The following events pained Eishi.

  The consumption of two [Bnk Evolution Fruits] is a blessing.

  Airi’s sweat turned bck and red. One by one, the dead cells on her body were thoroughly purged. Her frail body began to change beyond human limits. Her already perfect skin turned fairer. A hint of fragrance wafted from her bodily fluids amidst the bloody and pungent smell.

  Eishi received rebate chances from the fruit.

  [Confirmed consumption of Bnk Evolution Fruits (First Grade). A rebate of 7,094 times has been activated. 7,094 Bnk Evolution Fruits (First Grade) have been credited to the system space.]

  [Confirmed consumption of Bnk Evolution Fruits (First Grade). A rebate of 8,904 times has been activated. 8,904 Bnk Evolution Fruits (First Grade) have been credited to the system space.]

  In an instant, Eishi gained countless copies of these evolution fruits.

  Minute by minute, the values on her panel changed. It wasn’t until two hours ter that it stopped. The residues on her body had long since been washed down in the bathtub’s sink.

  [Airi Akizuk

  Innate Talent: Love Devil (SS, First-order)

  Non-exclusive Talent: None

  Life Level: First Order, One Star

  Strength: 15 > 25

  Agility: 19 > 29

  Constitution: 25 > 35

  Spirit: 10 > 70

  ‘What the hell… So this is the increase of life level? And the Spirit one… where did it come from?’

  Eishi remained sitting on the stool. He took out the pair of golden grape and kiwi out of the system space. He tossed them both inside his mouth. Their juices felt sweet, mellow, and slightly acidic.

  Instantly, a surge of heat traveled through his body. He looked down to his arms and was shocked.

  ‘X-ray vision..?!’

  When he focused on his arm, he saw the flow of heat circute in branch-like routes. His entire body was like that.

  The most incredulous thing was his brain. He didn’t use a mirror. Yet, he could picture a milky-white core the size of a peanut coalesce inside his head.

  Eishi extended this strange sense. A three-dimensional scan of the bathroom appeared in his head. The entire room is colored bck, with the objects and humans outlined in white.

  Most importantly, he felt his thoughts accelerate rapidly. He determined its reason after a while.

  ‘A complete package of x-ray vision... It must be due to the spirit attribute.'

  His changes sted twenty minutes. The ‘heat’ in his body subsided, receding to the milky-white core inside his head.

  [Eishi Hiraoka]

  Innate Talent: Time Dominator (SSS, First-order)

  Non-exclusive Talent: Spatial Backpack (110,000 Cubic Meters)

  Life Level: First Order, One Star

  Strength: 105 > 125

  Agility: 102 > 122

  Constitution: 104 > 124

  Spirit: 200 > 320

  His panel experienced great changes. The attributes that were difficult to increase went up by 20 in one go. He also awakened his long awaited talent.

  ‘Twenty points for the life level increase. So it’s ten for the usual. Then… the extra 100 on Spirit is from my Innate Talent? So it affects the spirit attribute…’

  The SSS rating proved itself once more.

  Eishi thought hard about it before grasping an ‘instinct’. His mind thought of his milky-white core. He focused on it, ordering the ‘folded paper’ to ‘unfold’.

  Then…

  Tick-!

  …the world turned light gray. Eishi’s eyes scanned the bathroom frantically. He noticed the falling water in the bathtub pause.

  He swiftly took a container and pced it mid-air. It did not fall.

  Tick-!

  The familiar sound returned. The world of gray receded instantly.

  Thud-!

  The frozen shampoo container fell to the floor. A slight headache assaulted his head.

  ‘Three seconds. I can’t exceed that. And it’s mentally taxing.’

  What he did was to move amidst stopped time. That was his talent—to control time itself.

  It took a minute before the headache disappeared. Eishi cast his [Time Dominator] for the second time. Like before, it sted three seconds. The wave of headache became slightly stronger than the previous one. He also began to experience fatigue on his physical body.

  With repeated testing, he reached his limits with the fifth use. He bit on his lips to keep himself from colpsing. His body felt as heavy as lead.

  Eishi popped out a [Stamina Restoration Pill]. The wave of fatigue disappeared instantly. The unbearable headache was also gone. Most importantly, the dim milky core returned to its former brilliance.

  ‘Physical body, spirit, and this milky core… this heat.’

  These three aspects are consumed to sustain Eishi’s Innate Talent. Fortunately, the [Stamina Restoration Pills] restored his consumption. It pushed the pills’ importance at an all-time high.

