A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with classes, magic, and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.

Zac was alone in the middle of the forest when the world changed... The whole planet was introduced to the multiverse by an unfeeling System... or God. A universe where an endless number of races and civilizations fought for power and dominion. Zac finds himself stuck in the wilderness surrounded by deadly beasts, demons, and worse. Alone, lost and without answers, he must find the means to survive and get stronger in this new cut-throat reality.

The world ends in a slew of blue notification boxes, bringing with it a game-like existence including monsters and Classes. Now, John has to make his way from Kluane National Park in the Yukon to Whitehorse through monster-infested forests. But, that's not enough; because he'll need to help rebuild civilization itself around the System, aliens, and monsters. And, as always, humanity will be its own greatest enemy.

Fight, survive, adapt, and rely only on yourself. That is Derek’s creed and what's got him through the System Integration on Earth. Everything changed when the System came. Cute bunnies and beautiful butterflies became savage killing machines. Then the Invaders arrived with a single goal: to obtain ownership of this new habitable planet. War has raged ever since. None of this mattered much to Derek, aside from making living a little more perilous.

He thought it was the end, and his gun sat ready to make sure. But an oddball offer from his last friend comes at the literal last second. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he finds himself sucked into iNcarn8, a game claiming to be a whole new life. Now, as Montana, the larger-than-life tank warrior, he has one more last time to get his life right.

When the cultivators came to Earth, they destroyed our entire civilization in a matter of hours. Armies fell, cities burned, and that was before the moon turned red and filled our world with monsters. Now, over a decade later, what's left of humanity slaves under the heels of our Qi-infused masters. The luckiest of us might even become one of them, they say—if we serve the Dynasty well enough and harness the power of Qi. But I want none of that. I'm sick of serving, and I want nothing to do with their world. Instead, I want them to pay for what they did to mine.

Betrayed. Murdered. Reborn. One last chance, to make it right. Theo's adventure ended with his mentor's hands around his neck. The betrayal cost him his friends, allies, and everything he had built...but not his life. Though broken and powerless, Theo has one last chance to enter the Nine Worlds, wielding the knowledge and expertise of his first life. This time, he needs more than just power, he needs to unravel the deception that killed him once...and is coming for him again.

Jack Rust was a disillusioned biologist with a PhD—almost. When an extraterrestrial AI calling itself the System invaded Earth and thrusts it into a world of aliens and violence, the least Jack hoped for was gaining access to magic.

Corporate flameout Ned Altimer dreams of leaving his world behind. So, when Earthblood Online splashes onto the VRMMO scene, he dives in and never looks back. His advantages are twofold: exclusive access to the game’s three-day Head Start period, and a ridiculously handsome talking axe named Frank who has knowledge of the game’s deepest secrets...if the magnificent Frank ever feels like sharing them.

In pursuit of his abusive father’s approval, Zeke Blackwood pushed himself to the very pinnacle of his chosen obsession. Since childhood, all he’d ever wanted to do was play baseball, and through hard work, discipline, and no small degree of talent, his goal of reaching the major leagues was finally in sight. But then a horrific car accident ruined his arm, eliminating any hope of a professional baseball career. Consumed by depression, Zeke gave up on his future, preferring to wallow in self-pity. That is, until an opportunity came along for him to prove his worth.

Jax seems like a regular guy, except that he fights creatures from a strange place called the UnderVerse in his sleep, leaving him covered in horrific scars when he wakes up. The mysterious disappearance of his brother five years prior has forced Jax into a holding pattern, with a job he tolerates, a girl he kinda, sorta loves . . . until he's kidnapped and given a stark choice by his asshat of a father: Go to the UnderVerse in reality, travel to the capitol of that ruined realm at the center of reality, and open a portal for the Noble Houses to return home . . .

Colonel James Raytak is about to die. The 93-year-old combat veteran is living his last days in a nursing home, and his only hope for survival is found inside the virtual world of Limitless Lands. With every swing of his sword and every command given to his army, Raytak is one step closer to returning to the people he loves. Many foes will stand in his path, and despite a lifetime of military experience and powerful allies, victory is not assured.

Michael finds himself in the realm of the Forever Kingdom, with no memory of how he got there and who he is. Even so, he must participate in the Grand Game and forge a new destiny for himself. Dropped into a dungeon of monsters and strange magics, would you survive in a game where to lose means death? Alone, and with little more than his wits to aid him, Michael must advance as a player, slay his foes, and gain experience. All while navigating the intrigues around him and discovering his purpose.

Matt's just an ordinary guy, but when he's beaten, robbed, and left for dead, bleeding out at the bottom of a gully, it all has to change as he grasps frantically at his only chance for survival, coming as it does in the form of a glowing, dangerously pulsing light. With his reality forever altered, Matt must quickly find a suitable place to deploy the Dungeon Core, fighting his way through the hundreds of people between him and safety, because if he doesn't do it soon, a Core Detonation will solve all of his problems for him....permanently.

Jay Luckrun has many interests: street dancing, anime, action movies, comedy, and dashing across rooftops to the point where his bullies nicknamed him Rooftop Weirdo. After struggling to confront his untouchable high school crush at her seventeenth birthday party, Jay adds another interest to his list—Dungeon Crawling in the face of the apocalypse. Jay meets a divine creature who chooses him to become a Champion. Someone with a leveling System, stats, skills, access to other dimensions containing dungeons filled with supernatural loot, and magical powers that’ll alter reality as they know it.