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Isao Tsumugi
[Save more than 250+ people from a dire situation.]
[Golden Ticket Received!]
[Would you like to use all tickets?]
I brushed off the System notification and grumbled a bit as I shifted on the bed I'd brought into my new office to make it more comfortable.
Yes, I damn well loved to sleep… and I didn't care that I didn't even need to sleep anymore; I just loved doing it. Losing oneself in a pleasant, temporary oblivion was incredibly comfortable.
My mom used to call me lazy for it, of course, but I worked in exact proportion to how much I slept—and you could argue I worked even more than I slept.
Before all this Apocalypse crap started, I spent every day drawing manga, helping my mom with her business, and spending time with K-imoto to help her with her studies, since she didn't particularly want to learn and was actually lazier than me... and that's about it?
Well, that seems like everything, if you don't count going to school. Attendance in Japanese schools is monitored like crazy; miss one lesson without a good reason and the school sends a teacher to your house immediately to check what's wrong with the student.
Something felt off… I was thinking for too long. I should have been back asleep already.
I rolled onto my back and looked at the ceiling with disappointment. This damn Trait just wouldn't let me sleep. Man, that's not fair! One of my favorite activities, rudely snatched away from me! It's just terrible!
Sighing, I sat up on the bed and summoned the System, which appeared right before my face before I could even blink.
[1 Golden Ticket, 2 Silver Tickets.]
[Would you like to use them?]
"Alright, open the audit log and show me where these tickets came from."
[Your people killed all the zombies around the Elementary School, instilling Hope in the people inside the school.]
[Silver Ticket x2]
[Save more than 250+ people from a dire situation.]
[Golden Ticket Received!]
Wait, is it evening already?
Asking myself that simple question, I turned toward the office window. Looking outside, I didn't see the sun setting yet, so there were two options: either Kiriko had already returned from the mission, or I was a total dumbass who slept through the whole day and woke up the next.
But the second option was garbage for two reasons. First, my trait wouldn't let me sleep that long for no reason. Second, K-imoto or Mom would have come to check on me, and I'd have woken up with a hundred percent certainty.
So, Kiriko probably just got back faster, and it didn't even take her that much time, which was pretty impressive.
Alright, Gacha, let's do this. Use my tickets! P-he-he-he!
[Vaunt]
|Rare Trait|
You're quite vauntful, aren't you? It is easier to increase your fame and gain recognition and rewards for your achievements. In addition, it is easier to assert your achievements and get people to believe what you say.
[Vault]
|Rare Trait|
Information-gathering abilities and technologies start working improperly when it comes to you.
[Grounded]
|Elite Trait|
You embody the immovable earth; all earth-based abilities are more potent, cost less energy to use, and are easier to master. In addition, you recover energy faster when underground.
Alright, alright, my eye immediately caught the blue-colored plate. That was the same color as the plate when I got my ability to create and control metal. Now another one of the same rank? The chance of this being weak or useless was small, so I immediately started reading what kind of power I'd gained.
Though… wait, what the hell?
The new trait gave a massive boost to all abilities related to earth, and understanding the full context—because the Gacha didn't know how to do it any other way—I realized it had to be actual earth. Stones, dirt, stuff like that. Not metal.
It was a bit of a letdown since I didn't have any earth-related powers at all, if I remembered correctly. Sighing slightly, I got out of bed, my bare feet hitting the slightly cold floor.
"At least the other two abilities are pretty good." I started to stretch, reaching up and twisting side to side, exhaling with satisfaction as I felt the pleasant crack of bones—or whatever it was that was cracking.
My clothes were in the corner on the bed; I always took them off when I was going to sleep or just taking a little nap, because god damn it if I'm going to sleep in my clothes!
I'd sleep completely naked if it weren't for the fact that we didn't have any real private room space at home. K-imoto or Mom could walk in at any moment, and it would be damn awkward to be lying there flashing my bare ass right in front of their eyes... yeah.
Quickly getting dressed, I remembered something as I adjusted the sword on my belt—specifically, one of the skills I'd received.
[Fire Breathing]
|Rare Skill|
Demon Slayer - Fire Breathing is a specialized swordsmanship style and breathing technique that mimics flames and replicates them with the user's movements, techniques, and abilities. Most, if not all, known techniques and forms involve extremely powerful singular strikes which 'burn' their opponents, with most attacks being initiated from a high stance. With magical power, fire can be manifested to further augment the power of the style.
Flame Breathing. One of the oldest and first styles created for the ancestor of Kyojuro Rengoku by the wielder of the First Breathing style.
An incredibly strong and yet beautiful style focused on precise, almost punishing katana swings. Hell, this style was one of the strongest, without a doubt it is in the top three of breathing styles by its power.
First place, of course, goes to the Sun Breathing style, and second to Moon Breathing.
