Zeke sprinted down the hallway. The AC pounded, cooling the sweat and blood stuck to him as he ran. Up here, much remained the same from before the black dome descended, the hallway straight, the rooms branching off of it orderly and sane. I guess it hasn’t had enough time to screw up its second floor yet.
To be fair, my skills are pretty pitiful, too. That crystal ball got lucky.
The levels he’d gotten from killing the man flashed before his eyes, and he twisted his lips. Or it’s been nonstop killing.
It’s not like I can blame a crystal ball for killing people, but… still. Drives the point home! I can’t let anything else become The Apocalypse. I have to be the one.
Brown liquid washed down the hallway, ebbing out from under a fire door ahead of him. Slowing to a halt, Zeke sniffed warily, then furrowed his brows. That’s not sewage. Is it…
He knelt. Leaning out, he sniffed again. It really smells like… coffee?
Coffee Apocalypse
Danger Rating: ?
Level: ?
Zeke blinked. “What does that mean?”
Insufficient data.
Oh. Well, fair enough. It’s just a puddle of coffee. He carefully stepped into it. When nothing happened, he walked along, splashing through the quarter-inch-deep liquid. He paused, looking over his shoulder toward the kids and their teacher, then shrugged. What am I going to warn them about? Watch out, the kids might get caffeinated? I mean, that’s a horrifying possibility, but it’s not exactly deadly.
Besides… they already knew about the café.
He drew open the fire door. A blast of humid air, heavy with the warm scent of coffee, blew past his face. He blinked, raising a hand against the thick air.
Warm water lapped against his shoes, instantly soaking through and into his socks. A brown river flowed steadily along the floor to a broken window, where it poured down the building’s façade in a steamy, dark waterfall. Every breath smelled of coffee, the scent instantly inundating his nose, mouth, lungs, clothes, and body. The walls were brown with the stuff. Coffee soaked into the walls and wallpaper. The ceiling dripped with steam.
Zeke splashed ahead, slogging through the hot liquid. It went from inches deep to ankle deep, from ankle deep to knee deep. The hallway turned and twisted, subtly growing wider as it went. He glanced around, confused. The museum wasn’t big enough for this hallway. What’s going on? Is this the coffee apocalypse’s doing?
A narrow shelf of brown appeared to the side, creating a bank to the coffee river. Zeke splashed over to it and found himself slipping over slick black beans, roasted and ready for the grinding. Feet sliding, he dropped to his hands and knees and finally scrambled up onto the loose beans and out of the river. Even then, coffee leaked through, but at least he didn’t have to fight coffee currents to push forward.
He glanced at the coffee river, then shook his head. “I’m not thirsty enough to go for floor coffee.”
The bank widened, the loose beans giving way to tightly packed grinds. The grounds formed a sandy floor, firmer under his feet. Beside him, the coffee river began steaming, growing hotter as he moved upstream. Zeke stepped onto the grounds, glad to have a semblance of dry floor once more.
Coffee bushes pushed through the rich earth, twisted and strange. They leaned toward him as he passed, rustling with life. Zeke caught a flash of white at the foot of a tree’s roots. Curious, he leaned closer. The tree matched him, branches beckoning eagerly, gem-like green leaves shuddering in their excitement. Inadvertently, it shifted a root. A skull rolled out, grinning up at him.
Zeke licked his lips and backed away. “Note to self, leave the trees alone.”
Ahead, strange bags hung from the ceiling on slender threads, full of grounds and slowly dripping rich fresh-brewed coffee. Clear water flowed in from above. Each bag stretched as tall as Zeke stood, if not taller, and spread as wide as his arms spread at their widest. Stained with coffee, they shone in the low light, slick surfaces gleaming with the steam and humidity in the room. Cautiously, Zeke approached.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
One of the bags turned, rotating slowly. A distorted human face stared at Zeke, twisted almost past recognizability. The mouth moved. Kill me.
Zeke jolted back, then stepped forward, holding his breath. He touched the bags, rotating them carefully. More distorted faces gazed up at him. Some didn’t move, their skin dull, barely oozing coffee, while others’ mouths gaped in silent screams, or chittered at him, unable to form words. Please not Mia. Please not Mia.
The final one. Zack bit his lip. He turned the skin.
A strange woman gazed up at him, her eyes dull and blank.
He took a deep breath. Thank goodness.
“Okay. I’m… I’m going to end this. For all of you,” Zeke promised, looking over the once-human bags.
One or two reacted, but most mindlessly continued doing the same thing, if they moved at all.
“Not just your torture, but—this. All of it. Whatever’s causing this, I’m going to destroy it,” Zeke promised.
