When the slightly heated debate about plot holes in television shows dwindled down, Yichen finally coaxed out a proper discussion with Aaron about the powers that Kyle and the others had developed.
Earlier during Sasaki’s explanation, he made it seem as if the terminology he used was wide-spread knowledge, and the information he had was collectively discovered and learned through experience or otherwise.
Now Yichen realized that wasn’t the case.
Instead it was Aaron who, with his knowledge gleaned from Chinese webnovels, applied such terminology and mechanics to the power phenomenon happening to them and enlightened the rest of the group.
When Aaron got excited about things, his speech would get increasingly faster, and his explanations would be interlaced with side thoughts and other observations that weren’t entirely related to the topic of the conversation.
Although a little shy, Aaron was definitely someone who loved to talk and let his thoughts be known.
In the short few minutes of conversation, Yichen managed to parse out some important information.
These powers that they had developed have a high chance of being related to elements in nature—particularly focused around the elements of fire, water, earth, air.
There might be powers related to plants, metal, lightning and ice which were considered mutated abilities.
There might also be powers that allowed people to create invisible, portable pockets of space that resembled the magical item box in games…
… that might also double as a portable personal farm plot.
Yichen didn’t understand how such premises managed to become a common theme considering its absurdity.
He also learned about things like single versus dual-ability users, and—after a good five minutes of Aaron rambling about apocalypse story plots—he finally learned something very important.
It was common in these novels for a zombie to have a ball or stone-like object in their heads that ability users could absorb to better their powers.
Aaron called it a ‘zombie core’.
Yichen immediately thought of the stone that he and Kyle picked up from the zombie fox.
“There are some differences though,” Aaron confessed, “I mean obviously since it’s reality versus fiction, but what are the differences and how large is the gap… I’m not really sure…”
His eyes nervously flashed towards Sasaki; its movement so fast and subtle that it was nigh invisible.
If Yichen hadn’t been staring intently at the shy man, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it. He surmised that Aaron was probably wary of Sasaki’s disapproval, although why—Yichen couldn’t even begin to guess.
“Ah, that’s right, I’m not the only one to survive the virus,” Kyle said, “Yichen did as well, but we haven’t tested to see what powers he has yet.”
Everyone’s gaze turned in the direction of Kyle’s gaze, effectively pushing Yichen into the spotlight of everyone’s attention.
The expressions on the people around him varied from belated realisation to subtle surprise.
That’s right.
Truthfully, they should’ve already known or guessed this possibility when Yichen made a show of his strength earlier on the road. After all, it was fairly shocking to see him easily lift Kyle into the passenger seat with little to no effort.
Yet… they had completely forgotten about this matter until Kyle brought up the fact that Yichen survived the seven-day fever.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Even Sasaki, who was wary of both of them from the very beginning, had forgotten Yichen’s actions. His eyes rested upon Yichen who was now sitting beside Kyle.
Qjla… ktfc vlv tf ufa atfgf? Qjrc’a tf pera rlaalcu cfza ab Cjgbc?
Vjrjxl’r atbeutar kfgf lcafggeqafv ys Cjgbc’r cfza defralbc.
“Fw, lr sbeg qbkfg gfijafv ab… reqfg ragfcuat?” Cjgbc jrxfv, klat j rboa jcv jkxkjgv abcf.
Lf tjv jirb olcjiis gfwfwyfgfv atf rmfcf atfs tjv klacfrrfv bc atf gbjv.
“I’m unsure what my power is,” Yichen answered in a calm and well-paced tone, “but I don’t think that it’s super strength considering all survivors of the fever exhibit enhanced physical strength.”
Aaron nodded at Yichen’s words, slowly sinking into his thoughts.
The other four looked a little unconvinced.
This couldn’t be helped.
All users they were acquainted with—Sasaki, Henry, Taehun, and now Kyle— were all tall, well-built males. In normal times, on a good day, they could lift around twice their own weight.
The enhancement in their physical strength, while surprising, was not as visually shocking as seeing someone as thin as Yichen lifting someone taller and more than twice his size. Despite the fact that Yichen played basketball, he wasn’t the type to put on muscles.
