In the whole Plurality, the last survivor defeated the entity who caused the hundred apocalypses. Though it was too late, as everything would end inevitably regardless of what she did.
She thought it was her end, though she was surprised when she suddenly woke up back to her homeworld. What's more surprising was that she came back to before it begun.
Yorozu Ichikara, or Mist, won't let her loved ones die again from this cruel disaster. As she came back with everything she had, she swore to herself to protect everything she loved, and defeat the hundred apocalypses once more.
This is the story of the Last Survivor who managed to return to the start of the apocalypse, along with everything she had.
(Tldr: Protagonist was living a new game+, which meant she started with all the upgrades and other things that she have. Of course there are some restriction so the story doesn't get trivialized too much, but it won't be that damaging as she will recover it in due time.)
The Unknown Area. A place that she stumbled upon within the Center of Creation. It was a featureless area. There was nothing in it at all, though at the same time it was filled with everything. Stars and galaxies flitted through what could be considered as the ground that she now stepped on, and above there were chaotic images that kept appearing and disappearing in a random manner.
This place where time and space was irrelevant, where laws and concepts weren't a thing, was an area beyond everything both conceivable and inconceivable. In this place, there kneeled a woman with long white hair with streaks of different colors. Her lifeless eyes constantly changed with each passing moments, as black blood seeped through her wounds and battered body.
She could be considered beautiful if not for the various spots and gore that blotted her whole body. Not even her outfit made of unknown materials could hide the hideous form that she now bore.
That woman closed her eyes. For the first time in this quintillion years of survival, her cold expression turned into disappointment. A change of expression that, if those who knew her saw, would have gawked due to how unexpected it was.
"It seems like this is the end..."
Black cracks and looming darkness covered this featureless area. The random chaos that was the distant surroundings quickly vanished, and the images above and below slowly faded into darkness. There was no shaking, or any other special effects. It just looked like ink being splattered on a collage, devouring every palette on her surroundings.
She opened her eyes for a bit as she looked forward, watching the other permanent feature of this place other than her. It was a large, incomprehensible entity. It's body was shaped irregularly, though it was close to a cross shaped if someone tried to force it. There was a gigantic spear-shaped something sticking on the middle of that cross-like shaped body, the bloody closed eyelids indicating that it was an eye before it was brutalized.
This was the culprit. The one who started her hell. It was an entity that caused suffering on everything, and absorbed these strong negativity to empower itself. It was an entity that caused the hundred apocalypses, which put the totality of all realities into the brink of extinction.
And it was an extinction, because everything in the Multiverse has been extinguished. Life as she knew it was nonexistent after the ninety ninth apocalypse, and the hundredth apocalypse was this one. The one that would end the entirety of this Plurality.
She was the last survivor of this Plurality. Nothing else survived. Humans, animals, gods, spirits, and even conceptual beings were long gone. She was the only one left.
And she had defeated the culprit. She sacrificed everything she had for a chance of survival. Using everything she had acquired to destroy this omnipotent entity. In the end she succeeded, though it was a pyrrhic victory. She had won the battle but lost the war, as the end was inevitable.
"I've survived this long, watching all my friends and loved ones die by my side. I sacrificed a lot, even my own morality to reach a next day. I've suffered so much! Scavenging everything and adapting to anything! So why!? Why is this happening!? Is this how it's going to end!?" She cried.
Emotions long lost bursted out like a flood within her heart. Wet tears fell on her multi-colored eyes as their lifelessness became bright with intense emotions.
"If I just knew about this place, I would have already stopped you! Maybe then..." She stopped, sobbing bitterly.
She made a promise to stay alive, regardless of what happened. That's what she said from her mother a long time ago, that she would continue living even if the world fell. Many of her close friends saved her, sacrificing themselves so she would continue living. She didn't want to die yet. She felt like she was betraying their hopes and dreams.
She tried to stand up, but failed. Every part of her body refused to move with her command. They felt incredibly cold and numb. She tried to reach out to her supernatural powers. Though those doesn't work. They have been crippled, along with every benefits, advancements, ascensions, and other enhancements that she had within her body. Even her summons were gone, as they already perished a few apocalypses ago.
"No more... it's really impossible..."
She was unwilling, though she couldn't really deny the reality in front of her. During her battle against the culprit behind the apocalypse, it destroyed almost everything she had little by little. Immunities and resistances shattered under it's pressure. It ignored most of her devastating abilities, and it negated all of her lifesaving methods.
There was nothing she could do but to watch the collapse of all reality. Helpless and her heart feeling hopeless.
She felt bitter, and she could only lower her head slightly. Her head was the only thing she could freely move, though that rewarded her with agonizing pain that spread not just from her body, but through her soul and origin itself.
"... I just want to see them again..."
After quintillions of years, she finally uttered her only wish. To once again meet those people, and her mother.
Everything was then covered in unknown darkness, and then nothing remained. "Hmm?"
"I didn't expect this. A Surpasser managed to rise on this era?"
"... Eh? I'm the one who should take care of the reward?"
"Oh... so no one holds that Trial, I see. Well fine I guess. Though are you sure? I'm not a part of this narrative... are you really letting me do the honors?"
"Oh... It's because I like intervening that you want me to do it? Well fine, she is a Surpasser after all... it would be a shame if she didn't get anything after Surpassing a Trial..."
"Hmm... what would be a great reward? Oh right, there is that..."
"Well then Mist... or should I say, Yorozu Ichikara, I will give you your reward. Accept it and live your new life in satisfaction!" She slowly opened her red and blue eyes. She gazed blankly at a very nostalgic and familiar looking ceiling. She slowly sat up, her mind trying to processed what just happened.
Her senses that covered the whole universe suddenly pinged repeatedly, making her surprised. She stood up and away from her bed, her heart beating fast due to the shocked of the realization.
"Living beings... and so many of them!?"
She wasn't excited, but rather extremely baffled and dubious. She narrowed her eyes before she look around. Her red eyes quickly changing into a greenish one with a white dot in the middle. Before she could activate her Eye of Truth, she froze when she finally recognized just where was she.
"Wait... this room... isn't this my room!?"
It's been so long, though she still vaguely recalled about her own room. She kept recreating it since she acquired some materialization type powers, so she could still remember how it looked like.
This one was a genuine one, and if her senses could be believed, it was inside of a planet instead of a dead universe which she usually used as a hiding area. This planet was lively enough, which meant that this world haven't been infected by the essence of death and other deadly things that the hundred apocalypses caused.
"Then... am I in my own world..."
It has been so long that she even forgot the name of her birthplace. She only knew she originated from a blue terrestrial planet.
She perked up when she felt someone approaching where she was. It was the closest presence from her amongst the others. She tensed up, still feeling dubious.
'Is this an illusion? But my Eye of Truth doesn't see any false images at all!'
As she was thinking like that, the door opened. She froze when she saw that familiar black hair tied into a ponytail. That usual green apron worn beneath that long flowy house dress and that youthful look that the woman had despite being in her forties. She was extremely familiar. So familiar that she couldn't speak.
"Chika! I told you to stop playing so late into the night! You will be late from your school and..." The woman stopped as she looked at the woman in front of her. Then her surprised turned into a glare. "What are you doing so early in the morning!?"
Her eyes were still wide, as tears slowly formed on the corner of her eyes. Slowly she took a step forward, and another, before in an instant she was already hugging the woman who gasped in surprised at the strong hugged she gave her.
"Mom!"
She could feel it. The warmth of the person who took care of her since her childhood. The one who died first as she tried to protect her at the zombies on the First Apocalypse. It wasn't a fake. It wasn't a dream. It's all genuine.
She cried. Her heart beat in joy as she finally felt the warmth of her mother once more.
Her mother, Yorozu Kanade, was surprised as she just noticed that, this girl who was definitely her daughter just by the appearance alone, had become a few inches taller than how she remembered. She doesn't know what was happening, and why her daughter was suddenly like this.
Mist, the epithet that she was called with after forgetting her name, cried as she hugged her mother. She doesn't want to think of anything else other than to spend her time like this. Feeling her mother once more. After the initial surprise, her mother got out of her stupor and quickly scolded her. The cause of her anger was because of how she looked. Her mother thought she was cosplaying or something.
She could understand. Even though she still had her youthful features that was close to her younger self, almost every aspect of her appearance changed since then. Her hair was white with streaks of different colors. Her eyes were of different colors too, and they changed depending on what kind of sight she needed. Her outfit was a white robe with different forms of symbols and designs, along with light colored armaments and accessories around her.
She wanted to tell her that it was normal, as she was like this for the majority of her survival life, though she decided to listen to her mother after she told her to take off the dye of her hair and go to school. It's been so long, and she missed her mother who always gave her advice or scolded whenever she does something wrong. It felt so nostalgic to her.
Now she was within her room. She had changed her hair color into black. It was simple due to her complete control over her own genetics. The eyes were a difficult part though, as she had already lost her original eyes and has been replaced with the eyes of different creatures from different realities. She couldn't use her black eyes as they were for killing and destruction.
In the end, she decided to wear her glasses. She was surprised that she still remembered where she put her glasses within her room despite having almost forgotten about the original layout of it. Before the apocalypse, she naturally have shortsightedness due to being addicted to playing games, so she wore these square rimmed glasses whenever she woke up.
After she wore that, she looked at herself in the mirror. She actually doesn't have to do that as she could just use one of her 108 eyes to look at herself in third person view, though she had missed this part of her life. Seeing herself in a school uniform once more felt so nostalgic to her.
"That's right... I am a... student of some sort in this world. I always wear this clothe before going there..." She furrowed her brows.
She really forgot a lot of things in this world. She doesn't know what was the common sense anymore, and how people lived their day to day lives. Though she shrugged.
"Well, it's time to reintegrate myself into society..."
She still doesn't know how she found herself in this world. It felt so real. She wanted to think this might be a parallel world or something, though she shook her head after remembering the hundredth apocalypse. Everything ceased to exist after that all-consuming void covered everything. That meant even alternate or parallel worlds weren't spared.
As for coming back in time, she felt dubious. She had the ability to travel back in time, but it wasn't absolute as time itself has been messed up due to the effects of the hundred apocalypses. At most, she could reverse time for a day. More than that and she risked being punished by the Absolute Penalties, which were another negative effect caused by the hundred apocalypses.
She was just feeling uplifted at the thought of living her life peacefully once more when her eyes settled on the calendar behind her through the mirror. She froze when she saw the circled date on it.
January 20, 2020.
