Reborn: Apocalypse

Chapter 21: Shin

Many hundreds of miles away from Micheal, past dozens of other Clusters, there existed one specific Cluster called the Alexandrite Cluster. The Cluster was shaped like a large triangle, with edged points, unlike Micheal's Stardust Cluster which was shaped like a rather blob-like circle.

In the middle of one particular skyscraper, a blond haired teenager could be seen, casually flossing his teeth in front of a mirror.

"Hygiene is important, even if it's the apocalypse!" Shin merrily hummed as he prepared for the day. After brushing and flossing his teeth, he smoothed back his spiky blond hair and gave a winning smile, looking at himself in the mirror.

"You look damned good, stud. Ready to drive the ladies wild." He flashed a pair of finger guns at himself.

Shin was currently standing in the room he'd found after ditching the people he teleported in with. It was small, but cozy, with a desk, a bed, and a connecting bathroom and sink. The door was currently shut tight, locked with the doorstop Micheal had told him about.

He went over to his bed and sat on it, taking several deep breaths. After a moment, he exhaled, feeling all over his body.

"Wow, there really is some type of weird energy in me. This is crazy!" Shin shook his head, enjoying the experience.

The apocalypse was scary and all, but it was also kinda cool.

"According to Micheal, the fact that I started with 124,000 Points puts me well above the average. But there are a lot of rough dudes and gals here, people that I can't afford to mess with." Shin nodded as he talked aloud.

Shin was far more lucky than Micheal had been in that regard. With that score alone, such an abnormal starting value, Shin should've been an 'Irregular,' as he learned strong people were called from the start. At least, that is how it should've been, according to the hurried words Micheal had told him. His best friend had managed to cram a huge amount of info in a very short time period.

According to Micheal, if he hadn't wasted his Points on things like an Ancient Vikarin Shield for 15,200 Points, a Land Sword for 21,800 Points, and the rather pricey Expansive Strength Ability for 45,600 Points, among a few other things, he would've started out great.

All of these purchases were actually strong and quite useful, especially the Expansive Strength Ability, which temporarily allowed you to greatly increase your Strength, but weakened your Soul.

But, because he hadn't known to pick up the Ki Cultivator Ability, he didn't choose it. This, plus the rather haphazardly picked Artifacts and Ability, had caused him a great deal of suffering in the original future. He had ended up losing all of his rare Artifacts, robbed by those that had been here gaining strength for years.

'They all sound so cool though' He could see why the other version of him had wanted them.

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Still, while he didn't have any visions of the future, he had Micheal's words passed onto him.

Micheal and Shin had grown up in the same neighborhood and held a friendship that spanned far more than a decade. If there was anyone in the world he would say he trusted unconditionally, it would be his best friend Micheal.

Even if his best friend told him he had had a vision of the future.

In a world where millions of people had vanished in waves of light, Shin was willing to believe that pretty much anything was possible. When he had been transported to the 'Holy Shop' he was fully convinced.

Everything Micheal said was from the future... It was all coming true.

'Alright. It's been a full day, and I did that breathing exercise that Micheal said to do.' Shin took a deep breath, flexing his arms. He then tapped on a ring at his side.

Immediately, a large black sword appeared, one that was more of a longsword than a regular sword.

'Micheal said the Shin of the future enjoyed being super strong and always practiced powerful swinging attacks, seeking overwhelming strength as opposed to finesse.' He nodded again. Future-Shin had excellent taste, clearly. A hero always needed to have a grand entrance, and what was grander than a smashing attack from above?

He'd also purchased a powerful handgun that he kept in his Spatial Ring, just in case. Micheal had said he would have a far easier time using a sword to fight once he got some practice with the Ability he'd snagged.

As he smiled, however, a darker light flashed in his eyes.

Also according to Micheal, in his vision of the future, Shin, and the rest of humanity, all died. They were too weak, and as a result, everyone they knew would perish.

The jovial smile on his face faded slightly as he considered this.

'I can't just mess around. I have to get strong enough to protect them all.' His eyes hardened as he thought about his adopted parents and adopted sister, the family that had taken him in years ago. His dad was a mechanic back on Earth while his mother was a 4th Grade teacher. His little sister, Anna, had just graduated from 5th Grade and was about to enter middle school.

They weren't part of the Fourth Wave, that Micheal's vision of the future had seen. But if Shin didn't try his hardest, they would all die. The thought of losing his family was one that nearly drove him sick.

