From the very beginning, Aiden never intended to join or rely on anyone's power. But some things in this world couldn't be done alone. Finding the lost race, for instance. A single person could search for decades and still come up empty. He needed help. Strong, capable help. That was why he'd kept several prime properties untouched. Marks could solve nearly everything, but not everything. That last one percent required a personal touch. Certain rare materials had to be forged by hand if he wanted them in large supply. The invasion had ended. The time to act had come. Recruiting the right NPCs was the next critical step. Merrick smirked. "Fine. Consider it done." The deal was struck once again, casual on the surface but heavy with purpose. ... Meanwhile, in the real world...Half a day had already passed since the eerie creature invasion. Most players had logged out, too terrified to stay online. The world outside was pure chaos. Screams filled the air. The sound of grief clung to every street like smoke after a fire. In just five hours, countless lives had been wiped out. The monsters spared no one. It didn't matter if you were a senator, a CEO, or a man begging on a corner. All of them were equal now. People finally understood how wrong they had been about Doomsday. This wasn't the paradise they once dreamed of. It was hell built from pixels and blood. Until today, everyone thought the game was dangerous but predictable. As long as they stayed near the spawn points and avoided wild areas, they would survive. But that illusion was shattered. The hordes of eerie creatures spread like a storm, flooding every inch of the world. Even the most powerful NPCs and world bosses fell to them without resistance. And if they couldn't survive, there was no hope left for the players. "Martin! Martin, answer me already! Please, I'm begging you, stop doing this to me! "If this is another one of your stupid jokes, I swear I'm done with you!" Inside a cramped apartment with paint chipping off the walls, Piper crouched in the corner. Her whole body trembled. The same face that used to look so perfect, like some spoiled upper class socialite, was now streaked with fear and tears. Six hours had passed since the eerie creature invasion ended. Her phone lit up in the dark, hundreds of messages sent, none replied to. Even Piper, clueless as she was, could no longer deny it. Martin was gone. He had died in that horrifying chaos."It's over! Everything's over! "What do I even do now?" Her voice broke as she screamed, the sound sharp enough to rattle the air in the small room. The truth was, life had been brutal to her lately. Ever since Aiden stopped responding, her perfect little world had crashed. The money dried up, and so did the comfort that came with it. At first, she tried to keep up appearances by pawning the luxury gifts Aiden had showered her with. The diamond necklace, the designer handbags, the gold watches. She managed to scrape by, though the glamour was gone. Then came the lawyers. They showed up in tailored suits, claiming to represent someone. They wanted the money and gifts back, every last dollar of it. Piper had laughed in their faces and told them to get lost. But they weren't the kind of people you could just dismiss. They made calls. Pulled strings. Within weeks, the court ruled against her. A notice arrived in the mail soon after. If she didn't repay the debt, she'd be behind bars. The panic hit her like a punch to the gut. She sold everything she could, anything worth a cent. Her upscale house was gone. She couldn't afford the rent anymore. She moved into a filthy little place that smelled like mold and regret. The life she used to brag about—fine dining, new outfits, spontaneous shopping sprees—disappeared overnight. Even Martin, who had once hovered around her like a half-interested lover, stopped caring. Now, she struggled to buy groceries. For the first time, Piper understood how lucky she'd been when Aiden was still by her side. Regret burned her like acid. She still couldn't understand why he'd abandoned her so suddenly. She hadn't done anything wrong, at least not in her own mind. But he was gone. Completely out of reach. And then, when she thought she'd finally hit rock bottom, fate twisted in her favor. Right before her repayment deadline, the attorney handling her case dropped dead inside Doomsday. The massive debt hanging over her head vanished with him. That was when Martin came crawling back to her. After hours of arguing and pleading, the two of them made a desperate pact. They would throw everything they had into Doomsday. They kept only enough cash to survive. Piper sold off every last cent of her savings in private trades and exchanged it all for marks. Then she bought Martin an expensive set of elite gear. They were convinced that this was their shot. They believed they could carve out a new life, fight their way out of the spawn point, and claim glory for themselves. But the very next day, the eerie creatures came. Martin was ripped apart before he could even react.