Talia had given up on counting days. The sky was a constant gray, as if the universe itself had decided that color was too much effort.
She sat cross-legged on the cold tile floor of an abandoned convenience store, cradling the last cup of instant noodles she'd found in the wreckage. Strands of her long black hair clung to her face, damp with sweat and ash, and her green eyes reflected the weak flicker of her lighter as it sparked twice before the flame caught, heating the sad excuse for broth. The scent was faint, barely there, but it was enough to make her stomach growl.
She whispered, "Gourmet, five-star meal of the century."
There was no one to laugh at her joke. No one to scold her for talking to herself again. Just empty shelves, shattered glass, and the echo of a world that had fallen apart.
It had been 42 days since the first collapse.
The day the sky cracked open, monsters poured out like shadows given flesh, and the world as she knew it unraveled.
Talia wasn't special. She didn't fight. She didn't lead. She didn't save anyone. She survived by running, hiding, and dumb luck.
And now she was out of luck—and noodles.
She slurped the last of the broth and leaned back, staring up at the broken fluorescent lights above. "Well," she said, "time to die, I guess."
[Announcement…]
(Second Collapse will commence in 10 seconds.)
Talia froze.
"What?" she whispered.
[9… 8… 7…]
"No, no, no." She scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding in her ears. "What collapse? There was already a collapse!"
[6… 5… 4…]
The air grew heavy. The sky, already dim, began to swirl—black clouds circling like vultures over a fresh corpse. A low, humming sound vibrated in the pit of her stomach.
[3… 2… 1…]
A blinding light tore open the sky with a sickening screech, like metal grinding against metal. The clouds ripped apart, and a jagged rift yawned open in the air above the city.
And then it fell through.
A creature the size of a van slammed into the cracked pavement just outside the shattered storefront. Its limbs bent the wrong way, its skin slick with a mottled sheen, like burnt oil. Antlers curled from its skull, and its eyes—six of them—glowed a poisonous green.
Talia didn't breathe.
The mutated beast twitched, then turned its head sharply, sniffing the air like a wolf on the hunt.
[New Threat Detected: Mutated beast - Class D]
[Warning: Combat class not detected. Recommend: Hide or Flee.]
"Great advice," Talia hissed.
She stumbled backward, knocking over a display rack that crashed to the floor with a loud clang.
The beast's head whipped around. It let out a rattling snarl.
Talia ran.
She didn't have a weapon. She didn't have a plan. All she had was fear and the kind of raw adrenaline that made your legs forget they were tired. She burst through the back door of the convenience store, racing down an alley littered with broken concrete and bones.
Behind her, the beast shrieked.
She didn't dare look back.
But as she turned the corner and ducked behind a collapsed dumpster, something moved.
A flicker of motion—a soft step on broken stone.
She froze.
It wasn't the beast. It was smaller. Silent.
A cat.
Pure white, its fur impossibly clean against the soot-stained alley. It stood perched atop a broken crate, tail curled neatly around its paws. Its eyes glowed—one a brilliant gold, the other a piercing blue.
Talia blinked.
It stared at her, not with fear or curiosity, but something far older. Calm. Unbothered.
Like it had seen the end of the world before and decided it wasn't impressed.
"What the hell…" she whispered, breath caught in her throat.
CRASH.
Behind her, the wall of the convenience store exploded outward in a spray of bricks and steel. The beast was coming.
The cat didn't flinch.
It turned its head toward the rubble and the approaching nightmare—and then, with a flick of its tail, leapt from the crate and darted down a narrow side path.
Talia didn't think. She followed.
One moment she was crouched behind rusted metal, the next she was sprinting again, her feet chasing the flicker of white just ahead. Her lungs burned, and her mind screamed that this was insane, that she should be hiding, not chasing magical cats.
But something about that gaze… it had pulled her. Anchored her.
The alley twisted, narrowing into a tunnel of brick and shadows. The world behind her roared—the beast's screech echoing off the walls—but she kept running.
The cat slipped through a crack in a fence. Talia squeezed after it, skin scraping metal. On the other side was—
—a door.
A door where no building stood. Old wood, aged with time, with a tiny brass sign that read:
"Welcome In."
The cat sat in front of it, waiting.
And then it pawed the door gently.
The knob clicked.
The door opened.
And just as the monster's claws scraped against the alley's end, Talia stepped through and froze.
Not into a crumbling hallway or another alley, but…
A café.
A literal café.
It stood intact in the heart of the ruins, nestled between half-toppled buildings like a dream that had refused to rot with the rest of the world. The windows were clean. The sign above the door glowed softly, flickering neon letters that read:
"Haven Brew."
The air inside was warm. Not stale or heavy like outside—but real warmth, the kind that hugged your skin. Wooden tables stood in neat rows. Mismatched chairs waited patiently for customers long gone. A faint scent of coffee and vanilla lingered, as if someone had just brewed a fresh pot.
It shouldn't exist.
It couldn't exist.
The cat was already curled on a cushioned seat by the window, licking its paw like it hadn't just led her away from a nightmare.
Talia stumbled in and closed the door behind her. Outside, the beast slammed against something—something invisible. She flinched. But the door didn't shudder. The walls didn't crack. The monster let out one final shriek… and then silence.
Gone.
Talia leaned back against the door, panting.
[Safe Zone Established: Welcome to Haven Brew Café.]
The text blinked softly in the air before her.
[Congratulations! You have officially activated your Starter Class: Café Owner (Lv.1)]
[Skill Unlocked: Comfort Aura Lv.1 – Restores minor mental fatigue and eases fear within a 10-meter radius.]
[Daily Quest: Brew 1 cup of coffee. Reward: Basic Inventory Access + 1 Stat Point]
Talia stared at the floating prompts. Then at the warm interior. Then at the cat, now stretched out on its back like it owned the place.
She walked over to the counter. It was spotless. Behind it, a menu written in chalk: Espresso. Cappuccino. Herbal Tea. Homemade Scones. Hope.
She blinked. "Hope?"
The word was gone the next second, replaced by Hot Chocolate.
She put her hands on the counter and whispered, "Okay. Either I'm dead… or I've been recruited by a delusional system AI to run a hipster café in hell."
The cat, still perched by the window like it owned the place (which, to be fair, it probably did), let out a slow, deeply judgmental mrrow.
It stood, fur puffed slightly with offense, and padded toward her with the stiff-legged grace of a royal dignitary who had just been gravely insulted.
It sat right in front of her, tail lashing once, and fixed her with a stare that said, How dare you.
A soft chime echoed in her ears.
[System Familiar: ??? has acknowledged your initiation.]
[Bond Status: Pending Recognition.]
[Note: Watch your tone.]
Talia blinked. "Okay, wow. Sorry. Not hipster. Clearly very elegant and noble café with a grumpy, judgmental mascot."
The cat narrowed its eyes… then gave a short, almost dignified sneeze and turned its back on her, hopping lightly onto the counter.
The coffee machine purred to life behind her. A mug slid into place, and the air filled with the smell of cinnamon and espresso.
A screen shimmered into view.
[Would you like to serve your first customer?]
Talia looked at the cat. "I'll take that as a yes."
The bell over the door jingled.
Talia looked at the door.
Outside, the apocalypse waited.
Inside… for the first time in 42 days, she felt like maybe she could breathe again.
She swallowed and said, "Yeah. Why not?"
The bell over the door jingled again.
Someone—or something—was coming in.