Chapter 4: Apocalyptic trial (3) / Sibling Duo

Looking at the horde of Ethereal incoming Chao Yu showed no fear.

He had experienced this scene dozens of times and was determined to make it the last.

Bang Bang Bang

A barrage of bullets flew past him as each bullet found its way to the head of the ethereal, killing them instantly.

But the barrage ended shortly, allowing the ethereals to advance further. Knowing Zeno was reloading, Chao Yu leaped into action and engaged with the closest ethereal.

Pierce

Chao Yu utilized his corrupted hand, stabbing the ethereal's chest.

Retracting the hand, he ducked as another Ethereal struck from behind missing him and finishing off the stabbed Ethereal.

As he looked behind he brought the corrupted hand up skewering the ethereal.

"I see why you like stabbing me so much, this sensation is truly pleasurable." Chao Yu spoke in fervor.

Not long after another barrage of bullets cleared the remaining ethereal.

Looking at the rubbles in the distance Chao Yu sighed as this is where the real challenge began.

Boom, roar!

A four-legged Ethereal with arms as shields burst from the rubbles, behind it many Ethereals following suit as it charged to them.

"Sh*t! Mark back off!" Zeno knows the danger of this type of ethereal, even if Chao Yu was a former hollow raider, it's impossible to take this ethereal down without specialized equipment.

"Zeno, take down the normal ethereal, I'll keep this big guy company." Chao Yu said. Looking straight forward at the ethereal, he took a deep breath as several scenes of him getting crushed played in his mind.

Fear held him in place for a moment but tightening the grip on his bat, he calmed down and dashed towards the ethereal.

Chao Yu sprinted toward the four-legged Ethereal, each step felt heavier than the last, the beast's immense presence bearing down on him like a crushing weight.

The creature roared again, its shield-like arms slamming into the ground and sending a tremor through the field. Rubble shifted, dust clouded the air, and the smaller Ethereals swarmed in chaotic waves rushing towards the beacon as Zeno tried to fend them off.

Zeno's rifle rang out once more, precise shots picking off the smaller enemies. "I can't cover you forever, Mark! Don't get reckless!"

"Reckless is my specialty," Chao Yu muttered under his breath. He dodged to the side as the beast lunged, its shields smashing into the ground where he'd been standing a moment ago. The impact sent chunks of debris flying. One grazed his shoulder, but he ignored the pain.

With a quick pivot, he swung his bat upward, aiming for one of the creature's exposed legs. The crack of the bat meeting flesh reverberated, and the beast howled in rage, stumbling slightly.

But Chao Yu had no time to celebrate. The Ethereal's shield arm swung horizontally, forcing him to dive into a roll to avoid being crushed. He landed awkwardly, skidding across the dirt, but scrambled to his feet just as the beast came at him again.

"Any bright ideas, genius?!" Zeno's voice crackled through their field.

"Just one," Chao Yu replied, dodging another strike. "But it involves getting up close and personal."

"You're insane," Zeno muttered.

Chao Yu smirked, and his corrupted hand grew, devouring his whole arm. "You always said that." He rushed the Ethereal head-on, zigzagging to avoid its thrashing limbs. The creature swung both shield arms down in a devastating smackdown, but Chao Yu leaped at the last second, vaulting over the massive arms and landing on its back.

The Ethereal roared in fury, bucking wildly to shake him off. Chao Yu clung to its rough, armor of stone with one hand while the other, with his corrupted hand, he drove it into the base of the beast's neck, where its armor was weakest.

A deafening roar tore through the battlefield as the corruption in Chao Yu's hand quickened, eating away at his torso. The beast thrashed violently, nearly unseating Chao Yu, but he held on, twisting his hand deeper.

Retracting his hand, he redirects it to the head of the ethereal, the creature's head twisted toward him, its head though a blob was full of hatred and desperation. Chao Yu wasted no time. He redirected his corrupted hand to the Ethereal's head, plunging it directly, Finishing it off.

Zeno amazed at the sheer insanity he witnessed, shook his head and considered inviting Chao Yu to HSO but seeing his half-corrupted state, he reconsidered the offer.

'Such a waste with that kind of battle experience to go to waste.' Finish off the remaining Ethereals Zeno scanned the area once more before checking his magazine

'Half-empty' Zeno's expression grew grave as this was the last magazine.

Chao Yu, who rested on the Ethereal's back retrieved a bottle and swallowed multiple pills from it, yet the Ethereal corruption only retreated to his hand, clearly not enough.

