When I awoke, I was in a daze. My mind drifted like the wind, unable to hold onto anything. The rain falling against my face felt like drums.

  Eventually, I was able to collect myself. With painfully slow movements, I pushed back my arms, raising my torso. Once I was finally able to rise to my feet, the soreness slowly started to abate. Each movement started to feel surer and stronger.

  By the time I managed to hobble to my car, I felt… truthfully, I couldn’t quite describe it. There was a wrongness with my body, but also an impossible surety. I could feel every muscle contract. I knew where every footfall would land. By the time I sat down behind the wheel of my car, I was still reeling.

  Catching the reflection of my eyes in the rearview mirror made me shrink back in shock. With trembling fingers, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, opened up the camera, and looked at my reflection.

  But the fingers that traced the screen were wrong.

  Everything was wrong.

  Taking in my face, I was… well. Not appalled. But I definitely should have been freaking out. It was somehow even stranger that I was managing to take everything in without screaming my lungs out.

  I was grey. No two ways about it.

  My flesh looked like an amalgamation of roiling storm clouds. I had hoped that the glimpses of my hands were tricks of the eye left over from being struck by freaking lightning, but obviously, there was something more going on.

  My eyes were pinpoints of lightning, complete with crackling bolts of energy snaking through the sides of my face and cheeks, tracing beautiful luminous cracks down my face. My hair was pale white and seemed constantly tousled by a wind that only it could feel. In the center of my forehead was a glowing white gem, matching the crackling color of my eyes. Somehow, I knew with certainty that that was where the lightning had fallen.

  Looking down again, I noticed that my exercise clothes were covered in scattered burn marks that stank of melted plastic. My body, too, had changed. Judging by how uncomfortable the seat settings of my car were, I had grown several inches at the very least.

  I was also shredded.

  Before, I wasn’t exactly out of shape, but I also wasn’t some kind of fitness paragon. I loved nachos too much to make that kind of lifestyle change. Now, though, I could see creases across my arms, legs, and abs denoting a superhero-esque physique that I had only seen in movies. What’s more, my skin was somehow perfectly dry, perfectly hairless, and oddly smooth. Running my finger down it felt like touching soft and slightly squishy glass more than touching skin.

  Curious, I opened the door of my car and stuck my hand out, and I marveled at how the water seemed to run off my skin without leaving so much as a trail. I was hydrophobic to a strange degree.

  Before I could continue marveling at the changes to my body, I needed to confirm something else. Something that could make or break my new reality and would likely determine just how fucked the rest of the human race was.

  I had hoped I was imagining it, but considering what had happened to me, and the utter surety I felt that what happened to me was real and not some kind of messed up dream, I couldn’t not try.

  Under my breath, I whispered, “Status”.

  *ding!*

  As I took in the letter, my heart sank. We were in an apocalypse LitRPG, and that meant some very important things.

  First off, it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just going to be a change isolated to a few individuals. We had a scant amount of time to prepare before shit royally hit the fan. I also needed to check on Taylor, Cindy, and Donny. If I changed, they might have changed too, judging by the “pockets of individuals” tag on the message.

  I checked the clock to confirm, but it really looks like I was out of it for the past two hours, just like the message said. I needed to get back to the apartment.

  With a flex of will, the pop-up message vanished, and another screen took its place.

  That made sense. I was transformed 2 hours ago. I was also a lesser storm demi-paraelemental, which was an incredible mouthful. It sounded like something out of D&D. I was also a monster, apparently, whatever that meant. A bit rude. And I was good at… physicality, and storm?

  The last box was equally confusing. I was a Lone Wanderer, apparently?

  I continued reading, as a new box popped up, continuing my status readout.

  It was far more concerning.

  What the hell? It was a basic RPG menu with basic status, but everything except mana and luck wasn’t working correctly. What was happening?

  I had hoped that was the end, but yet another box popped up.

  My brain exploded in agony.