  ‘I need to farm these every day…’

  *****

  “So strong…”

  Airi clung tightly to Eishi. Her proud twintails are undone on the bed. She used his body like a premium body pillow.

  “You don’t care about your superpowers?” He asked.

  “No. As long as I am with Eishi, it’s enough!”

  “You…”

  The two spent the entire Sunday fucking like rabbits in heat. It started with Airi wanting to test out her newly strengthened body. It ended up with the two being addicted to sex.

  Eishi, in particur, saw the rapid increase of his attributes. Airi’s [Love Devil] allowed her to designate one exclusive partner. Depending on their levels, they will gain attribute points the more they have sex.

  Since Airi didn’t have a panel to see her status, Eishi expined these things using gaming terms.

  It wasn’t until their attributes stopped increasing did they stop. That was how the two found out about this ‘daily limit’.

  [Eishi Hiraoka]

  Innate Talent: Time Dominator (SSS, First-order)

  Non-exclusive Talent: Spatial Backpack (110,000 Cubic Meters)

  Life Level: First Order, One Star

  Strength: 125 > 126

  Agility: 122

  Constitution: 124 > 126

  Spirit: 220

  ‘Three points in one day…’

  He understood that the higher the attributes, the harder it is to increase. It is all up to luck and accumution.

  Eishi also formed several conjectures about this “power system”.

  First, every rise in “star” should give ten points (twenty if doubled).

  Second, the starting attributes vary depending on athleticism. The [Gene Perfection Chance] is a hack that pushes these attributes to one hundred.

  Third, the activation of their talent relies on the milky-white core inside their heads. That, and a kind of ‘energy’.

  ‘Twelve times the human body… and there’s still [Time Dominator].’

  He didn’t feel as endangered as back then. Although there are still a lot of his preparations missing, his spatial backpack is almost full. Transporting the supplies of the supermarket and pharmacy to Yokohama didn’t take a long time. The supplies he stockpiled is enough to feed hundreds of people for decades. There are still things he left behind in these warehouses due to the ck of storage.

  ‘Even if the apocalypse begins tomorrow, I should be fine…’

  *****

  The next day, Eishi booked a flight to the United States. Haruno was competent in achieving the things he asked for. Almost all of the tasks in his to-do list were completed. The supplies were secured long ago. The newly bought vil was modified to further suit his tastes. Rows of customized off-road cars were parked in his underground garage.

  The only thing left was firearms. It took the longest to accomplish. The guns couldn’t be shipped directly to Japan. Hence, he came to the United States himself. They used a connection of an international security company situated in Japan to obtain them.

  Eishi didn’t go sight-seeing. He met with the personnel assigned here and went straight to the designated warehouse.

  Before entering, he asked the personnel to stay behind. What greeted his sight were rows upon rows of gun boxes. It could fill half of the master’s bedroom inside his vil.

  Eishi acted immediately. He swept them all inside his spatial backpack. Then, he spat out the boxes.

  He closed his eyes. The sight of hundreds of rifles of different kinds floating satisfied him. The pile of ammunition numbered in the thousands.

  If it wasn’t for money and connections, it would have been impossible to acquire it even in the United States.

  ‘I need to take her. She fits the role of a manager well enough, plus her innate talent.’

  He had just left the warehouse when it rained. Eishi immediately went back inside due to one reason.

  The rain is red.

  His eyes nded on the puddle of red liquid.

  [Mutated Rain]

  Details: Containing a special type of virus, it forcefully begins life level evolution. Those who succeed in life level evolution will awaken their innate talents. Those who fail will turn into mindless corpses, with a strand of altered virus that works against other life-forms.

  ‘...It’s here.’

  Eishi eyed the slightly drenched personnel outside. He betedly opened the bck umbrel and gestured towards him.

  ‘I should see to it.’

  He decided to come together with the personnel. He sat right in the passenger seat in front. The one who got drenched rode on the car behind them. Fortunately, the driver wasn't affected.

  His eyes remained glued on the car behind them. Nothing happened in the next ten minutes. When they got out, the man who got drenched didn't show any flu-like symptoms, only a paler countenance.

  The expected virus breakout did not happen once they arrived in the hotel room.

  This time, Eishi chose to stay inside his pre-booked VIP room alone. His eyes remained glued on the scene below. Nothing unusual stood out.

  For safety’s sake, he decided to message each of his ‘potential confidantes’ using LINE. The general instruction was there: avoid poputed areas and use umbrels while going outside. He discreetly mentioned the 'sick' looks of the people around him.

