Garbage Warrior System-Chapter 17 – Countdown to Oblivion
Chapter 17 – Countdown to Oblivion
The slums were no longer sleeping.
Not since the rift started breathing.
People didn’t feel it at first. The weak thrumming beneath the broken sky, the slight shudder that rocked the rubblestrewn streets every few seconds. But Rai felt it. He always felt the quiet before the storm, the gasp between fights. And this time, that quiet screamed.
The interface of the system glared across his eyespace — a bright red outline tracing out his entire field of vision.
> [System Alert: Rift Core Signature Detected – Pulse Frequency Rising]
[Countdown Sequence: 120 Hours until Complete Manifestation]
Rai gazed, his chest thudding to the rhythm of that accursed pulse.
With every thud, it vibrated through the earth, resonating like a buried monster’s heartbeat — thum. thum. thum.
He tightened his gauntleted fist. "So it’s alive."
The Trash Reaper vibrated softly, metal plates vibrating in harmony with the tear’s frequency. The gun felt queasy, as if aware of its master’s fear.
A whirlwind of ash and soot swept over the ruined market square. The air was bitter with burned ozone, and the horizon rippled abnormally — reality distorting at the periphery of awareness.
"Yuki." Rai breathed.
She stood beside the remnants of a broken shelter, her white hair glowing faintly with riftlight. Ever since the last surge, her energy signature had changed — pulsing with a strange crystalline resonance.
Her eyes met his, reflecting the red sky. “It’s not just a rift anymore. it’s a heart. Something — or someone — is trying to be born.”
Rai’s breath hitched. “Born? From the rift?”
She nodded slowly, her voice shaking but firm. "The system refers to it as The Core Awakening. Each pulse you sense is a countdown. When it hits zero, the rift won’t merely spawn monsters — it will merge both sides."
A chill ran down Rai’s back. Merge. both sides? That would mean — reality itself would split open, the border between worlds shattering completely.
> [System Update: Rift Expansion Detected in 6 Sub-Sectors]
[Warning: Rift Stability falling 3% per hour]
"Shit," Rai growled, clenching his head. The flashing system message appeared to sear into his eyes. "We don’t have much time."
---
The following morning dawned with no light. The sky was still bruised with churning clouds of crimson, and the city fell apart even quicker with each heartbeat. Whole buildings dissolved as if consumed by intangible rot.
Rai stood before the slum’s central ruins — once a church, now half-swallowed by the ground. He scanned the area with his system visor, and glowing glyphs appeared over the stone walls.
> [Detection: Ancient Awakener Ruins – Category A]
[Energy Signature: Compatible with Yuki’s DNA Sequence]
“Compatible.” Rai muttered. “Then she really is—”
“The descendant of the first awakener,” Yuki finished softly. Her voice carried both pride and fear.
Rai turned toward her. “Then you’re connected to the one who started all this.”
Yuki’s eyes dimmed. “Or maybe. to the one who tried to stop it.”
The ground suddenly shook — THUND THUND THUND — deep bassy vibrations splitting through the stone. Dust fell from the walls as a shadow passed across the ceiling.
Rai drew his gauntlet, energy surging down its surface. “Get back.”
From the broken altar, something emerged — not a creature this time, but an image. A figure of great height, armored in obsidian, its voice resonating in a thousand warped voices.
> "To those still breathing. the countdown has started. The Core’s awakening cannot be reversed."
It stared at Rai without blinking.
"Who are you!?" Rai bellowed.
> "A memory," it said. "I am what is left of the First Awakener — the failure."
The image fluttered, its surface distorting — a half-human, half-robot face. "Five days are left before Rift Heart fully appears. Stop it. or the system will reset all things."
"Reset?" Yuki whispered.
> "Humanity. Systems. Souls. Everything will be zero."
Then it disappeared.
Rai slowly breathed out, his head reeling. "Five days. five damn days before nothingness."
The system beeped once more.
> [New Quest Unlocked: "Countdown to Oblivion" – Prevent Rift Heart Manifestation]
[Reward: ???]
[Failure: Global Reset Event]
"Reset the world?" Rai spoke through clenched teeth. "Not going to happen."
---
Chaos had taken hold by the second day.
Mini-rifts erupted across the slums — glowing distortions warping the air like melted glass. From them emerged creatures of strange design — biomechanical abominations with spiky limbs and veins that pulsed with sapphire fire.
THUND THUND. KRAAAASH!
A quadruped monstrosity burst down the central boulevard, crashing through reinforced walls. Rai sprang onto a crumpled girder, propelling himself in a charge.
"HYAAAH!"
