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Chapter 1: The Start
🕑 Added 2025-05-03 12:23:07 +0000 UTCThe world has ended.
Even though I've been locked in my room for days, I know that the world has ended from my phone. It occurred so abruptly. News reports and internet articles were instantly flooded with stories about zombies walking in droves, enormous creatures erupting from the earth, and much more. It's just been five days, and the claims have increasingly worsened until internet services are shut down.
Normally, I would verify such claims by peeking out my window, but sadly, this is not feasible for me. I've been bedridden for the last five days, since the apocalypse began. My fever has not subsided, and my fever-reducing medications were ineffective. I had to lie down on my bed, and I haven't been able to move since because of a persistent sense of tiredness and nausea I felt whenever I tried moving out of my bed.
Thankfully, I had a lot of water bottles and even some biscuits on hand to keep me hydrated and sustained during my illness. Nonetheless, the situation became worse with time. I ran out of biscuits yesterday and now just have a water bottle. Yesterday, the power went out altogether, enveloping my eyes in endless blackness. My phone's battery will soon run out, leaving just the window on the other side of my room as a light source.
I felt my time was near, and I'm already at peace with it, preferring to die from my disease than be slain by the creatures that I'm sure are waiting outside my chamber. And then my chronic fever suddenly vanished, and I was able to move again.
And with that, I finally got the chance to check the outside world through my window.
... It is much worse than I thought!
A pungent stink reaches my nostrils when I draw the curtains and open the windows. I reside in a high-rise apartment on the twentieth level. Normally, I would see a bustle of crowds and vehicles on the streets below, but all I see is the bleak appearance of the empty streets, the reddish splotches and brownish piles of something scattered all over the visible roads in my perspective, the broken windows on some of the buildings, mostly on the lower floors, and the occasional areas with fires burning.
I can also see tiny individuals moving around below. They were a bunch, yet the way they shambled around or stood in the center of the street indicated that they were not people. And the skies. The sky was orange with grayish tints, and the clouds were random, as if someone poured foam carelessly, producing a genuinely weird and unnerving image. I looked at my mechanical clock, which showed it should be 2 PM right now, but I couldn't see the sun at all.
I instantly cover the windows and check anything in my room. This room is a 1DK apartment room. On the side of my bedroom, there is a bathroom/restroom, and the other door leads to the dining room. The kitchen is connected to the dining room, and another door leads to the corridors outside. It did not take me long to check anything.
"This is bad..."
It's not just electricity that I lack. Water doesn't flow on any of my faucets. As for food, I only have ten instant ramen cups and five bottles of mineral water. I also have some stuff stored in my fridge, but it won't take long before they get spoiled due to the lack of electricity to power this fridge. It's not like I can cook this all up because my gas has also been cut off.
"If that's the case..."
I look at the door leading to the hallways before shaking my head.
No, I can't leave this room. I'm quite fortunate that none of those monsters I've seen on the internet have come and killed me while I am still bedridden, but that doesn't mean I should be complacent and think no monsters roam outside my room. In fact, now that I can move again, I need to immediately block the door from being entered!
____________________
After I was done blocking the door with drawers, cabinets, and even my non-functioning fridge, I finally felt somewhat safe enough to check up on other things.
Next thing after ensuring that I fortify the only entrance to my room is to check everything I have in me. In this scenario where I basically boxed myself in, I have to know what stuff I have to know how much time I can survive staying in this room.
Let's see, other than my instant ramen cups and water bottles, I also have five eggs contained in a plastic egg carton. Then there are the spoiled tomatoes, milk, and even the chicken meat, which I immediately disposed of by throwing them out of my window.
I also have all of my kitchenware, dinnerware, and cleaning supplies with me. I think kitchen knives, brooms, and frying pans might become useful for my continued survival in this apocalypse.
What else... right. I do have my game consoles and computer, but without electricity, they are essentially useless. I do have a solar charger I bought that one time, and I think it's the only useful thing out of any appliances that I have. Surprisingly, despite the sun not being visible at all, the light coming from the skies seems to still be considered solar energy, as it also works for my solar charger, letting me charge my phone and power lamp at least.
That's everything I have.
"... This isn't good."
I can't use my induction stove, nor can I use my water heater because I don't have any electricity. I don't have any generator in my possession. It's not like I expect the apocalypse to happen!
So my instant ramen cup is basically useless! Unless I decided to eat these noodles raw, I could only sustain myself with my water bottles!
"Aren't I screwed then!"
This is impossible!
How can I survive with only five water bottles!?
Isn't this the kind of scenario where I have to leave and find a new base to survive!?
I have read a lot of novels about the apocalypse, and I know most of the time it ends up with encountering monsters from the apocalypse or assholes who think they can do anything without regard to the law now that the apocalypse has come.
I don't want that!
