After five days.....
Aiden gradually opened his heavy eyes, and all he could see was darkness—darkness alone—with his body being heavily compressed by something solid.
'What? Where am I? I was... in space? Was that a dream?'
[System fully integrated.....
Greetings host....]
'I guess not... but I made my dream come true,' he thought. He would be super excited, but the situation he was in and the state of his species took his excitement right away.
"Let's get out of here first. My body's already hurting..."
Being compressed by all the heavy rocks and rubble didn't affect him much, as he himself was a unique being.
Knowing he was beneath something heavy, he used his full strength to move his body, but to his surprise, he was digging up like he was swimming in water. He knew he was strong, but he didn't know he was so strong that he could dig away rocks and dirt this easily.
"Haa..." Aiden breathed in and out as his head emerged from the earth.
He stepped up, dragging his dirt-filled body out of the rubble. He looked around, trying to figure out where he really was, but all he got was confusion as it was already nighttime. He climbed up the rubble, trying to find a high point that would give him a good view.
'Is it just me, or is the air somehow different? It's easier to breathe, and it's much fresher than before...'
He was now at the top, with the icy wind blowing through his golden hair and dusting away some of the dirt from his clothes. He took a deep breath in and out, and to his surprise, it was indeed easy to breathe. With his whole body feeling different, he confirmed that something had indeed changed.
"Not only is it easy to breathe, it's also... energizing, like they made it for my body..."
He wanted answers, and he just remembered he had a hefty tool for that.
"System, do you know what's happening?"
[Yes... it's part of the terraforming where Earth is now imbued with the celestial force, and it will keep increasing in amount as the days go by.]
"I see... celestial force..."
He looked around, but all he could see were other dark hills. Frustrated, he looked up at the sky, searching for his glowing stars, but all he saw were red dots of light and complete darkness.
He was familiar with the red light shining in the sky as he had seen them appearing from a different viewpoint.
"Demons... both of them were right, they are coming, no, they have come... but why aren't they coming down? If I heard right, they said they were an enormous danger to human society."
[...because there isn't enough celestial force present on Earth for them to do anything. If they arrive just like that, they would become weak, weak to the level of simple humans.]
Aiden was glad that he could have all the answers to his questions, but the last part hurt him a bit. He was also a human, or he believed he was one, but either way, that remark was unwanted.
"Thanks, I guess..." he replied. "I guess I'll stay here for the night. I can't search for anything right now."
He sat on the rubble, staring at red dots in the dark sky, remembering that event where he met two supernatural beings.
"Hey system... tell me your features. Is it the same as the novels I read, with all levels and stuff?"
[...yes. The more the host levels up by gaining more 'force', the stronger you get, and as you level up, your bloodline quirks will also be unsealed one by one...] The system replied with its monotone voice.
"Oh..." he replied in awe. "Then how do I gain the 'force', and can you describe more about my bloodline? I think it's also the reason those two chose me."
[...for the first question, you can achieve the 'force' through dedicated meditation, slowly absorbing it from your surroundings. This will also require a separate technique of the host's choice. It is normally done through these means, but having the facilities of a system, the host can absorb the 'force' from opponents the system deems plausibly defeated.
For the second question, you can check your status to know better about yourself...]
Aiden's eyes widened.
"How could I forget that? I am an insult to the WEEB community, well, it doesn't exist any longer though..."
He stood up, a bit more excited.
'Now I can finally say the word,' he thought with an enormous grin.
"...Status!" he shouted with enthusiasm.
A golden screen appeared before his eyes, shading a bit of light which only he could see.
[Status
Name: Ando Aiden
Bloodline: ???? (locked, reach level ten to unlock bloodline.)
Age: 16 years
Race: Human/ ????
Level: 1 (Exp: 0/100)
STR: 25
AGI: 20
DEF: 15
FP: (locked, reach level five to be able to use the 'force')
INT: 10
LUCK: 1
CHARM: 40
DP: 0
Rank: E+ Rank
Soul: A+
Class: (Locked)
Subclass: (locked)
Title: The blur, Ghost, Breathtaking, handsome hunk...
Natural ability: Super strength and agility, Healing (D)]
Aiden stared at his status, reading every bit of information about himself. It was sad that he didn't know what his bloodline was, but it was exciting on its own that it would be revealed eventually. He was just level one, a mob character no less—or even less than a mob character—so there were no complaints so far, but one thing he wanted to complain about was the titles he got.
Those were the titles he got through the internet, where videos of him using his powers went viral and...
"Handsome hunk... it's kind of cringe to look at it. I'm not that good looking," he complained.
He closed his status with a satisfied smile. Why wouldn't he? In these apocalyptic times, this was the only joy left to relish. He again sat down, laying his body on the rocky surface like he was used to it, again staring at the red dots which kept moving here and there.
"System... I didn't see any shop or mission bars. Are those also locked?" he asked after a sudden realization.
[...Yes... Shop is locked, Host, but there aren't missions in this system as it would restrict the host's freedom...]
"Hmm... I see. Well, I did prefer those novels where the main character had more freedom..."
