A young man in his twenties, with bruises on his face and dirty clothes, sat in a city park, looking tired.
While the children played and couples held hands gazing at their loved ones, Lorien stared at the screen in front of him.
[-IMMINENT EVENT: APOCALYPSE [3:23]-]
Lorien transmigrated into this body about five minutes ago. The surprise wasn't much; he'd read enough stories to adapt.
«But seriously, why an apocalyptic world?» Lorien wondered.
He hasn't received any systems yet, so the least crowded place in the city is this park.
As for locking himself in his house, the truth is that the previous Lorien was a betting addict, literally broke and in debt to a nearby casino.
When Lorien transmigrated into this body, he was covered in bruises, lying in the back of the casino. Seeing the fragmented memories, he was able to understand the situation.
The stupid addict had gone to gamble despite having no money; he'd taken out a loan, but he'd received a beating and a warning before being thrown out like trash. Lorien took out his phone and saw several contacts: Dad, Mom, and his little sis.
But it didn't occur to him to go see his current family. Lorien had been kicked out of his house because of the gambling debts he had burdened his parents with.
He had even sold his little sister's laptop to get money to gamble. He was a complete loser. But even so, his parents still paid the rent for his apartment.
«You have very good parents» Lorien thought to himself.
So he had nowhere to go, and with only a few minutes left before the apocalypse began, it was best to gather with people.
A couple of minutes passed like this until a screen appeared in front of Lorien once again.
[Ding*]
[The world awakening has begun]
[Apocalypse in progress]
«World awakening?» Before Lorien could ask himself anything, the sky began to change.
Everyone stopped what they were doing as the red light covered the world.
Adults and children looked at the sky, which turned blood-red, with strangeness and fear reflected in their eyes.
"What is happening?" asked the girl holding her partner's hand.
"I don't know," the boyfriend replied, bewildered.
Lorien looked at the sky just as surprised before a screen appeared in front of him.
[Ding*]
[Activating system...]
Information he didn't have before appeared in his head with a slight ache in his temple.
Lorien looked straight ahead with a small smile in his mind.
«System,» Lorien used his thoughts to summon the system.
****[EXCHANGE SYSTEM]****
[Host]: [Lorien Fortune]
[Level]: [0/10]
[Power]: [0.7] – (Common Human = 1)
[Skills]: [Register ◊] - [True Vision ◊] - [Upgrade ◊]
[Shop]: [0/10]
**************************
Lorien understood the system quickly, as if he had used it for a while.
He focused mainly on the skills the system offered.
The [True Vision] skill allowed Lorien to see the status of people and objects.
The [Register] skill is related to the system shop, which currently has 10 slots. Lorien can use the [Register] skill to save the composition of an object so that it is reflected in the shop.
On the other hand, the [Upgrade] skill is the only one that consumes the natural energy stored in the system shop. It is used to upgrade any target by 100%; the amount of vitality spent depends on the target and the accumulated upgrades.
The information about the skills remained engraved in Lorien's mind. Lorien focused on the shop, his most important resource.
Using the intent in his thoughts, Lorien opened the shop.
*****[EXCHANGE SHOP]*****
[X]: []
[X]: []
[X]: []
.
..
…
…..
**** [NATURAL ENERGY: 0]****
The system shop used a special energy called Natural Energy, but Lorien did not yet know how to acquire it.
With not much else to see, Lorien closed the system and noticed that everyone around him was staring at their phones with furrowed brows.
Some had their phones to their ears, impatience marked on their faces.
"Why is there no signal, damn it!" growled a man not far from Lorien.
Lorien pulled out his phone and, looking at the signal bars, realized they were empty, which meant everyone was cut off from communication.
Lorien put his phone away and began walking at a brisk pace toward the streets.
He noticed there was panic; cars were driving fast and in silence.
Shops with televisions in their windows were open, but no one was laughing or chatting. The televisions had no signal.
«At least the electricity is still working,» Lorien thought.
«However, I still don't know what kind of apocalypse I am facing. For now, the priority is to find a place with food,» Lorien reflected.
