The world’s definition of ‘normal’ was shattered on an evening just like any other. Students had come home from school, adults returning from work; there were no signs of the impending chaos. The city was loud and busy and thriving- just the same as always.

I was just as unaware when I entered my apartment, exhausted after a full day of classes and a long commute home. It had been hard trying to settle into university life- I’d never been a great student, and my mind wandered often when I was meant to be studying. It all felt so pointless, the dreary lull of everyday life, preparing to be just another cog in the machine.

It was supposed to get easier- but I had to wonder if it was because people simply gave up and accepted their given roles. And I was afraid I would soon be one of them.

The thoughts had followed me for months, and they were no different as I went through my nightly rituals. Living alone in a small apartment meant I didn’t have to feel guilty for convenience store meals, or having my feet up on the coffee table while I sat on the couch to eat dinner. The drone of the television playing mindless programs was my only company- until a searing pain shot through my temple.

An anguished groan escaped my tight throat, my microwaved meal tipping out of my suddenly slack hands to splatter on the floor. I desperately pressed my fingertips to my forehead, as if the pressure could dim the pain, but it only grew as I bent over my lap. 

The agony made my stomach twist, and I panted in heaving breaths as I tried to keep down what little food I had already eaten. The feeling that ran through me was like being shocked- an electric agony that sparked through my nerves. 

Just when I thought it might be too much, that the darkness growing at the edges of my vision would swallow me, the discomfort began to fade. Straightening up, I blinked away the haze of tears- and froze when I realized it wasn’t the dim light of the television that glowed in my view.

A small blue screen had appeared before me like a hologram… or a delusion. Staring at it, my head throbbed as my mind raced to try to make sense of the words which stood out against the simple surface.

As I watched in dumbfounded silence, the bottom of the screen blurred slightly… and the timer began to tick. Though I had no idea what it meant, a sense of dread sent a chill through me. Somehow I knew nothing good could come of the message in front of me.

Gingerly, I reached out a hand, surprised to find my fingers didn’t simply pass through the screen. As soon as I touched the surface, another wave of agonizing pain wracked through me. Images flashed behind my tightly shut eyes as if they were being uploaded directly into my brain.

Being of inhuman beauty, surrounded by light, appeared with kind smiles on their lips. The image was shattered by a rush of darkness, pierced by glowing red eyes and forms of twisted creatures I had never seen before. Behind the onslaught was a jagged arc of light, as if the very air itself had been torn open to allow those creatures to spill through.

Fear gripped my heart- an alien feeling that surpassed my growing confusion. My back pressed against the threadbare cushions of my couch, instinctively trying to get away.

Then the image became muddy, swirled like somebody had passed their fingers over the surface of a pool. Figures fought the beasts back, shadowed but clearly human. Then the beings of light appeared again, bowing over the warriors with arms generously outspread.

And finally… paradise.

It was a place I had never seen before, but it was as if the answer was given to me in whispers I couldn’t comprehend. It was a world, my world… but one where there was no more conflict, no sickness or pain. It was peaceful, pure and utter bliss- and when the image disappeared, my heart ached as if I’d lost everything I held dear.

Prying my eyes open, I was faced with another blue screen. There was no mysterious message this time, no ominous warning, just a single blinking word: calculating. I couldn’t tear my gaze away as the screen pulsed before becoming full of information.

I had no idea yet, but luck had not been on my side. What I stared at was my new identity, a set of words and letters that would define my usefulness to the constellations- my place in the world. And what I had rolled would make me long for the time when my greatest worry had been a boring life.

In the hours that followed, the world was shaken into chaos. I watched it unfold from my couch, glued to the news station as information began to unfold.

The first to step forward claimed they were special- chosen. The oracles of the constellations. Every news station and social media outlet raced to get them on the air… to hear what the constellations wanted from us.

Their terms were simple: salvation in return for our service. These celestial beings wanted us to be their warriors, their soldiers- and their system had given us the talents and skills we needed to survive. And in return for fighting for them, they would bless us with paradise.

At first, the world rebelled. These constellations, these supposed gods- they were not ones our people had heard of. There was no mention of them in millions of years of history. As the timer ticked away, society screamed and rioted against beings none of us could touch.

But there were a few who believed… a few who saved us when the timer, which had run relentlessly through the panic and fear, finally ran out.

When the first dungeons opened- glowing tears in space that appeared all over the world- nobody could deny the constellations. We had two choices: service, or death. People who had cursed the constellations suddenly scrambled to earn their favor, to be blessed with power so they could survive the hoards of dark and twisted creatures that spewed from the rips.

The system began to work, and warriors began to build their strength. Alliances formed, and suddenly we weren’t merely holding back the hoards- the constellation’s warriors were taking the initiative, entering the dungeons before the monsters could spill out into the cities. So long as they wiped out the monsters in the dungeons in time, the rest of the city would be saved from the teeming darkness.

Soon, the rules of the celestial game became clear. Eliminating the darkness- the monsters we called voidborn- earned points. As the constellations amassed their tallied credits, they spent them on power, weapons, and riches. The warriors risked their lives, and the constellations rewarded them generously.

Months passed into years, and a new divide began to show in urban areas. Wealth was no longer determined by money and expensive cars- it was shown in stats and celestial contracts. The only sure way to live a comfortable life was to ally yourself with powerful people, and pray a constellation would notice you.

Of course, that required skills and talents that were deemed suitable for combat. Warriors, healers, mages- they all find their way. It wasn’t difficult to find a sponsor if you could play your part against the voidborn.

But the rest of us? We were fodder. Porters and lackeys when we were lucky, but when we weren’t? We were bait. 

It was a world we acclimated to with shocking ease. Perhaps it wasn’t so different from where we started. The world was still run by those in power, lauding their wealth over those beneath them. And for those of us who worked, who toiled away to make their lives convenient, life was still… dreary.

It was a new system, a new machine, but we were all still cogs. Lined up neatly, ground down into a shape that fit the order the constellations demanded of us.

I thought I had accepted it after five years of staring at my stat screen, seeing the numbers never change, the level never growing- the list of skills remaining empty. I found my place, no matter how dreary I found my life to be.

In a world of constellations and dungeons full of voidborn monsters, all that mattered was survival.

On a night like any other, there were no signs that my life was about to change. The city was loud, busy, and thriving. I stood in the middle of it, trying to forget that even though the world was different, my life was still the same. In the middle of a dancefloor, with sweat on my neck and the bass booming in my ear, I faced another defining moment.

A message, a blue screen… a choice that would break me free, and change the game forever.