All the narrowed gazes of the camp leader and the members fell on Vidham. "This seems more horrible than your stories."
Vidham nodded and said, "They should be thankful they didn't venture deeper, or they would never have exited those ruins alive."
The team leader and his members agreed because they had already witnessed the real horror of the monsters even though they still don't know how all these accidents happened.
The camp leader didn't delay and ordered, "Okay, go and take a rest." The team leader, members, and the explorer exited the room.
Vidham finally couldn't control himself and spat, "I couldn't fathom their carelessness. They dared to roam at night? Haven't they heard the rumors by now?"
The camp leader just smiled. "Newborn calves!" He then ended the meeting. "Let's forget that this meeting ever happened." Glancing toward the other middle-aged man, he added, "Stick a poster in our camp to never explore those abandoned ruins."
Vidham also agreed with the camp leader. Glancing outside the window where the deep darkness had faded a lot, he muttered, "Time sure flies fast."
---
Soon the darkness disappeared, and sunlight spread over the cities, bringing warmth to the living creatures.
In the abandoned ruins, a figure lay on the ground, wearing tattered clothes stained with blood. Suddenly, all of his attire started to disappear into his body, and soon he was covered in new attire.
"Aah! This bastard never misses a chance to trouble me," he muttered.
He rose from the ground and cleared the dust from his attire, then moved toward the chamber. Inside, he saw five living bodies hanging on the wall, displaying a grotesque living art.
Ignoring these, the man ventured deeper into the chamber, where he kicked open the door and entered another room. "Hmm. This room is clean," he noted. Unintentionally, his gaze fell to the right side of the chamber, where numerous corpses of zombies, humans, and various other species lay arranged in a pattern.
Suddenly, the eyelids of all the corpses trembled and opened, but their expressions remained blank. "Hmm. These experimental materials still need a little refinement," he muttered, glancing toward the left side where different instruments lay in an orderly arrangement.
There were tape measures, cross screwdrivers, bits, ratchet screwdrivers, slotted screwdrivers, socket wrenches, claw hammers, double-headed instrument bits, Allen wrenches, socket joint adapters, and more.
With a sigh of relief, he said, "Thank God, that bastard learned to put everything in its place."
After checking everything, the man sat down on a chair and proudly patted the armrest. "These materials took me much effort to gather, but it was all worth it."
"If anyone were to see, they would be horrified because this chair is made with the skeletons of living beings."
Additionally, if you're looking to delve deeper into the framework of the chair which resembles a "piles of skeletons," but that was neatly used to build the chair.
After relaxing for a moment, he heard a prompt which brought a smile to his face.
[Ding...]
[You have successfully managed to advance the 'Nature' quest.]
[Your Trait: Nature has been maxed.]
"After a long time, I got what I wished," the man chimed while resting his chin on his hand, "even though it has some drawbacks." Finally, he couldn't hold himself back and muttered, "System," and a panel appeared before his eyes.
Apocalypse System
Name: Sam Raj
Title: N/A
Class: Artist: The Clown [Hidden Profession]
Subclass: N/A
Level: 10 [Upgrade your class for level up]
Exp: 1.5 million/10,000
Health: 300/300
Mana: 300/300
Strength: 15
Physique: 15
Intelligence: 15
Spirit: 15
Stat Points: 50
Talent: Magical Body [Ex]
Professional Skill: Master of Disguise [Low], Painting Reality [Low], Twisted Illusion [High], Unsettling Presence [Perfect], Cunning Manipulator [Low], Agile and Acrobatic [Low], Tool Mastery [High], Mind Games [High], Dark Magic [Low]
Trait: Nature [Ex]
"Hmm, stats are trash," the man frown but soon his face lit up with a smile and muttered, "didn't use stat points but skills are on the whole another level," and rose from his seat, exiting the chamber.
Finally, he emerged from the semi-destroyed building and stood in the open ruins.
Taking a deep breath, the man muttered, "Sunlight. How many days passed without sunlight?" Clenching his fist, his gaze went toward the panel where he saw his talent: Magical Body. "This helped me to survive the apocalypse," he added, glancing toward his trait: Nature. "These will let me roam this whole world."
He still remembered that when he arrived in this world, it was the starting point of the apocalypse. Today, around a year has passed.
For others, it was the feeling of suffocation due to the sudden change of the planet, but for him, this was a new starting point. Like everyone else, he also got the system panel which showed every detail of him.
In the beginning, he was very happy and did many practical things with zombies, humans, and other species. But soon, he realized that within one month, he was just busy in his fantasy of making living art, and time passed.
During those times, he didn't even absorb a crystal to advance and soon was left behind by the world, unable to obtain any materials for his arts.
In those times, he awakened his talent: Magical Body [Ex] and soon his consciousness was replaced by another being, spending those whole years in just a mental space world.
Unlike others, he enjoyed the feeling and learned that he was much inferior compared to this magical body's art. He saw that the magical body's consciousness was able to help his body level up and gain experience because he killed a lot of monsters and even used heavy instruments to modify and conduct many experiments.
The man glanced toward the sun, showing nostalgia on his face. "Those days, I did learn a lot," he murmured, shaking his head. "I thought I was the world's best painter, but there is always someone who is above you."
Soon his eyes sparked, and clenching his fist, he declared, "God gave me a chance. I will use this chance to become the world's best living painter." His face became crystal clear. "I now know my goal, and it's time to take action," he said before returning to his chamber.
Without delay, he gathered basic instruments like needle-nose pliers, a hacksaw, a claw hammer, a wire stripper, and scissors. He put them in a small bag and carried on his shoulder and move out of the chamber, moving toward the exit of the abandoned ruins while showing his back to his precious living art, singing a song.
"You weren't abandoned. You were my partners. You were the ones who made me who I am. I will remember your sacrifice. I will come back and make you into living legends."
--------
"No one knows that a living disaster, whose stories even fill adults with dread, exited his residence and came out in search of living material and to fulfill his lifelong dream."
The little whisper echoed within the ruins, "Nature's traits will help me blend into human nature." With that thought, the figure exited the abandoned ruin, contemplating, "Time to showcase my living art to this world."