The heavy wooden door slammed shut with a resounding thud that echoed through the dimly lit room, sealing Korin inside like a coffin lid dropping into place.
"Shit! Shit, you bastards! Just you wait
just because you're awakened, you think you can do whatever you want?"
Korin's voice cracked as he barked at the unyielding barrier, his words laced with a mix of fury and desperation.
His crimson-red eyes, wide and glistening with unshed tears, glared at the door, his teal-green hair matted with sweat and falling in disheveled strands across his pale forehead.
He pounded his fist against the cold floor, the impact sending jolts of pain up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the agony radiating from his shattered left leg.
Outside, the group of boys sauntered away, their laughter filtering through the door like poison seeping into his ears.
The one leading them Evan, with his messy red hair falling over his narrowed eyes in greasy strands paused just long enough to twist the knife deeper.
He turned back, his lips curling into a smug, predatory grin that revealed uneven teeth stained from months of scavenging. "Loser," he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.
"You're just gonna die anyway, so why not give your food to us? We're the ones alive for more days than you a worthless loser with no ability."
The others chuckled in agreement, their faces twisted in mocking amusement, eyes gleaming with the arrogance of the empowered.
Evan slammed the lock into place from the outside with a metallic click that sounded final, like the end of a sentence.
Then, they were gone, their footsteps fading down the hallway until only silence remained.
Korin slumped back against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
His left leg throbbed relentlessly, the bone fractured beyond repair twisted at an unnatural angle, the skin around it swelling into a grotesque purple bruise that pulsed with every heartbeat.
Blood seeped from a jagged gash where the boot had connected, mixing with the dirt on the floor.
"Fuck that bitch Evan," he muttered through gritted teeth, his face contorting in a grimace of pain and hatred lips pulled back in a snarl, brows furrowed so deeply they cast shadows over his piercing red eyes.
"Just you wait if I survive this, The first I'll definitely kill will be you." The words felt hollow even as he said them, a feeble vow from a man who knew he was outmatched, his single turquoise earring swaying slightly as he shook his head in frustration.
He leaned his head back against the peeling wallpaper, closing his eyes as memories flooded in unbidden.
It had all started five months ago, triggered by some unknown phenomenon that swept across the world like a silent storm.
People began awakening gaining strange abilities that turned them into something more than human.
But not everyone was so lucky. Most who awakened twisted into monstrous forms, their bodies warping into nightmarish abominations that roamed the streets, driven by primal hunger.
And those who didn't awaken at all? They became the losers, the useless trash, the forgotten scraps at the bottom of this new hierarchy.
Korin was one of them no powers, no strength, just a fragile body in a world that had turned savage.
Because of that, he was treated like this: beaten, robbed, discarded.
"He should have at least left the door open," Korin whispered to himself, his voice trembling with a bitter edge.
A spark of regret flickered in his chest if the door had stayed ajar, maybe he could have crawled out, found help, or at least faced death on his own terms.
But now? Trapped like a rat in this abandoned apartment, the walls closing in with the weight of isolation.
Even before the apocalypse, Korin had always avoided anything dangerous skipping out on hikes with friends, dodging confrontations in class, preferring the safety of his dorm room over the unpredictability of the outside world.
He was the guy who double-checked locks and carried extra batteries for his phone, always planning for the worst but never facing it head-on. Now, that caution had trapped him here, in a city overrun by horrors.
Tears welled up in his eyes, unbidden and hot, tracing salty paths down his dirt-streaked cheeks.
Korin had always been what you'd call a wimp a coward through and through. He hadn't even resisted when the group burst in earlier, their awakened auras crackling with faint energy that made the air hum.
They'd looted him of every last scrap of food: the stale crackers, the canned beans past their expiration date, even the half-empty bottle of murky water he'd rationed so carefully.
He'd just sat there, frozen, his heart pounding in his throat as they rifled through his meager supplies.
No fight, no protest just wide-eyed fear as Evan's fist connected with his leg in a sickening crack, the pain exploding like fireworks behind his eyelids.
His disheveled blazer, once part of his university uniform, now hung loosely on his slender frame, the red tie askew and stained with grime.
Now, as the minutes dragged on, the pain in his leg intensified, building from a dull ache to a searing fire that clawed at his nerves.
He clutched at the wound, his fingers coming away sticky with blood, and a sob escaped his lips.