Even though she forgot a lot of things in this world, she could still remember that date. It was the date when the apocalypse would occur. The day when her life changed into hell.
"... No..."
She really wanted to deny that time travel was possible. Travelling quintillions of years to the past was impossible. She had already tried it, and it almost killed her due to the Absolute Penalties.
She quickly walked to her window and opened it in a hurry. Looking up into the sky as her blue eye changed into a light bluish one with a triangular iris in the middle in it. It was the Folgian's Orb, the eye that had no limit to it's range of sight. So long as she looked into that direction, she could see everything in that direction until an obstacle blocked her line of sight.
With her Folgian's Orb, she gazed on the distant skies and quickly saw it. Tens of thousands of kilometers above the stratosphere, there were multiple greenish space rocks that were fast approaching this planet.
She remembered it. The First Apocalypse. The time when a weird virus spread due to multiple alien meteors striking down on different parts of Earth.
And now it will happen. There was only a few hours left before landfall.
"I have to stop it!"
She tried to summon her wings, but failed as she suddenly felt a sudden backlash to her whole body. She lurched, almost vomiting whatever contents she had on her stomach, before she shook her head.
'Impossible, I still haven't recovered!?'
She thought she was already alright as she could move around, though she discovered it wasn't. Her body was fine, but the majority of what she had haven't recovered yet.
She tried to manipulate space, dimension, and reality though all of it failed. Even with psionics, she failed to even control the meteor. She close her eyes to look within herself, and saw that almost every innate origins and souls that she had were beyond crippled. She couldn't actively recover them, as they weren't physical but rather conceptual in nature.
'It seems like I only have my Self-Genetic Control, 108 Myriad Eyes, and my natural capabilities available.'
She could still move fast, but she wasn't fast enough to instantly travel the whole observable universe in a literal moment. At most, she could only achieve speed of sound. It might be fast, but that wasn't fast enough. That's the limit of her own genetics regardless of what kind of enhancement she tries to put in her physical body.
And even if she could move fast like that, she could only rely with some of her eyes to destroy the meteor. She tried it anyway. While using Folgian's Orb with her one eye, she changed her red eye into a pitch black one. It was the Eye of Destruction, which she got from one of the deities on one of the higher dimensions. Though the range wasn't satisfactory as she only managed to delete a portion of the roof of her house and a bird that passed by. She winced, and decided to stop.
"This is bad... even some of my eyes has been crippled."
Normally, the Eye of Destruction could destroy even those she simply sensed, which meant she could destroy the whole universe in a blink of an eye. Though her battle against the hundred apocalypses culprit seemed to have nerfed the effect of her eyes too.
"I should have expected it. Even my Folgian's Orb seems to have acquired a limitation."
She said. Her light blue eye should be capable of reaching limitlessly so long as no obstacle was blocking her line of sight. Though it simply managed to reach up to the outskirts of the solar system. That might be a vast distance for normal humans, but for her it wasn't.
'Then what about my Eye of Truth... has it been crippled too? What if I'm subjected to an illusion or a dream without me knowing?' She shook her head. 'No! I refuse to accept that! This world is real to me... my mother is alive again... she is not fake...'
She felt anxious, but decided to stop worrying herself so much about it.
"I just have to..."
She looked up, and then gazed strongly at the meteors moving towards this world.
"I will survive, and this time I won't let my mother and my friends die!"
She swore to herself.
Welcome to my new story, this one is inspired by the many apocalypse cultivation novels on Webnovel that I decided to hop on that bandwagon too and try my hand on it.
I know, another new story. What the hell am I doing?
Simple, I just want to write something new. It's been so long, and I have been so busy with work that my motivation to continue my other stories are dwindling. I decided to refresh myself and write this one just so ideas would still flow in my mind, and I don't just get stuck procrastinating on writing and making myself miserable with just focusing on work.
I hope with this story, I will find my motivation back and even with work trying to smack my life into a whack, I can still write something again and do it continuously without losing my motivation.
I hope you like this one, it's been a concept I've been writing since this past week and I just finished this one~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
She didn't want to leave her Mother's side, mostly because of the impending apocalypse, though there wasn't anything she could do about it as she didn't know how to convinced her Mother. She didn't want to shock her Mother by just showing her powers.
She thought that she could convince her after it happened, so instead of wasting her time doing the convincing, she left the home with a simple wave to her Mother.
What she should be doing would be to make preparations for the First Apocalypse. So as she left her home, she didn't go straight to her school. Instead she walked to another direction. Not like she knew where her school was as she doesn't remember a lot of things on this world. It's been so long after all.
Even when she left the house, she made sure that her senses were still locked on to her mother. She wanted to remember her Mother's signature so she could identify her even with her senses alone. There were many life signatures around her senses, and she knew she wouldn't be able to differentiate them if she wasn't focused enough.
"... Only three hours left..."
She knew she doesn't have enough time, so after she walked a bit in the distance away from her house, she kicked the ground. Quickly she found herself on the sky. Her left eye that was blue quickly changed into a pale green one beneath her square rimmed glasses.
The Eye of Identification. It was an Eye that could appraise almost anything in the Common Multiverse. She glanced around on the whole city itself, and quickly appraised them one by one in a few seconds.
"Found it!"
She was looking for materials that she could use to fortify her home, and she found anything she needed on different parts of the city. It was mostly on grocery stores, hardware shops, and supermarkets.
Normally she could just create her own materials if she wanted to build something, but those abilities were currently unavailable. She could only return to doing it manually, which has been a long time as she was used to trivializing something like this.
'It's been too long... I just have relearn how to build things up with my hand again...' She thought.
She had lived for so long, so she had accumulated a lot of knowledge. She saw the rise and fall of countless worlds and civilizations, and had acquired the info about most of those fallen nations. Though again, it's been so long since she had used any of those knowledge. At least less than a quintillion years since she made something by her hand.
She had a so-called Perfect Memory, though it wasn't actually that perfect as she could only retain hundreds of trillions of years of knowledge. Anything else became obscure to her mind when quadrillions of years passes. If she wanted to remember something even in that timescale, she needs to have a strong impression of it in her life and constantly reminds herself of it so she doesn't forgot.
'It's fine. I'm sure I can get my rusty skills back to top shape if I kept doing it...' She was optimistic. She still had the genetics to retain experiences at an incredible speed.
With those thoughts in mind, she finally decided to move. She was still in midair when she thought of all of that, and so she simply changed her trajectory by kicking air itself. With a few tweaks to her genetics, she managed to get enough force to make air as a foothold so she could change her trajectory, and she made her whole muscles incredibly light so her speed would increase with the force of her kick.
With that, she started with her scavenging. With the impending apocalypse approaching, she doesn't care about hiding her abilities anymore. She vaguely recall that this wasn't common to her homeworld, but she doesn't have the leeway to do things properly in this world that was soon going to change with the approaching doom above.
When she got to the hardware store, she immediately changed her right red eye one into a dim purplish eye. In tandem with her awareness, she activated the capabilities of her new eye to grasp the objects she needed within the Hardware Store.
She was using the PSI Core. Originally it was an object from a certain world where a lot of Psychics were prominent. The PSI Core was the main source of their powers, and she took that to herself and turned it into an eye. It wasn't that detrimental to that world, as there were some of it existing in it. The one that she turned into an eye was just one of the top grade ones, as she truly wanted to use it as an alternative if her psionics was disabled somehow.
It was a shame as her PSI Core has been nerfed too. If it wasn't damaged, she could use it to easily control everything that her senses managed to reached, and as her natural senses already covered the whole universe itself that meant she could telekinetically control everything in the universe.
That wasn't the case now as her range became limited to a kilometer square. It might be a large area for some, but that was extremely short for her.
Still, it was enough to grasped everything within this hardware store. She ignored the people that suddenly gawked at the miraculous display that she was showing as she flitted through the objects within the store, before finally being satisfied after she took everything she could.
The store owner and the security guard were frozen on the spot while she simply walked past them. Their shock making them confused whether to stop her or not.
"I also need food... most people here were mortals, so food is important!"
She wasn't a human for a long time now since she ascended. It was the only way to survive most of the apocalypses. Any being who still hasn't evolved into an ascended being with mixed bloodline and spirits wouldn't be able to survive the forty ninth apocalypse, which specifically targeted any being who were stuck as a single species. Though this time was different as it was still the First Apocalypse, so there was no need to think of something that would happen in the distant future.
That was why her next stop would be the grocery and convenience store. Stocking up with food that would last a year was something she needed. She doesn't need to go beyond that as she could feel the recovery of her crippled abilities.
In her estimates, she needed a year before most of her mortal abilities recovered. She had a mortal ability that would make them self-sustaining after she recovered it, so a supply of food for a year was the only thing she needed.
Though her sensibilities were a bit absurd, being a hybrid of immortals and other primordial beings and all. She wanted to take at least a few supermarket worth of supplies, as she thought that would be needed for her mother. In her time, she always ate a large amount of meal that it easily surpassed every particles of a universe itself. That's how much she ate whenever she became hungry. Fortunately she does that every one thousand years, or else there would be nothing else she could eat if she always does that on a daily basis.
She could put her body in a stasis so she doesn't eat food, but due to the nature of her own body, she really needed it to ascend to godhood.
Right now she wasn't hungry, so most of the things she planned to take are for her mother.
That was the plan anyway as she moved at 300/mph while controlling all of her loot above her with her ocular aided telekinesis. She could go faster, but her PSI Orb wouldn't be able to keep up if she goes at the speed of sound.
She ran at the same speed as a supercar rushing illegally into the streets. Jumping when she needed to everytime a vehicle blocked her path. There were people who gasped in surprise when they noticed her and the floating tools and metals above her head. Others gawked, while there were those who raised their phones and barely managed to take a picture before she passed them by.
She quickly arrived on a grocery store, and immediately used her PSI Orb to grasped the different meat, vegetable, and fruits on the food aisles. With her Eye of Identification, she knew when it will be spoiled or not, so she was already making plans to create cold containers to preserve these food.
In a quick manner, she moved around the grocery while avoiding the people with precise and swift movements. She needed to see the products with her own eyes to know what she was getting. Anything that would quickly spoil before she could create something to store them were quickly put back on where she got it, while those that could last at least a few hours were quickly snatched and now floating above her head.
