Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

"—" Finn didn't have a response.

"If you're so curious, I caught you from slipping through realities again," the Evanescent admitted, making a dropping motion with his hand. "With the fragility of the universe at this moment, it's easy to do."

"…Thanks?" Finn said hesitantly before stepping forward. "Listen, you know more than you're letting on, don't you? All of this…"

The Evanescent glanced at him with a hollow look permeated in his dull irises, "A history lesson won't change anything right now. You'll learn everything, should you survive. I'm sure of that."

"Hold on—who the hell are you, really?!" Finn questioned, attempting to approach.

Just like that, the elusive figure was gone with the wind. Again, he was left with more questions than answers, far removed from his last memory.

'The fabric of reality…Is that why I blanked out earlier?' He considered.

Either way, he found himself, once again, left alone in the foreign world. There was nothing to make of the barren region but dried, lifeless soil and stale air. All that was left was to quietly march on, aimlessly, all in hopes of surviving the ordeal.
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The far stretch of nothing but flat land led him no guidance, simply wandering as he walked and walked before–crack.

It was only a half mile into his aimless journey that the ground seemed to shift slightly; the soil caved in under his boot, just a bit. Holes parted in the barren ground, making way for limbless creatures that erupted from the land.

"--"

He watched as the worm-like giants rose like skyscrapers, completely enclosing his path forward like the walls of an empire.

[Enemy identified.]

["World-Eater Worm"] [Level: 95]

They peered down at him with mouths that opened to hundreds of thousands of razor sharp teeth, each likely capable of swallowing up entire houses in a single go.

"This place never has a quiet moment, does it?" He mumbled to himself, squeezing the handles of his blades.

Seeing such otherworldly horrors hardly moved him; it didn't change the rapidity of his heartbeat. All that mattered was surviving–there was no difference what stood in his way.

["This is the end of the line. Everything is crashing down. Four more days…I just need to survive four more days–that's all I have to do."]

The gargantuan bodies of the world-devouring worms laid lifeless across the barren land, seeping rancid blood into the soil. He quietly breathed out, standing amidst the corpses of the colossal creatures, wiping the repugnant liquid from his cheek.

For miles, he marched along, leaving the flatlands to find his way into a region almost opposite of it; a scarlet swamp. It was up to his ankles, though the liquid felt denser than water, exuding a smell like that of candy, oddly enough.

"--"

Stepping through the blood-red marsh, a figure floating in the shallow liquid drifted in front of him; a decomposed body, missing most of its flesh. It wasn't anything new; he'd seen plenty of such cases.

Yet, for some reason, it made his heart skip a beat–an eyelid twitched, a numbness radiating through his body. He dropped down to his knees, placing his hands together in a shoddy attempt at a prayer.

There wasn't much religion in his life; it wasn't something he ingrained in himself, yet at that moment, he felt it was necessary to pray. He wasn't calling for a higher power, no; all he hoped was that his gesture somehow, someway, paid respect.

["At this point, I could be the last person remaining. The last of humanity. Outside of this world, there's nothing left–it's all just a void, empty and lifeless. If I die, the memories of humanity…The memories of you all–Damian, Charlotte, Mom…Everybody–everything, it practically wouldn't have ever existed.

A quiet, black universe."]

He picked himself up, feeling a tightness in his chest. The sight of the nefarious swamp flickered–he found himself standing in a familiar library. Right beside him, he saw the smile of the woman he dearly missed.

"--Charlotte."

It was enough to draw a smile on his own lips, filling his face with a warmth that made tears lodge themselves in his eyes. Yet, attempting to embrace that feeling, it flickered again–

He was back in the swamp, alone with only the sounds of ripples in the distant water and frogs croaking.

It was hard to tell if he was simply losing his mind or if reality was truly unstable, either way, it equally healed and hurt him to briefly see that moment again. He walked along, dragging his feet through the blood-red swamp, watching his surroundings.

There was a dreariness through his body and mind, like a fog sitting upon his thoughts. Only the sounds of his own steps, splashing the crimson liquid, kept him steady–

Splash.

Splash.

–Splash.

Another step taken once more shifted the scenery of the blood-red marsh into another, finding himself sitting in that environment that smelled of coffee grounds. The quiet, peaceful cafe; an atmosphere of chatter from the others at the establishment, though he couldn't hear what anybody else said.

Across from the table he sat at, his friend was right there–

"Damian."

There was so much he wanted to say, so much so that he struggled to get a single word out. Instead, he wanted to listen, watching the lips of his friend move—

"—"

The aroma of coffee was brutally replaced by the stench of death as he blinked. He found himself sitting in the swamp, leaning against a tree.

A ripple through the water immediately brought him to his feet. Just as he hopped up, he ducked down as a force ripped through the soaked tree behind him.

A quiet exhale left his lips as he watched the moist bark scatter in the air. Whatever was behind him was large, judging by the aggressive stomps that slammed into the swamp.

'—It's always the same,' he thought.

As he turned around, he found himself engaged by a monstrous gorilla with spider lilies blooming from its skin, crawling out of its own eye sockets.

[Enemy identified.]

["Deathback Gorilla"] [Level: 80]

The flower-infested beast slammed its knuckles into the swamp, rumbling it as it roared out, baring its teeth. Each downfall of its fists caused the land to tremble, uprooting the closest trees as they swayed.

["Execution Moment"] [4:59]

A brief period that bypassed the concepts of [Cooldowns] or [Mana], allowing for one to freely use skills with the one restriction–

The flower-eyed gorilla charged towards him, dragging its fists through the crimson marsh. He stood his ground, flipping his daggers into a reverse grip as he waited for the creature's arrival:

["Magnificent Blade"] ["Ripper"]

A flash of gilded flames, intertwined with luxurious lightning permeated through the air in a form of X-shaped slashes, carving right into the gorilla. The after shock of the impact expanded through the swamp, scattering the closest water, evaporating it as the mushy soil was left bare.

["Deathback Gorilla defeated."]

[Experience points: +500,000] [1,750,000/12,000,000]

[Assimilated ability from [Deathback Gorilla]: "Knuckle Slam" 1 / 5]