"However, we shouldn't lose hope. The greatest minds in our country are right behind me, and they're doing their job to the best of their abilities. As for asking help to our allies, that is sadly impossible. Every one of them is facing their ordeal, and no one can spare any assistance."
"It is up to us now to protect our own country, and I hope everyone cooperates in these trying times. The surviving military bases all over the country are open to everyone to seek refuge. All we ask is that everyone complies with their requests. These procedures, after all, are for the good of all. "
"That is all, and I hope by the time this all ends, we're all still well end alive."
Ryujin stood there stunned; he didn't even understand what the news anchor was talking about anymore. The Prime Minister may not have said it blatantly, but it was hard not to realize what he was saying.
'We have no way of saving you; just pray that you're lucky enough to reach one of the bases.'
He knew how hard it was to travel outside. Various creatures infested the streets, the cannibals, and the strange green monsters were the most abundant ones. It was only with luck that he managed to retreat into a house where he was currently taking shelter.
On his way here, he couldn't see a single living human on the streets. They may have hidden from the monsters, but chances are there was no one left alive.
Ryujin turned off the television. He already heard what he needed to hear, so there was no point listening to the rest. He ended up lying on the floor, thinking about his future.
The future didn't look great, and it was undeniable that the government was his highest chance of survival, but it's not like it's his only chance. There was another option that he wasn't willing to take.
He didn't have the luxury to think about it, but now he had the moment, and he had nothing to do. Ryujin recalled what the voice in his head said at that time until he thought of status. A series of words and numbers popped up in front of him.
Age: 19 Class: None Skills: Physical Pain Tolerance (Low), Psychological Stress Tolerance (Low) Strength: 17 Dexterity: 15 Vitality: 20 Intelligence: 24 Agility: 18 Innate Talent: ??? Status Points: 0 Titles: None> The more he looked at it, the further it resembled the ones he saw in games. Ryujin started to assume that he was under a hallucination. Perhaps a monster capable of inducing an illusion of some sort was possessing him. He was slowly getting lost in his thoughts that they were getting far more absurd by the second. Ryujin eventually snapped out of it, and he dismissed all of his assumptions. It no longer mattered to him whether it was a hallucination or if something was controlling him. After all, he'd still have to kill those monsters to survive. Ryujin knew he didn't have the luxury to uncover the truth since he lacked the strength. Only when Ryujin survives until the end could he have the chance to know what's happening. He decided to sleep when his thoughts reached up to that point. He needed to rest every time he could, for Ryujin didn't know when will be the next time that he'll get a chance to do so. . . . . . . . . Velius stood on a balcony, watching people of various ages go about their daily lives. They were all smiling as if the world didn't matter. These ethereal like humans were his family, and there were hundreds of thousands of them. There might even be millions, but it is beyond doubt that there were many of them. He initially didn't care about familial relationships; all he wanted was to reach the peak and be one of the strongest humans. With the continuous growth in his strength, his life span grew until he outlived his grandsons. At that point, he realized that he shouldn't get attached or they will affect his resolve, although he'd still help them from time to time. Decades or perhaps centuries had passed. When Velius finally reached the peak he longed for, it was hard for him to accept his limit, but with his experience, Velius understood that he wouldn't see progress in his strength. His desire for power has left him in solitude, and without his passion for power, he felt the loneliness that he had never felt before when he had a goal in mind. At this point, he was just a legend in the eyes of his descendants. A myth that his family passed on to their kids for the moment he comes back to the family. However, Velius didn't know any of them, those who knew him had already passed on to the afterlife. He had no regrets, although he couldn't help but miss his family. Therefore he decided to bring everyone carrying his bloodline into what he called the "higher realm." Of course, he left those who didn't want to go, but there were hardly any. Velius assigned a duty to those who were left behind. When their descendants reached a certain age, they would learn about the "higher realm." They'd have to choose between staying on Earth or ascend into a different world. He watched his descendants play to relieve some stress when he heard a knock on the door to his office. After a swift motion of his hand, the doors opened, revealing a man whose visibly shaken. A glance at the man exposed the marks on his palms from clenching his fists too tightly. Velius could also hear the man's rapidly beating heart thanks to his enhanced hearing, and his improved brain allowed him to recall everything he knew about the man within milliseconds. "Speak." It was a simple word spoken in a manner close to a whisper, yet it carried an insurmountable force. The voice reverberated in the whole