In a few seconds, she had snatched almost 90% of the food contents within the grocery before she left. She resumed with her nonstop gathering around the city at the speed of sound, resolute on her decision to ensure that her mother wouldn't had a hard time when the apocalypse starts. More than two hours had passed since then. Social media suddenly exploded with the pictures and brief videos of a blurry vision of a girl moving at speeds impossible for a human. Internet was fast on the uptake as she quickly became the topic of the day.
Osaka, and some of the Japanese citizens from this country were intrigued with this news. This was the first time they saw something like this. Already there were many who tried to verify whether it was true or not, while the majority of the anonymous people from different forums called fake on it.
Due to them focusing so much on it, majority of Japanese citizens became unaware of the slow transition of the sky turning from blue into a reddish hue. Except from Japan, almost every nations were aware, with the superpowers themselves panicking after identifying multiple large meteors on every direction of Earth. Organizations like NASA predicted that at least one would hit small countries, while more than a hundred would hit larger countries at the maximum.
It was a disaster of epic proportions. Country leaders and those who were well-connected to the relevant parties panicked, and many scrambled for anything to try and save themselves.
Ignoring all of that, people on a school called Shinzawa High were frolicking around, while a certain bespectacled girl sat on the corner of her room. Her eyes intently looking at her phone with her LINE open.
"Where's Chika? Did she oversleep?"
This bespectacled girl was Ichikara's gamer friend. She is Sakayanagi Megumi. Since middle school, they became friends due to their shared interest with games and some manga. Their favorite genre being otome games and romance in general.
Being so close together, Megumi also called her Chika, a shortened term for her name. It also sounded cute and affectionate, so Ichikara doesn't really mind.
She recalled that she lent her the latest otome game she had yesterday. She had already finished it so she decided to lend it to her friend to see what would be her impressions of it.
Megumi looked at her classmates who were currently busy talking to each other. Their math teacher was currently sick and the teachers seems busy with something so they have the time for themselves right now. She could hear how they were excitedly talking about the sudden appearance of a mysterious blurry figure who ran from one ward to another. She wondered what they were talking about so she tried to search the internet.
She would have continued if not for her noticing the reddish hue on the window besides her on her periphery. She glanced at the window and then froze when she saw the skies. The reddish hue was slowly turning into a sick purplish one. Her eyes widened a lot more when she saw the whole skies darkening after awhile.
"Huh? What's happening... The video's not loading?"
"Hey, I got disconnected dammit!"
"Ugh! Why is it buffering so long!? I kept refreshing and it's not even loading!"
She heard the others exclaimed, which made her perked up in surprise before she gazed back at her phone. She blinked her eyes when she saw the screen of her phone glitching for a moment. Her eyes narrowed before she noticed it. A noise akin to a strong breeze of wind blasting through a narrow tunnel.
She glanced at the windows once more, and gawked as she saw a silhouette of a large meteor. As it was so far, she couldn't gauged the size though it was still large if it could turn the skies dark. It exuded a mysterious green trail as it slowly fell on the distant vicinity.
Her mind shuts down for a moment, unable to process what she just saw. Her other classmates had also finally noticed what was happening as the whole class became deathly quiet.
"... Ah!?"
When one of them gasped in surprise, that was when all hell broke loose. They screamed in their brief moments of realization as the falling space rock fell mercilessly on the distance. Megumi just noticed that she was one of those who screamed as their voices resounded on the school.
Though their simultaneous screams had been drowned out by a muted screech of dusts. The whole area shook as a sound akin to heavy storm recorded by a vintage tape blasted onto their ears.
[The Zombie Apocalypse has begun! Struggle and overcome this crisis!]
Along with that was a message that occured from her failing consciousness. She doesn't know but instead of the headache from hearing the noise caused by the shockwave, she was struck by an incredible sense of exhaustion and drowsiness.
"... W-what...?"
Her head just fell on her table, unable to resist her sleepiness.
It wasn't just her. As different parts of the world were struck near-simultaneously, every living beings in the world has fallen asleep. It was due to the meteor impact, and the mutant virus it spreads in an instant. Every organic being were undergoing evolutions due to this.
There was only one person who haven't fell asleep and that was the one whom Japan has taken an interest with just a short while ago.
The message doesn't surprised the girl as she continues with her procurement of materials. She knew that this would happen, and she had no way of preventing it.
Though she was plenty prepared for her beloved to survive in this apocalypse. She was just making sure, as she doesn't want to be blindsided by new variables due to her presence and actions. She had learned to always be cautious by her extremely long time of surviving, so she always over prepare and overestimate the threats around her.
"Mom is still at the house... good. I'll come back soon..."
That was what Mist muttered to herself as she continued with her looting.
So to those curious about her morality, she mostly moved at her own agenda without any regards to strangers she doesn't know. It was something she became used to during her desperate survival on her past life.
This is why, on this chapter it is shown that she had no regards to the other survivors who would need the food and supplies she was looting around before the apocalypse came. Because she doesn't know them, and they were practically strangers to her that she saw it as a waste of time to even think of trying to help them too.
... I hope her personality is not that offensive to the others. I think there are people who hated MC who had no regards to the lives of random people.
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
[The Zombie Apocalypse has begun! Struggle and overcome this crisis!]
That voice. It sent a tingle on her spine when she heard that muted noise that was akin to an 8-bit tune poorly producing voice acted dialogues. It was alien enough that to those who heard it for the first time, they would felt disturbed.
Though she knew better. That voice, regardless of how monotonous it sounded, actually felt mocking and satirical. Because that was the voice of the culprit itself. The one who started this mess in the first place. People would be fooled to think it was just something that came along with the apocalypse, but it wasn't. It was it's voice, urging people to struggle hopelessly.
Just the sound of that announcement made her blood boil. She wanted to rush at the Center of Creation once more and find the Unknown Area to confront it, though her powers were currently crippled so she could only sigh. She needed time to recover everything she had, and she have a lot of time. That being only wanted to prolong the suffering of every living beings on all of realities, so there was no need for her to be hasty.
After the meteor fell, surprisingly it doesn't just cause the world to collapse. It was because these meteors that were one kilometer length at average doesn't follow conventional physics. It's blast radius was lesser than what it was supposed to produced with how fast these foreign objects fell above to the land. In exchange for the lacking destructive capabilities, it carried a highly contagious space virus that quickly spread all over the world. It was a virus that could cause a quick and violent evolution process on every organic beings.
She doesn't remember much, but she somewhat recalled that majority of the human race perished by this virus alone. It was because they couldn't handle the sudden chaotic shift in their genetics that they failed to transition. Those who failed would later be called as Zombies.
She was one of the few who successfully evolved when she first experienced the apocalypse. Her mother was too, and if not for her incompetence she would have still lived. She doesn't remember what she did, but she knew she was so weak at that time that she relied others to protect her.
'No more... I will be the one to help my friends and loved ones!' Whenever those bitter thoughts came to her mind, she repeated those words within her brain.
She could feel the intrusive virus trying to pierce through her skin, and any orifices that she had, though they utterly failed to take root within her cells as they quickly absorbed these virus and converted them into more of her unique and unconventional cells. It was thanks to her Self-Genetic Control, which was the ability she mastered after she survived the First Apocalypse.
She passed through some of the unconscious people from the streets. Her eyes glanced at them and she could quickly identify that some of them failed to transition. Their life signature was quickly turning hostile to her senses. That just meant they would later walked as the horrifying zombies.
She doesn't really care what happened to others, but as she was truly worried for the safety of her mother, she decided to reduce their numbers before they even rise up. Of course, she would only do that to those she encountered. She still had to make fortifications, and as she doesn't have a lot of time, she had to be quick.
Instead of just avoiding the prone people, she mercilessly step on their heads and caused their brain matter and skull fragments to shatter and sprayed around the cold asphalt. She could identify who would transition and who wouldn't with her eyes and senses, so she wasn't hesitating at all. She avoided those who haven't failed their evolution yet, and only targeted those that were having some unpleasant changes on their bodies.
Zombies typical weakness were their heads because the brain was the usual go to for the virus when the transition failed. It was actually a final attempt for the virus so it could survive, which in turn caused these people who failed to transition become mindless walking dead. This was when they could start further mutations on their host.
As she, once again, doesn't remember that much, she was uncomfortable at just breaking their head. She also wanted to burn their body into ashes or destroy them until they ceased to exist, as she barely recalled that zombies were incredibly resilient. She doesn't know that she actually killed them by just destroying their head, as it was still the start of this Zombie Apocalypse and they had no time to mutate at all.
She had no time of course, so she put that on the corner of her mind as she rushed back to her home with all the materials and food she needed floating above her head. The sickening yet strangely rhythmic noise of flesh being crushed resounded on the silent streets as she came back to her home. Twenty four hours had passed since then. That was when most of the people successfully transitioned into their new and evolved body that was resistant to the virus, while those who failed were slowly standing up and roaming the streets around the world.
The sound of electrical sparks, and metal being welded stirred Kanade to wakefulness. She felt lightheaded when she woke up, glancing around the place. She was laying on the floor near the kitchen, and the whole place felt eerily silent except with the sound of machinery beyond this room.
"Ugh..." She sat up from her prone position, before immediately perking up in shock as she recalled something. "Oh no, the food!" She looked around and saw that the induction stove was shutdown. She sighed in relief.
Then she noticed the sound of construction stopping after she exclaimed. Weirdly she felt intimidated, likely due to the eerie silence. The sound of footsteps echoed on the tatami mat, and she couldn't help but gulped a bit. Curious who it was.
The door opened to the living room. The living room is connected to the kitchen, and the placement of the counter and tables made it so she could see who it was even when standing next to the stove.
The one who entered was her daughter, though her hair was that strange hue of white with streaks of other colors from here and there. The girl was still wearing the school uniform, and she carried a power tool for welding metals in one hand as she gazed at her mother blankly.
"... I'm glad, your awake."
Since this morning, she felt a sense of incongruity as she heard her daughter spoke. There was a sense of strangeness with her when she heard her voice. It felt like she was reading a script, like she was disconnected to the reality. Last night she saw her, she was still the bumbling dork who couldn't stop speaking about her hobbies only.
Her face held a cold expression, and if not for her being used to seeing her face, she might not have noticed the subtle changes to her expression like the slight widening of her eyes, and the gradual relaxation of her jaw and shoulders.
She felt that something was wrong with her daughter, but for now there was an important thing she had to ask right now.
"Why are you here? I thought you already got to the school... are you skipping classes again?"
She knew her daughter. Sometimes she made some reasons so she could stay at home. She was the type of a troublesome daughter that would give her a headache. She was already anticipating some of her reasons like faking illness or saying something nonsense like wanting to watch the exciting part on her games.
