Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

Now, it's mid-September of the twenty-third year, but the time I awakened my superpower was in early April of the nineteenth year.

It's been about four and a half years. At that time, I was in the second semester of junior high school, still at an age filled with fantasy.

Although people around me now also describe me as a dreamer, the me from the past was even more naïve than now. Thus, when I awakened my superpower, I no longer had any doubt about the existence of supernatural powers and dedicated myself to the pursuit of mysterious things that others deemed impossible.

The fabled demons, Demons, and Gods might indeed exist, and superpower users like me undoubtedly also dwell in some corners of this world.

I never believed that I was the only supernatural power user in the world. If there's one, there must be a second—it's simple logic. Although I don't know what stroke of absurd luck led to my accidental awakening, even if it's one in a billion chance, there are eight billion people on this planet—it only makes sense that there would be dozens of supernatural power users. If I expand the search term from "supernatural power user" to "supernatural power," then the number would be even more unpredictable. My reasoning should be without error.

Yet, after more than four years, my search progress remains nil.

Only my power has made great leaps on the track of evolution.

-

This time, Mazao didn't fall into a deep sleep for the whole night as before.

Just minutes had passed before she groggily opened her eyes, looking at me as if still in a dream.

I took the initiative to express goodwill.

"You must still be very tired. It's okay, you can rest a bit more."

Upon hearing this, she didn't speak but simply observed me silently, her gaze gradually becoming more lucid. After a moment, she threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and staggered towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I stepped in front of her before she could reach it.

"Move aside." She glared at me like a wounded young wolf.

"So, you want to leave just like that?"

"I told you, I have no more business with you."

"But I have business. I risked being arrested by the police to shelter and hide you; I can't just sit back and watch you act recklessly." I offered a justified reason.

She turned a deaf ear and tried to quickly sidestep me.

However, after just one step, her body involuntarily shook, and her knees buckled, as if about to collapse.

I hurried forward to support her, but she stubbornly shook me off, then immediately retreated two steps, keeping a relatively safe distance from me.

"With your condition now, what can you even do?" I pressed on. "You can't even walk properly, and you could faint at any moment. Besides, you're covered in blood and wearing this revealing hospital gown; the police will pick you up in no time if you're out there."

"I won't tell anyone about your business, is that okay now?" she responded, frowning.

"What I mean is... don't you think you should take a bath first?" I racked my brain for ways to buy time to think about how to convince her to stay, "Just throw away those clothes, you can wear mine, and I'll get you new underwear."

"Take a bath?" She was puzzled at first, then seemed to think of something, and took two steps back, looking at me with even more suspicion, "Are you possibly..."

"Don't misunderstand." I quickly dispelled her doubts, "If I had that sort of intention, I would have done something already."

"That makes sense..." Despite her words, she checked her body again and then begrudgingly admitted, "Taking a bath... You did make sense earlier, I really can't just walk outside like this..."

After much persuasion, she finally agreed to my urging and headed to the bathroom, looking back every three steps.

I brought her a pair of spare slippers and took out some of my own clothes, along with new underwear and a towel, and handed them to her. I followed her to the bathroom door and watched as she closed the frosted glass door behind her.

From behind the door came the sound of unwrapping the towel from its plastic packaging, followed by the rustle of undressing. A blurred and petite silhouette was reflected on the frosted glass door; she appeared to be figuring out the bath products, and I could hear the subtle noises of bottles being picked up and put down.

The shower started running, and the sound of water splashing onto the floor could be heard through the door. At first, it must have been cold water, as there came a brief and cute yelp, like that of a startled little animal.

Soon, the water must have warmed up, as she quieted down and let out a comfortable sigh.

Separated by a single door was a living, naked beauty. I belatedly realized that I should not stand so close and so took a seat on the couch in the living room instead. As I pondered my next move, I took out my phone, planning to ask the university for a leave of absence.

It was then I discovered several text messages on my phone, sent from the only friend I had at university. They were dated from the previous night, asking if I was free. At that time, I was preoccupied with Mazao and hadn't noticed the messages.

Why was he suddenly looking for me? Could it be something urgent?

I replied to his text inquiring about the matter and explained that I would not be going to school today, before requesting leave from the university.

Only a little while later, the sound of water from the bathroom stopped.

Survivors from the Doomsday Era might have an ingrained habit of conserving water resources. I had thought that since she was a girl, she would spend a lot of time bathing. That way, I would have plenty of time to devise ways to persuade her to stay. But Mazao showered as quickly as, if not faster than, this rough man. It wasn't long before she put on my clothes, leaned against the wall, and staggered out of the bathroom.

The clothes I prepared for her were a gray long-sleeve T-shirt and pants, with the underwear being black boxers. Unfortunately, I didn't have a top specifically designed for girls to wear, and I wondered if this would negatively impact a girl her age.

