The neighbor’s nephew on the second floor of the apartment building had awakened.
It didn’t take long for the news to spread.
The world was a small place, after all.
Michael wasn’t the only one attending Woodstone Public High School No. 3, and as one of the rare individuals to awaken each year, his anonymity had quickly become a thing of the past.
Even students from other schools knew about him, whether they had seen him in person or not.
Some neighbors sighed at the family’s newfound luck.
Others envied them.
A few were outright jealous.
And some remained indifferent, adopting the mindset that Michael’s awakening had nothing to do with them and simply continued with their lives.
Regardless of their reactions, one thing everyone had in common was that Michael’s name lingered in their minds.
To ordinary people, becoming an Awakener or cultivator symbolized taking a step closer to success.
Most didn’t understand the specifics, but after being told the same thing repeatedly since childhood, it became almost a traditional belief.
For a brief moment, all eyes were on Michael’s family. Yet, even after a few days, nothing seemed to change aside from the boy’s sudden lack of presence—until now.
Not many had seen Michael in action when the monsters started falling from the sky.
Some witnessed it, but most quickly withdrew from any means of viewing the chaos outside.
Once the building became fortified under Michael’s hands, their awareness of the outside world diminished further.
To the majority of people now looking at Michael, they had no idea this was the very person responsible for their survival and current safety.
For the few who did know due to one reason or another, their emotions ranged from gratitude to disbelief. Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire
However, there was a reason none of them stepped forward.
Michael’s current appearance was terrifying.
He was covered in blood—different shades and hues—but the smarter ones could tell it wasn’t human blood.
Combined with his identity as an Awakener, most quickly assumed that he had been outside fighting monsters and somehow managed to make his way back into the building.
But the person behind the door had no way of seeing Michael’s current state.
Like most of the people in the apartment building, they believed the eerie silence outside meant that everyone else was dead.
They could still recall the sight of blood spilling everywhere when those monsters first appeared.
Until Michael showed up—at least for those who were seeing him now—most believed no one could survive that carnage for long.
Even now, those watching him assumed he was still alive simply because he had been inside the building.
The person behind the door continued speaking.
“Hey, why were you trying to break into my house? You’re up to no good, right? You think that just because the government isn’t responding now, you can do anything because you were lucky enough to awaken?”
The man continued ranting, spewing accusations and a mix of other incoherent complaints.
His words were met with silence.
Not only from Michael but from everyone currently watching the scene unfold.
Michael’s cold gaze remained fixed on the door in front of him.
The situation reminded him of what he had endured outside the apartment building.
And once again, it was with someone tied to his neighbor.
For a brief moment, Michael wondered if he might be doing too much.
But he immediately dismissed the thought.
Maybe it was an abuse of power, but if it concerned his family, Michael was more than willing to cross that line.
Besides, curiosity gnawed at him now—something was definitely wrong here.
Michael took a step back from the door and moved to the side wall of the apartment, stopping a short distance away.
Under the confused gazes of the onlookers, Michael extended a hand toward the wall.
His palm hovered just above the surface, not touching it.
The eyes of his neighbors widened in disbelief.
“{Acid Shot}.”
A green magic circle materialized between Michael’s palm and the wall.
A surge of white liquid shot out from the magic circle, striking the wall.
Immediately, the wall began to melt under Michael’s manual control of the skill.
Within seconds, an opening appeared before him, the edges still sizzling from the acidic reaction.
Unfazed, Michael stepped through the newly made entrance, utterly indifferent to what he had just done.
Once inside, the scent of blood grew even stronger.
A man, well advanced in age, came into Michael’s view. He was a familiar face.
However, the man who was usually easygoing, at least on the surface before, now wore a look of panic and disbelief.
His hair was disheveled, and his body was drenched in sweat.
He stood there in nothing but his underwear, his bare chest rising and falling rapidly.
Michael barely spared him a glance before turning his attention to the other sight before him.
In the sitting room, not far away, two bodies lay motionless.
One was the man’s wife, someone Michael had seen on occasion.
The other was his daughter, someone far more familiar to Michael—Lily’s friend, who had often visited their apartment.
Now, these two people…
They were dead.
Worst.
Their naked bodies lying on the floor hinted at a deeper, more sinister occurrence.
******
He despised his wife.
She, on the other hand, loved him deeply, a fact that sometimes stirred a flicker of guilt within him.
But no matter how hard he tried to cultivate affection for her, he simply couldn’t.
He was a bad man, and he couldn’t deny it.
In his youth, driven by his lack of success and unwillingness to endure a poor life, he had seduced a lonely, sweet, and wealthy woman—a slightly chubby lady whose innocence made her an easy target.
He married her, not for love, but for convenience.
But years later, her business suffered a massive blow, nearly costing her everything.
To make matters worse, she had been pregnant at the time.
Though he’d always harbored disdain for her, it was during this period that his hatred grew deeper.
He could only console himself with the thought that, at least, she had a hot body and a pretty face.
Even then, she was nothing more than a means to satisfy his desires in his eyes.
Not even the birth of their daughter could change that.
He was incapable of loving her.It wasn’t until years later he started to suspect that something was truly wrong with him.
His young daughter.
He found himself drawn to her.
He knew it was bad. He knew it was wrong.
But the thoughts that ran through his mind didn’t stop appearing after the first time.
At least all was good until the apocalypse happened.