  From here, he learned their locations. Mahiru and Airi stayed in the apartment complex. Shizuka was busy settling graduation affairs. Utaha is at her home. Haruno is at their newly-purchased office building. Megumi is with Saeko, intent on pursuing the expert ‘ninja training pn’ he formuted. Finally, Shino is at her school. He does not have Yui’s contact.

  Eishi’s waiting game bore fruit. Ambunces stormed the city center one by one. He checked the social media ptforms on his phone. When he clicked on a video, he saw a woman convulsing on the ground. The camera also caught several others who suffered from the same ailment.

  The more he scrolled, the more he discovered this ‘seizure’ was widespread.

  “No time to waste. Thank god I got the guns now.”

  With a thought, Eishi used the teleport function of the [Romantic Link]. A feeling of weightlessness assaulted his entire body. The next moment, he was back to a familiar room.

  [Romantic Link Teleport Cooldown: 6 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes]

  He closed the dialogue box that opened.

  “Eishi?!”

  Airi jumped out of her bedside. Her breasts swayed up and down. The loose pajamas she wore did nothing to prevent it.

  Although she was startled to see him appear out of nowhere, she did not think much of it. Her huge changes came from Eishi. She trusted him blindly to not ask about it.

  In simpler terms, she was so thoroughly conquered by Eishi that she turned into a love brain.

  “We need to leave. Take the baseball bat beneath your bed.” He paused before adding, “If someone asks, tell them you are my friend.”

  A tinge of sadness appeared in her eyes. Still, she complied.

  While she was packing things, he called Haruno’s number again.

  “Come to the vil. Right now.”

  “Excuse me? Hiraoka-san..?”

  “It wasn’t me who took the flight. I sent someone else to act on my behalf.” Eishi lied without batting an eye. “The situation outside is too chaotic. I am afraid it will become worse. If you haven’t done it yet, check the Internet.”

  Haruno went silent for a while. Her deep breath echoed in the microphone.

  “Wide-scale seizures. If my guess is not wrong, this is the prelude to a zombie apocalypse.”

  “Zombie apocalypse..?”

  She knew Eishi was a ‘doomsday enthusiast’. The heavily modified vil and the guns originated from this hobby.

  Now, although his words seem far-fetched, the people she saw on the streets who suffered from seizures scared her. The continued traffic accidents on the crossing below their building is also another thing.

  In the end, she chose to believe Eishi’s words.

  “I understand. Shall I bring…”

  “Prioritize your safety.”

  He ended the call without giving her time to argue.

  ‘She’s decisive. I hope she makes the right decision…’

  Eishi’s advantage over Haruno was his superior status. She is his subordinate. No matter how illogical his words are, as long as it does not touch her fundamental bottom line, she will act upon it.

  He sighed as they left the apartment. Just then, shrill screams came from below. Eishi stuck his head out of the handrail and saw a chaotic scene. Bloodied people started pouncing on other people.

  The screams scared Airi so much she took his hand. Eishi looked at the stairwell and saw a horrified person. Another bloodied person is clinging on her back, intently biting her neck.

  His hands turned cold. An M9A3 appeared in his right hand. The silencer attachment removed any apprehension in his mind.

  Eishi gritted his teeth and aimed at the ‘zombie’ gnawing on human remains. His two weeks of pying Gun Gale Online ingrained an instinct to his body.

  Psshoon-!

  Psshoon-!

  His gaming skills did not deteriorate. The gun recoiled in his arm, barely affecting him. The sound of the silencer wasn’t particurly loud, but it wasn’t the same with the movies. Real life silencers still make noises.

  “E-eishi…”

  “Come. We need to pick someone up.”

  He tightened the grip over Airi’s hand. Due to his serious voice, she forced herself to regain her composure.

  The two went to the stairs. The two bodies reeked of blood.

  Fortunately, there weren’t zombies on the upper floors. They soon arrived in front of Mahiru’s apartment.

  After repeated knocks, Mahiru opened the door. Visible confusion arose on her face as she saw the unfamiliar woman behind Eishi.

  “There’s no time to expin. We need to go somewhere, Mahiru-san.”

  His sudden use of her first name caught her off guard. Countless questions popped up in her mind.

  Seeing this, Eishi sighed. He forcefully took Mahiru’s hand and dragged her outside. She instinctively struggled to release his grasp.

  “Hiraoka-san, what are you doing..?”

  Her meek words are met with his cold words.

  “Look outside.”

  “Ah..?”

  The apocalyptic scene below stunned her.