Ryan Maxwell
The good news: Tom survived the apocalypse. The bad news: Earth's vending machines chose violence.
As a software developer from Texas, Tom thought he understood broken code. But when mysterious obelisks transform Earth into a glitch-riddled dungeon crawler, he discovers that debugging the apocalypse won’t be as easy as turning it off and back on again. Their lifeline? Vending machines turned miniature storefronts. These mechanical saviors dispensed everything from swords to shampoo—until they started dispensing death.
Armed with terrible luck, a knack for accidental heroics, and an ever-growing hatred for the System Admins, Tom must uncover the source of the corruption before humanity's last lifeline delivers its final blow. Between monster-filled wastelands and terrifying dungeons, survival is starting to feel like a bad DLC.
Debugging the end of the world was not in the patch notes.
The good news: The vending machines aren’t trying to kill them anymore.
The bad news: Pretty much everything else is.
After debugging the apocalypse and stopping the corruption infecting Earth’s
last supply chain, Tom thought survival might finally get easier. He was wrong.
With civilization hanging by a thread, the real threat isn’t just monsters—it’s
people. Between power-hungry guilds, a self-proclaimed ruler who collects
slaves like trading cards, and the ever-mysterious System pulling the strings, the
only certainty in conflict.
Now, Tom and his friends have a new mission: get back to Dallas before the
world burns down around them. But when the city is already a battlefield, the
difference between a hero and a warlord is just a matter of perspective.
Peace was never an option.
The good news: Tom and his guild won the war for Dallas.
The bad news: Space pirates are still on their way—and they aren’t bringing a gift basket.
After blasting vending machine monsters, fighting in a Mexican standoff, and surviving the least user-friendly apocalypse imaginable, Tom thought he’d finally get a break. Instead, he’s knee-deep in problems that can’t be solved with sword swings or witty sarcasm.
There’s a city to rebuild, guild members to train, and a never-ending list of disasters to manage. With problems like a ghost in the Guild hall, a murder mystery unfolding in the middle of town, and someone, somehow, trying to organize a committee meeting about snack distribution, Tom must rely on his friends to help organize the Guild so they aren’t destroyed from within.
Worse, the pirates haven’t given up. Their ships are getting closer, their tech is terrifying, and Tom’s pretty sure a vending machine just called him expendable.
With time running out and doomsday on the calendar—again—Tom and his friends must race to prepare for Earth’s next unwanted DLC. Because when galactic war comes knocking, you don’t get a patch. You get patch notes. On fire.
The war for Earth isn’t over. It’s just changing terms and conditions.