On the day that everything ended or perhaps started, Jason was bored out of his mind while he was working. Although he graduated from a good college with decent marks and he technically could work as a journalist, the best job he could find ways to be a cashier at the nearby convenience store…

"... Welcome," Jason said when a stunning redhead around his age entered the convenience store.

As usual, Jason said those words without any emotion, so he was ignored. However, he soon recognized the beauty that had shown up. She was a classmate from Jason's college days. Both of them had graduated six months ago. Still, unlike him, who slacked a lot and ended up not being noticed by any companies, she was the best student. Thanks to it, she was wearing some working clothes that suited her job. Jason had no idea how she was doing, but she looked as serious and as full of vigor as ever, so perhaps things were going well for her.

Jason always thought that she was out of his league, but that was fine since he never had any serious feelings for her. Still, it looked like she was glowing in sex appeal now that she was a proper working woman. Maybe Jason's eyes were playing tricks on him, but it looked like her waist got thin, while her butt and chest increased in harmony and those luscious red lips.

"I guess I need a girlfriend," Jason thought.

Despite the fact that the last two years were pretty much lost for many people due to the pandemic, people like her didn't let the situation hold her back. Jason let, and that was why they were standing at two different positions now.

"Her name was… Rose, right?" Jason thought. "We greeted each other a few times, but I guess six months is enough to make us forget each other's existence for a while."

While Jason was lost in thought, Rose approached with the container of things that she wanted. As usual, Jason showed his forced business smile while he was checking the prices of the products.

"Good afternoon, everything will be forty-five dollars and thirty cents," Jason said.

"All right… Have we met before?" Rose asked. "You are that Jason, right?"

"Just Jason, I didn't do anything to be called that Jason," Jason said.

"You are kidding, right?" Rose asked while laughing a little. "You are the guy who showed up at the classroom while suffering from a crazy hangover during the first week and every single day. You were almost expelled…"

"Come to think of it, something like that did happen," Jason said. "Call it the results of the actions of an audacious youth. You are Rose, right? It seems that you are doing well."

"I am trying… It seems that we picked a profession that is in decline nowadays," Rose said. "I am not saying that we should do things like the old generation in all senses, but reporters and journalists nowadays only do half-assed research behind their computers."

"Perhaps you are right," Jason said.

"Well, it was nice seeing you," Rose said. "I hope to meet you again soon."

Jason nodded with a smile. He had been trying to find a job doing what he had studied for, but he didn't get any results in the last six months. Unless things improve in the next one or two years, it seemed that the only way for them to meet would be there, and that would be quite embarrassing. It would be even worse if she never showed up again…

While Jason was thinking about nonsensical things, the ground began to tremble. At first, he thought that it was a small Earthquake, but then things got way out of hand, and it looked like everything was vibrating. Jason had never felt an earthquake like that happening in Los Angeles before. He even felt like something was vibrating inside him…

Jason quickly hid under the balcony of the store, but soon he realized that it wouldn't be of much help when massive cracks appeared on the walls. Even the ground began to crack… The last thing that Jason recalled was hearing a massive snap above him and him thinking: 'crap…'

That day, the reality of the world changed. It only lasted a few minutes, but the boundaries of the universe cracked in many spots. Earth was one of them… Many people saw fissures appearing in the sky, and something crossed the fissures and arrived on the planet. Some people only saw the fissures while others saw some eyes inside them…

Nevertheless, the world barely withstood that event. Almost half of the entire human civilization fell apart in a matter of minutes. Buildings fell and crushed billions, and holes on the ground suddenly devoured countless lives. When the human race finally had the chance to see what had happened, monsters appeared and prayed on the lives of the survivors.

The chaos lasted for several days until the awakened ones began to fight the monsters. They came from many backgrounds. Some were soldiers, salarymen, housewives… But they all had awakened to superpowers. After a few weeks, they finally managed to push the monsters away from the grand cities, and humans finally began to recover from the disaster.

During most of that time, Jason stayed unconscious under that building where he worked. The whole structure collapsed, and because of the situation, no one rescued him for days. Somehow, he survived and was brought to a hospital, but his wounds were too severe. It took months for his body to recover, and Earth was no longer the same when he woke up.