I focused and began to... remember.
The knowledge of this skill was implanted in my head, shoved into the depths of my consciousness by the Gacha so that even if I wanted to forget it, I couldn't. My body just knew how to use it. Even if something forced my mind to forget the skill… my body wouldn't.
I inhaled, and a quiet sucking sound appeared, as if something was drawing in air in incredibly large quantities. That something was me.
My lungs expanded, trying to fit all that air, and… if it weren't for one of my traits, I would have collapsed on the floor right then from the sheer amount of oxygen inside my lungs. But I didn't. Instead, I tried as hard as I could to hold it in until the right moment.
There are specific periods between the inhale and exhale of different techniques. The period for Flame Breathing wasn't as fast as Thunder Breathing, but it wasn't slow like Stone Breathing either. It just was.
A few seconds, a fraction of a second more, and…
Whoosh~
I felt an incredible warmth at the bottom of my mouth, enough to warm a person on a cold winter day. Then I heard the quiet purr of a flame and realized that… yes, elemental releases exist in the Breathings, and this was confirmation that the Life Force within people can be used as a Magical source.
For a split second, I felt an incredibly pleasant sensation, a feeling of euphoria. I felt that for that very split second, I became much stronger, as if I were capable of… everything!
The feeling was similar to the one I had when I got the Steel Man trait, but about ten times more pleasant.
But just as that feeling appeared for a split second, it vanished, leaving me to sigh in disappointment.
Yes, I need to train the Flame Breathing technique. I even felt refreshed thanks to it. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that right now, especially considering that evening would probably start settting in in a few hours, and we had enough work to do.
I nodded to myself, forming a plan for further action, and headed for the exit. Passing by the chairs and the table, my left hand instinctively dropped to the hilt of my sword, and my Sensor sense expanded, trying to find Kiriko…
Hm… Rei was with Kiriko right now and… they seemed to be discussing something?
Alright, I'll head over there quickly.
As soon as I left the office, the change in the number of people was noticeable. People were walking here and there, and overall it was quite noisy. My fairly sensitive ears caught hundreds of different voices, causing me to grimace slightly as I headed toward where Kiriko and Rei were.
It turned out they had taken one of the vacant offices near mine and were loudly discussing something. But the moment I opened the door, they stopped abruptly.
Entering the office, I saw Rei, clearly red with anger, and Kiriko with her eyes downcast, like a small child overwhelmed with guilt being scolded for a prank. But the situation was clearly much more serious than a prank.
"Hey there," I waved casually and started walking toward them. "How did your mission go? I hope there weren't any emergencies?"
"Isao... no, there were no problems." Rei looked me in the eye a bit stubbornly, then just clenched her hands into fists. And god damn, by the way her whole upper body tensed, especially her arms, the strength in those fists was almost equal to mine.
"Then why are you two so sour? Everything's fine!" I walked up to Rei with a smile and went to put my hand on her head, but she just frowned slightly and dodged my palm. She took a heavy breath and looked toward her mother.
"We'll talk later, Mom... and Isao-kun, give me some time to be alone." Saying this in an irritated voice, she headed for the exit, slammed the door, and left. She left my hand hanging in the air until I lowered it and looked at Kiriko with a questioning gaze. She was still standing there like she was rooted to the spot.
"What's with her?" I asked that simple question, and she sighed so heavily it was as if I'd just ordered her to build me a whole tower. It made me look at her with even more confusion.
"It's... personal. Family matters." Saying this, she moved to leave, but hearing that, I could only frown. I grabbed her left arm as she tried to pass me.
"Hey, Kiriko. It's better if I know why a girl who is incredibly close to me is full of resentment and anger. It was obvious she wasn't in the mood, and you'd better tell me what the problem is." I looked down with full seriousness at a slightly flushing Kiriko, who looked at me with uncertainty.
No way in hell am I leaving this problem unresolved. I don't need anyone in my group who has power AND is walking around disgruntled. When a person is angry, they can make an incredible number of wrong decisions.
It wouldn't be too critical if it weren't for the fact that this disgruntled person was someone with power. And damn it, the problems from such a person will be ten times greater than from someone without it.
So, I looked with even more pressure into Kiriko's eyes. She was standing incredibly close to me, enough that I could see her fake confidence breaking, replaced by a slight sadness and uncertainty. I saw a few trails of sweat running down her forehead.
"..." Eventually, she just took a second heavy breath, gently unhooked my hand from hers, stepped back, and sat on a chair a few steps away. "It's complicated."
"Then try to explain it simply." She looked at me resentfully, even a bit strictly.
"You should watch your tone, young man. Just because I consider you a good leader and person doesn't guarantee I'll let you talk to me like that." She tried to scold me slightly, but seeing my intense gaze, she realized it was pointless. Shaking her head, she looked up. "Rei-chan… she just couldn't accept that her father and I haven't been together for a long time."