Chao Yu sighed and turned to Crimson "How are the scans?"

"I found an exit, I'm routing an escape path and we'll be out of this hellhole soon."

"Yes!" The new survivor group that first activated the beacon cried in relief.

"It's not time to celebrate yet, stay calm and I can assure you all of you can be out safely." Zeno calmed down their excitement.

"Done, alright let's get a move on-" As Crimson spoke, a loud booming sound came from the rubbles and the familiar silhouette they recognized from the military jeep, and flaking it was two more ethereal that Chao Yu struggled to take down a moment ago.

"Sh*t! We gotta run NOW!!"

Crimson who led the way, ran first, as Jack the proxy assisted the injured Jose.

As they ran, Chao Yu stayed behind, defending the weakened survivor group. As a new ethereal group appeared they were quickly eliminated by Zeno.

Bang Bang Click

The sound of an empty magazine put a grave expression on everyone.

"Ran out of ammo, give me your pistol Crimson!" Not hesitating, Crimson handed him the pistol as they ran.

"The exit is just ahead!" Crimson exclaimed, looking ahead, it was a wall of a ruined tower but they all knew the quirk of the hollow and trusted him completely.

Giving their all on the final sprint, heavy sprinting came from beyond the wall on their right.

Boom

The wall broke as the ethereal who chased them appeared.

The debris knocked down all of them.

"Ugh." Heavy dizziness hit Chao Yu, as he tried to survey his surroundings.

Looking at the rest of the group, they seemed to be injured, enough to slow them to a limp yet were knocked down near the exit.

Trying to stand up, excruciating pain came from his legs, looking down, a pile of debris lay on top of it, trapping him in place.

'So this is the end, it was a good run.' With one last look, he noticed a remote that oddly seemed familiar. 'That's the trigger for the c4's!'

Hastily looking around, he saw the Mobile Cargo Unit was stuck at a pillar that was supporting a disconnected train that laid on a broken bridge.

"Mark get out of there!" Zeno shouted as gunshots flew past him, fending off the incoming ethereal.

"Ha ha, I can't Zeno, my legs are trapped. Run, leave me be!" Chao Yu swiped the remote and held it up high.

Recognizing the remote, Zeno's eyes widened as he also noticed the mobile storage unit's location.

"Mark, No-"

BOOM

A large explosion rang out, breaking the pillar, as multiple trains crashed down, cutting off Chao Yu from the rest of the group.

"Hahaha!" Looking at the large ethereal, he points at them and laughs.

"Boys run for it, the train won't last long" Chao Yu's voice came from beyond the wreckage.

"Zeno, Crimson It was nice meeting you, maybe in another life, we can drink at a bar I'll treat you!" Hearing the heart-wrenching goodbye, Zeno who could accept it punched the train the physical pain couldn't suppress the inner pain he was experiencing.

"And... Crimson, I.. forgot to tell you the last the 3rd scripture, is" Chao Yu's breath seemed to be staggered, looking at the Ethereal slowly surrounding him, he smirked and raised his middle finger at them.

"Take... Care of your... Loved one... Always...." His voice faded as a loud boom came after, ending his life.

Zeno and Crimson gritted their teeth, they hesitated but before they could reconsider, loud booms could be heard from beyond the trains and rubbles as the ethereals tried to break through.

"We should go, at least we want his sacrifice to be in vain," Jose said while looking at the two.

"Yes... Let's go" Zeno wrapped his arm around the injured Crimson as they slowly walked, phasing through the cracked wall and emerging from the hollow walls.

Several medical teams saw a group of survivors emerge and quickly guide them to one of the temporary camps.

Zeno and Crimson followed, but they turned around for a moment in sadness before continuing to follow the medical team.

'All of that wandering, just because of a missing bangboo. A self-sacrifice just because... Of a missing bangboo'

~~

Chao Yu who blacked out from death, did not see the usual death screen.

[Hidden ending archived: Civilian to Hero in a day]

[Protect every person you meet from certain death and be recognized for your heroic effort]

[Hidden achievement met: Valiant death]

[Sacrifice yourself for others to escape and be remembered as a hero in their heart]

[Simulation Reward: Death Teller, Heroic Demeanor, Enhanced Either Compatibility]

[Congratulations on finishing "Apocalyptic trials" You are rewarded [100] story points that you can use to buy other stories.]

