A world so very much like Earth. Filled with people just going about their day to day lives. On this day, a crack was heard around the world. 

And then it was over. 

All life died, snuffed out in an instant… only to rise again. The sky turned black and pitless and a massive eye stared down. In its red gaze, miles were etched across the planet, as creatures with too many eyes and limbs, gnashing and biting, descended across the lands. Horrors beyond the mortal mind now lurk, stretching across reality. Eldritch creatures, zombies, and more!

A world, destroyed in an instant. 

A woman’s soft chuckle could be heard as another crack was heard. 

********

“Come on man, I’m telling you, Rario sisters is the best game series.” 

“It has nothing on Legend of Velda!” 

Rick just rolled his eyes and I couldn’t suppress a smile. He was a good guy, my best friend, and was so stubborn I’d never once convinced him of anything. If he wasn’t such a fun person to be around outside of an argument, I probably would have gone crazy. 

“So…” Rick started. “You and Jessica huh?” 

“Huh?! W-What do you mean?” 

“What do you mean, what do I mean? I know you two went on a date! Finally asked her out huh?” 

“It’s not like that! We just… you know… it… uh…” 

“Matt, dude, come on. You’ve known her since you were kids. Hell, we all have. It’s about damn time. We’ll be graduating college soon, time to look towards the future you know?” 

“Rick… come on it’s just…” My whole body seemed to crumble at that moment. “I don’t know if she likes me like that. What if I’m ‘just a friend’ to her?! I mean, you know, fine. That’s fine. But it’s also really not fine at all!” 

Rick just chuckled. The jerk. 

“I’m sure it’ll work out. Just keep going on dates. She said yes the first time right?” 

“Well… yeah… but what if she just thought it was like, a friend date or something?!” 

Rick rolled his eyes yet again and the next few minutes passed with us going back and forth. It was a good day today and honestly, that date had gone pretty well too. Not long later, I waved goodbye to Rick, heading home. 

Home to only be attacked immediately as soon as I walked inside. 

…by the cutest thing in the world. I was being covered in slobber. 

“Ahh, Spot! Come here!” 

Spot, my new puppy. He was a cute little beagle with floppy ears and a single spot on his side. The name had been too perfect. Who could have resisted calling him that?! That cute little spot was adorable. No no, he was adorable. The best dog a person could ask for.

Life was going well, I reflected. I had a best friend, maybe a potential… girlfriend if I was really lucky, and a puppy. A smile blossomed over my face. Things were going well. 

And that was when life decided to shit on me. 

A sound like the breaking of glass, like a million different pieces of glass exploding one after the other, spread throughout my whole body. I couldn’t even move, as it felt like my body was crumbling to pieces. Vaguely, I could hear spot barking in arms, struggling, but I couldn’t release my grip either. I was frozen, as if I was being electrocuted but so, so much worse. My pupils shook, my heart stopped, and my body seemed to expand and shrink and crumble without ever actually breaking part. 

And then it was over and I was on the ground. I felt… I don’t know how I felt. Fine. I felt fine and that was wrong. I wasn’t fine, my body, my body. What… happened to me? 

“Sorry contestant, that’s just how the process goes! Be glad the pain and death and destruction was removed or you’d be making an excellent Picasso right now!” Came a voice from above me. 

I scrambled to look up and my eyes widened. I wasn’t in my room or in my home anymore. I was standing in the middle of a massive stage. All around me were red curtains, blocking sight of anywhere else. I’d been… teleported? 

“What the fuck…” 

But then my eyes focused. That voice hadn’t come from nowhere and I looked up, seeing one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes. She spun around in mid air and landed in front of me so gracefully that it seemed physically impossible. Long black hair… and even longer legs. She wore a red and black… latex outfit? Her whole outfit was beyond what I could explain but I was reminded of a bunny girl’s outfit strangely, or a circus master’s. My eyes were almost instantly drawn to a certain… massive… area, but I quickly looked up at her piercing blue gaze and sharp smile. 

“W-Who? What? How?” I was blabbering but… but what was going on?! What the fuck? Did I fall asleep or something? Was I currently dying of a stroke and imagining all of this? 

“Nope!” 

“Huh?” 

“You are perfectly fine. In fact, soon, you’ll be better than fine. For I welcome you… to the Greatest Game Show on Earth!” 

My eyes shook as a massive red light seemed to erupt behind her at those words. Like a massive red beam of sunlight had poured through a church’s window and perfectly sculpted around her body and form. My breath quickened as I suddenly fully realized that… none of this was normal or possible. This was… insane.

“Rude. Well, I suppose it is just the greatest gameshow on your Earth. I’m telling you, I once saw one that involved a cat and- Ah, well, it’s better not to speak of my competitors. Now, Matt, we have a chunk of information to go over and while you being absolutely kerfluffled is positively adorable, I require your mind to be at least partially here. So in that vein, let us get to brass tacks.” 

Suddenly, the light around us seemed to dim and shadows seemed to creep around. My breath hitched and my heart beat like a drum, as fear swam through me. The piercing blue eyes and smile seemed to be all I could see for a second, staring at me as if my soul was bound to them, moments away from being pulled from my mortal coil. Death. Death was all around me. A single movement and I would die. I could feel it to the depths of my core. The words spoken next were like hammer blows ringing throughout my body. 

“Listen well or you will die.” 

Then, like a mirage, everything went back to normal yet my eyes never left the woman’s. I couldn’t. I felt like I had been enraptured. 

“So! Let’s get under way! I first would like to welcome you Matt for being volunteered to participate in this great gameshow, by me of course! If you do well, you get to live! If not, well, I hear dying isn’t so bad. There are worst fates after all.” She said, before shrugging. 

