Blue Star, Valoria City, 2020
Under the azure sky, the world was a desolate landscape, littered with ruins. The once flourishing metropolis was now utterly shattered. Skyscrapers that had soared like mountains into the heavens were now cut off halfway, the severance marks strikingly square and perfectly level—a truly shocking sight.
Once, humans were the masters of this planet, but now they could only struggle to survive amidst these ruins. Roy was one of these survivors.
Boom!
An invisible slash flew by, cleaving an entire high-rise building in half. A man with long white hair, holding a long blade, leisurely strolled toward him, seemingly indifferent.
Oong—
The white-haired man's blade hovered in front of Roy's face. Roy calmly shoved the last steamed bun into his mouth and swallowed it. He was just an ordinary person; how could he possibly defeat a monster capable of slicing an entire skyscraper? What was even more ridiculous was that he didn't even know who this person was, let alone why they wanted to hunt humans.
"Pity, it seems you don't have the key mark on you. But never mind, consider this an appetizer before the main course. Cheering up the mood is also nice."
With that, the white-haired man swung his long blade. Just as the edge was about to sever Roy's head, the entire world seemed to have the pause button pressed, falling into a state of absolute stillness.
At the same moment, a message appeared in Roy's mind.
[ Do you want to continue living? ]
[ Yes ]
[ No ]
The chilling blade was pressed against Roy's neck. Regardless of the current situation, he only wanted to survive and decisively chose Yes.
Tzz tzz—
The instant he made his choice, Roy's figure flickered like an image on an old-fashioned TV, then completely vanished. The world, meanwhile, remained suspended in that frozen moment.
In a world unimaginably distant, Roy's figure materialized. He stood on a barren, ruined street, utterly unaware of what had just happened.
"Where is this place?"
Just as he was bewildered, a translucent interface opened before him, with messages rapidly scrolling across it. Roy immediately understood his current situation after reading.
[ Welcome to become a member of the Apocalypse Space. From this moment on, you are an Apocalypse Apostle, tasked with carrying out the will of the Apocalypse Space: seeking the secrets and truth of every ruin across the infinite worlds. ]
[ Shattered worlds are scattered throughout the vast void. Buried beneath the old and broken ruins is the glorious light of once-splendid civilizations. Finding the truth that led to the world's destruction or ruin—that is the meaning of the Apocalypse Apostle's existence. ]
[...]
[ This is a mission for a beginner world; the danger level is relatively low. ]
[ Mission Start ]
[...]
[ Name: Roy ]
[ Points: 0 ]
[ Ability: None ]
[ Item: None ]
[...]
With no attribute lines on the personal panel, Roy immediately knew that the Apocalypse Space was a place where ability, equipment, and items were paramount.
The source and function of Points were temporarily unknown, but one thing Roy was certain of, based on the on-screen prompts, was that in the Apocalypse Space, the Apocalypse Apostle must acquire all abilities and equipment on their own within the mission worlds; the Space would not grant any ability or equipment rewards.
Conversely, as long as the Apocalypse Apostle obtained the ability, equipment, or items in the mission world, the Apocalypse Space allowed the Apostle to take them all away after the mission concluded.
Roy was exceptionally pleased with this point.
"It seems I can only rely on myself."
If he didn't want to return to the Blue Star after the mission and be killed by that white-haired man, he had to acquire sufficiently powerful strength in this ruinous world.
The difficulty was considerable, but it was better than having no hope at all.
The interface flashed with a new message.
[ Main Mission: Investigate the truth of this world's ruin. If a key item exists that led to the world's ruin, you must acquire it. Time limit: 5 years. ]
[ Mission Reward: 1000 Points. ]
With the appearance of the mission reward, Roy finally saw the use of Points: they could be used to enhance equipment and abilities, with no upper limit on the number of enhancements!
As such, the importance of Points was self-evident.
Just as Roy was about to close the interface and begin exploring this ruined world, a segment of data suddenly scrolled across the screen, causing Roy to freeze in surprise.
[ Target endpoint detected. ]
[ Plug-in installing... ]
[ Installation complete. ]
[ Upgrade option randomizing... ]
[ Random Option: Telekinesis (Psychokinesis) ]
[ Telekinesis option addition complete. ]
The moment the interface showed that the Telekinesis option addition was complete, Roy immediately felt the emergence of a power within his body, as if it were innate.
He looked surprised: "What is this?"
With that, he gently raised his hand and naturally grasped the power that had appeared inside him. An invisible force surged out, and a steel pipe on the ground in the distance floated into Roy's hand.
"It really is Telekinesis!"
Not only that, but the messages on the interface continued to update.
[ Upgrade Mission 1: Kill 10 Zombies. Telekinesis level increases by one. ]
[ Upgrade Mission 2: Kill 100 Zombies. Telekinesis level increases by one. ]
[...]
[ Upgrade Mission 10: Kill 10 billion Zombies. Telekinesis level increases by one. ]
[ Number of Zombies Killed: 0 ]
[...]
A full 10 upgrade missions, with the reward for all of them being the enhancement of Telekinesis. Roy was a little surprised; was this his cheat?
Since the Apocalypse Space was not supposed to provide the Apocalypse Apostle with any abilities or ability upgrade missions, Roy thought he might have misremembered and deliberately scrolled up to check, confirming that he had not made a mistake.
However, he was more concerned with another matter than the cheat.
"Zombies?"
Roy stood on the ruined street, surrounded by old, abandoned cars. An unknown amount of time had passed, and thick dust covered everything. A cold wind blew through, and he looked up the street, only to see a staggering figure approaching. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a Zombie.
It was then he suddenly realized that the foul stench pervading the air was the smell of a Zombie. Roy had intended to turn and run, but stopped when he saw no other Zombies nearby.
He looked at the Zombie, whose muscles were atrophied, causing it to stumble as it walked. Then he looked at the steel pipe in his hand, and finally at the 0 on the Zombie Kill Count display.
Next, Roy used his Telekinesis to manipulate the steel pipe, sending it flying towards the Zombie. It struck the Zombie's head, knocking it directly to the ground.
At the same time, Roy was assessing his Telekinesis.
"The power is considerable; at least it can damage the Zombie's head. The control distance is roughly around ten meters. Beyond that distance, it's uncontrollable."
The Zombie, still on the ground, was hit again, until its head was completely smashed. Roy's Zombie Kill Count finally changed.
[ Zombie Kill Count: 1 ]
He muttered to himself: "It can be confirmed for now that the vital weak point of the Zombies in this world is still the brain. The infectivity and transmission method have not yet been confirmed, but it's best not to have close contact with them."