He pushed the thought to the side for now, however, recognizing that he couldn't resolve it yet.

"Don't you worry, Micheal. I'm here for you, buddy. We are in this together." He muttered, nodding sharply. He could tell that his best friend's vision of the future had hit him hard. The pressure he must feel was probably enormous.

"We're the Three Musketeers-Minus-One, remember?" He grinned as memories of their childhood swarmed up, where the two had been inseparable.

They had drifted apart somewhat when they grew older, dating girls and preparing for college taking up more of their focus. But the impending apocalypse had served as a great excuse to catch back up on their friendship. That, and the fact that they both got broken up with just weeks before the First Wave. If nothing else, Shin prided himself on being a great wingman.

"Alright, time to go do what he said." Shin tapped on his blade, storing it in the Low-Tier Spatial Ring he had picked up. All he had to do was think about the ring and storing his sword and it would vanish, a truly wonderful creation.

"Let's test my Ability out more." Shin closed his eyes.

"Phase!"

WHOOSH

Shin's body blurred and then vanished.

A microsecond later, he reappeared, standing outside his room. The door was still locked, the doorstop sealing it shut.

He was now in a large, dimly lit hallway with flickering white lights overhead. Not a sound could be heard, no other inhabitants of the area making noises. This was a rather dangerous area, according to Micheal. The central area of each Cluster was not a very safe place to live for most.

He grinned.

"It really works, just like when I first arrived." He laughed off the tension he had built, his undying optimism rolling in,

"I can teleport!"

WHOOSH

Shin's body blurred and vanished again as he teleported several meters down the hallway, concentrating.

"Wow, this really is frickin' awesome!"

Micheal had told Shin that his future self always wished he had picked this specific Ability. It was one that would've greatly boosted his preferred combat style, vastly enhancing his slow movement speed.

The Limited 'Phasing Warper Ability.'

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- Phasing Warper Type -

The Phasing Warper Ability is a Type Ability. Users may only have one Type. The Phasing Warper Ability grants the user the power to 'Phase' through reality, warping from one place to another at near instantaneous speeds. This Ability grants a moderate increase in the Soul stat and no other bonuses.

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The description was very succinct, like the description of most Abilities Shin had looked at. The Ability itself was one that also had a limited supply. Only 12 could be purchased, of which, 7 had already been bought. Shin was the 8th human to have ever snagged it.

It was an Ability that cost 110,000 Points. A huge, gargantuan amount that couldn't even be normally achieved on the First Layer due to the Points Wall capping Points at roughly 100,000 Points.

Only people that bought it before the First Layer or picked it up in the Second Layer had this power.

'The distance I can teleport and how quickly I can teleport again depends on my Soul stat. Right now it's at 12 because I picked this Ability up, a roughly 20% passive increase that will stick with me according to Micheal.' He thought it over.

After a moment, however, he shook the thought from his head.

'I need to find that thing.' His eyes tightened as he remembered the horrifying introduction he had had to this world.

He had been greeted by a pair of Third Wavers, alongside around 30 other people, and given an introduction to the freakish creatures that haunted this world, the Morenkai. Shin had slipped off on his own while the two warriors, members of the small-time Abnu Alliance, talked. He hadn't joined any groups, following Micheal's advice. Still, the gnarly appearance of those creatures was unsettling.

It was even scarier when he had faced one of them on his own earlier, as he was traveling through the rather empty central zone on his first day.

The monstrous humanoid had attacked him, its shambling figure lunging to try and shred him. It had come charging at him when he was on a long bridge, about halfway across. Shin had tried to use the longsword he'd purchased, a high-quality one that cost several quite a pretty penny, but had frozen up in his first encounter.

Any regular person, when faced with a zombie-like creature of horror, would have had the same reaction. At least, that was what he told himself when he rebuked himself after.

Thankfully, he'd managed to use his Phasing Warper Ability to lure the thing off the skyscraper, killing it while staying safe.

'According to Micheal, I talked about the thing I'm supposed to look for in the future. It gets discovered on the third day that I arrived, causing a big hubbub. Its location should still be the same, even though it's the second day now' Shin's eyes flashed,

'The special Golden Morenkai. A creature that drops anywhere between 10,000-20,000 Points.' Shin nodded his head sharply,

'It's supposed to be really weak in terms of physical strength. This time, I'll manage to kill one of these zombies directly.' His body blurred as he began to vanish, leaving behind a few quiet words,

"I can't be a hero if I forever stay a coward"

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