["Shop Story" Function has been unlocked]

"F*ck yes!" Chao Yu jumped from his bed in celebration, similar to defeating a soul-like game boss on the first try, it felt very rewarding to escape the hollow with only one life.

Even more, he discovers a secret ending by complete accident which rewards him with more things rather than a single reward which was Enhanced Either Compatibility.

As the celebratory cries continued, bystanders who passed by looked at the store in confusion.

But after putting his outer excitement down, he sat back satisfaction and checked out what the system brought for him.

[Death Teller: You can sense a deathly intention around you, and be able to sense another's deathly situation]

[Heroic Demeanor: People you saved will think of you as their hero, and people you meet for the first time will naturally have a good impression of you (If you aren't rude to them)]

[Enhanced Either Compatibility: You can stay longer in the hollow.... Look do I have to explain everything to you?]

"Ahem, it seems this system has a temper" Chao Yu's mouth twitches before sighing and continuing on.

Pressing the new button dubbed "Shop Story" took him to another page with a list of story names along with the synopsis.

Scrolling through the stories some names interest him.

[Intelligence within the steel]

[Chivalries never dies]

[A snow atop a frozen mountain, blade made of frozen flaming]

[Qing Dynasty's downfall]

Each story costs him 50 story points which means he can buy two.

Ding Ding

The store's bell rang, signifying someone had entered the store.

'I should buy a bangboo to handle my store' Chao Yu sat up as the creaking of his bones are more apparent now.

Stretching for a moment, multiple bones could be heard creaking and cracking.

"Cough cough, I should move more uggh" Without him realizing it, he had been in the same position for 2 consecutive days trying to finish a story which led him to tense muscles and thirst.

"I should do simulations while sleeping." Chao Yu muttered.

"Excuse me?" a girl shouted from the front desk confused by the absent store.

"Coming coming, give me a sec." Chao Yu slowly made his way to the front desk where he found a duo of teenagers.

The girl had deep blue hair with an orange hairpin, she wore a long-sleeved black shirt that tightly hugged her torso showing her mature growth, and a sleeveless jacket with a short skirt.

The other was a boy with grey hair and a more simplistic design, a black shirt with a long long-sleeved jacket and long pants.

Chao Yu emerged from the door left corner of the room and sat on the chair "What can I get for the two of you."

"Oh, you're the manager?" Belle scanned Chao Yu from bottom to top, Belle figured he was mostly the same age as her and thought he was the manager's son.

"What? Too young to be a manager?"

"No- no I was just surprised is all hehe."

"I heard there was a new store that got built a little while ago and thought we wanted to check it out." Wise who scanned the room noticed several books ranging from Chinese literature to even obscene +18 books.

"I see you are you sell a lot of books." Noticing Wise's glance at the +18 section, Chao Yu gave a knowing smile before replying.

"Well, these books have been collecting dust from my basement for ages, it's about time I resell them. Don't worry though, I made sure all the books here are in their prime condition."

"Well I'm not really a know-all type when it comes to books, can you give me some recommendations?" Belle asked.

"Sure, do you have any genre you like?" Looking at Belle's demeanor Chao Yu guessed she was into a romantic genre and started to list all the popular ones in his head.

"Ohhh, do you have any thriller ones? A horror book about cereal killers! And I want gore!!" Chao Yu almost stumbled out of his chair and looked at Belle with widened eyes.

"O- oh did something happen?"

"No- nothing, the chair seemed to be misbehaving today ahem." Chao Yu stood up walked over to the horror section and started to hand-pick some books.

"Here are some of the ones I would recommend" Putting the books on the table Belle read the titles on them

"Outlast, Cabin In The Woods, The Witch, Myself of The Other Side" Leaving Belle to examine the books Chao Yu turned to Wise. "And you?"

"Do you have any documentary or historical books?"

"Anything specifically?"

"Anything easy to keep up with."

"Well- I have something in mind."

Grabbing the pack of books dubbed "The Great Roman Empire"

"These should keep your interest for a while." Looking at the title Wise nodded as he remembered a short documentary about The Rome Empire.

"Is that all?" Chao Yu shifts between Belle who seems to be absorbed by the book and Wise who is nodding to him.

"Alright, that would be 9,000 dennies, and after hmm... 3 months you need to return them, can you put your address here?" Chao Yu tapped the booklet on the table.

After they put their name and address, the duo sibling left.

"Yeah, I definitely need an assistant bangboo." Nodding to himself he flipped the sign from Open to Close and went to the Turbo Remodeling Shop.