Alright, no, what? Think, think, think. Death, gameshow, teleportation. Death, gameshow, teleportation. Magic. Magic? 

“Close.” The woman said and I suddenly realized she had been reading my mind. Her smile seemed to sharpen. 

“Here is the game. You will be put into a new world, one destroyed in a particularly brutal apocalypse. Your goal is to survive and win. Last a year? Congratulations! You get to go home and keep your new powers. Oh, and they’ll be powers. You’ll get access to a [System] and many other things. You’ll get stronger and stronger as you level up. Ah, but that’s where the catch comes in. To level up… you must appeal to the Gods and Goddesses. Only with their Likes, are you allowed to level up!” 

She stretched out her arms at the grand statement and I tried to pay attention but this, this was way too much! A new world? I was teleported. Gods and Goddesses?! There’s magic. She can read my mind?! Where’s Spot?! A headache was blooming and I felt like I had gone insane. 

“Tch. Mortals. Fine, fine. I’ll do you a tiny favor. I’ll just say all the mechanics and shove them into that little head of yours, unable to be forgotten!”

Suddenly, I felt my body go still and my mouth become unable to open, as the woman began to talk. 

“One. You may only level up after a certain amount of 'Likes'. For my fellow Gods and Goddesses, these are Follows, Rating, Reviews and Patrons. All combined into one. For every 100 Likes, you gain 1 level. This won't make sense to you Matt, but this also includes all Follows, Ratings, and Reviews on Scribblehub and Royalroad. By popular demand from certain Gods and Goddesses, comments will be partially included. Every 1000 comments = 1 like. You would be amazed how much the Divine like to talk Matt.

“Two. You can die. I want to impress upon you this. You, 100%, absolutely can die. There is no plot armor this time, no saving you. At certain points in time, those being: Every month, three months, six months, and year (Which for my fellow Gods and Goddesses is actual, real, time) you will face a challenge. If you are not strong enough by then, you will die. You can die any day before that as well to normal creatures if you are stupid Matt or don't make the proper choices, but it's just less. Those times will depend on you, but the challenges will not. Your life is not in your, or my, hands. So be entertaining for your lords above eh?

“Three. Matt, you gain 1 Qi point every day. One every, IRL, day. Sorry Matt, again, that's for the Gods and Goddesses out there. Time isn't always synced with mortals but this time, it is. You can spend these Qi Points on the store to buy you certain powers or things, or to simply enhance yourself directly. Raise those cultivation levels! But that will consume it. It's a challenge... you may not survive the week if you don't empower yourself but you may not survive the month if you don't save up for that cool legendary weapon or armor.

“Four. The Gods and Goddesses can do more than simply Level you up. For all Patrons, the most Elite of Gods and Goddesses, they will get to make a daily choice of how to help... or harm you. It could be anything from a time loop reset to give you more time (although that would be prohibitively expensive), to turning you into a woman. Even Gacha's are available. Only one choice may be selected every day. Most votes for the option wins. There needs to be enough voters to unlock the options though. (Time Loop does not become available till after 300 Patrons, for example.)

“Five. Freebies and challenges! At certain rare points in the world, you may find challenges Matt. They will give you more Qi points. But the danger is incredible... or not! Some will be easy, some won't, some will be weird. Who knows! You won't. That's for sure. But look on the bright side, after every 10th level, you'll get a reward as well! You can find it right next to the store.

“Six. Finally... have fun!”

I felt like my brain had been hammered and yet, the words were like glue, as if I could never forget them even if I tried. There was other information there. Something, something was coming. Some word, it was like I couldn’t, it was- 

“Status.” I spoke, unable to stop myself.

[Name: Matt

Level: 0 

Free stat points: 0

Qi points: 0

Qi Rank: Uninitiated 

Achievements: N/A

Titles: N/A

Strength: 5

Speed: 5

Endurance: 5 

Magic: 0

Mind: 5] 

I stared at the floating screen in front of me. That was the final straw, my brain felt like mush and now I couldn’t even think. I had a status now. A status. That was… no thoughts were in my head. 

“Oh! Oh! Quickly, look at the store and milestones next!”

Again, without me doing anything, the words were forced out of me. 

“Store.” 

[Store: 

Supplies - 1 Qi

Basic Weapon and Armor - 3 Qi

+3 to all stats - 5 Qi

Unlock a Skill - 10 Qi

Rare Magical Item (Consumable OR Weapon OR Item) - 50 Qi

+1 Extra Life - 500 Qi]

“Milestones.”

[Milestones: 

10th level: Class Selection

20th level: Best friend teleported to you.

30th level: Sub-Class unlocked

40th level: Soul Weapon System Unlocked

50th level: Race Evolution

60th level: Class Evolution

70th level: Sub Class Evolution

80th level: Childhood crush teleported to you.

90th level: Puppy set free and teleported to you.  

100th level: Final Boss Option] 

Like coming out of a daze, my mind stared in horror at three options in particular. 

“What?!” I said. “Leave my friends and my dog out of this!” 

“No! In fact… for the first two, they’ve already been teleported to the new world. Just without any system. Better level up fast or they’ll die! As for the dog, well…” 

Suddenly, the room changed, as a cage was lowered hanging from the ceiling. A small cage, that I could barely see Spot in it. 

“SPOT!” 

“Haha! Now that you’ve been properly motivated, have a fun trip!” 

The sound of breaking glass happened again and my puppy whimpering was the last sight I saw. 

“Oh and don’t mind the mind probe! It just makes things more fun!”