"Hm?" I looked at her blankly. She sighed heavily yet again, but this time it was visible how she deflated like a balloon. Her shoulders dropped, and her gaze was somewhere far away, in the past.
"Her father and I started having arguments about a year ago. After six months, we stopped communicating as husband and wife, but we kept it a secret from Rei. But today she noticed it. After we got back from the mission, she brought me here and started asking questions that I struggled to answer." She massaged her temples slightly. "And she didn't like those answers. I think… she just couldn't accept that her parents just divorced like that, even though they used to love each other deeply..."
"So... she's just unhappy that you guys divorced?" Because to me, that sounds a bit silly. Rei can be a bit spoiled, but she isn't someone who would get angry over something like that. She'd be more… in shock, in denial, and confused by it. But she definitely wouldn't be angry.
Though… that's not certain.
"Ha-ah... fine, let me talk to her. Maybe she's not angry about that at all. But that's for later. I was looking for you because we have a few more things to do before nightfall."
"And what things are those?" She pulled herself together and looked at me.
"We need to find the trucks and semis that should be here at the mall. If they start, we need to start loading everything useful that's here into them."
"..." She thought for a moment, then nodded understandingly after a few seconds. I walked over and sat on a chair next to her.
"So, tell me more about the elementary school. You didn't run into any mutated zombies there, right? No major problems?" She looked at my profile as I sat beside her asking these questions.
"...There were no problems. The only issue was that most of the children we took from there are now orphans." She said these words with bitterness. "Fortunately not all of them, but still, most are now orphans we'll have to take care of. But otherwise, everything went well. And we now have armed and trained people."
"Yeah, armed with ordinary revolvers. They won't help much against zombies, and against people... well, there's already me." The chance that those bastards from the bus survived is close to zero, but not zero. So I should be careful until we get to the island.
Only God knows what kind of people they'll meet. If they meet someone like Takagi, but much smaller, armed, and reckless, those bastards will blab about my powers, and they'll come for us, wanting to get their hands on me and my powers.
And when those assholes realize they can't even scratch me, they'll target the weaker people around me, just to thin our ranks, sow doubt in me, and everything else that comes with that kind of crap.
But I'll be ready for that. The moment I see or feel even a damn drop of that kind of aggression toward me, I won't hold back. A steel spear will be in their gut that very moment. No more, no less.
"So... alright, that's all I wanted to say. You understood the task I gave you?" I stood up and looked down at Kiriko.
"Yes. Check if there are working trucks and semis here, and then load everything useful. Yeah... god, who knew some kid only slightly older than my daughter would be giving me orders." She sighed slightly and spoke quietly as I headed for the exit.
I just smirked at that. If she knew that this kid's soul was the same age as her, she would probably...
Actually, I'd better not imagine what she would do, considering her daughter is in love with this very "kid."
Ugh, even I felt a bit grossed out by that. Fortunately, physically and mentally, I still feel eighteen, otherwise I'd be totally disgusted with myself.
Opening the door, I left the office and started walking toward where I felt Rei. Along the way, I looked around. In the corridor, different people were walking in pairs or even groups—adults with children, just adults, sometimes even a few teenagers. They all followed me with their eyes—admiring, loyal, but most importantly... with hope. As if I were their Savior.
It was both pleasant and creepy at the same time. After all, just a few days ago, I was just a young mangaka, a delinquent, and an ordinary person.
And today, I'm someone with great power, someone who can create matter, food, and water from nothing… I'm basically… a God? Though no…
It's too early to call myself that. My body, although ten times more resilient and slightly stronger than a human's, is still a normal human one. The line of whether I am a God will be crossed when I no longer need anything human—at least physically… because I don't want to lose my human moral qualities.
I don't want to become a God incapable of love. I don't want to stop loving my Mother, my sister… I don't want to stop loving Saya, Saeko, and our not-yet-born child. I don't want to stop loving Rei and Takashi.
And I hope it all continues that way.
The main thing is not to get some trait that makes me emotionless… because I don't believe the Gacha isn't capable of giving me something like that.
Ugh, just imagining it makes me feel sick and gives me a chill down my spine.
With such frightening thoughts that made me tremble slightly, I went up to the third floor, and then to the roof, where I saw Rei sitting on the edge, looking out toward the horizon.
I tried to approach her quietly, but about ten steps away, she spoke.
"Isao-kun?" She turned and looked at me with a stone-cold expression, her black eyes watching my face.
I cleared my throat slightly and sat down right next to her.
"Yes, Rei?"
"Do you believe in me?" She looked at me, and Rei's always-confident face held an expression full of vulnerability. It made something inside me twitch.
A distant memory from past I want to forget.
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