Though she was surprised when instead of all of that, she claimed something ridiculous.
"The First Apocalypse has occured. School is canceled... forever..."
She doesn't know why her daughter sounded melancholic as she said that, though she could only gawked at the outrageous claim, before it turned into an unsatisfied glare.
"What kind of nonsense are you babbling. Ugh... why are you like this?" She shook her head in exasperation, thinking her daughter might have lost it. "Okay, take a rest for school today. I knew you will insist on something nonsense again anyway I don't let you..." She sighed in resignation.
Then she frowned when the white haired girl shook her head. "... Come with me." Her brief words made her more anxious about her daughter. She doesn't talk like this, as far as she could remember.
'Is something really wrong with her? Why is she acting so differently now?' She followed her daughter while feeling nervous at the great change that occured. She felt like she was looking at a different person.
As they left the living room and into the entrance door, she gasped in surprise when she saw the change. The fibre panel door that was supposed to be their entrance suddenly became a steel door. It's appearance could be likened on those vaults from banks, but compressed to fit as a house door.
Her daughter got close to the door without any care and fiddled with the small circular vault lock. It only took a moment before a click was heard. After that a heavy hissed was released as the steel door opened. She gasped when she saw the hints of metal just outside their house. The sky was also weird, as it was a faded orange that was unlike the colors of the sunset.
"... What is that!?" She was baffled. She doesn't remember their gate being made that thick and it looked like high quality steel. She also noticed that the asphalt walls were already in the middle of being coated by these metals that reflected light clearly.
"Basic fortifications." Ichikara answered with indifference.
"You call this basic!?" She shook her head. "No, that's not it. Where did these come from!?"
"I made it."
"You made it!?"
Again, another shock. She stared at her daughter who simply continued with what she was doing.
"... Aaaaah!!?" Her mother screamed once more which caused the girl to stopped with a flinch and immediately stood up.
"What is it? Hostiles!?" She looked incredibly alerted as she snapped around.
"... The tools... they are floating!?"
She had noticed the different construction tools floating around their home, and it freaked her out. Her daughter doesn't reflect her mother's reaction though. She simply nodded at that before she resumed with her work.
"I'm controlling those. So you don't have to worry Mom."
"You are... controlling those things!?" That revelation felt like an explosion within her mind.
Nothing made sense anymore with her. Just awhile ago she was cooking lunch for herself, and was planning on going to the nearby grocer to prepare something for dinner at evening. Though now she suddenly found out about this.
The sky was also weird. There was this oppressive feeling that was tugging at her heart when she looked at the skies, like a foreboding of something ominous to happen.
"Then... the apocalypse your talking about...?"
"Has already begun." Her daughter finished to her. "I've already taken care of the zombies outside, but please don't go out. I don't want anything to happen at you!" She said, and weirdly enough, even with the almost flat tone she conveyed that, she was certain that there was genuine concern seeping in it as she spoke.
Her mother became shocked once more when she heard that her daughter took care of the zombies. She only heard those words on cinemas or TV. She became alarmed and quickly got closer to her daughter.
"... I want to see those zombies." She gazed at her daughter with a grim determination on her heart.
She was still half-doubting her daughter, though with her display of power, and the weird depressing sky above, she wanted to verify what was happening.
"... Okay." The girl paused, before she nodded at her. After that she stood up and they walked to the large metallic gate. The thick metal door only had a handle as a knob, and she simply pulled that handle with a single grunt.
She expected a loud groan of metallic noises to occur as her daughter opened the door, but instead it was strangely smooth. She pulled the handle of the doors with brute strength alone.
And then outside was something she wouldn't forget anymore. In contrast with the depressing orange sky, the ground was littered with extreme violence. Blood and guts littered the whole street as people of different age laid on the ground. Their eyes white, and some doesn't have a head as it was splattered all over the road. A strong stench of iron and filth entered her nose, and it felt like a spark just entered her brain as she quickly staggered in disgust.
"A-aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"
All her doubts were blown away, and in exchange was a horrifying realization as she watched the corpses in front of the gate of her house. She couldn't even deny that her daughter might just be a psychopath who killed innocent people as she saw some of the bodies looking horrifyingly sick, or that some of the people here had either extremely weird shaped eyes or extremely sharp rotting teeth. That wasn't possible.
She even knew some of the corpses that laid on the street, and she knew that their skin weren't that deathly green when she met them yesterday. In fact, no human should be that deathly green as if all life has been sucked out of them.
"... Do you want to do something else, Mom?" Her daughter asked in curiosity, though she could only scream. Her mind unable to cope with the fact that there were dead people outside her house. Multiple of them in fact. Or the fact that her world was now undergoing an end of the world scenario.
'What is happening!? Why were there dead people outside my house!? Most of them are even my neighbors so why!? How!? And why is my daughter not reacting strongly at this!?'
Confusion and anxiety filled her mind, and she was slowly falling into despairing thoughts.
'Wait, what if there are more zombies out there!? What should I do? How can I protect my baby girl!?'
Instead of thinking about herself, her eyes settled on the curious face of her daughter. Since her husband died while Ichikara was six, she made sure to always take care of her and spend her time with her. She promised her husband that she would raise Ichikara into a good and morally upstanding woman that they would be proud of.
She didn't want her little sunshine to also perish because of the absurdity of the world. She refused for that to happen.
"W-we should h-hide! Q-quick, maybe there m-might be other zombies coming!"
She reached out to her daughter's hand and tried to pull her closer to her, though she was surprised when instead of pulling, she was the one who was pulled into the warm embrace of her daughter.
"Calm down. There is nothing to worry about Mom..." The girl looked up, thinking of any word she could add but only came up with blank. She simply just hugged her mother and tried to calm her down by rubbing her back.
Kanade widened her eyes. It felt like their roles were reversed as her daughter calm her down. Her heart was still beating wildly and her body was tense as her eyes constantly glanced around. Ichikara squeezed her a bit tightly with her hug while she spoke.
"You don't have to worry Mom, I already took care of all the zombies around here. And I promised you, I won't let anything harm you!"
After saying that, she stayed being covered with the embrace of her daughter. Her mind was in a chaos, so she couldn't think straight. She could only tremble as she let herself be comforted with the embrace of her daughter.
It would take awhile before she finally calmed down and she could think rationally once more. It was now afternoon, and they only knew it was as the sky has turned into crimson red. The intensity of the color hurts her eye the longer she gazed at it, so along with Ichikara they came back inside the house.
After she calmed down awhile ago, Ichikara started telling her what she knew. She didn't even hide it, and just told her the truth.
Based on her daughter, Ichikara actually came from the future and had experienced a hundred apocalypses. The apocalypse has been orchestrated by a terrifying creature from beyond. Her daughter haven't explained much as she also doesn't know how to actually explain it coherently.
Anyway, she was shocked to learn that Ichikara actually forgot her own name. It was why she wasn't responding when she called her on her nickname, because she doesn't know she was the one being called. She only responded to her when spoken to without being called as Chika.
The Zombie Apocalypse was the first out of the hundred disasters that would occur on all realities. Ichikara stated that she doesn't recall as much because it's been so long. She barely recalled that the space virus which caused the Zombie Apocalypse have a terrifying capability to evolve or mutate endlessly until the whole planet has been consumed. It was a terrifying thought if it truly happens.
She also said that this virus was basically on every organic life, which meant they were already infected. As for how they weren't a brainless walking corpse, it was because they were compatible with the virus and essentially they acquired greater resistance to it as a result of that compatibility. Of course there were still chances of becoming a zombie if they were scratched or bitten by them, though airborne ones were practically safe for them.
This was their chance to strengthen themselves by controlling the virus within their body. By stimulating the virus through a method akin to meditation, combat situations, and eating something, they could evolve to achieve greater power.
Everything sound so foreign to her, but as she saw the firsthand example that was her daughter, she tried to learn as much as possible while they were still safe within the confines of their home.
Her daughter just briefly spoke of her experienced, and as she said it had been so long and that she was drifting from the stars, she thought that her daughter lived a truly miserable life. She could also assume that something happened to her, which explained why Ichikara cried when she arrived at her room yesterday to wake her up.
"I see. I finally got the gist of it." Kanade nodded. "So I just have to meditate and... reach out within myself, whatever that means?" Being a mother who doesn't really understood something that only occured on fictional media, she was still confused.
"Mhm. You can do it Mom, I will support you!"
"... Uh, okay..."
She really couldn't understand how to "Reach deep within herself" as she was used to the common sense of the regular people. She's just a normal widowed mother. She barely acknowledged communities that she dubbed as nerdy, so there was nothing she could do.
She at least does meditation practices. It was a way to pass the time, and there was a Buddhist practitioner nearby who taught housewives and other people with too much free time the art of freeing oneself. So she somewhat knew the proper forms of meditating.
'Oh right...!' Before she could start, she recalled about something. "Oh right, do you still remember your best friend, Megumi?" She just learned that her daughter was actually a lot older than her grandmother, and she barely recalled any memories she had of Earth, so she decided to jog something on her mind.
"Megumi...?"
"Sakayanagi Megumi. You know, the one who always stick to you and make you addicted to games. The one with the round glasses and with braided ponytails. Do you remember?"
Her daughter froze as her eyes held a distant looked. She wondered if she actually just remembered about her childhood friend.
"... I have to find her!" She could see from her eyes that she was close to crying. She thinks she might had remembered something painful.
She became anxious when she heard her declaration as she stood up. "Wait... there are zombies outside! Let me come along with you!"
"No, please stay."
"Nope, I will come along with you! I can't let my baby girl go out there alone!"
"I don't want you to get hurt."
"I also don't want you to get hurt!" She glared at her daughter. "I admit I am still dubious about the whole coming from the future thing, but I at least know that you know a lot of things, and you are strong. Still, what kind of mother am I if I just let you go without a care? Are you underestimating me?"
She doesn't care if there was danger outside. She wanted to protect her daughter at any cost.
Ichikara stared at her mother for a moment. She assumed many thoughts ran through her mind as she gazed at her before finally, she let out a sigh.
"Fine... but please don't get far from me. If something bad happens to you I..."
"Alright, I get it." She waved her hand, before grinning for a bit. "I didn't thought you actually cared that much about me!~" She grinned in a teasing manner.
"Yes. I love you so much, Mom."
She froze at the honest and blunt response that her daughter returned. She wasn't expecting her to answer. She just wanted to tease her daughter for a bit. She was a bit dumbfounded, though quickly she managed to regain her composure.
