By the time the kids woke up, it was half past 6 am and the sun was already beginning to peek through the horizon.
As soon as they were up and awake, Cha Doyun gave them the bottle of water and the bag of biscuits he found in the storage room of the camping shop. The dark haired man gently refused when the kids tried to share with him, citing that he had already eaten.
In all truth, Doyun was anxious. While keeping watch, he had spied a great number of strange creatures that roamed the streets outside. He wasn't sure what they were but concluded that they were probably dangerous and that he had to keep the kids away from them. What if these things decided to attack them and the kids-
He anxiously glanced around the room, trying to occupy his mind with something other than the pitfall it was spiraling into. Doyun knew he was being unreasonably worried about the children when they had only met the day prior. They weren't his kids for god's sake. It also would be for the best if the kids stayed with someone other than him, a person who didn't even take care of himself.
'But..' he supposed he could keep them safe until they found their relatives. His newly given power should at least be useful for something like that. On that topic, 'Do they even have anyone to stay with?' Doyun wondered.
"Sung-Jin, do you have any relatives? Anyone who can take care of you?"
The dark haired boy stopped feeding Ah-in and instead focused on Doyun, his eyes strangely calm yet anxious.
"Are you tired of us, sir?" He asked in a small voice, his posture tense. The older man wanted to slap himself. What had he been thinking, asking Sung-Jin something like that, not long after his parents died!?
"No! It's not like Sung-Jin! I'm just worried. I never looked after anyone before! And I don't think it'll be safe for you if you stayed with me. I swear!" Doyun tried to rectify the situation, hurriedly.
He almost sighed in relief when the boy hesitantly nodded, seemingly accepting what Doyun had told him.
"We… We have an aunt who lives in Yong-san Gu. But I-I don't know if she's-" Sung-Jin paused, unable to utter the word 'alive'. Ah-In supposedly sensing the somber mood, stopped chewing on the biscuit, instead choosing to stare at the two. She didn't cry, unlike what other toddlers would have done. She just sat there, quiet without any noise.
Sighing, Doyun gave both kids a gentle headpat. Kids shouldn't be worried about whether someone is alive or not, they shouldn't be holding back their cries and instead should be shouting and throwing tantrums.
"I'm sure she is alright. Now finish eating, we can't stay here for long." he told them then stood up to pack up any item they might need.
While messing around with the system the previous night, Doyun had learnt how to use the [Inventory] skill that was present within the system and it functioned just like it did in the RPG games, something he was rather thankful for.The dark haired man approached the small hoard of items he gathered by the door and started packing.
"Inventory."
Instantly, a blue screen popped up showing rows of empty boxes. Picking up the tent bag, Doyun tapped the first box causing the item in his hand to scatter into blue particles of light and get sucked into the [Inventory] filling the box with an image of a tent.
Satisfied with the result, he packed away everything else starting from the travel hygiene pack to emergency kits. By the time he was done, there were only 13 boxes left unfilled in his [Inventory].
Done with his work, Cha Doyun turned towards the kids to see if they could see anything out of place. While Ah-In didn't seem to notice anything out of place, Sung-Jin was staring at something in front of himself, his eyes glazed over."Sung-Jin, can you see them? The floating blue screens, I mean." The tall man asked, easily catching the pre-teen's attention. Sung-Jin turned to look at Doyun before he slowly nodded in confirmation.
Now that Sung-Jin could see them, it opened up a lot more possibilities for them. The older man went and sat beside the pre-teen.
"Have you heard of Apocalypse Theory?" He asked.
"The game?" The pre-teen answered hesitantly. Doyun nodded.
"Yes, the game. Can you tell me what the screen says right now?" Sung-Jin hummed for a moment before answering.
"It says [Tap Me]." Doyun smiled. So it was category choosing, while he still had no idea what badges were supposed to be, it was relatively harmful.
"You should tap on it." he suggested, offering no further advice. The younger of the two nodded and tapped the air before them.
Instantly, several blue screens flashed into existence in front of them.[Welcome]
[Welcome player Kim Sung-Jin! To the Apocalypse Theory Online! We are delighted that you have decided to join us. Without further ado, please choose a class and don't forget to spin the roulette!]
[TAP ME!]
[TAP ME!]
….While Sung-Jin was busy with his own information dump , Doyun pulled Ah-In into his lap, securely keeping her from wandering off, then turned to the screen in front of himself.
[Due to the young age of player Kim Sung-Jin, Prophet Cha Doyun has been chosen as his mentor. Due to your new status as [Caretaker] of Kim Sung-Jin and Kim Ah-in, you are now able to view their stats and influence their growth.]
[Please be aware that you are now. responsible for their lives. For more info, call out for the Disciples screen.]
The tall man quietly pulled up the newly appeared [Disciples] page placed right below his name which presented him with two options.[ 1.Kim Sung-Jin [STATUS]
2.Kim Ah-In [STATUS] ]He tapped the [STATUS] window behind Sung-Jin's name and started reading.
[STATUS]
[Name: Kim Sung-Jin
Class: The Executor Age:11Sex: Male Basic appearance: Brown hair and ??? eyes Ability: May The Stars Be With You {Info Locked...}[STATS]
Stamina: 7/20
Strength: 10/20Agility: 8/20Speed: 12/20Mana rank: Ill (Low Rank)Unspent point: ??? ]
Doyun stared at the screen, speechless. Kim Sung-Jin was surprisingly strong for his age and seemed to have a high amount of mana. While it was quite strange how he couldn't access the ability info, he supposed he was already overstepping with this new ability to check the stats.
Bright green eyes turned towards Sung-Jin curiously. His eyes were still the same brown it had been when they met but Doyun could see specks of gold swimming in it. Maybe with time, Sung-Jin's eyes would fully turn gold but still he was glad that the kid wouldn't have to go through the pain Doyun did.
The tall man then swiped the screen into Ah-In's info page, curious as to whether the toddler had any connection to the system. He stopped himself from delving any further into his thoughts. Instead, he focused on reading Kim Ah-In's info.
What he saw however wasn't what he expected. He blinked in surprise and disbelief, staring at the words floating in front of him incredulously. Doyun tried again and again to make sure the system wasn't fooling him, only to be met with the same exact message each time.
[YOU LACK CLEARANCE]
[Every and All info pertaining to the subject Kim Ah-in is unavailable due to the lack of clearance granted. Any further attempt will be met with resistance. You have 10 seconds to leave the page.]
[10...9...8..-]
He hurriedly exited the page,not wanting to know what the 'resistance' was. Rather, he turned to Ah-In, who was adorably munching on his sleeves. He held her and stood up, patting her back soothingly.
"You are one mysterious baby, aren't you?" Cha Doyun murmured with a soft smile on his face, reaching out to secure her in front of himself, using a bag to make a makeshift sling.
He took a deep breath then turned to Kim Sung-Jin, who had just finished reading. He smiled at the boy, picking up and handing the kid one few camping knives he found. Which the boy took quietly and pocketed with an understanding Doyun didn't expect from him.
"Just in case, right?" Sung-Jin asked.
"Just in case." Doyun confirmed and their talk ended there. Not because Doyun didn't know what to say, but because there was nothing else to say. They both understood their situation and what might be waiting for them out there.
After checking the inventory once more and tightened the sling to keep Ah-In in place. Doyun unlocked the front door.
Sung-Jin held his hand thighly, though in determination or fear, the older man did not know. With no further thoughts, he pushed the door open and they stepped into the world after the apocalypse.
Finally, they were ready to face the world once more. Whether they survived the encounter or not, 'Well..' Doyun smirked.
'That was up for fate to decide wasn't it?'
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