Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 61 - 58 Mazao’s friend 1

Chapter 61: 58 Mazao’s friend 1

I hardly felt any interruption in my consciousness, and the transition into the dream was as smooth as an antelope’s horn. It was like those early school days when the classroom had only a few students and I would pull out a book to pass the time, only to look up and find the room bustling with noise.

By the time I came to my senses, the living room was shrouded in dense gray fog... no, this was no longer the living room. There were no walls or furniture around, just an endless expanse of mist. I was no longer sitting on the sofa but had unknowingly stood up, and the backpack and empty cans that were in my arms had vanished without a trace.

Instead of a floor beneath my feet, there was a thick layer of gray fog. I didn’t even know why I could stand in such a place, the sensation underfoot was like stepping on a sandy beach.

My body also looked very strange. From direct feeling and touch, it seemed no different from usual, and I could even feel that I was still properly dressed in clothes and shoes; but visually, my entire body appeared black and fuzzy, as if made of black fog.

It seemed like I was in a dream. I had been overly exhausted and had passed out. I realized this only just now. Perhaps I should have entered the Fire Element form before falling asleep; that way, I wouldn’t have needed rest. Now, I needed to analyze and search for Mazao’s traces with every second I had; there was no time to waste sleeping.

But since I was already asleep, I could only look ahead. Having a dream should not take up much time in the real world. Moreover, this dream was clearly abnormal.

I had seen this gray fog twice before. Once when I touched a black stone in the basement; the other time was recently when I dreamt about the time before awakening my superpower, where the gray fog appeared at the end. I always kept the black stone with me, so maybe it was the stone that induced the second time.

Was I being pulled into the dream by the black stone again?

This was a strange phenomenon, no matter how I looked at it.

My inner self was drawn to this phenomenon that defied common sense, my curiosity and desire for adventure getting the better of me.

Staying here probably wouldn’t lead to any change, so I started to move forward in the thick gray fog.

One minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes... I didn’t know how vast this mysterious Mist Dream Realm really was. I walked for a long time without finding its boundary, even feeling as though I was walking in place. Perhaps there were no boundaries here. With no timekeeping device to use, I could only guess the passing minutes through a vague sense.

I walked for an unknown length of time. Although I considered myself patient, the monotonous space still bored me. I then started to think about ways to actively break free from this place. It was clear there was no entrance or exit. The previous time I managed to leave the gray fog space because I regained my normal consciousness and emotions. Now that I started with these conditions, I was still trapped.

During this dull time, I also tried to use my superpower. Unfortunately, my superpower did not respond to my call. It wasn’t sealed, nor was it hindered by some external force. To describe it, many people have experienced suddenly forgetting how to write a character, and I felt something similar. It was very much in line with the style of a "dream."

This feeling of being "unarmed" was long forgotten.

I often imagine what path of life I might have taken if I hadn’t become a supernatural power user.

Without superpowers, maybe I would strive to be a war correspondent, or an explorer, or even a mercenary living on the edge, or possibly even a criminal destabilizing society. Of course, there was also a chance that I would become an utterly inconsequential ordinary person.

However, after the enlightenment below the cave and recognizing my true self, it became difficult to imagine "the ordinary me."

Compared to the me who could’ve turned into a war correspondent, explorer, mercenary, or criminal, the current me, with an unmatched "Extraordinary Power," might actually be the weakest. It was like the extended path where I spoke weak words in a fourteen-year-old dream.

An adventure beyond reality was right there within the real world.

Knowing this, I still couldn’t help but be drawn to the world of fantasy...

Suddenly, a set of unfamiliar footsteps faintly reached my ears from the distant fog, breaking my reverie.

I cautiously lifted my head, looking in the direction of the sound.

The footsteps weren’t an illusion. The footsteps from deep within the fog became clearer, sounding almost like my own when I walked, similar to stepping on a sandy beach. Before long, the footsteps approached to a certain distance. An odd intuition rose within me.

—The owner of these footsteps was a "very terrifying" entity.

It was the first time I’d ever felt this about someone.

Especially after awakening my supernatural abilities, I’d never felt "danger" or "fear" from anyone. It was like the difference between encountering a large carnivore up close in reality and seeing one on a television—this was the kind of "terror" I tasted.

