There, I see that Stella was also sleeping…in the same bed? Is she that scared to the point to need me as a body pillow?

Wait a minute…I need to sleep too. Sleeping is necessary as it was the only time your brain that was tirelessly working, got a rest..But, how? Argh..this Astral Vision, so annoying. While I was contemplating about it, like a timeskip, morning arrived. I don't even dream about anything as my brain definitely needs some rest after all these new things.

"Ah, you're awake."

Stella, was playing with some sort of flying water ball?

"Look at this, this is so fun!"

A ball of water…was flying around? If anyone that found the math and logic about these kinds of things sees this, they would scream maniacally.

Magic, is it the same as the one Dril does in that vision? She practically looks like controlling, no, 'manipulating' might be the better word for this as the ball is moving the same direction as her eyes.

"Even you can be childish sometimes, huh?"

Is it one of the newest coping mechanisms these days?

A ball of water, splashed right into my face, right after I made those remarks.

"I am childish indeed, so please, take care of this childish girlfriend."

Who knows that such water can inflict this much damage if the water has really high pressure? It hurts, it really hurts.

I tried to activate Pain Intolerance, but the trigger has not met yet.

Lucky~

"Ah, you're awak-"

Kaku entered the room, as I was showered by an endless ball of water, albeit weaker.

His face was…certainly surprised, but he quickly went back to his poker-faced expression.

"Anyway, I don't want to do this, but can you locate those 'heroes' of the West Java region?"

Ah, Stella's face became red-ish, full of embarrassment. Cute.

"Umm-"

"I won't question what you're doing to him, at all. Go on."

What the heck. Is this really what a father will say to their daughter when they see them doing such a thing?

"West Java region?"

I activated the status screen, a deja vu hit me as I saw the region reclaimed notification.

"I see."

I mean…why not?

"Sure, I could do that…But first, I'm hungry."

"I cooked something and I have leftovers, want it?"

Stella, trying to regain her 'dignity', brought some food back to me.

Not too shabby. I can't be picky in this situation.

Is it just me or are things more delicious if you're hungry?

"So, I use the vision to locate their community?"

Certainly, talking with food in your mouth is rude, but I don't care.

"Right. I have made some calculations but the area is too big, so don't put too much hope in my calculations."

"Mhmm, as the payment, teach me the so-called Appraisal of yours."

Without waiting for an answer, I put down the now clean plate, and activated Astral Vision, finding the area of the 'dream' I had.

I focused every power I have towards having a bigger vision, sacrificing the reach of sounds for this astral body as it'll overwhelm me.

"Can you hear me, Rinka?"

A sound.

So far, yet so close.

I tried to move my mouth, I tried to say something.

"I could hear you, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I feel something poking at my face, but I can't see it.

What the heck happened to my body?

What is she doing?

I can't feel my body…whatever.

Navigating through the lands, the rivers, the forests, and then stumbled upon the battlefield that the Astral Vision guided me to during the dream.

Navigating the surrounding area.

Found them.

I reduce the vision, taking back the hearing.

"So, have you found anything yet?"

Stella's voice, slowly reached my ears.

"Yeah, I found them. Deactivating Astral Vision."

As I opened my eyes, just to see Stella's face was really close.

"what are you doing?"

She took a step back, hastily, almost making herself tripped.

"Woah."

She tripped. That was a ten out of ten performance.

"n-nothing."

What's wrong with her today?

"Anyway, I found the location."

Kaku was ready to leave the room already, as if he didn't really need the details from my information gathering.

"If you want to know the secret of Appraisal, follow me to that place then."

"I mean, how else would you reach it if not for me to guide you? …Oh wait, you were already planning to do it, huh?"

"It was the most obvious bait I scatter, why does the obvious seem to be even harder to catch?" Kaku's tone sounds mocking, but upon second thought, he really does question it.

"I dunno."

==============

We rode something, seemingly like a jeep combined with a tank. The speed was average, but the capabilities for going through any kind of terrain is so over the top, and there were four of them marching through the now ruined lands.

"Say, where the heck did you find this, Kaku?"

"Business Secret."

"Fine."

I was using Astral Vision, while focusing on vision, opening this magic eyes to see the world, and reducing the amount of sounds received so I could still guide them... let me just call them an amphibian tank, I suppose?

Rivers, Forests, roads that were already almost destroyed, we kept marching forward.

"The terrain is kinda hard and unstable starting from now on, we either slow down or get some back hurt, the call on you, sir Kaku."

"Reduce the speed, we need to preserve ourselves and these cars' energy."

These four tanks have internal radio devices installed that connect everyone, it could work for some reason even when everything related to technology gets destroyed by the monster.

Wait…how does radio work? Do they have their own internet? Because every electrical thing was destroyed…No no, just focus on the road and get everyone on the right track, me.

"Oh right, last night there was an announcement from the god and I recorded it, want to hear it?" Kaku suddenly tapped my shoulder, making me deactivating Astral Vision.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

[It seems most people have claimed their reward already.]