Compared to brawny people like Henry or Taehun, there was very little difference between Yichen’s build and Aaron’s build despite what Yichen, himself, thought.
“S-so, neither of you have tested out your powers before… at all?” Aaron asked.
Yichen and Kyle shook their heads in unison.
“Do… um, maybe try now?” Aaron suggested hesitantly, “I mean… if you don’t want to then—“
“Just try it out here,” Henry said with a mean smirk. “It’s not like you guys got something to hide right?”
He was clearly trying to get back at Kyle for his previous insinuations.
Emi nudged him with a small frown, “Don’t be rude, Henry.”
“Emi’s right,” Sasaki said in agreement, “We should respect the children, give them some privacy.”
Yichen’s face was blank; more than Henry’s straightforward aggression, Sasaki’s viper-like attitude was harder to swallow.
Kyle seemed oblivious to the tension. “Nah, it’s all good, man. I mean you kinda already saw mine… Xiao-Chen?”
Yichen returned Kyle’s gaze, feeling slightly disappointed that Kyle couldn’t see the obvious hostility in Sasaki and Henry’s actions. Kyle shifted closer as if he were making himself more comfortable. At the corner of his eyes, Yichen saw Kyle casually rubbing his thumb and index finger together, making a misshapen OK sign that was hidden just under the coffee table.
Yichen didn’t react and slowly turned back to the rest of the group.
It was a secret signal they had made when they were still in elementary school. A signal that meant, ‘follow my lead’.
“I can try,” Yichen said and then frowned because he really didn’t know how to proceed. “What do you guys feel when you’re using your powers?”
Aaron stepped up to the plate as the resident scholar on abilities and ability users. His grey eyes shining with excitement and interest. Aaron’s countenance was the exact opposite of Yichen’s poker face—a complete open book. “Well um, I don’t know what it feels like but according to the other guys it feels like shivers running through your body to your hand. Like from your head to your hand or something.”
Head—Yichen abruptly thought of the stone they had found inside the zombie fox. Was there something similar inside his head as well?
Had Aaron encountered this kind of possibility in his plethora of zombie webnovel collection?
Yichen frowned, he was almost completely immersed in his thoughts when he felt a sharp pinch on his back. Without changing his expression, he dropped his train of thought, remembering that he was supposed to be testing out his powers.
“I don’t feel anything,” he lied. He didn’t even bother trying. Kyle obviously wanted to keep a card hidden in light of Sasaki and Henry’s suspicious actions.
“Oh then um… Maybe you’re a manipulation type?”
“Manipulation Type?” Kyle asked.
“Oh!” Aaron exclaimed as if he said something he shouldn’t have; his eyes immediately shifted toward Sasaki.
Seeing that Sasaki’s face only carried a calm and patient expression, he immediately calmed down and continued his explanation.
“Right… you wouldn’t know. Um so, when Sasaki and Taehun got their abilities, they could make their powers appear, but they couldn’t control it. It wasn’t until Henry got his that I made a hypothesis about the powers. I mean it’s nothing concrete because our sample pool is really small and we have no way of knowing that my hypothesis is accurate. Usually in the webnovels that I’ve read ability users would be able to produce and control the elements that they controlled, so the fact that their powers manifested in such a manner made it really confusing for me. I mean, at the very beginning I thought it was a power-level issue, but then when Henry manifested his powers—
“BANG!”
Aaron immediately stopped talking.
“Sh*t crazy nerd you’re rambling again!” The one named Henry had kicked his foot against the bottom of the coffee table in front, looking obviously annoyed.
Aaron started shrinking into himself, intimidated.
Henry was about to say something else when his head was lightly smacked from behind.
“You’re the crazy one,” Taehun said, “You’re going to drag attention to us from those zombies outside. They’re attracted to sound, remember?”
“That’s right, Henry, be nice,” Sasaki added with a gentle smile, “Aaron’s being nice and informative. We should allow him to explain everything fully.”
Sasaki gave Henry a subtle look.
As if he had understood something, Henry made a slightly unresolved face then leaned back into his seat. As if he hadn’t been the one who originally caused a commotion.
