?” Eric continued, peeking in the same direction that Alex was.

“Last call we had,” he paused, “she said she was about to begin a tour near the admin building.” Alex gave his phone a quick glance. “I’m pretty sure I saw a group of people enter the building a bit after everything started,” he continued, turning to look at Eric with clear worry in his eyes.

“That was today?” Eric asked, vaguely remembering that Anna had mentioned it. “

“Yeah,” Alex muttered, his tone exhausted from worry. “Now the giant monster that was behind you is just guarding their door.” He added, turning to once more face the glass entrance.

Following Alex’s gaze, Eric realized what he was looking at: the administration building, where Anna supposedly was.

Processing what Alex had just said a bit more, Eric frowned. “Wait.” he said, barely containing his surprise. “Giant monster? What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Alex answered simply. “Giant white bear thing,” he continued. “It just stood there, right behind you,” he added, his tone casual, all his worry already spent.

Eric only blinked at the casual response, then he nodded, accepting Alex’s response. With no more questions, he turned toward the water dispenser beside the door, only to be interrupted by more system messages.

Worlds merged. Mana introduced. New species introduced.

Adjustments have been completed.

Welcome to the System. Your galaxy is in a protected state for the next 10 years.

New species have been incorporated into your new planet.

Solar system size has increased due to merging.

New quest!

Quest: Survive. Objective: Survive for 24 hours. Reward(s): +20 Exp.

New quest!

Quest: Clear the building. Objective: Eliminate all monsters within the building. Reward(s): Temporary safe zone.

It’s finally begun, Eric thought. We even got quests with rewards. The excitement that Eric had when everything began started to fade when he remembered the mass deaths in the stories. It faded further when the screams began. Whatever excitement remained, if any, vanished upon reading the second quest. There are monsters in the building.

---------------

Somewhere in what was once the forest of the great Krisk, now nothing but sand, walked a group of three people who had been walking for weeks.

This group had started with 58 members, but one by one, they offered themselves so that the rest could continue their journey forward. Their sacrifice was not asked for, it was freely given, for this was their calling.

Some quelled the hunger, others the thirst. In a way, all 58 members were present when the three survivors that remained stood before the great husk.

The great husk was once a great, and towering tree, now only a hollow husk remained.

Legends spoke of when it flourished and how its leaves danced amidst the clouds. But that was all in the past, when the mana of the world was still abundant and could maintain such a wondrous existence.

Hundreds of years had passed since anyone had seen anything remotely resembling a forest, much less the wondrous mana. Even then, the people of the valley, like many others, never lost hope. They held onto one belief: one day, it would all return. First would come the mana, with the forests in tow, and lastly, prosperity.

The three walked into the husk.

WELCOME!

We are happy to welcome Galaxy N24-895 to the System.