[So how do you survive in the Apocalypse?
Well, I have already shown you all the ways I know how. If you are reading this, then you must already know… there are even more ways to survive. Then, what is the best way? It's simple…
… Become strong!]
As Desmond completed the final chapter of his favourite web novel, commuting to work in an underground express train, he found himself confounded.
'H-huh?'
The ending felt abrupt, rushed.
There was no closure… no information about the fate of humanity after the protagonist of the story died. It simply ended with his demise at the cruel hands of the enemies of humanity, unable to complete the trial before him.
"But what about everyone else? This can't be the end." He mumbled words under his breath. "What happens after Armageddon? I have to know… come on! There need to at least be a hundred more chapters before this story can really end… right?"
Right?!
Des sighed, slumping his back on his seat as he closed his eyes in a fit of desperation.
Desperation and rage.
'How could the author do this to me? How can you leave me at such a cliffhanger when I'm the only goddamn person reading your work?!' He cried to himself. However, no matter how hard he thought about it, there was nothing he could do.
The serialization was complete, and the novel had ended.
"[Revelations Of The Apocalypse: How To Survive In The Last Days Of Humanity]" It was a mouthful, but that was the name of the web novel. For convenience, it was shortened to [Revelations of the Apocalypse], or just [Revelations].
Des had been reading this novel for close to a year now, ever since the first day of publication. As a sucker for apocalypse-themed novels, he consumed practically anything he could find on any web novel platform he visited, so he gave this particular novel a try.
And… he was blown away.
The prose wasn't anything extraordinary, and the worldbuilding wasn't particularly amazing.
But… the story was good!
The characters… the challenges they had to face… and the world that stood at the brink of destruction: everything was too vivid to him as a reader. The emotions he felt from those pages could not escape his thoughts, and so he kept returning to the book.
Day after day, he continued.
Until now, nine months after the novel's first release, he had finally reached the end.
"Nine hundred and ninety-nine chapters…" He opened his eyes, staring into his phone's screen as he made a sad smile.
The only thing left was to read the Author's Note.
[A/N: Thanks for reading! This has been one hell of a journey for me, but I want to give special thanks to my dedicated reader, who kept reading until the very end. You weren't in the Revelations, but now I am certain of one thing… YOU WILL SURVIVE.]
"Huh?"
Right at that moment, the entire world seemed to pause.
It felt like everything had come to a grinding halt—eerily still and quiet—devoid of sound and any kind of common sense. Desmond's dark brown hair was stuck in place, and his bright green eyes were stuck wide open… forced to keep staring into the block of texts on his phone.
He could not move his body.
He could only feel time pass as the entire world experienced complete standstill.
The texts that consumed his complete line of vision remained the same:
[YOU WILL SURVIVE].
"Attention, all humans of Earth." All of a sudden, a strange voice echoed into Desmond's ears.
No, that wasn't quite right.
It was more like his mind. The voice was directly transmitted into his head, stopping all other thoughts from forming as he listened to the strange, yet familiar voice.
"The cup is full, and the book is about to be open. The time of judgment has finally come upon humanity. The last days of this world have officially begun, and if you desire to make it to the very end, you must prove yourself. Prove yourself… and you just might survive."
At that moment, something like a translucent golden panel appeared in front of Des, blocking him from seeing any other thing. This, too, was transmitted directly into his mind, but he processed it as visual and not auditory information.
It said:
[Notice! First Quest Received]
{Prove Your Worth: Participate in the Elect Selection Ceremony and become an Elect}
~ Rewards for Completion: Elect Status and a Gift
~ Penalty upon Failure: None
[Time Limit: 24 Hours]
At that moment, the paralysis became undone and Des regained control of his body.
He glanced around him and quickly realized that everyone in the train had undergone the exact same thing. This was no hallucination, and it most certainly was not a dream. While everyone was still gasping and recoiling from the experience, Des had a completely different reaction.
'It's real.'
His eyes bulged, and his heart began to race with sheer intensity.
'I-It's actually… happening?!' His mind went back to the story he read and the events that transpired within them. 'Everything… the Apocalypse… the 3 Cycles of Judgment… the Heralds… the… the… they're all going to happen?'
The events of [Revelations of the Apocalypse] started out exactly like this, with a message that was broadcast to all denizens of Earth by the Administrator of the First Sequence.
'So that was Chazaq… he sounds a little different from what I imagined.' Des thought to himself, swallowing a mouthful of saliva as several other things ran through his head.
Just as in the novel, the first quest had been given.
—Prove yourself!
To do that, one had to participate in the Elect Selection Ceremony and become an Elect.
'According to [Revelations], there are two major types of people in the Apocalypse: Elect and Survivors…' He narrowed his eyes. 'The Elect are classified into Orders and are given either Blessings, Authorities, or Miracles depending on their Order.'
As for Survivors, they were powerless humans who had no choice but to buckle under the leadership or tyranny of the Elect, relying on them to survive. While the Elect usually ended up suffering the brunt of the Apocalypse—especially in the later days—the Survivors were the most vulnerable and pathetic.
They died in droves and made up more than ninety percent of the total casualties in the world.
'If I want to survive, the first thing I need to do is become an Elect… no matter what!'
Though there was no penalty for failure, the fate of a Survivor was too grim to even be considered by Des at all. The world was going to change very drastically from what he knew, and if he wanted to have a chance at all to live he needed to take action immediately.
Right as Des made his decision, the train began to decelerate as it approached a stop in the next station. Once it finally stopped, he alighted from the transport and hurriedly exited the underground station as fast as he could.
He still had quite a bit of distance to cover if he wanted to make it to work, but such things were no longer important. The moment he saw the System Panel, Des had already quit his job and embraced the crazy new reality of the world.
'Soon, everyone will realize it… but unlike them, I already have a Guide.'
And, he planned to use the information he gained in the [Revelations] to survive the Apocalypse.