"Ah... right. So it seems like you even forgot about humor... that was awkward..."
Ichikara just tilted her head, and she knew that she really didn't know just how weird her response was. It felt so innocent and child-like to say something straight.
'... Maybe my little girl truly changed because of whatever happened to her...' She felt sad at that reminder, and a heavy fire lit within her heart as she made a promise to herself. 'But you don't have to worry Chika. I will always be by your side. I promise!'
She hoped that her daughter came back to her natural cheerful self. She was unused to her cold and indifferent expression, and her way of speech which felt detached to the world.
So I will end this chapter here for now.
While writing this, I've been listening to Mumei's newest original song which is... well, Mumei. It's the title for real.
It's a really beautiful song, and I'm so captivated that I actually felt tears threatening to fall on my eyes. I'm sure you will also find it endearing and emotional when you hear her song.
Anyways that's all for now!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
I will occasionally update this list depending on what was revealed on the newer chapters. You can check this whenever I make a new chapter.
These were the ocular upgrades that Mist got during her days drifting on the Multiverse. While some were taken by the eyes of some abomination or other type of creatures, the others were originally an object or something else that has been turned into an eye implant for herself.
Destiny Sight (Red)
Eye of Destruction (Black)
Eye of Identification (Pale Green)
Eye of Truth (Green with White Iris)
Folgian's Orb (Light Blue with White Triangular Iris)
Mind Reader (Pink with White Dot and White Empty Circle)
PSI Core (Dim Purple)
Temporal Sight (Blue)
Originally a virus that she used to evolve herself, it had evolved to it's maximum potential after an incredibly long time. Mist has complete control over this virus, and she could use the virus to do a variety of feats.
Perfectly retains knowledge up to five hundred trillion years worths of memories. Beyond that and it needed constant reminders or had a strong impression to her so she could still recall about them, albeit vaguely. Mist can use this ability to forever retain what she considered very important memories, and it won't be forgotten so long as she held onto these very important memories.
On the streets of Hirano Ward, two women walked on the streets. Behind them were people with green pallor laid on the ground in a spread out manner, their body sporting holes on their body and lacking head to even move.
Kanade was impressed and terrified at the same time as she followed her daughter. She didn't thought Ichikara would be this strong. Anytime they got near some of the zombies, she would immediately vanished and deal with them before coming back to her side. She only saw them as already dead before she even managed to get a good look.
Not like she wanted to. She wouldn't be used seeing these many deaths, so instead she always distract herself by thinking about her daughter.
"Oh, we're taking a wrong turn. We should go here." She quickly stopped when she noticed them going straight and beyond the road to the school.
It was the other thing. Ichikara doesn't remember where her school was, or what was it looked like. She was glad that she came along with her, because her little girl might get lost if she let her to her own devices.
Ichikara stopped and immediately turned back and walked to the direction she was pointing at. She followed along, still feeling a bit weirded by her indifferent look.
No, not really indifferent. She felt so detached. Maybe even a bit scatterbrained now she thinks about it carefully. Though she thought that might be reasonable if her daughter truly forgot almost everything in this world.
As she followed along her daughter, she couldn't help but frown as looked at the only weapon she carried. It was a metal bat that was strangely light. Her daughter gave that to her on their house so she could protect herself. She felt it was useless though as Ichikara took care of any zombies that they might encounter.
Though she didn't want to comment on it so much. She felt at ease having a weapon at hand, mostly now that something this horrible was happening all over the world. She wasn't really keen on the whole killing thing, but she couldn't do anything with that as the world had truly gone into chaos.
She just felt a bit complicated. It felt like she was useless.
'Maybe if I didn't come along, she could do things a lot more faster...?' She quickly shook her head out of those thoughts.
She could also be carried by her daughter, but she felt it was inappropriate for her as a mother. Ichikara wasn't that bothered by it, so she decided to just follow along.
She looked up when she saw the familiar street leading to Shinzawa High.
"Chika. That's the school..."
After she said that did Chika stopped and gazed at the distant appearance of the school. Littering the front gates of the school were girls and boys of teenage years laid on the floor in their own guts and blood and missing their heads. She was certain it was her daughter who did that.
"... So it's this one." Mist muttered as she stared at the school.
"Seeing all these... dead bodies... have you already checked the whole school?"
"No. I didn't. I thought it's not relevant..."
Kanade could only furrow her brows at her words. Once again being reminded that this was her future daughter who transmigrated back to this world. The reminder that she couldn't remember her own school just made her more sad at the state of her daughter.
"... Okay. Then we should check the school first and find your friend. I think it's a bit in the afternoon when this apocalypse started, so she might be still in there."
"I hope so." Mist simply answered as she looked forward. Within Class 2-3, majority of the surviving students had locked themselves in while stacking chairs and tables on the two entrances. The sound of hallowed screeches and groaning wood kept resounding as the monsters beyond the door scratches or pushes tirelessly on the door.
One of the surviving students amongst this group of sixteen was Sakayanagi Megumi. Since she woke up, she just found herself being face to face with one of her zombified classmates. If not for the timely helped of one of her male classmates, she would already be part of the undead.
Talking about the one who saved her, it was the Student Council President himself, Sakamaki Touya. That sharp looked he sported along with those glasses made him look smart and serious. He also had a good appearance that made him dreamy.
Besides him were some of the students from other sections, the vice president, and the secretary of the student council. The two female student council members stood closer to the president with their respective weapons clutched on their hand.
"It's already afternoon. Soon, the night will come. That will be bad for us!" Kagamiya Senna, their vice president, stated.
"That's right. We barely have any food on our bag, and I'm sure that door won't last long if we just stay here!" Their secretary, Kushina Saeko, responded in agreement.
Touya glanced at his two friends before nodding to them.
"I understand. We should make a break for it!"
Just like what they had been talking about, this classroom was unsuitable as a fort. The door was already creaking dangerously, and it was just a matter of time before it broke. They had to leave before they got boxed in by these zombies.
"We will be relying on you, Touya-kaichou!"
"Leave it to me. I'll make our way through!"
Just as he said that, Megumi felt like the air around him changed. She knew that it was because he had activated his powers.
That's right, powers. Since they woke up from this insanity, there were some people who suddenly awakened with supernatural powers. One of those people was their Student Council President.
"Everyone, get ready! At the count of three, I will make way for us! While I distract the zombies, all of you should follow Senna-san and Saeko-san to the cafeteria!"
"The cafeteria?" One of the boys was confused.
"That's right. It's the only place that has a lot of food, so it was natural that we should go there!"
"But... the monsters! I don't want to go back to the first floor!" One of the girls from first year screamed.
It was understandable. The first floor was littered with many of these zombies. They just managed to get to the second floor because of the president, and used this as a place to get some rest.
"We don't have a choice! The doors can't hold the horde that long, so we should leave this place now!" He sharply gazed at them. "You don't have to worry. Senna-san and Saeko-san were both decent fighters. They can lead you all to safety!"
The way he looked at them felt so reassuring that even with no concrete evidence to his claims, they decided to just trust him. She also felt a bit of hope with his words.
It was understandable that they had to leave. They have reliable people besides them too, so they might just be able to get to the cafeteria and survive this ordeal.
The others quickly goes along with it, and their president took a running stance. Then, in a quick burst of speed, he charged at the door with the stacks of chairs. Kicking it with a force impossible for his lean build.
That was natural as his physical power increased tremendously due to his newfound power. His kick blew the door and chairs to the outside, even crushing the zombies that gathered behind that door. Then with a metal pipe on hand, he quickly rushed outside and slammed it on the nearest zombie who weren't crushed with the door and stacks of chairs and tables on the side.
"Run!" He shouted as he held off the other zombies who quickly turned on his way and snarled.
The two girls who stuck close to him quickly moved without hesitation. Along with that were the others who were a second late on their reaction. They followed the two girls who ran to the opposite side, where the stairs to the first floor were located.
Megumi followed behind, panting as she tried to ignore the sickening sight of blood and corpses on the hallways. She wasn't used to running this much, being someone who spent her free time inside her home playing games.
She felt a bit of detachment to this very real scenario happening in her eyes. She was just going along with everyone as she doesn't want to die, but it still felt so unreal within her heart. Many times she hoped that this might be a bad dream and she should wake up soon.
Though the rotten stench of blood and viscera kept waking her up from her denial. So she was in a constant state of absentmindedness. She couldn't afford to think so much, only being able to be aware of what was happening on the present.
So even when she was unused to the brutal sight around her, she simply ran along with her fellow survivors. She only had her shoulder bag as an impromptu weapon, as they haven't found anything that she could carry comfortably. Anything else would be a burden to her weak arms.
'Why is this happening? Just where did my peaceful life go?'
Those thoughts kept coming to her mind as she followed along with the others. Passing the corpses and occasionally stopping to beat the few zombies that they encountered.
It took awhile before they finally managed to reach the stairs. As expected, they could hear the groans and screeches of the zombies, and multiple sounds of flesh being torn could be heard below.
"... Are we really going there?" The girl who was reluctant awhile ago asked in worry.
"Yes. Touya-kaichou is currently busy holding the zombies off from our back. We should take care of what was in front of us while he do his best!" Their secretary answered.
"Stop hesitating. If we don't do this, we're going to die!" Their vice president added to the side.
The others gulped a mouthful of breathe, and Megumi noticed the others were trembling. She was too. Going down there and trying to charge through a horde of zombies sounded like a suicide.
"... We don't have time, let's go. We will take the lead, so all of you just support us from the rear!" Their secretary said before they moved forward.
The others were still anxious, but they decided to follow along. As for her, she just followed suit on their back.
'... Wait... why does it feel like it's becoming quieter?' Megumi noticed as they got to the stairs.
The sounds of zombies groaning or screaming were becoming scarcer, and when they go downstairs, they were shocked at what they saw on the ground floor.
Hundreds of zombie corpses were stacked on the sides of the school, and the whole hallway that led to the entrance were stripped clean of any blockage like the corpses of people, or some objects lying in there. It felt like someone deliberately moved everything that would impede their way to the entrance.
"What the... what is happening!?" Senna exclaimed.
They were shocked. They were expecting to encounter a large group of these living dead, but instead they found a mountain of bodies gathered besides the walls of this school.
It was a baffling scene that made them almost forgot that they were in a precarious situation. They stood there frozen in shock, their minds trying to process this sight.
"... Eeek!"