His gauntlet cracked the monster’s skull — SLACK! KRRRACK! — crushing bone and overflowing black ichor. The beast let out a shriek — SHREEEEEEEK! — before folding into a pile of crumbling sludge.
> [+4,500 EXP gained]
[New Material: Rift Bone Shard acquired]
Rai didn’t even hesitate. The next monster charged from the side, its whip-like tail swinging. SWOOSH—BANG! Metal clashed against metal, and sparks flew everywhere. Rai engaged his absorber system — ZZZZZHHHHH! — vacuuming up the monster’s tainted energy directly into his armor.
> [System Integration: 4% increase in Gauntlet Efficiency]
----
He could sense it. His energy growing, but his body aflame in return. Each absorption yanked at his nerves like hot wires.
He staggered momentarily, gasping, then pulled himself to a standing position. "Not yet. I can’t quit now."
---
Under the broken-overpass that night, the survivors huddled. Yuki cared for wounded refugees, her newfound strength crafting thin silver wards to ward off monsters.
Rai huddled beside her. "You’re pushing your power too hard again."
She managed a weak smile. "You are too."
He turned away. "We must keep going. If that countdown hits zero—"
"I know." She gazed at the thudding sky. "Then it all ends."
---
The third day saw two unexpected faces surfacing from the rubble — Crow and Renji.
Their armor was worn, faces stern, but both retained their typical tension.
Crow snarled slightly. "Still breathing, Trash Reaper?"
Rai didn’t even turn to look at him. "Barely. You two look worse."
Renji folded his arms. "We witnessed what’s occurring from the outer rings. This schism. it’s not merely an invasion. It’s rewriting the earth itself."
Yuki nodded. "It’s changing, tying dimensions together. The power is the same as early awaken-stone trials."
Crow scrunched his face. "You mean the ancient human ones? The ones that disappeared centuries ago?"
"Yes," Yuki said. "Someone or something is attempting to replicate the first experiment. worldwide."
The ensuing silence was unbearable.
At last, Crow let out a sigh. "Then perhaps. just this once, we don’t murder each other."
Rai spun around, eyes narrowing. "You’re suggesting a truce?"
"Call it. survival."
---
By the fourth day, the system tone had shifted entirely.
> [Emergency Protocol Unlocked – Overdrive Mode Available]
[Warning: Severe Life Drain on activation]
Rai read over the description slowly, his gut constricting. Overdrive Mode: a temporary increase of +500% in combat capability. at the cost of draining his lifespan.
He closed the window, jaw tight. “Last resort.”
---
That night, as the sky throbbed faster — THUM-THUM-THUM-THUM — Rai climbed atop the skeletal remains of a skyscraper. The entire city below glowed red from riftlight veins spreading like blood vessels.
He stared at it — the heart of the apocalypse — and clenched his fists.
“I don’t care who created it. I’ll end it before it wakes.”
[System Received: Pre-emptive Strike Preparation Initiated]
[Request to Forge: Node-Fused Weapon Blueprint – "Oblivion Breaker"]
A new holographic map materialized — an unfathomably massive blade fueled by compressed node cores, meant to slice through the central energy lattice of the rift.
Rai smiled thinly. "Perfect."
He slapped his gauntlet on the steel floor — THUND! CLANG! THUND! — creating sparks illuminating the darkness as he set it into motion. The metallic howl rang out like drums of war, merging with the rift’s heartbeat in macabre concert.
Down below, Yuki sensed the energy and smiled weakly. "He’s doing it again. pushing himself beyond human." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Crow stood by at a distance. "If he succeeds, there will be no world left to fight for."
Renji loaded his gun, looking out across the distance. "Then let’s ensure he doesn’t."
---
By morning, the countdown had entered its final stage.
> [Rift Manifestation: 12 Hours Remaining]
The pulse became deafening now — THUM-THUM-THUM-THUM-THUM! — shaking all walls and bones.
Rai stood on the border of the ruins, fresh blade held before him, the "Oblivion Breaker" humming with unrestrained power. His armor shone red and black, glowing veins coursing across its surface like burning fire.
He gazed out towards the horizon — the center of the rift, now a swirling storm of black-red energy.
"Time to silence the heartbeat."
He walked ahead, his sword flashing with blinding light — ZZZZHHHHH! THUND! BOOOM! — as the earth below him split apart under pressure.
Rounding after him, Yuki called out, her voice shaking but hard. "Rai. if you leave, you may not return."
He smiled weakly. "I wasn’t ever meant to."
And then — he sprinted towards the storm.
The world howled. The heavens scorched. The tear in reality convulsed one last time, a mind-blasting roar — THUUUUUUMMMM!!! — ringing out in every existence.
The obliterating countdown had started.
---
[ To Be Continue. ]