“Sorry for the interruption Aaron, Henry’s just riled up about the situation.” Sasaki apologised, “You can continue explaining things to Kyle and Yichen, but he’s right that your explanation is running a little long. You should try to keep things simple for the kids. We have nothing to hide.”
Sasaki’s gaze was kind and considerate. Yet, under that gaze, Aaron became a complete deer-in-the-headlights.
The smaller man continued to warily look at Sasaki, as if he were confirming that he could continue talking, “Right… no worries… Sorry I talk a lot, it’s a habit. Um I— yea, um so my point was that we discovered that people who can produce an element can’t control it, and a person who can control an element can’t produce it.”
Yichen and Kyle became thoroughly confused.
“What do you mean?” Kyle asked.
“Well, so far we’ve only seen powers that are related to the elements like water, fire, and now earth. Sasaki and Henry both have fire-related powers but they use it differently. Sasaki can create fire, but not control; and Henry can control, but not create. We thought that Henry might be able to manipulate other elements since he couldn’t produce any element, but he couldn’t control the water that Taehun produced.”
As if to demonstrate, Sasaki snapped his fingers; on the tip of his index finger, there was a small, bright flame dancing about.
The flame was similar to that produced by a lighter. It stayed on Sasaki’s finger for a bit before it suddenly grew taller, and like a magician’s handkerchief, the flame was continuously pulled from Sasaki’s finger, travelling across a small distance before landing in Henry’s hand, coagulating into a sphere form.
After letting the fireball sit on his palm for a while, Henry clenched his hand around the ball of flames. With well-practised motions, he extinguished it with a single crush.
Kyle and Yichen became speechless from the circus performance.
Kyle had a sudden revelation. “Wait, so what you’re saying is that I can control earth, but I can’t make it out of nowhere… Is that what you’re telling me?”
Aaron nodded, “Yes, same thing with Taehun, he can make water, but he can’t control it.”
Taehun complied and demonstrated as well when Aaron mentioned to him. Water flowed from his palm, but it landed straight onto the carpeted floor. Like a faucet, or the tap of a water dispenser.
“Taehun, the carpet.” Emi complained with a frown.
Taehun immediately stopped; he gave a small nod toward Emi in a silent apology.
“You can test it too,” Aaron suggested to Kyle, “Can you produce earth right now in this house?”
Kyle looked at his hands, his eyebrows slowly furrowing together in deep concentration. Then as if he were surprised by something, he lowered his hand.
“I can’t… I mean when I concentrate, all I feel is the dirt beneath the house, but other than that I don’t know how to produce it.” Kyle answered honestly, then placed his hands behind his head, “Aww man, talk about a bummer. I mean controlling earth is pretty cool by itself, but if I could create and control it, it’d be the icing on the cake.”
“Well I mean there’s no guarantee that you won’t be able to produce it in the future. I mean it’s possible that you might be able to evolve your powers and then you’d be able to produce and control later on. Like I said before the sample pool is too small, and we don’t know if the powers are limited to these basic elements. In novels there are some that talk about powers like ice and metal and sand and a whole bunch of other mutations so I mean like, it’s entirely possible that you might be able to control or do more stuff with your powers in the future and—
“Okay!” Sasaki interrupted, breaking Aaron’s rambling once more, “now that we’ve got that out of the way, we’ve got another more important thing to discuss.”
Sasaki steadily looked at Kyle, “The thing is… we were out just now looking for food. We have water from Taehun, but we ran out of food this morning. We were going to make a run in the town nearby but ran into that crowd of zombies. We’re fine now, but we still need to go out and make that run.”
Yichen felt an immediate need to reject sharing their stash of food. He wasn’t trying to be mean; in fact under normal circumstances he would’ve offered the food even without Sasaki’s prompt.
However, the current development made it seem as if Sasaki only invited them into the group because of their stash of food and rations. He hadn’t forgotten that Taehun and Henry had mysteriously disappeared when they first entered the living room.
Sasaki’s questionable attitude and wariness toward them despite his offer to accept them into their group only made Yichen hesitant to trust his words.
Sadly, Sasaki seemed to have already understood Kyle’s generosity.
Without even a smidge of hesitation, Kyle once again scattered their supplies like paper flyers. “Oh well, if it’s food we’re talking about Yichen and I got plenty in our car. We can feed all of us for at least a couple of days or so.”