room, causing the man's heart to beat even faster, and with great difficulty, the man spoke. With every word coming out of his mouth, the man could see the minute changes on his master's face. He was afraid, but he didn't dare to stop midway, and so right when he finished what he came to say, he could no longer look at his master in the eyes. He could feel a baleful aura filling the room before he heard the objects in the room break. The man could see everything in the place crumpled like a piece of paper. What was scarier is that the finest craftsmen used the most resilient materials to build everything in the room. That was when Velius shouted in anger, that the whole castle started to shake. The entire kingdom was in an uproar, and the man had to do his best to appease the furious king. . . . . . . . It was in the middle of the night when Ryujin suddenly sat straight up, his eyes wide open when a pained expression appeared on his face. His body was trembling as he looked around the room with paranoia and fear evident in his eyes. Finding himself lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar room, Ryujin tried his best to remember what happened. He initially thought of it as a nightmare he had, but then reality sank in causing Ryujin to try and calm his wildly beating heart as he left the comfort of the sofa. He cautiously looked around the room once more before he started to look for the bathroom. The house was still unexplored; when Ryujin arrived earlier, all he wanted was to watch the news and rest, so he didn't even know its layout. He eventually found the bathroom, and as he turned on the lights, he was scared for a moment by his reflection on the mirror. The dried blood covering his face and the bloodstains on his clothes reminded him of what he has done, causing him to puke on the sink. Ryujin decided to wash his face with soap and after rinsing the soap that was reddish-brown. He again looked in the mirror only to see a shadow move on the corner of his eyes, which caused him to jump out of fright to find nothing unusual. Realizing that he was worried for nothing, he let out a sigh as he once more washes and rubs his eyes before removing his bloodstained shirt. Ryujin stared at the reflection of his body on the mirror; his slightly bruised chest and arms reminded him of his close to death experience. He removed his pants afterward, exposing his legs that were in a worse condition than his upper body. The goblin didn't break his legs, and Ryujin could only thank its overconfidence. If it went all out even if he survived, he wouldn't last long, especially when no one is going to rescue him. Sick of the smell of blood lingering on him, he took a quick shower before exploring the rest of the house once again. Ryujin listened to the sound of his surroundings, and he could hear nothing other than the sound of the floorboards creaking upon his every step as he walked up the stairs. After reaching the top of the stairs, he could see an empty hallway with two rooms on the left and a single room on the right with a door decorated with rainbows. It had some sort of handmade nameplate for kids, and written on it was the kid's name. Thinking to himself that he didn't need anything there, he decided to go to one of the rooms to his left. He slowly opened one of the doors, which led into an office, where it was a mess inside. Papers and books were scattered all over the floor while all the drawers and cabinets left open. It seemed like someone was searching for something in a hurry, leaving all this mess behind. Seeing nothing useful, Ryujin headed towards the other room, and as soon as he was about to open the door, he heard someone breathing heavily on the other side of the door. It was quite faint, barely audible even inside this quiet house. At that moment, Ryujin didn't know what it was, but he wanted to open the door despite knowing it was dangerous. He slowly turned the doorknob, and cautiously pushed the door open. What greeted him was the sight of a woman lying on a bed. The woman didn't seem to have noticed Ryujin, who was standing right beside the bed. She was extremely pale and could barely breathe. Ryujin immediately rushed to help her, and he slowly removed her hands on top of her stomach, exposing a wound from a gunshot. Ryujin was unsure of what to do to help the woman. He applied some pressure in desperation to stop the bleeding, but he knew it was too late judging from the amount of blood. Without a doubt, the woman felt it, and she opened her eyes to see Ryujin panicking. "I-It's useless. Kuhah! Kuhah! P-please just bring my daughter here, she's in her room." He didn't notice the woman opening her eyes, so Ryujin was surprised when she started talking. Happiness appeared in his face for a moment before being replaced by a stern look once more. Ryujin listened attentively and put his ears closer to the woman to hear her weak voice. He didn't even mind the woman's dry cough midway before nodding his head to her request. Ryujin immediately ran after the woman finished talking; he no longer cared about being cautious as he burst through the door. Looking around, he found no signs of a kid, so he immediately started searching. He looked in usual hiding spots like under the bed before opening the closet. Ryujin found a young girl looking at him with fear in her eyes. She was just about to cry and scream when Ryujin interrupted her. Ryujin tried to put on his friendliest smile before talking. "Your mother's looking for you; She told me to bring you to her."