As this unfamiliar emotion surfaced in me, the owner of the footsteps also sensed something and abruptly stopped moving.

Then, a very cautious voice came from the opposite side, "—Who’s there?"

It was the voice of an adult male.

I didn’t rashly respond, and the man on the other side didn’t continue to speak. The situation was stiff and tense. Through the dense gray fog, I watched in the direction of the voice, and the owner of the voice obviously remained deeply wary.

At the time, we were like hunters in a deep forest at night, stealthily wielding guns and stumbling upon each other by chance. We couldn’t tell if the other was friend or foe, or even whether we should retreat or continue to approach. Neither of us made a rash move.

After a while, I decided to make the first move and walked towards the other person. It seemed he had the same idea, as he started moving at the same time. We quickly met.

His figure appeared through the dense fog. Like my current state, his body seemed to be condensed from black mist, and "a shadowy figure" was the only way to describe him.

He was much taller than me, at least 1.88 meters tall. Judging from his physique, he seemed to have worked out, but he was not overly muscular—instead, he gave an impression of being lean and fit.

His scrutinizing gaze fell upon me, as though assessing how much of a threat I was. I didn’t intend to threaten him, but after the scrutiny, his wariness seemed only to increase, and his muscles remained tense.

"Who?" he asked again.

"That’s my question," I said, "Who are you, and why are you here?"

When I asked this, for some reason, his tensed muscles seemed to relax.

"I came to this dream through a Divine Seal Fragment," his voice suddenly became friendly, "Are you the same?"

Divine Seal Fragment?

I didn’t know I had something called a "Divine Seal Fragment." If I had to say, that would be the Black Jade Stone. It must be through the Black Jade Stone that I came here...Could the Black Jade Stone be the Divine Seal Fragment he mentioned?

Divine Seal... I had heard this term before; Mazao mentioned it to me before parting.

—I will prove to society the existence of the apocalypse, or find the Divine Seal and put an end to the apocalypse myself.

The "Divine Seal" Mazao referred to and the "Divine Seal" in the fragments mentioned by the stranger—were they the same thing?

Should I pretend to know what the Divine Seal is and try to pry more information, or should I directly ask this person in front of me?

Before I could decide, the person in front of me seemed to see the truth in my attitude.

"So, you don’t know what the Divine Seal is..." he mused.

Seeing this, I straightforwardly sought enlightenment: "The Divine Seal Fragment you mentioned, is it like a Black Jade Stone? And what exactly is the Divine Seal?"

He nodded first, apparently confirming my first question, then answered the second: "The so-called Divine Seal is a legendary Divine Artifact that can grant any wish."

"Any wish?" I repeated, with a lack of conviction.

"Any wish," he said, "At least as far as I know."

The Black Jade Stone is a fragment of a universal wish-granting device? I found that hard to believe. If that were true, no wonder Mazao said that if we found the Divine Seal, we could end the apocalypse.

But...since it’s already broken into fragments, does that mean the wish-granting device is no longer functional? Or can wishes still come true if we collect all the broken pieces?

If Mazao’s goal was to collect these Black Jade Stones, then couldn’t I just show it to her and prevent her from leaving? However, at the time, I didn’t want her to know I had encountered such strange events, so naturally, I couldn’t show her the Black Jade Stone.

And all these speculations rested on the assumption that the Black Jade Stone was indeed the Divine Seal Fragment Mazao referred to. I wasn’t about to casually believe this person right in front of me. Perhaps there was no such wish-granting device at all.

Then, the other person spoke again.

"Would you be willing to trade the Divine Seal Fragment in your possession to me?" he asked politely.

"You just said the item could grant any wish, and now you want to trade with me; don’t you find that contradictory?" I asked.

"What can fulfill wishes is the complete Divine Seal, whereas a fragment does not hold that power," he explained patiently, "Instead of keeping such a piece, wouldn’t it be wiser to exchange it for something of practical value?"

"You were kind to answer my questions, and I thank you for that," I said, "But I’m sorry, this fragment still has use to me, and I can’t trade it away just yet."

If I found Mazao later on, the Black Jade Stone might serve as one of the bargaining chips to convince her to stay. Although I didn’t know how this person planned to trade with me, I couldn’t part with it just now.

"Is that so..." He looked at me intently, apparently pondering something.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.