Yichen really wanted to jab Kyle in the waist, or maybe just sear his mouth shut. In the end, Yichen could only simmer in dissatisfaction while sitting behind the taller teen.
Sasaki beamed a wide smile, “Oh? That sounds wonderful!”
He patted Kyle on the shoulder, “We’re lucky to have ran into you guys. I guess this is fortune disguised as a disaster.”
Author’s Corner:
Yay, double chapter I promised. What? This double chapter update doesn’t count because it’s part one and two? This turtle doesn’t know what you’re talking about…
If you can’t tell by now, chapter’s long because Aaron’s a chatterbox. If this author were to let him talk, it’ll fill up the screen by two scrolls and a half
Kyle better have a plan or I will stab him myself☺️☺️
Same 🔪🔪🔪
Literally same because reading this HURT
Urgh SAME. Kyle, you did the “ok” sign your brain better already be in gear! We only have a tiny sliver of hope here. 😭
Thanks for the update, dear author!!
kyle, dude, you better be thinking 10 steps ahead here or im gonna wish yichen stabs you in your sleep dude 😭😭
Sharpening the knife for you
Kyle is so stupid that it hurts my brain ಠಗಠ
Please let me join in 🙂
+1 😃🔪💯 Kyle better have a plan cause I know for sure this guys are definitely gonna use them and stab them in the back when they don’t need them anymore
I really hate Sasaki rn. Like he just really gives me the creeps.
Total snake 🐍 _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):
yes he is
Kyle is getting really annoying with how dense he is and UGH!!!
And sasaki and Henry can go f*** themselves like they are walking red flags
I’m so scared for Yichen because with how things are going Kyle will end up doing saying or agreeing to something that will end up being disastrous to them
I hope he stays safe and nothing much happens to him
I like Aaron. He is that ignored bullied bookworm with no friends who becomes a chatter box when allowed, he would be a invaluble resorce for Ideas etc think outside box type, but is bullied and usually be the first tossed for being ‘useless’ by those ‘bully’ types aka the Strong with no real clue how to use resorces properly.Mm yea if Ky dont get a bit smarter hes going to turn into a exploted resorce aka connon fodder someday with this group it feels like or be turned and become a ‘bully’ type himself. Chenchen lucky hes got Auto invisability on top of what ever wlse he may have.
I’m hoping that when the group splits (which I am sure it will because Sasaki and Henry are SUS), Yichen will be smart and take Aaron with them…maybe trade for idiot Kyle
Lol! Poor Kyle. I have a feeling he’s going to be the ML since everyone else just overlooks and forgets Yichen.
I’ve never really felt the need to comment on here, ever, but istg Yichen needs to punch Kyke in the face so hard he remembers how to use his brain. He’s acting like a naive toddler and it’s pissing me off. There’s no innocence there, just blatant stupidity and foolishness. Please stop. Yichen should ditch him at this point. God I wanna punch him so bad.
+1He’s watched TWD…he should know better. Plus you aren’t traveling alone…ask your companion for his opinion before giving away the farm. Sheesh
Wow. Idiot walking and talking… does Kyle survive long in this apocalypse? Not seeing it… Thanks for the double chapters! 🤣❤️😁❤️
Waiting for updates ah!!!!!!! 🤧
It’s obvious that this crew and especially Sasaki is super shady and yet he hasn’t noticed a thing yet and is just digging the hole deeper! Though, it looks like he did start to notice that something was up midway through and so maybe he only volunteered their food at the end because Kyle suspected that the gang already knew they had it?
Overall though, the novel is off to a super interesting start and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Kyle has no instincts (or doesn’t listen to them) and no awareness of how evil people can be.
I am a little frightened that this gang is gonna split Kyle’s head for his core – but even if they don’t I don’t see this ending well for him.
At least, for Yichen, he will likely be able to slip away. But thanks to Kyle’s generosity, they are now out of supplies and probably the car.
Kyle is killing me. How can someone be so innocent? Yet watched the walking dead? There’s is no way his self awareness is this low 😭 like that’s crazy
thanks for the chapter <3
I like Yichen’s wariness. For once, an MC who’s not trusting and naive.