It was the terrified squeak of the reluctant girl that made them snapped out of their shock. They looked at her direction, and saw her taking a step back as she pointed at Megumi's direction.
"Behind you!" She screamed, and Megumi widened her eyes before she turned around.
She saw that it was the opened maw of an old man, it's teeth was strangely sharp and gleaming maliciously with blood as it got closer to her. She gasped, before letting out a scream as she covered her face in fear. She saw that there was a large hole on it's head, but it was still moving.
'No! I don't want to die!'
Along with her screams was her desperate thoughts as she felt her life flashed before her eyes. Her ears rung as the sounds of her fellow survivors shouted besides her. The others seemed to be trying to get closer to her to protect her, though it was too late. As the zombie managed to sneak at them and was already upon them.
She heard a sickening crunch so close to her ears as the monstrous old man's groan became a scream that turned distant immediately. She thought she was already dead, and was afraid to open her eyes when she felt a pair of hands grasped her shoulders.
"I finally found you."
Those cold words made her confused, before she looked up and saw a pair of eyes with differing colors gazing straight at her. Strands of platinum white was the next thing she noticed, and she realized it was her hair. She was also taller than her by a few inches.
And then after a moment, she managed to processed that her appearance looked incredibly close to her childhood friend. Her mind was already in a turmoil for awhile now that the thought of her friend almost slipped out of her, though now that she saw her face, it came rushing back.
"... Chika?"
The woman who held a calm expression simply nodded at her.
She widened her eyes at that. Surprised at the admittance of the woman. She looked a bit older than her friend.
Without waiting for her to recover her wits, the girl who claimed to be her friend grasped her hand.
"Let's go, it's dangerous here." She said, and there was a hint of urgency in her tone as she tried pull her to her side.
"Wait!"
She quickly said, and the white haired woman stopped before looking at her with a tilt of her head.
"A-are you really Chika? Yorozu Ichikara?"
"Yes."
"T-then... what is happening! How did you get here? A-and, why you looked different!?"
"I am..."
"Yes, Megumi-san, she is my daughter."
They turned to the new arrival who entered this place through the broken entrance just near the location of the stairs. She held a smile that was a bit strained as she got closer to them.
She knew that woman, that was Ichikara's mother. If the mother of her friend was saying that, then that only meant one thing.
"... How...?"
She had an inkling that Ichikara might have awakened just like the student council president.
"That is a long explanation. For now, we should leave this place and hide on our home. I already fortified the most of it, so it will be much safer than this place." Ichikara once again tried to pull her to her side.
"Ahem..." Then they were interrupted once more by the grunt of the vice president. "Excuse me, but may I get your attention?" Ichikara looked at the vice president.
"What is it?"
"We overheard that you are friends with her, and I saw you just defeat that zombie quickly. Have you awakened with a power too?"
"... Yes."
Megumi furrowed her brows. The way Ichikara answered bluntly, it was strange. Ichikara couldn't speak that confidently to others, mostly if it was a popular person she was talking to.
"That's great. Please help us! Touya-kaichou is currently holding off the zombies from above!"
"... Who?"
Megumi widened her eyes when she heard that.
"You didn't know!?" She screeched, causing Ichikara to perked up. "That's the Student Council President!"
"... What's a student council?"
"I apologized, but Chika is currently... having some problems. We should put this matter to rest for now." Kanade quickly interjected.
The others were confused as they gazed at the mysterious white haired girl. The vice president and the secretary of the student council gawked. They could see that she was wearing the same uniform as them, so it was baffling to hear she doesn't know about the student council.
"Anyway... you want her to help someone?"
"Ah... yes! I see that she also have powers, so if we helped each other we can survive this!" Saeko quickly responded to the mother.
"Hmm... what do you think, Chika?"
Megumi wondered why she stared blankly at her mother for a moment. She doesn't know that Ichikara was contemplating whether to save someone she doesn't even know or not. Though it only took a moment of thinking before she answered with a nod.
"Wait for me."
With that, she suddenly vanished as a sudden gust of air blasted on their faces. Their hair swayed greatly by that.
"Ugh... what the... is that her power!?" One of the survivors exclaimed in surprise.
"Most likely it is. Does she have a limit too like Touya-kaichou?" Saeko muttered.
Megumi was still confused. To learn that her friend suddenly awakened with powers, she felt happy, but at the same time a bit nervous. It felt like her friend suddenly got elevated in status.
Just as they were just starting to talk about her she came back in a blur, and she carried someone on her arms which caused them to gawk in shock.
"I saved him. Can we go now?"
Not even caring for their reaction, Ichikara just put the clearly disoriented guy to his feet, and then walked towards Megumi and her mother.
"Uh... what... that was so fast..."
"If that is all, we will be going now." Without waiting for their answer, she pulled Megumi's hand as she tried to leave.
Megumi was curious why she was urgently trying to leave immediately. Her mother too looked at her daughter with a shake of her head.
"Chika, it's rude to just ignore the others like that!"
The girl stopped with a flinch, before she turned to the others and then bowed her head for a bit.
"I see. I apologized. I got used to it..."
'Used to it...?' Megumi was more than confused.
"It's really dangerous here, so I wanted to leave as soon as possible." Ichikara continued while Megumi became more confused at the strange words that left her mouth.
"... Uh, I don't know what's happening but I am grateful that you saved me." Touya suddenly spoke. He had noticed that the others were still shocked at what happened, so he took this chance to speak to her. "Seeing that uniform, I think it is safe to say that you are a student of this school. I also agree that it is dangerous here right now, so we are planning to gather at the cafeteria. What do you say, can you come along with us?"
"What's a cafeteria?" All of them, except the mother, was shocked at her question. They almost fell off on their feet due to their shock.
"... Are you kidding right now?" One of the guys besides them suddenly shouted.
"No, I truly don't know." The white haired girl simply shook her head. "Though if I have to guess, it might be a place somewhere in this school. If that is the case, I'm afraid I have to decline. My home is a lot safer than this place..."
"But I'm sure your house is a bit farther here. We can gather on the cafeteria first and then stock up on food before we go to your house. There are many zombies out there, so it is dangerous to just face them head on."
"I killed them all."
"""... What!?"""
They exclaimed in surprised after processing what she just said.
"Right. There were barely any zombies left outside. She took care of everyone during our walk to get to this place." Kanade explained.
Hearing those words, everyone stared at her with some amazement, bafflement, and a bit of fear in their hearts. Megumi couldn't even believed what she was hearing.
'Chika... killed all those zombies outside!?'
It was so out of her impression to her friend, that she was still trying to process it in her mind. While all of that was happening, Ichikara simply stared back at the others. Even with her cold expression, she had this certain sense of impatience within her body posture.
"Is there anything else?" Ichikara asked coldly.
When she saw that they were silent, she shrugged before pulling on Megumi.
"Now let's go, before something bad happens." Ichikara said, and Megumi doesn't really find anything wrong with that now. She was absentmindedly following her while her mind was still questioning just how Ichikara managed to do that.
"Wait!" Touya's voice made her friend groan in frustration, and it was evident with how her face briefly changed into an expression that conveyed her annoyance to the others.
"... Yes?"
"Please let us come with you!" Touya immediately requested, much to the others surprise.
"Uh, Kaichou, isn't it the other way around?" Saeko questioned.
"You heard what she said right? She killed all the zombies from outside, so I think it's just right to stick along with her!" Touya explained back before turning his eyes back to Ichikara. "So, what do you think?"
"... Suit yourself."
With those words, she finally walked away from them with her hand still grasping her wrist. Kanade followed along behind them as they tried to leave the school.
The others behind them looked at each other for a moment before they decided to follow along.
'... This is getting more confusing. Why is she acting so differently?'
Those were the thoughts within her mind as she glanced at Ichikara who simply looked forward with a calm look.
So the MC here is more worried at the safety of those she recognized than herself. This is why she was feeling impatient on this chapter as, while she is confident at her own survivability, it wasn't the case for the others.
She didn't want to leave it to chance and let her loved ones get hurt.
I hope you have fun!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
The sixteen students couldn't helped but be amazed as they walked to the Yorozu residence unimpeded. The streets were only filled with the corpses of the zombies, and they were set aside so they won't tripped.
And all of that was possible because of the white haired woman who kept briefly disappearing before coming back in a short moment. They learned that she was able to sense any beings on her surroundings, though they don't know just how far it goes. She took care of those who got closer to them before they even saw these zombies.
Now they were in front of the Yorozu Residence. They gasped at the thick double steel doors and the metallic walls that covered the four corners of the lot. Instead of a middle class house, it looked like a small military complex.
"Wait... when did your house became like this!?"
The other students flinched at Megumi's question. On the other hand, Kanade pointed at her daughter as she responded.
"Chika did it."
"She did? Since when...?"
"I think yesterday. She told me that she has been fortifying our house since yesterday."
"Yesterday!?"
Megumi was baffled. This place couldn't be built in a single day. She might understand it if it took months. Though that was also impossible, as she just visited their house last week. She knew it wasn't like this at that time.
As the others were listening to her mother explain, Ichikara opened the gate by pushing it. It easily opened with her strength alone.
"Come." She simply said as she walked inside and looked at the door for a moment.
She only made the door as a temporary measure for preventing zombies from getting inside. She had to make it more sturdier next time, as she felt that there might be stronger mutated zombies that might emerged later.
That was in the future. It was still the first day of the apocalypse, so they still had time.
As the others entered the house, they couldn't helped but be more amazed and shocked as they saw the roof with two large square stands in it. Along with it was the house which also had a steel door, though it's at the same size as a normal house door.
The interior was much more modest though. Unlike the entrance which was coated with steel plates, entering the house premises and then going to the living room made them realize that the renovation wasn't finished yet. It still looked like an ordinary middle class house.
Seeing this place that was untouched by the bloody scene outside, Megumi's legs suddenly became weak as she fell to her knees. Relief rushed through her heart immediately as they arrived at Ichikara's house.
It's not just her. The others felt an intense sense of relief after they entered this heavily fortified house. All the tension from their body was released with the realization that they were safe.
"Now that we're safe, I have to do a brief check on all of you." The cold words that came out of her mouth made them confused.
"... Brief check? What do you mean?" Senna asked to the side as she sat on the sofa with an exhausted sigh.
"I have to know whether you are trustworthy or not."
"... What do you mean by that?" Touya was the next to asked as he felt a bit intimidated by her words. His whole attention was focused on her.