The bags spun silently.
Zeke took a deep breath. He stepped forward and opened his mouth. No point letting levels and skills go to waste. I’ll use these in your memory.
Over and over again, walking from one to the next, he quietly ended their misery.
[Devour]
Level + .1
Choose Skills
Filter (Weak)
Heat Resistance (Minor)
One after another, the bags fell to the floor, dead. Grounds spilled over the coffee bean shore like dark, dried blood. As the last one sunk to the ground, Zeke checked his stats.
Level: 4.11
Please assign your stat point.
STR: 0
CON: 8
DEX: 0
SPR: 0
Regeneration rate: +1.3%
Skills
Resilience (Minor) +1
Fighting Spirit (Minor)
Teamwork (Minor)
Wind Manipulation (Weak)
Disguise (Minor)
Pick Up (Weak)
Growth (Minor)
Filter (Weak)
Heat Resistance (Minor) +6
I thought having stacked Heat Resistance would be more important than stacking Filter. True, Filter is useful when it comes to acquiring clean water, but I feel like Heat Resistance is going to come up more in a multi-apocalyptic scenario… especially in this one right here, Zeke thought, pushing his hair back. Damp with sweat, it stuck to his scalp, cheap hair gel melting off of it. Despite the steam and his own sweat drenching his body, the sauna-like heat now barely bothered him. I didn’t get a secondary effect off of leveling Heat Resistance, as far as I’m aware, but I’m not sure the System would tell me until I experienced its secondary effect. It really likes for me to find things out on my own.
Interestingly, I didn’t get a regeneration boost from Devouring them. My regeneration rate is normal, so it isn’t like I don’t see it because I don’t need to heal. Is it because I only got the 100% boost for my first human kill? Or is it because these… victims no longer count as human?
Looking down at the human coffee filters, he nodded to them. “I’m sorry. And thank you.”
With a deep breath, he set off, walking up the banks of the coffee river once more.
Ahead of him, the steam grew thicker. The scent of coffee grew so heavy he could barely breathe. Its acid heat burned his nostrils. He waved his hand, but that changed nothing. Ugh. If only I could…
Wait, I can. Wind Manipulation!
A fresh breeze sprung up around his head. It circulated around him, and the coffee smell went from overpowering to merely heavy.
How nice. Zeke closed his eyes, enjoying the fresh breeze.
Your activatable skills can be activated to their full potential with higher SPR.
Hmm… I have a stat point. That seems worth investing in. Zeke tapped the screen before him.
SPR: 1
“System, which of my skills are activatable? Is that the weak versus minor split?” Zeke asked.
Yes. Organizing skills.
Skills
Wind Manipulation (Weak)
Pick Up (Weak)
Filter (Weak)
Passive
Resilience (Minor) +1
Fighting Spirit (Minor)
Teamwork (Minor)
Disguise (Minor)
Growth (Minor)
Heat Resistance (Minor) +6
That’s convenient. Zeke yawned, putting a hand over his mouth. Damn. Why am I so tired when I’m surrounded by coffee?
Warning: Area Effect: Caffeine Dependency
Until you take caffeine, you will experience Exhaustion.
Zeke’s brows furrowed. He gave the coffee a suspicious look. It’s encouraging me to drink it… why? That’s not suspicious at all. I’m glad I didn’t drink it earlier, and I’m definitely not going to drink it now.
Plus, it’s filtered by people. Yuck. All the grossness that’s on an average person’s skin… ew. Nope. I ate the litter apocalypse, and I’m still saying no.
Ahead, the room opened up. Coffee bushes clustered low, spreading over the coffee grounds. Steam rose off the ground itself, the entire room oppressively hot. Sweat dripped down Zeke’s brow once more, despite his Heat Resistance. He wiped his forehead. Without Heat Resistance, I’m not sure I’d be able to survive this room.
His foot struck something. He glanced down and found himself stepping on a white metal loop. Confused, Zeke knelt and swept the coffee grounds away, digging them out around the loop. A white chair appeared out of the coffee, sunk deep into the coffee beans.
I’ve reached the original café’s seating area. Mia should be nearby, if that kid was right.
Coffee welled up in the hole, bubbling through the beans. Scorching heat burst up at Zeke in a blast of steam. He staggered back, coughing.
His feet plunged into the grounds. Boiling hot coffee swirled around his feet. Zeke yanked them free, only to step into more hot coffee. In seconds, the coffee reached his ankles.
The coffee’s rising!
Behind him, the river roared. Zeke turned. A wave of coffee surged toward Zeke, foaming hot. Zeke’s eyes widened. Fuck!