Universe's End

When one door closes, another one opens. And when one universe ends, another begins. Rory has found himself in a rather strange predicament: the end of not just the world, but the entire universe has come and gone. An intergalactic war was waged, and in the end, try as they might, the good guys lost when the bad guys pressed the big red do not press button. Except, instead of being the end of the story, Rory, a nobody in the grand scheme of things, finds himself almost completely alone in a fresh universe, one of eight precursors chosen almost entirely at random.  Almost completely alone, Rory must survive, if only because there isn't much to do but survive. His only sometimes company is an odd World Spirit that seems insistent on his continued survival and growth, a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship that feels at least a little bit like a pyramid scheme. Not only must he do his best to survive, but he must also chart the course and build an entire universe from scratch, becoming the architect of something new. This isn't the story of an up-and-coming, plucky main character daring to challenge the gods of old and shake up the foundations of everything once known. No, this is the story OF one of the gods of old, following their rise from a nobody in a brand new universe, to the pinnacle of existence, a name known, sometimes loved, sometimes feared, but always respected, throughout all of existence. Universe's End is a LitRPG that follows not that upcoming plucky hero as they strive to surpass the ancient forerunners or current legendary figures but instead follows the story of one of those very precursors as they build the foundations of the LitRPGs we are all familiar with, while also answering the question of why the world follows an almost video game-like logic. What you'll get -Weak to strong progression over an extended time frame -Exploring the story of the very first few to experience a System-based life. -Little to no edge. MC is not a revenge-thirsting, all-black-wearing, trench coat having bad boy. -Heavy crafting focus -No number bloat. You won't see any stat sheets with tens of thousands of stat points with amplifiers that mean nothing -Little to no hax. -Adult MC. -No system-breaking. This is not a story where the main character finds a loophole to abuse; if it appears like a loophole has been introduced, it's typically to explain how it gets quashed. -This is a story where sometimes things happen outside of the main character's control. These are usually used to establish a new mechanic. DISCLAIMER: Chapter 1 is a flash forward showing the main character far in the future. If you are someone who DOES NOT like that style of storytelling or intro, this story may not be for you.