As he walked, Lorien noticed that everyone had almost transparent white dots in the center of their foreheads.
Lorien looked at a girl who leaned on her boyfriend's arms as she walked, staring at the red sky above everyone.
When Lorien focused on the dot on her forehead, a panel quickly expanded.
****************
[Name]: [Amelia Ferreil]
[Status]: [Fear]- [Healthy]
[Talent]: [Unawakened]
[Power]: [0.6]
[Skills]: [X]
****************
Even after the girl passed by his side, Lorien could still see her status.
He knew the status would not disappear from his vision until he closed the system panel.
«So that's how it is.» Lorien looked at the stats, paying special attention to the talent stat.
«Not everyone has it,» Lorien reflected after seeing the status of more than 20 people.
Lorien had only seen one person with the talent stat: the girl named Amelia.
After walking for several minutes, Lorien reached his destination, a supermarket. Upon entering, Lorien saw that the supermarket was already packed.
But there was still room to walk through the aisles.
"Sir, we only accept cash, there is a problem with the signals," said the cashier.
"Shit! I'll leave you my bank card and come back to pay, I promise, girl," an old man said.
"I'm sorry, sir, I can only accept cash," the cashier replied in a polite tone, but annoyance could be seen in her eyes.
The old man wanted to complain more, but the people behind him began to grow impatient.
"Old man, if you're not going to buy, move aside, I have cash," said a blond-haired guy.
"Yeah, old man, move aside," said a girl behind the guy.
"I'm sorry, sir, but if you don't have cash, I must move on to the next person," said the cashier.
The gentleman cursed and then set the shopping cart aside, choosing to leave while grumbling.
Lorien watched the whole drama before shaking his head and walking down the aisles.
Every object Lorien saw had a semi-transparent orange dot on it.
"It's time to use the [Record] ability," Lorien thought as she wandered through the corridors.
People looked at him with suspicion, but no one lingered to stare; everyone was focused on their own business.
Lorien noticed the stares, but there was nothing he could do about it; the bruises, the unkempt beard, and the ragged clothes would alert anyone.
In the camping section, Lorien found several objects: a fireman's axe, a thick paper bag of charcoal, and a thermal, waterproof tarp.
On a nearby shelf were other products that caught Lorien's attention.
A portable purifying water filter, 550 Paracord rope (50 meters), Heavy-Duty Duct Tape, and a Ferrocerium Flint.
Lorien first touched the fireman's axe while focusing on the orange dot on it, and a window appeared in front of him.
[Do you wish to register object?] [Yes/No]
«Yes, Register» Lorien said within himself.
[Name the Registered Object _________]
Lorien thought for a moment and gave his answer.
«Common Fireman's Axe»
[Common Fireman's Axe Registered]
Lorien held the axe after completing the Registration, holding it from the top part so as not to attract attention, and kept walking in search of more objects to register.
«If I hold the axe poorly, people won't look at me with as much suspicion,» Lorien thought as he walked with the axe in hand, holding it poorly on purpose.
Although Lorien couldn't pay for the axe, it still gave him a certain sense of security, knowing that he was already in an apocalypse, though still not knowing what kind.
While walking, Lorien checked the status of the shop and noticed he had a new object.
*****[EXCHANGE SHOP]*****
[Common Fireman's Axe]: [10]
[]: []
[]: []
[]: []
[]: []
[]: []
****[NATURAL ENERGY: 0]****
He still had 9 slots left.
Lorien now moved to the bag of charcoal and registered it. Then he registered the rest of the objects he considered essential until he only had 3 registration slots left.
Next, he headed to the pharmacy and personal care section.
Upon arriving, he saw a lot of products, but he focused on searching for those he recognized as vital.
On a shelf was the medicine he was looking for: a box of 500mg Amoxicillin.
A vital medicine to prevent infections in common wounds.
After registering the medicine, Lorien went to the food section. While searching, Lorien also scanned everyone he saw, but he couldn't find another unawakened talent; no one else had the talent stat.
«Talents must be really rare,» Lorien thought.