The shirt I used to wear was obviously too loose for her, with sleeves long enough to cover her hands, and the hem was as long as a short dress. She simply rolled up the sleeves and pant legs, revealing her pale and slender forearms and calves.

I led her back to the bedroom first. The dirty sheets and comforter had already been removed. She sat down on the bed, still radiating warm moisture and the fragrance of lemon-scented shampoo.

It's also incredible, the lemon scent on her was actually the aroma of the shampoo I often used, but now coming from her, it gave me a completely different, misty atmosphere.

The same was true for the clothes, so commonplace on me but now exuding a mysterious charm when worn by her.

The so-called "boyfriend shirt" effect mentioned online must feel like this, although we are not in that kind of relationship. Just entertaining the thought feels like wishful thinking on my part.

"Thank you, I can't remember the last time I had such a comfortable bath," Mazao said.

Perhaps the hot water had temporarily softened the "hedgehog's" prickly fur, for now Mazao's demeanor had become more pliant.

Then she asked me to return her pistol to her.

Without hesitation, I refused.

"By the way, why do you have a pistol? Did you bring it with you when you traveled through time?"

"…That's none of your business," she retorted, uncooperative as ever, yet her tone was gentler, "If you won't return the pistol to me, then keep it. I'm leaving."

"You want to investigate the cause of the advent of Doomsday, don't you? But do you even have any clues?"

"No. However, Doomsday didn't just arrive out of the blue; there were signs and preludes that people of this era simply haven't paid enough attention to. Unbelievable phenomena, strangely shaped Demons… Such things must have already appeared blatantly in this age." She grew a little more patient and then issued a warning, "You must also be careful. Upon encountering any suspicious signs, don't hesitate, stay as far away as you can. And…"

"And what?"

"…Stop getting close to me," she said, deliberately speaking in an indifferent tone, "I… am different from you. I'm a harbinger of misfortune.

"People who stay with me, who get involved with me… they always end up more easily entangled in bizarre events that defy common sense, until they die tragically.

"If you value your life, stop pestering me."

Ah? Is this a blessing in disguise?

I was invigorated.

"How could that be?" I declared righteously, "I told you from the beginning that I saved you because I couldn't just ignore you—a girl in tattered clothes lying in the night. And now you want me to forget about you? Wouldn't that be like killing me spiritually? If I did that, would I still be myself?"

"High-sounding words are easy to say. When death is imminent, you'll regret your decision," she said with a weightier tone.

"Don't underestimate me. If I say I won't regret it, then I won't. And it's you who should be reassessing yourself." I countered, "Currently, you can't use your superpower, you can't move freely, and you need to rest and recuperate. Heading out into the world now would only aggravate your injuries.

"Instead of that, why not regain your strength while staying with me so you can better serve your mission to prevent Doomsday? Or is satisfying your stubborn pride more important to you?

"Moreover, even if you truly are an ill omen that brings unpredictable disasters to those around you, it's not like saying 'Cao Cao' makes Cao Cao appear; surely you can't wait even a few short days?"

"This…" She seemed to be swayed by my words, "If it's only for a few days…"

"How about it?" I probed.

"…" She fell silent.

I waited anxiously for her response.

If... if no matter what I couldn't persuade her, then, as distasteful as it was to say, I would break her legs, chain her up, and keep her confined in my house.

Although kidnapping a minor was both a crime and a perverse act, it seemed necessary to avoid attracting the attention of the official forces to my misdemeanors. I was already illegally in possession of firearms and ammunition and harboring a supposed "serial killer"; one more offense wouldn't make much difference.

I didn't want to resort to such extreme measures until absolutely necessary. It was also something that would require overcoming a huge psychological hurdle for me to do.

After a long while, she finally exhaled, nodding her head reluctantly.

"…I understand," she said resignedly, "but just in case, I won't be staying here for many days. Regardless of how my recovery progresses, at most five days… no, at most three days, I will leave.

"Also… thank you."

Her voice grew very faint at the end.

My heart, which had been in my throat, finally settled down for the moment.

Knock, knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the entrance door.

We both fell silent, exchanging glances.

Was it the police again? Had the officer from before returned?

Why would he come back? Had he finally noticed something amiss at my place? How many officers were outside now?

"Coming, coming," I called towards the entrance, making a silent gesture to Mazao for quiet.

She nodded and curled up on the bed.

I approached the door, choosing not to peek through the peephole but rather to stay on alert as I slowly turned the doorknob.

There was no sudden attempt to force the door open from the outside.

Taking advantage of the moment, I pushed the door open to clearly see the person standing outside.

"It's you?" I exclaimed in surprise.

Standing outside was my only friend from university.

But now he looked pale, with traces of panic lingering on his face, as if he'd just gone through some mind-boggling ordeal.