The others felt a sudden turn on the atmosphere. Their relief quickly turned into a tense mood as they glanced at the white haired girl whose blue eye slowly changed into a pink one with a white circular dot and empty circle surrounding the dot. The girls got a bit freaked out by the change, though Ichikara simply ignored them as she glanced at all of them once.
"... Hm. All of you passed. I'll check up on you again tomorrow." After saying so, her eye returned to it's former blue color as she turned her back and goes somewhere on the house.
They didn't know, but she just used her Mind Reader, an ocular upgrade she got from a monster that could read minds. She quickly flitted through their current and past thoughts, and felt that it was acceptable enough for them to stay. She was still cautious of these strangers, so she decided to check their thoughts on a daily basis just to be safe.
They were left dumbfounded for a moment, before Saeko suddenly exclaimed.
"What is wrong with her!?" She asked, a bit miffed.
Kanade smiled wryly. "I'm sorry, but I also don't know. I'll ask Chika what's all of it about... for now, you should take a rest." After saying so, she also left them on the living room.
The others could simply looked at her back until she left the room, which gave them enough time to actually relax and then processed everything that had happened since this morning.
"... Oh god... I still can't believe it. A real zombie apocalypse is happening!"
"Eugh... I don't want to see them again. I'm so scared!"
"If this is a dream, I want to wake up soon!"
With their lives finally guaranteed, they got the leeway to think of other things. Like what they should do in the future, and would they be living like this for the rest of their life?
As the students contemplate about their experiences, the three student council members gathered on one sofa and looked at each other.
"Are we really sure we should be staying with that girl? I mean, I'm glad she saved us and all but... I don't know, she felt so strange!" Saeko immediately started.
"I agree. She didn't looked like she even recognized us. I would have expected a student of our school to at least heard of your name..." Senna was the next one to say that.
"... I agree that she didn't look friendly at all, but she hasn't done anything wrong to us yet. Let's stay for a bit and see for ourselves. We can still leave if we find her fishy." Touya was also a bit unnerved at the white haired woman.
Megumi frowned as she overheard them. It felt like they didn't fully trust her friend. Though she could admit that Ichikara was acting strange. The way she spoke felt so detached, as if she doesn't see the events in front of her as serious. There was a certain coldness in her eyes as she led them to her house.
Just like the one she knew was so different to the one that saved them awhile ago.
She looked at the door, and decided to follow along as she stood up and left the room. She wanted to know what happened to her friend. "Chika!"
Mist turned around and gazed at her mother who walked closer at her with a complicated look.
"What did you do? They felt uncomfortable..."
"I read their minds." She simply answered. "I want to make sure whether they are trustworthy or not."
She widened her eyes at that revelation. "You can read minds?" With her nod, Kanade felt a bit of a headache.
It was still weird to suddenly find that her daughter could do all of this. Adding another feat like reading minds, she doesn't know how to react to that at all.
"... So, are they...?"
"They are fine for now, but I will occasionally check their thoughts just to make sure."
"I see..." Kanade frowned for a moment. "Is that really necessary?" She doesn't know how to explain it clearly, but she felt it was wrong to just read their minds without their permission.
"It is. It would be too late if they are planning something to us!"
"Then... why not tell them that you are reading their minds?"
"It's a lot better if they don't know I can do it. They will be prone to messing up, and I can catch them on the act if they ever try to do something to us."
Kanade still felt it was wrong. She wasn't satisfied with Ichikara's impression to the others. Though she once again reminded herself about what she told her, and decided to leave it be.
"Then, I'll be resuming the fortification of the house. I'll help you out with your evolution later, Mom." After saying so, she was just turning around when she stopped midway and gazed at someone behind her. "What is it?" She asked with a tilt of her head.
Kanade looked behind and saw it was Megumi who now stood near her back. She step to the side, having discerned that she might had something to talk about to her daughter.
"Well, I'll be at my room then..." She left, while thinking about the words of her daughter.
Megumi immediately spoke after her mother left.
"Chika... what happened to you? You are acting strange for awhile now..."
Beneath that round glasses were eyes that looked at her with concern, and doubt. Ichikara doesn't understood how she was acting so strange, so she could only tilt her head.
"... Am I acting strange?"
Normally she would just ignore whatever was said on her way. She long became used to being cursed to death by others as it was one way to break the guards of the few survivors that remained on her time. She was satisfied with how she was right now.
Though the one who was speaking to her was the one she had a strong impression with. Despite the very long time she hadn't seen her, to see her alive and standing in front of her made her feel a bit teary eyed.
Megumi was one of those people whom she still remembered even for a long time. Her death was the one that made a great impact to her in her past life. Her death was also the first time she had lost someone important to her.
She doesn't remember how Megumi usually acted, what she does, or even her name. She only knew her face, and if not for her mother telling her who she was, she might still be stuck on her home and her childhood friend would be killed without her knowing.
It was why, even when she doesn't mind how she acted to the others, her question took all of her attention. She had sworn to herself to protect her loved ones, and that included their mental wellbeing. If she was doing something that made them uncomfortable, she wanted to at least rectify that.
So long as it wouldn't impede on her self-imposed job of protecting them.
"Of course you are! You looked so... unconcerned with what's happening... what happened to you?"
She listened carefully at her friend, and then slowly internalized her words. Contemplating carefully about her words. With her accelerated thought process, which was an effect of her body that was already at it's peak as a living organism, it only took her a second before she managed to form a coherent response within her mind.
"... Before that, I have to explain something to you."
"What?" Megumi looked a bit worried.
She glanced at the door where living room was located, before she gestured for her to follow.
"I don't want others to hear about it. I will only tell this to you because I trust you..."
Megumi raised her eyebrow, unused to the way she was so cautious of the others.
"... Okay." Though she still relented.
She wanted to know, what happened to her best friend.
And so, they walked to her room and from there, Megumi learned the truth behind her sudden change of personality, and everything else. It took until the sunset before Megumi was satisfied. She was left dumbfounded, and as she wasn't asking anymore so Ichikara decided to leave and continue with the fortifications of the house.
She was just going to do that when she sensed her mother's presence getting closer to her. She immediately looked at the direction of her room before her mother opened the door.
"What is it?"
Kanade almost jumped in shocked when she found Ichikara already standing in front of her door. She quickly shook her head, recovering from her shock before she spoke.
"Right... do we have any food? Those children are becoming hungry..."
She frowned. She doesn't want to share those food. She only looted those for her mother only. She was already thinking how to ration that with her mother and Megumi on the mix, and the other students were excluded on her plans.
But she could see the genuine concern from her mother's face, and held the words that almost left her tongue. She hated it, but it wasn't like she would have a hard time procuring food once more.
It was one of the things she learned and has applied within her long life of survival. It's to always hogged the resources and not give any, as it might be useful for her continued survival later.
She was only willing to give to her loved ones. Anyone else can be ignored.
"... Okay, but I only stocked up a year supply of food. If we're going to feed them, then that will reduced the time up to three months."
As her mother didn't understand her real reason why she was hogging it, she frowned. "What are you getting worried for! That's a year supply of food, you shouldn't be so stingy to others!" Kanade couldn't help but scold her daughter.
Normally those type of words doesn't faze her, but being scolded by her mother made her flinch.
"... Sorry." She lowered her head in depression.
With that she led her mother to the basement of their house. As they walked there, Kanade slowly realized what she actually said awhile ago.
"Wait a minute... a food supply that can last for a year...?" She widened her eyes. "How did you store all of that!? No, more than that, where did you get all of that!?" She exclaimed.
"Every establishments that store food on this city." She answered briefly as they finally arrived in front of a heavily plated door. The door doesn't have any knobs or handles to open it, and there was only a square shaped calculator-like object attached to the side of that door.
"... Wait, I don't remember having this kind of door on our basement... don't tell me...!?"
Without answering, Ichikara operated the square object by putting a series of numbers. It easily exceeded a hundred digits before she was done and pushed the large enter button on the square object. Then the large blast door hissed as it opened up. Cold wind slammed on their skin, and Kanade was surprised.
"W-what...?" She was dumbfounded at what she saw beyond.
Within was a dimly lit room that exuded cold smoke. There was a humongous amount of cargo boxes that was usually seen on large shipments. The room itself was larger than the house itself, which was impossible.
"I'm sorry, I'm still trying to relearn how to build things manually. It's a bit primitive, but this is the Food Preservation Room."
Her mother gawked at her words. 'What primitive!? This looked something from a scifi film!' She screamed internally.
She could see proper ventilation all around if she squinted her eyes carefully, and the room was perpetually cold. The cargo crates were also properly arranged and categorized with one having meat, the other vegetables, fruits, sweets, etc.
"How did you...?"
"I'm sorry again Mom. I've spent all my time finishing this room first because I thought it's more important to store the food and ensure their longevity. I'll try to do better next time..."
"That's not it!" She quickly shutdown whatever her daughter was going to say. "This looked incredible! You said you built this yourself?"
"Yes."
"Then... everything on those metal crates...?"
"They were filled to the brim. On my estimate, it will take a year before you ate it all."
"Stupid!" Ichikara blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst from her mother. "Just what do you think of me, a pig!? I think I won't be able to eat all of this in my lifetime!"
"Ah..." She was surprised to hear that. "Sorry..."
She had overestimated how much a normal person could eat. She tried to undersell it within her mind, but it wasn't enough.
"This is such a waste. What will happen if all of these gets spoiled! Mostly the meat!"
"There is no need to worry. This Food Preservation Room can store meat for a decade before they get spoiled. The others had three times more storage life than the meat." She answered quickly.
"... Huh, a decade?" Kanade was more confused than ever. Meat just doesn't go that long even with it being put on an airtight freezer.
"Yes. It's a short amount of time, but I think it's satisfying enough for something primitive..."
She was speechless. Her daughter was still calling this technology as primitive.
'If this is primitive, then what the hell is our world!?' She screamed internally. "Just where did you learn all of this...?" It was too advance. Even if this is the future version of her daughter, she knew that her daughter wasn't that smart.
"This is a legacy left from Rhymnezia, a machine infested universe. They are pretty advanced. They have a lot of nifty gadgets that could help mortals.to survive."
"Universe... not a world?"
"Yes. It's a whole universe."
She stared at her daughter with her mouth slacked for a bit before she shook her head. She doesn't want to comment on it anymore and just focus on her original purpose why she was here.
"Anyway, there is no need for you to hog all of these. Come on, let's cooked something for those children!"
"... Okay."
I decided to end this chapter on this part. I felt drained right now... good thing it's my rest day. So I can focus on writing more.
