APOCALYPSE MERCHANT: I TRADE DOOMS FOR POWER!

The world's a mess. Like, real apocalypse-level mess. The skies are dusty, the sun's almost never out, and everyone's scrambling for scraps. I'm Dren Vorsk, just a scavenger trying to survive in the wasteland. No fancy name, no magic powers, just me, my rusty blade, and a nose for things worth trading.

I was crawling through the ruins of what used to be this city, or maybe it was a fortress? Hard to say. Everything was broken and dead. That's when I saw it. A huge, twisted corpse slumped against the cracked stone wall. Not your usual dead guy. This one was massive, and there was something... off about it. Like the air itself felt heavier, darker, just standing near it.

I'd heard stories of the God of Calamity before. Nobody alive had seen it, only myths. They said it controlled disasters, storms, plagues, fires. The reason everything's so screwed up now is because it died. And guess what? I was staring right at its rotting corpse.

So what does a scavenger do when he finds a dead god? He loots it. I didn't hesitate. The smell was awful, but there was something gleaming in its cracked hands, a thick, ancient book covered in black leather. It pulsed faintly, like it was alive. The Doom Ledger.

I grabbed it, and the moment I did, this cold rush ran through me. I was shaking, heart beating so fast, but damn if I wasn't curious. The book opened by itself, flipping to a page filled with strange symbols, dooms, trades, and some kind of twisted ledger of disasters.

Turns out, this wasn't just a book. It was a system, a game, a power. It was going to change everything.

**First Trade: Flood for a Kingdom

The next morning, I tested the book. There was a trade listed, "Flood Doom." It said I could sell this disaster to a place that needed rain. Crazy, right? But there was a drought kingdom nearby, starving and begging for water. I sent the flood doom their way, signed the trade in the ledger, and bam!! The skies opened up, and rain poured like hell.

The kingdom rejoiced. I got my payment, but the Ledger didn't give me gold or jewels. No, it gave me something weird called "Hydra Regeneration." I could heal fast now, like having nine lives, or something close.

This was just the start. Here comes the Rotting Cartel, the word spread fast. Not all folks were happy with a nobody trading disasters like a boss. The Rotting Cartel, a nasty gang dealing black-market catastrophes, showed up. They wanted the ledger and me dead. They had plagues and poison trades that could rot you from the inside out.

So, now I was hunted. But also, I was stronger, thanks to the ledger. Every trade I made gave me new powers, but also more problems. The deeper I dug, the darker it got.

Why Me?!

I didn't choose this. The god died, the ledger landed in my hands, and the world's disasters got a new merchant: me.

But there's one rule in this game: every doom comes with a price. And the ledger? It's watching, waiting.

That, my friend, is how I started trading dooms for power. It was supposed to be simple, find dooms, sell dooms, get stronger. But nothing's ever that easy when you're dealing with the apocalypse.

Okay, so I figured after the flood trick, I had the whole apocalypse thing figured out. Boy, was I wrong!?

The day after I sold the Flood Doom to that drought kingdom, things got... complicated. Real fast.

**Word Travels Like Wildfire.

See, news travels weird in a blasted wasteland. One minute you're some unknown scavenger; the next, you're "The Doom Merchant." That's what they started calling me. Not exactly a street name I wanted, but it stuck.

I was sitting outside this burned-out café, trying to think about my next move, when these two lanky dudes showed up. Wore long coats covered in grime and smelled like rot. Not a good sign.

They introduced themselves as agents of the Rotting Cartel. You know, the black-market disaster gang I mentioned? Yeah, they wanted the Doom Ledger bad.

**Rotting Cartel: The Disaster Dealers

The leader was this tall guy with eyes like dead embers, named Vorrek. He smiled, but it was the kind of smile that promised pain.

"We know what you have, Vorsk," he said, leaning on a rusted chair. "That ledger? It's more than a book. It's a weapon. And it belongs to us."

I wasn't about to give up my new power without a fight.

"Why me?!" I asked. "I just found it."

Vorrek laughed. "Because the god's death wasn't an accident. It was a trap. You just walked right into it."

**Fire Doom - My Next Trade

Before they could make a move, I flipped the ledger open. There was a "Fire Doom" listed. It said if I sold it to a rival faction of the drought kingdom, I'd get a skill called "Flame Lash." Basically, I'd be able to whip fire like a damn dragon.

I didn't like the idea of burning people, but the ledger didn't care about feelings.

So, I sent the Fire Doom their way, lighting up their enemy's village like a torch. Flames roared, screams echoed, and the rival faction got wiped out.

I felt bad for the folks caught in the fire, but this was survival.

The ledger rewarded me immediately, a burning whip appeared on my arm. It hurt like hell, but I could control it.

**Showdown at Rusted Junction

Vorrek and his thugs tried to ambush me right after. The Rotting Cartel wasn't playing.

They sent plague clouds, rotting weapons, and even twisted freaks, humans mutated by disaster trades. But I wasn't just some scared scavenger anymore.

Using the Hydra Regeneration and Flame Lash, I fought back. The whip cracked through the air, burning their weapons. I dodged toxic clouds with quick heals, and for the first time, I felt something close to power.

But I knew it wasn't enough.

The ledger whispered warnings every time I used its powers. Every trade had a cost — and the Rotting Cartel wanted to collect.

**The Ledger's Dark Side

That night, I tried reading more from the ledger, hoping for answers. It showed me all sorts of dooms: droughts, famines, earthquakes, and worse.

But here's the thing: the ledger wasn't just a tool. It was alive. Almost like it was watching me, learning from my trades, growing stronger as I did.

I started wondering, what if the god's death wasn't the end? What if the ledger was part of some bigger plan?

**Final Thought for Today

So yeah, the Rotting Cartel hates me now, I'm burning villages, and trading disasters like a crazy person. Not exactly the life I wanted, but hey, apocalypse waits for no one.

I'm just getting started, and trust me, things are going to get a hell of a lot worse before they get better.