[Clap! Clap!]

[Explanation Time!]

[This world, 'Earth', will be themed with 'Creative' that is fueled by 'Creativity'! How lucky!]

[What? You don't know what creativity means here?]

[Tsk Tsk Tsk]

[Just look at the system panel and see it for yourself!]

Just like that, the recording stopped.

"So, what do you think, Rinka?"

"I…I don't know, does this means now the world finally merged with god's little game?"

"...You're weird, but yeah, it's practically that..no, it's exactly that."

I decided to search for it…

[Creativity]

[The source for everything that humanity built.]

[Used for everything that was included in the 'System']

[System]

[You don't have the needed access for this information.]

Uh Huh, that's new.

"Oh right, now we can see our status and descriptive information about ourselves."

"Really? Isn't that a bit too convenient?"

"It is," after a short pause, he added. "But Appraisal enhances that by making us able to see other things status information."

Let see…Status.

A hologram with blue as its base was showing…flying in front of me.

Rinka ● Human Male

HP : 100/100

Creativity : 40/40

Skills

Astral Vision

Pain Intolerance

Blessings

Protection of the White Tiger

Creativity…huh?

It'll regenerate overtime, but each person has a different speed to it, much like how our actual creativity only spark when needed.

Both Astral Vision and Pain Intolerance don't consume Creativity, but they have their own mechanisms that override it.

This is fun.

=======================

We spent two times resting in the wild, as everyone, especially the driver, got extra tired by how unstable the land is.

"It's only a mere day and two nights, and things are already like this, huh?"

My thoughts were unconsciously uttered by this mouth of mine.

"Well, if we look at the good side, it will definitely slow down if the destruction rate is this high early on already, no?"

Stella was saying the truth, the hard truth.

It was a cold statement…quite different from what I expected from her…

But, the world law and common sense have already flipped, nothing will do anything, and even your morals won't help you to survive.

After a long, long journey of a whole eight hours, we arrived at the battlefield area.

"This is where the boss fight took place."

I scouted the surroundings, observing everything.

"Are you sure?"

Kaku, get out of the car, and..he is looking at a tree? What's special about it?

After around twenty seconds…yes, I counted them. He turned around and got back up to the car.

"This is the place where they fought, indeed."

He looked at me.

"Now, show us where they rest."

We're approaching a wall, a man-made wall that was about to be destroyed.

It was not too shabby, as it was really a spontaneous attempt at survival.

A group of people, acting like a guard, stepped forward to greet us.

They really do try to scare us with that shabby iron training sword that I also got…even though it's now broken.

"Halt!."

Guard 1, was looking at our tanks and the luggage we brought.

"Ah. What can we do for you, fellows?"

Kaku standing up. "I want to meet the heroes that kill the monsters in this region, I need to talk to them immediately."

"This is regarding help for your survival, as well as some rations we brought."

The guard leader scanned our equipment..of clothes, yeah no weapon in hands.

"Looking at your equipment...nevermind, fine."

"Hey, you two."

Then, he asked the two guards that was following him all the time.

"Us?"

"Yeah, find them, the fellow that is with Dril."

The two guards immediately get into the camps. Not long after that, they brought a group of people.

I analyze them, and yes, they're the same people that Astral Vision followed.

"Come with us, this isn't a place to talk aren't it?"

The leader of the party, trying to lead us.

Well, I mean, talking about business in a front-camp was kinda bad as people definitely could hear what we're doing.

Getting inside also practically means the same more or less, but eh, who cares?

"I will be straight to the point, let me use my Appraisal skill to scan everyone here."

"And your goal is?"

"To see whether communication could be done here or not."

…We just opened the door to the tent and both of you are already passive-aggressive.

"It's not clear enough."

"I was looking for people that have an affinity for long-range communication skills, Telepathy."

"Telepathy…why not? But before that, may I ask something?"

"Go ahead."

"Which one of you killed the regional boss of Jakarta?"

"Busted, eh? Is it that obvious?"

"The mere fact y'all using jeep means you more or less anticipated this disaster."

I stepped in, as I hate these kinds of arguments, and I know Kaku won't do it.

"That would be me, what is your question?"

"Fight me."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I'm too weak compared to you, as I only have scouting skill and durability skill."

"Where are the other four then?"

"The four are the crew of a helicopter. I simply slashed the monster from the high sky, diving into it from around one hundred…and fifty I think? It was quite a long skydive."

"What the heck…and you said simply?"

"See, Rinka? You're one hell of mad lad." Kaku, his speaking tone is flat, almost heard like honesty. Heck, even his face was serious.

"How come you didn't tell me that?"

Do I need to?

Cough Cough…one way to take back the topic, I suppose.

"Alright then, that duel will be saved for next time we meet. For now, we'll work with you."

"Before that, shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"

Come on, I'm trying to break the ice here.

"My mistake, I am Lain, and I'm the leader of these settlements."

"That crazy lad is Rinka, and I'm Kaku. Hope you all don't disappoint me."