As he was thinking about all that had occurred, he was slowly falling asleep, his colorful eyes gradually closing.
{Nighty night...}, said an unknown womanly voice, which sadly Aiden didn't hear, being heavily asleep.
With the morning sun, which came so quickly like the blink of an eye, most of the surviving people were waking up, still dead tired from experiencing the aftereffects of the so-called apocalypse.
Even after the devastating earthquake, the following days were still hell for the survivors. Most of their food sources were crushed in the rubble, with only a few water lines miraculously remaining intact.
Between a road covered with nothing but rubble and waste from many buildings, a high school girl was walking, pacing slowly as if she had no energy. Her glasses were slightly cracked, but she could still use them—without them, she would be completely blind.
Her left arm was pressed against her right shoulder, gripping it to stop the bleeding. She looked to her side at the collapsed bridge, remembering moments when she and her friends were checking out a good-looking guy. She remembered her friends trying to talk to him as he looked smart, reading a small book, but her keen eyes had already known he was reading manga or some sort of novel. She had persuaded her dear friends not to disturb him, saving the poor weeb in the process.
She smiled for a second but then looked at her blood-stained hands, which erased her smile immediately. Her eyes were hollow of any emotion as she walked like a zombie. Tired, hungry, with an injured arm, she thought it was the worst day of her life—something she had been saying for the past three days.
As she walked, her eyes caught something in the corner. She gazed in that direction and beheld a sight—there was food, a bunch of chips and onigiri, which she hoped weren't ruined.
"Maybe... today is a lucky day..." she said.
Her eyes came back to life as she ran toward the only food she had seen in days. Her mouth was dripping saliva; she couldn't stop it.
She reached for the packed onigiri when her eyes caught something unsightly—a hand and a head protruding from the rubble, her own hand still on the plastic bag.
"Aaaaa!" she shouted, scared of the dead woman, her body falling backward. She glanced sideways, spewing out what was inside her—water and only water.
After such a gruesome session, she didn't run back; she was too hungry to do so. She reached again for the only food, her eyes wet from the forced excretion, but suddenly a foot crushed down on her delicate injured arm, forcing her to look at its owner.
'A criminal...' she thought in panic. What she saw was a bald man with many scars on his face. But that didn't scare her most. What terrified her was the uniform the man was wearing—black and white striped clothing that only a certain set of people were given to wear.
"Prisoners...?" she said aloud.
"Little girl... we aren't prisoners anymore..." said someone from behind.
She turned back, and to her horror, there weren't just one but three others, wearing the same clothes.
'Why... why... why...' she asked as tears welled up in her sad eyes. She thought today would be different. Today would be the day she would eat her fill, but this world wasn't kind to her, taking everything—her family... her friends, and now...
The scarred man took all the food before her eyes as her tears started falling. Her stomach was void of anything, even without an ounce of water, which she had just vomited minutes ago.
"Hahahaha... is she crying?" one of the skinny men laughed, watching the girl in her sorry state. "Boss... what do you say? We take the girl with us?" he asked, looking at the plump girl with lust, gazing at her torn small skirt and white sailor shirt, through which he could see her bra and pale skin.
The scarred man said nothing, removing his foot from the girl's hand and walking past the three guys with all the food.
"I'll take that as a yes..." the skinny man said, licking his lips. "Come on boys... let's have some fun in this ruined world... hahaha..."
He laughed as both other men followed, stepping toward the high school girl, who was trying to lift her weak, wobbling body.
Her face was deathly pale as she listened to those rugged men approaching. She was terrified, so scared that her feet were shaking. But she controlled herself, trying to run away, but they were quick to follow, grabbing her right hand, which was already injured.
"Aaaa!" she screamed in pain, tears still flowing like there was no tomorrow. "Please... leave me alone, I beg you... please... somebody help me!" she begged, crying, trying to pull her hand free despite the excruciating pain in her arm.
"Nobody's coming for you, ojou-chan. There isn't anyone for miles... so shut up and come here," he said, pulling her hand toward him.
The skinny man noticed her injured arm and smiled even more, twisting it to stop her worthless struggle.
"Aaaaaa...!" the girl screamed again in pain, falling to her knees. "Please... you can take... all the food but please leave me alone..." she begged, her eyeglasses falling.
"Hahahaha... listen to this, ojou-chan... do you really think we'll leave you just like that? And such a cute one at that..." the man said, holding her chin, making her face him, eye to eye. Her look of despair was clearly visible.
"So... shut up... and let me enjoy you... before you die like the worthless girl you are..." the man said menacingly.
The girl couldn't see much, only the dark eyes of the man haunting her mind. She closed them, scared to look into his lustful and murderous eyes.
'I guess... this is what I deserve... after doing such a heinous thing. Sorry... Ichika, Hina.... otto-san, okaa-san. I am coming...' she thought in despair, ready to bite her tongue.
She thought of her happy memories, trying to reminisce about moments with her family and friends. How both Ichika and Hina had accepted her, even though she looked like a loner with her thick glasses.
'Sayonara... minna...'
Tong!!!