Btw, did you take inspiration from “The Boss’s Guide to seeking death” for
this story? What with the abilities, the fever before developing them,
and all. It’s nice though, since I like the concept.
I actually haven’t read that. The power design came from me reading a lot of apocalypse stories and then tweaking it here and there. Nevertheless, that’s good to know~ that story has been on my to-be-read list :3
Are you still writing this story? I am gonna hunt the book mentioned above and hope for updates 😭
Everyone putting down Kyle but I want to put my trust on him lol.
It’s not that’s he’s not trustworthy, it’s that he’s too trusting 😩
Yes, even though he’s pissing me off, I will trust that he has some wack plan. He (hopefully) did that ‘follow my lead’ sign for something 😭
Having the urge to pummel Kyle in the head, this stupid boy
Your comment really matches your pic. Throw him a slipper!!
Yichen please push the bullies into a zombie pit
IM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS AUUGH
I’m hoping Kyle has a plan and not just wasting all their stash out of the goodness of his heart. I feel like Yichen in this, biting my nails in frustration and worry ahhhh I hope if they ever escape or leave, they take Aaron with them. I like Aaron, he a cutie ♥️
It will too early but I already Kyle and his mouth…lmao
I registered just to comment but isn’t Kyle pretending to be stupid because there’s more and they are stronger than them by numbers and experience?
I agree, he probably acted that way to seem easy to fool/manipulate or just plain naive so that if something does happen-euch us pretty obvious it will- they have the element of surprise on hand.
Which is*
hopefully there’s a reason behind him acting like this
Kyle wouldn’t survive this far if he was an idiot
Author I beg youuuu please update 🙏🙏🙏🙏😩😩😣😖♥♥♥♥
Can someone manifest Kyle so that I can smack some sense into his head. He’s rlly irritating me.
Yichen is very observant, isn’t he? He likened Sasaki to the fox earlier and it seems like his guess was pretty on the nose. Since Kyle isn’t the love interest, I am having a dreadful sense that he will not be reunited with his father. I hope this isn’t where he ends
Kyyyyle oh my god 😭😭
Can i punch Kyle 😊, really just twice 😇, can i??!!!! I am angry really Kyle just ones then just one punch and I’ll make sure that you won’t stand for two days 😇😈😇. Anyways thanks for the chapters and more please ♡♥.
Okay, we have two possibilities. First: Kyle is really stupid af in that sense or, second: He knows what he is doing. I really do hope it is the second option xD Otherwise.. ouch, Yichen I want to smack him too :’D But let’s wait and see what you have up your sleeve dear author >3
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
Ah, I forgot xD It would/could be nice to take Aaron with them. He, at least, has some knowledge and seems to have a smart brain? Whatever, take him with you lolol
Perhaps I’m thinking way too into this but I think that the Sasaki’s group will leave Yichen behind in an expedition to find food in the future. Yichen then will learn about his power and then after a few timeskip, he will meet the Sasaki’s group/Kyle again
sasaki’s group has two ordinary people tho? not sure if they’re really ordinary since we know Sasaki is quite a fox he may be hiding Aaron and Emi’s ability
it would be unreasonable if they left Yichen because he doesn’t have any power
Are you still updating this?
Kyle is getting on my nerves 😄
Kyle is making my blood boil but I hope he has a plan. Excited for the next chapters.
Wow, I know it says in the author description/message that Kouki is a new writer, but this is really good so far! Just found the story and I really honestly enjoy it a lot 💯
And Kyle… I really hope that plan of yours (that i really truly hope you have) is watertight!! Dude you make want to suckerpunch you
I really like the beginning!
Waiting me for the update🙏
KentuckyKyleeeee😤🤦♀Por que?!?! No se puede ser tan amable tal y como van las cosas😖
The densest person in the apocalypse is the type that I hated the most, even if they did it unintentionally.
kyle better be having a plan with 14 steps or my chancla will reach you all the way there
To subtle, not subtle enough? I dunno… maybe I’d end up making that sly snake more suspicious of me. And oh man oh man I forsee Henry pulling mega vombie aggro with his anger management issues. And it’s kind of interesting how you’re spinning the different between creation powers and manipulation powers. 🤔 Are you going to use that to play up differences between individual innate talents, or possibilities for human evolution/cultivation, or differences between the types and/or amount of powers? Don’t answer me; I’m just speculating.