For now... I have to sleep. Good night everyone~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
The students exclaimed as they saw the array of sumptuous meal laid on the dining table. There were seafood, meat, vegetable, and eggs. It was a buffet style arrangement of food.
"Wait, we actually have something like this!?"
"Oh god... I'm already drooling. Let's eat!"
"Can we eat now!?"
They quickly looked at the host of this house which was the mother. They were a bit intimidated to look at the white haired woman who just stood on the side and stared at them blankly. Despite her wearing an apron beyond her school uniform, the atmosphere she was exuding made them nervous.
"Of course."
With that confirmation, everyone quickly took the prepared plates on the side and the chopsticks, and they took their pick of meals. Others took bowls as they wanted to have a taste of the large container of soups.
Kanade also joined along with them. The only one who didn't join was Ichikara. When she saw them eating, she quietly left the room without saying anything to them.
'I got delayed enough. I have to finish the fortification of our house now. I only need a hundred hours to finish everything.'
With those thoughts in mind, she quickly goes outside and changed her red eye into the dim purple one. Activating the effect of PSI Orb, she grasped every materials she could sense from her vicinity. She left it on the corner of their lot within the cover of the walls, so they were easily controlled with her telekinesis.
'... Being crippled is so inconvenient.'
She was still a bit miffed that she wasn't capable of doing more. She felt a bit impatient, as her mother and her friend were still mortal. If she had her full power, she could easily ascend them to the Ascended Level.
Since getting to the strongest cosmos in her past life on her early two million years of survival, she stumbled upon the common knowledge of the absolute gods who roamed that ridiculous dimension. She learned that, despite the many levels that she had achieved at that time, she simply ascended one time, on the level of the Immortals.
There were twelve stages of ascension and these were; Mortal, Immortal, Ascended, Transcendent, Divinity, Primordial, Chaos Primordial, True Pinnacle, Beyond Divinity, Boundless, True Infinity, and Zenith of Phantasm.
She was one of the twelve who had reached the Zenith of Phantasm, and that only happened after the ninety ninth apocalypse. The other eleven were a lot earlier at reaching that level, though they perished on the 98th and 99th apocalypse, leaving her as the sole survivor.
As her ascension were completely destroyed, she was back to the mortal stages. Though being a Zenith of Phantasm who focused on survivability amongst everything else, she had a passive regeneration that worked even at something that had been totally eradicated in every sense and manner. She only need a total of a million years to fully recover at her peak. She planned to go to the Center of Creation after that.
She shook her head. 'I should stop worrying about it... I still have a lot of time before that bastard decides to erase this whole Plurality!'
She decided to focus a lot on her current activity for now which was fortifying her house.
"Time to start." She muttered under her breathe. She resumed changing the remaining concrete walls of their house into thick steel. She welded the metal skillfully through her own telekinesis and her own hand if she wanted to be more precise. It only took her an hour before she was done on all of the walls of their lot.
Next was fortifying the house itself. She simply did the doors and windows as they were the weakest parts of the house. Now that everything had been accounted for, she decided to change the exterior of the house from drywall into steel-plated ones.
She quickly bent and changed the shape of the metals that she had, and quickly got to work. With her brain multitasking, she easily managed to finish the makeover of the exterior of the house in another hour. Now instead of it's minimalist paint job, it was full on gleaming steal all around. It was like a brand new secret bunker that emerged on the surface.
She felt satisfied, and was just going to do the interiors when she sensed the familiar presence of Megumi approaching her. She still opened the door to get inside the house and waited for her friend before she emerged on the door to the Living Room.
"Ah! Your here... I've been looking around for you!" Megumi quickly rushed to grasped her hand. "Come on, I heard from your mother that haven't eaten yet. She's waiting for you!"
"... I don't need to eat." She was a bit troubled.
She could eat if she wanted to, but she doesn't want to dipped on their food stocks. She just realized that every people ate less than her own low estimates, though that doesn't meant that applied to her. The amount of meal she could consider as a small snack already constituted ten of those large shipment crates, and she won't even be satisfied to call it a breakfast.
It would be like ordering small french fries and only eating a single piece of it. That was how unsatisfying it would feel to her.
Ichikara doesn't really want to, but because she insisted, she decided to humor them in resignation. Thus, she followed her within the dining room.
Only her mother was there along with Megumi, which meant the others had the decency to give them privacy. They talked for a bit as she ate along with her family, before she resumed her work to change the whole house.
She did this all night. Tomorrow morning, the sound of people gasping resounded on the house as they woke up with an entirely new ceiling and walls around them. They also noticed that even the floor had been turned into a smooth and seamlessly tiled marbles.
Most of them slept on the living room, or on the floor of the two free rooms within the house, so it was surprising how they didn't noticed the changes on the house.
They quickly learned that it was the woman with mismatched colored eyes who did this as they found her on top of the rooftops, quickly constructing some sort of structure that looked like the top part of a pagoda. Multiple floating materials and objects spun around her as she does that.
Mist already noticed them awhile ago. She briefly glanced at them with her Mind Reader active, and then glanced at them for a moment before she spoke after she quickly changed her pink eye into her normal blue one.
"What is it?"
Touya, the one who lead this group of students stopped gawking at the ridiculous feat she was showing and decided to get straight to the point.
"Right. I'm really grateful for the meal yesterday, but I think that might have put a dent on your food stock. We wanted to go out and find food outside to help." He said.
Mist already discerned that after reading his mind briefly. The others were also in agreement to that. There was no hidden intent within their memories, and while she saw from their past memories that they were suspicious or anxious at her presence, that wasn't really concerning.
She nodded at them in approval and decided to help them out for a bit.
"Wait." She landed on the ground without any difficulty. The other girls gasped, but she doesn't really mind as she controlled a few of the objects she put on the corner of their backyard.
These objects were metal bats she personally made by molding steel into that shaped through her telekinesis. She controlled the metal bats until they were floating just in front of their faces. The others gasped once more in surprise.
"Take it. You will need it." She simply said before she let go of her telekinetic hold on them.
The bats stayed on the air for awhile before gravity took hold as it slowly tilted and fell. The others were startled and quickly tried to catch the bats. As they were doing that, she floated another series of objects, these time being thin blue cards that she just created this midnight.
"And here, your way to enter and exit our premises." She simply said as she let go of her telekinetic hold on these too after they were in front of their faces.
She had finished every basic fortifications on the house, and that included the security of their gates and doors. The blue thin card was a Level 1 Clearance Card she made so they could enter a limited amount of the rooms. She made another card just for her and for her family, and she had no reason to give it to them as they were still complete strangers to her.
Touya was dumbfounded, but quickly he nodded and bowed his head at her.
"Thank you!" He said, before quickly asking something. "Uhmm... do you want to come along with us? I think with your help, we won't have to worry about anyone dying..."
"No." Touya's smile froze at her response. "I'm still busy at the fortifications on our home."
"Oh... I see." He looked a bit disappointed, but quickly shook that expression off with a strained smile. "Then, we will be going now. We'll quickly come back later."
After that, he told the others to come along with him. The only people he took with him were the male group. Almost every girls had been left alone in the house. The only girls who came along with Touya were Senna and Saeko.
As she watched them used the clearance cards and heard their amazement at the smooth sliding of the steel door as it opened for them, she returned to what she was doing. They also let out another gasped of surprised when they saw the streets were completely scrubbed of any of the corpses that were there yesterday.
It was Mist who did it. When she noticed the putrid scent of the zombies, she quickly took care of it. She was used to the scent as death and gore was her everyday life in her past life, but she assumed the others would be unused to that. For the sake of her loved ones quality of life, she cleaned up everything within the range of her telekinesis, including corpses, blood, and even the infected worms that swarmed on these bodies. Now everything from a whole kilometer was swept clean. There wasn't a hint of the apocalypse on it other than the broken windows and flower pots on the houses.
She jumped to the roof and resumed with her fast construction pace. Currently she was doing something precise like creating a lot of nanochips, extremely thin wires, and other internal parts of this small tower peak she was building.
Just as she was doing that, it was Megumi's turn to leave the door and looked at what she was doing.
"... What is that?" Megumi decided not to ask how Ichikara managed to change the interior of the house without their notice. She was more curious about what she was currently doing.
"A Power Generation Tower."
"... What can it do?"
"It can absorb any forms of energy and store it within it's container here." Ichikara tapped the large circular glass that was inside that pagoda-like structure. "The stored energy can be used as additional energy to power up the future sections of the house that I'm planning to build soon."
"... Wait, your still planning to build something?"
"Yes. I already have a Food Preservation Room, and Small Factory--"
"Food Preservation Room!?"
"--Yes, I'll show you later. Anyway, I planned to make a weapons manufacturing center, armor factory, vehicle factories, and a training chamber for this whole week. If there is some spare materials, I'll also add making defensive turrets and drones. I'm sure that can take care of almost any mortal threats around... what?"
Mist noticed that Megumi was staring at her incredulously. She wondered if she said something absurd. It became a norm for her to have all those skills, that she forgot normal humans couldn't really do all of those by their lonesome.
"... Nothing. I just realized that you're not the Yorozu Ichikara that I knew..."
Mist flinched at her words. She felt hurt at hearing that.
"... What do you mean by that?" She asked with a frown, her brows furrowing.
Megumi quickly realized that and shook her hands. "No... I mean, you are the future version of my friend and we'll... I admit, I am somewhat missing the old you..." She lowered her head and averted her gaze, a bit ashamed at that.
Ichikara was strong, she admitted that, though the way she acted was just too different. She wasn't used to it. It's like she was looking at a stranger who only used the name of her friend, and that made her feel complicated.
"... I'm sorry." Ichikara doesn't know what to say other than that.
She doesn't even know how she acted on the past. So she could only apologize as she couldn't change to make them comfortable on her presence.
"It's fine. I'm sorry, I'm being rude here despite you trying your best to protect us..."
"... Okay." Mist nodded at her words.
The two became silent for awhile. It was too awkward that after awhile, Megumi decided to excuse herself.
Mist frowned for a moment as she looked at the tower she was building.
She felt somewhat guilty. She wondered if she should have kept her original personality within herself during the apocalypses.
'Maybe they might become more comfortable in my presence if I still retain my original personality...'
She became distracted that instead of finishing this morning, it almost took her until afternoon before she was done with the Power Generation Tower.
That's it for now. Sorry if the chapter is a bit short...
I also apologize if this story wasn't that engaging...
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