Game Over: I Regressed Before The Apocalypse

[LEVEL 80 MISSION UNLOCKED.] [OBJECTIVE: RETRIEVE THE KEY OF ASCENSION.] [TIME REMAINING: 00:19:47.] The first explosion shook the ground beneath Evelyn's feet. She grabbed the edge of a broken concrete pillar as the abandoned research facility trembled around her. Dust rained from the ceiling, mixing with the smoke that filled the corridor. Somewhere beyond the shattered windows, something enormous roared. She didn't need to look outside to know what it was. A Level-Seven Devourer. And according to the original game, it wasn't supposed to appear until the final thirty seconds of this mission. Her eyes narrowed at the countdown hovering in the corner of her vision. Nineteen minutes and forty seconds. "Are you just going to stand there?" her uncle shouted from behind her. "Move! We don't have all day!" Evelyn turned. Uncle Raymond stood beside the staircase, gripping the rifle the system had provided him. His face was pale beneath the grime, but his eyes were fixed on her with the familiar impatience she'd known for most of her life. Behind him were Aunt Margaret and her cousins, Daniel and Chloe. She had spent the last five years since the apocalypse began working to keep them alive. She was the one who took the lead whenever danger approached, planned their missions, and made sure they had enough supplies to survive. She had risked her life countless times while they depended on her to get them through each dangerous encounter. Yet she had not even received a word of thanks, only their cold remarks, complaints, and scolding. "There's a corridor on the left," she said, pointing towards a narrow passage half-hidden behind a fallen metal cabinet. "It leads to the security room. We can avoid the Devourer if we reach the key before it enters this building." Daniel scoffed. "Another one of your guesses?" "You also got us trapped in that underground tunnel for three hours!" Chloe fired back. "Because you ignored my instructions and stepped on the pressure plate," she retorted, frustrated. Daniel's face darkened. "Watch your mouth." Evelyn stared at him for a moment before turning away. There was no point arguing. Not when they had less than twenty minutes to complete the mission. She'd learned long ago that her family preferred blaming her for their mistakes rather than admitting they needed her. It didn't matter how many times she saved them. Somehow, she always became the problem. She adjusted the strap of her backpack and checked the pistol at her waist. The system had assigned weapons according to their levels. Hers was a compact silver pistol, enhanced with a targeting ability that allowed her to identify weak points in designated enemies. It wasn't the strongest weapon available, but she knew how to use it. More importantly, she knew this map. She'd played this mission countless times before the apocalypse turned the game into reality. That knowledge had kept her alive for years. It had also kept her family alive. "Follow me," she ordered. This time, nobody argued. They rushed into the narrow corridor as another explosion thundered behind them. The air grew colder the farther they went. Emergency lights flashed overhead, illuminating the peeling walls and the dark stains scattered across the floor. She recognized them. Blood. Some of it belonged to players who had failed this mission before them. Others belonged to creatures that had escaped the facility's containment chambers. She stepped over a severed hand without slowing down. Daniel gagged behind her. "How can you look at that without throwing up?" "Practice." The first time she'd encountered a scene like this, she'd spent ten minutes trembling in a corner, unable to move while an enemy tore through the group she'd been assigned to protect. That had been before she'd understood the rules and realized that her hesitation could kill her. They reached the security room with thirteen minutes remaining. The door was locked. "Move aside," Evelyn said. She crouched beside the electronic panel and pulled a small tool from her pocket. The lock was a three-stage mechanism, and forcing it open would trigger an alarm that summoned every creature within the building. She'd made that mistake once. Her fingers moved quickly across the panel, and it took her another three minutes before the lock clicked open. She pushed the door open. Inside, rows of dead monitors lined the walls. Broken chairs lay scattered across the floor, and a thick layer of dust covered the control desk. At the centre of the room sat a metal box. Her heartbeat quickened as she approached it. A black object shaped like an ordinary key rested inside a transparent case. Strange silver lines ran along its surface, forming symbols she couldn't recognize. Even after reaching the highest level in the game, she'd never seen those symbols before. She stepped towards it. [HIDDEN OBJECTIVE DISCOVERED.] [REWARD: 500 TIME CREDITS.] A notification appeared. She ignored the reward and reached for the case. The moment her fingers closed around the key, a sharp pulse of energy shot through her palm. She staggered backwards, clutching the key. "What's wrong with you?" Chloe demanded. "Nothing." Evelyn looked at the object in her hand. Another notification flashed before her eyes. [FINAL OBJECTIVE UNLOCKED.] [PROCEED TO THE GATE.] [TIME REMAINING: 00:09:03.] Raymond pushed past Evelyn as she tried to steady herself. He immediately ran past her, beckoning to the others. "We need to leave. Now." A deafening crash came from somewhere below Evelyn, and she immediately ran after them. They sprinted from the security room and raced towards the eastern staircase. Evelyn took the lead soon enough, guiding them around a collapsed section of the corridor and through a maintenance passage that connected to the facility's underground loading bay. The Devourer's roars grew louder as the countdown continued. Her lungs burned, and sweat ran down her back. She could hear her cousins panting behind her, their footsteps growing uneven as the mission area began to collapse. Then they reached the final chamber. The Ascension Gate stood at its centre. It was a towering structure of black metal, surrounded by six pillars covered in the same strange symbols she'd seen on the key. Beyond it stretched a tunnel filled with pale blue light. A notification appeared. [PLACE THE KEY TO GAIN ACCESS.] Evelyn reached for the narrow slot beneath the gate's central symbol. Her uncle stepped forward immediately. "Give me the key." Evelyn paused. "What?" "Give it to me." He stepped closer, extending his hand. She stared at him, a little puzzled. "Did you not hear what I said?" His voice cracked like a whip. Evelyn looked at the gate, then back at him with doubt. "Don't make things difficult," Aunt Margaret said. "You've helped us get here. We appreciate that, but we don't need you anymore." For several seconds, Evelyn couldn't speak. The words were so absurd that her mind refused to accept them. "What?" Daniel laughed. "Don't act surprised. We already have the key we need. Why else would we keep someone like you with us?" Evelyn stared at him in disbelief. Was that why they had been acting peculiarly about having her on their team? So they could use her and dump her after getting the key? How could she be so dumb? She should have known better. She was the one who risked her life to find food supplies for them all and took on the dangerous missions because they were too frightened to go first. She had never considered all the years of suffering she had endured at their hands before the invasion began. Instead, she had fought desperately to ensure none of them lost their lives. Because she believed that if she just did enough, they might finally treat her like family. Her throat tightened. "I won't," she refused.