Upon entering the food section, Lorien found what he was looking for: Canned beef stew. A very rich and nutritious food.
Afterward, Lorien went to the beverage section and found a 5-liter water jug, which he registered.
With that, Lorien had already occupied all the slots in the shop.
«System, open the exchange shop,» with an order, Lorien managed to open the shop directly.
«This is getting easier,» Lorien thought as he saw the exchangeable items.
***** [EXCHANGE SHOP] *****
[Common Fireman's Axe]: [10]
[Charcoal (4-Kg)]: [6]
[Thermal waterproof tarp]: [12]
[Portable purifying water filter]: [15]
[550 Paracord rope (50 meters)]: [5]
[Heavy-Duty Duct Tape]: [8]
[Ferrocerium Flint]: [9]
[Amoxicillin (500mg)]: [15]
[Canned Beef Stew (24 ounces)]: [7]
[Mineral Water (5Lt)]: [5]
***** [NATURAL ENERGY: 0] *****
«Good, this makes me feel safer» Lorien thought as shouts could be heard from the supermarket entrance.
Lorien cast the system aside and quickly went to see what was happening.
The atmosphere of the supermarket had drastically changed from one moment to the next.
The murmur of panic-buying had transformed into a chorus of sharp screams and disorganized footsteps that echoed against the granite floor.
When Lorien reached the checkout area, the crowd had fell back into a human semicircle, leaving an empty space in the center.
People were recording with their phones, backing up and tripping over shopping carts, or simply watching with a mix of confusion and morbid horror.
Everyone watched the fight in the center like an entertaining drama inside a supermarket.
"What is happening," asked Lorien, still unable to get inside and see what was occurring beyond the circle of people.
A black-haired teenager looked at Lorien with a smile dawning on his face, as if he couldn't contain his amusement. "An old man is throwing blows with an arrogant guy."
Lorien nodded, pushed her way through the crowd, and raised her head to get a better look.
In the middle of the circle, a somewhat comical scene was unfolding under the flickering white light of the ceiling.
The blond guy who just a few minutes ago had complained with arrogance in the line was now thrown on the ground. On top of him, the old man kept him pinned against the floor.
"Get off me, old man! Help me!" the young man shouted with a bewildered and terrified face.
No one knew why a young adult was so afraid of an old man, nor how the old man had the strength to subdue him.
The young man struggled as he was immobilized on the ground.
The old man was covered in clothes; But Lorien noticed that his heel was exposed, his pants were torn in that area, and his skin was visibly pale; she also observed branches of black veins extending across the old man's skin.
The murmurs in the surroundings made no sense; some laughed, others took photos, and one even egged the old man on to hit the blond youth.
In the five seconds since Lorien's arrival, the old man's skin had turned a sickly, ashen gray, streaked by black veins that branched up his neck.
His eyes, not visible to the crowd, were completely bloodshot, devoid of any trace of humanity.
The old man made a dry clicking sound with his jaw, much like a hungry animal, while ignoring the desperate blows the blond man was delivering to his chest.
People began to notice the old man's abnormal state; they lowered their phones, now focused on the branching veins they could see on his pale skin.
"Get him off me! Get this crazy old man off me, Ayame!" the blond guy managed to scream, his voice cracking with panic, seeking his girlfriend's help.
The girl, paralyzed a few meters away, regained her composure upon hearing her boyfriend's voice. Without hesitation, she ran and tried to deliver a Spartan kick to the old man to drive him away from her boyfriend.
However, before the kick could reach the old man, he raised his hand, catching the girl's shoe without moving from the impact.
The girl didn't have time to do much; the old man yanked her foot, causing her to fall.
The old man glanced quickly again at the boy below him, opened his mouth so wide that he tore the corners of his lips in the process, and then collapsed violently.
A wet, tearing sound echoed through the supermarket, silencing it in the process.
The old man's teeth sank directly into the side of the blond guy's neck.
The young man's scream was instantly choked in a gurgle of blood.
Lorien watched with trembling hands as the attacker yanked backward with force, tearing away a thick chunk of flesh and skin.