The room spun slightly, the dim light from the boarded-up window casting long shadows that danced mockingly on the walls. Dust motes floated in the air, indifferent to his suffering.
"Mom... I don't want to die," he murmured, his voice barely audible, choked with emotion his lower lip quivering, eyes squeezing shut as fresh tears spilled over.
The word "Mom" hung in the air like a plea, stirring images of his family faces he hadn't seen since the chaos began.
Were they alive? Had they awakened, or become monsters, or worse? For five long months, he'd been trapped in this crumbling city, unable to escape the hordes of creatures that infested the streets below.
Those monsters grotesque hybrids with fish-like heads, scales glistening under slimy skin, and frog-like bodies that hopped with unnatural speed had turned the urban landscape into a killing ground.
Their croaking roars echoed at night, sending chills down his spine. Korin had hidden in his apartment, too terrified to venture far, scavenging only from the empty floors below where residents had fled or perished early on.
He'd crept down creaky stairs in the dead of night, heart hammering, prying open doors to abandoned units for whatever scraps he could find: expired granola bars crumbling to dust, cans of soup with rusted lids, anything to stave off starvation.
It had been a miserable existence, sustained by fear and solitude.
But even that fragile survival had been shattered by his university classmates those who had awakened and banded together like a pack of wolves.
They'd tracked him down, drawn by rumors of a "loser" hoarding supplies. Evan's group, with their enhanced strength and smug superiority, had burst in without mercy.
Korin's mind replayed the moment: the door kicking open, the rush of bodies, Evan's red hair whipping as he grabbed Korin by the collar, his eyes burning with disdain.
"Pathetic," Evan had spat, before delivering the blow that ended it all.
Sitting there now, the pain growing more intense with each passing second, Korin's mind began to waver.
Waves of dizziness washed over him, his vision blurring at the edges as exhaustion and blood loss took their toll. His eyelids grew heavy, fluttering shut despite his efforts to stay alert.
The room seemed to tilt, the shadows lengthening as if the darkness itself was closing in to claim him.
But then, in the haze of his fading consciousness, a ethereal blue panel materialized before his eyes a translucent screen that hovered in the air, glowing with an otherworldly light.
It was the kind of system interface that only the awakened ones ever described, a digital overlay that marked the chosen from the damned.
Detected.
Awakening successful.
The words appeared in crisp, glowing text, accompanied by a calm, mechanical voice that echoed in his mind, cutting through the fog of pain.
Name: Korin Veronia
Level: 1
Skill 1: Lord of the Apocalypse
Description: Can summon a clone. The clone will obey every order. The clone will prioritize the host's safety first. The clone has self-thinking capabilities. Slots open: 1 slot.
Skill 2: Store
Description: Monsters hunted by the clone will turn into points that can be exchanged for items currently available in the store.
Skill 3: Lord's Growth
Description: Host can accept servants to serve him. If the servant kills monsters, it will automatically convert into points.
Korin, still not fully in his right mind, barely registered the apparition at first. His head lolled to the side, his red eyes half-lidded and unfocused.
But the voice pierced through, pulling him back from the brink.
"Wha... what was that sound?" he mumbled, his voice weak and slurred, a flicker of confusion crossing his pale features eyebrows knitting together, mouth parting in slack-jawed surprise.
Then, as the implications sank in, a spark of hope ignited in his chest, chasing away the despair. "No, before that... if what it said is real, then..."
His heart raced, adrenaline surging despite the pain. With a trembling breath, Korin focused his will, activating the skill instinctively.
"Lord of the Apocalypse," he whispered, the words tumbling out in a rush. A surge of energy coursed through him, warm and invigorating, as if his very soul was stirring to life.
In an instant, the air shimmered, and a figure materialized before him a perfect clone, identical in every detail.
The clone stood tall, its teal-green hair tousled and wild, crimson-red eyes sharp and alert, pale skin flawless beneath the rumpled blazer and loosened red tie.
The turquoise earring dangled from its left ear, catching the faint light. It regarded Korin with a calm, intelligent gaze, its expression mirroring Korin's own mix of pain and astonishment, but with an underlying readiness that spoke of its self-thinking nature.
For the first time in months, Korin felt a glimmer of power a chance to fight back. The clone tilted its head slightly, awaiting orders, as the locked door suddenly seemed less like a prison and more like a temporary setback.