But I don't have a choice in this matter...
I either stay here and endure until I use up all of my meager resources or go out and risk myself for a chance to find a better base!
No way... I am not going to survive!
I'm just a shut-in girl! What can my frail body do to survive?
Okay... I do have some strength. I wouldn't be able to push the cabinets and the fridge if I didn't have power in my noodle arms, but that doesn't mean I have a lot of stamina!
I can't run consistently for a minute!
Running is quite important when it comes to the apocalypse. My survival hinges on my speed and stamina. I don't have both!
"Ugh... what should I do...?"
Is this it? Am I checkmated? Should I just give up?
Maybe it's better if I stay bedridden. At least I know I don't have a chance if I still have my fever!
Now that I feel healthy, even if I know in my head that I can't survive with my own skills, my heart keeps hoping!
Maybe I won't encounter monsters out there? Maybe I'll get lucky and find food in the next room? Maybe this whole building is actually locked down, and I'm lucky enough to be the only person staying here?
If I have the courage, I can just act on it and just do it without thinking about the consequences.
But I don't have that kind of courage. I wouldn't be a shut-in if I had confidence in myself!
Ugh... Everything is so bad. I've always hated my life, but now I hate it more!
If only I could just go to another world.
At least in Isekai novels I usually read, most protagonists usually turn their lives for the better, getting basically everything they want and living the best of their lives.
Compare that to this apocalyptic scenario. It's bleak, it's hopeless, and I don't even have a cheat ability that will help me survive!
Like, come on, world! At least give me superpowers or something! Don't most apocalypse novels in this age have people mutating to superhumans? Can't you at least give me a power like an infinite inventory, or a power that will turn me into a game character or something?
Or is that too much to ask? Am I just an unfortunate fodder that will get killed for no reason other than to emphasize the bleakness of this apocalypse?
I really hate this world... At least, I want to go to another world...
As I was thinking about that, I suddenly felt it. A brief sense of weightlessness in my lower body while I feel some sort of force yanking my upper body forward even though I'm just sitting cross-legged on the floor, unmoving, and nothing around me being the reason for this sudden sensation.
After that, an eerie silence permeates my surroundings. It's not just the kind of silence where I can still hear the subtle noises of the air outside or the subtle shifts that seem to echo around the hallways outside of this room occasionally. No, it's too quiet!
It's as if all of the background noises just suddenly vanished. It's such a deafening silence that the only sound I can hear is the sound of my own breathing and the pounding of my heart.
"... Huh?"
What is happening!? This is freaking me out!
Maybe I'm becoming crazy because I've been alone in this darkness for sometime now. I quickly moved towards the window and slid the curtains away to look outside.
"... Oh..."
I squint my eyes to look below, and after checking for awhile, I notice the lack of anything moving around. Awhile ago, I knew there were small silhouettes on the streets shambling around, moving in ways impossible for a human in the middle of the apocalypse. Now, there is nothing.
I don't even hear the sound of buzzing from the insects, unlike a while ago, when I opened the window and heard at least a hint of that. There is nothing. The wind itself feels so stale, and even though there are still the occasional fires, I can't sense any activity at all.
... What's happening?
While I'm thinking like that, a subtle ache in my head is slowly forming. Slowly, its throbbing becomes worse, making me feel nauseous as time passes.
Thinking that I'm feeling hungry, I quickly left the window open and then took one of my water bottles laid neatly on the floor, turning the cork and then quickly chugging half of its contents. Despite the refreshing sense of being hydrated, the headache progressively got worse.
"Ugh...!"
I held my head while still carrying my bottle, trying to ease the pain in my head.
Make it stop! It really hurts!
My head is pounding so much. It's worse than when I got that persistent fever!
When I thought I might pass out due to the worsening headache, I suddenly felt another sense of weightlessness on my lower body, while some sort of force seemed to yank my upper body backwards.
After experiencing that, the throbbing headache suddenly vanished.
"... Ugh... where did that headache come from?"
I thought I'd already recovered from my fever. Is it returning because I'm stressing out so much about my future?
As I thought about that, I tried drinking the remaining water from my water bottle, and then I looked at the remaining bottles I have... only to frown when I see there are still five water bottles neatly arranged there along with my eggs and ramen cups.
But I remember taking one of the water bottles in there. Where did this water bottle I have been holding come from?
While thinking like that, I sense it. That sensation that life has returned somehow around me. It's not that silent anymore compared to awhile ago. Now I can sense those winds brushing against the window and those subtle vibrations somewhere from this building.
I looked at the window and almost freaked out when I saw that, instead of it being opened wide, it was still there, closed with the curtains covering it.
"Eeek!?"
Though I managed to cover my mouth immediately, I still screamed.
Comments
Deus Ex Mima
Oh? A promising beginning, and an interesting choice of power. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