Kyle is getting really annoying… ಠ_ಠ
i feel like everyone is REAALLLY underestimating Kyle here. like sure, he’s acting stupid now, but i doubt that he rlly is dumb. he definitely did not give off that impression before this chapter anyway.
my guess is that since sasaki’s group already thinks kyle is on the dumber side, that they’ll allow kyle and yichen to get their food on their own— and then there MAYBE kyle and yichen will get to talk about the groups weird behavior. idk tho, i personally just hope they ditch them after getting their fair share of info… maybe even kidnap (more like rescue imo) aaron LMAO
sasaki totally feels like the greedy cunning type. the kind that paints themselves off as a saint while manipulating sht in the background, all with a smile on his face.
the way he’s intentionally hoarding information while simultaneously planning to take advantage of kyle and yichen (two teenage boys if i remember correctly) just shows what type of character he truly is.
guess it’s fair to say an apocalypse brings out the worse in people.
I hope you are right, and if they do have the chance please kidnap ( rescue) Aaron.
Urgh kyle seems like the kind of guy whose too happy go lucky and generous. WHICH IS NOT A GOOD TRAIT DURING APOCALYPSE!!!
DAMN IT KYLE 😭😭😭 I’M GONNA DROP KICK YOUR A■■
Будет ли продолжение?
Is it dropped? It’s been five months, so I guess so… I’m so sad, I was loving it! 😭
I really want to beat Kyle but I’ll hold on incase this is all a part of his plan. At the same time I wonder why the other two disappeared, don’t tell me they are taking advantage of the distraction to do something to the car or steal some of the supplies. Can’t wait for the next update.
No more updates and it’s been around 6 months… ;-;
Kyle’s really getting on my nerves right now. Not only is he impulsive but hes super fucking dense. At this point I would eaither ditch him or tell him to shut it and let me do the talking….
Thanks for the chapter💓
Update pls,,,, i really like your story 😭😭
I really dislike s whatever and hairy, they scream trouble. Steal the others and book it out!!
Kyle’s IQ left the chat
…. I’ve been waiting for a really, really long time for this story to continue updating…
Author-nim, can’t you please continue it? QwQ
I’ve rarely ever commented on any chapter in any books/stories but i wanna comment now to tell you I’m still waiting… (´ . .̫ . `)
Begging the writer-nim for more updates pls
o几
…. I’ve been waiting for a really, really long time for this story to continue updating…
Author-nim, can’t you please continue it? QwQ
I’ve rarely ever commented on any chapter in any books/stories but i wanna comment now to tell you I’m still waiting… (´ . .̫ . `)
Begging the writer-nim for more updates pls
o几
Is this dropped?
I really hope it isn’t. We still don’t know if Kyle is dumb or black bellied and only shows nice side to MC. The spoiler said the MC wouldn’t meet the ML until 10+ chapters in which makes me wonder what made Kyle the 2nd male lead or villain male lead? Or is it just he doesn’t get the title/start that kind of relationship until that time?
It’s somewhat hard to believe that Kyle could be this dense. Maybe he’s pretending, because in the beginning he seemed to have his wits about him. He seemed lik a decently smart kid. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt 😅.
Is the book dropped? I really hope not, its been about a year 🙁 hope the authors doing okay
Is this book still updating?
And yet another good story seemingly stopped. 🙁
Is this discontinued… ?🥺
Kyle is a fuckjn moron🤦🏽♀️ Yichen just slap his ass when your alone cause this the teammate that’s gonna get you murked cause of they mouth
Había pasado tanto tiempo que pensé que habría nuevos capítulos 😔😔
Amei a espera do novo capítulo 😍
I thought this had plenty of chapters I could binge read BUT NO! IVE GOT TO MARINATE IT (T○T)/
ITS BEEN 2 YEARS
To ficando com raiva do Kyle ,ele é idiota ou q? N se confia em ninguém no apocalipse
omg this story is sooo good!!!