CHAPTER 24: 2ND PERMANENT ACQUISITION

DING!

~----~

[Permanent Options Available – Choose One]

[1. Shadowstep Dash=]

Short-range displacement. Instantly move 3 to 5 meters in any direction, phasing partially through matter.

Cooldown: 10 seconds.

[Pros: Survival, repositioning, escape.]

[Cons: Purely defensive, no offensive edge.]

...

[2. Exo-Spike Gauntlet=]

A jagged and rugged combat gauntlet forged from debris and desperation. It has 2 abilities, 1 passive and 1 active.

[Active Ability: Rugged Overload]

When activated, this ability increases your strength stat and your striking force by 400% for 15 seconds. It is designed to turn prey into predator.

[Passive Ability: Rugged Survivor]

+5 to your strength stat.

[Pros: Offensive power, physical strength, brutal melee tool.]

[Cons: Requires close-quarters combat, high risk.]

~----~

Both hovered in his vision, glowing faintly. The Wheel pulsed, waiting.

Ethan shut his eyes, a smile involuntarily lining the corner of his lips. It took all his self-control to not jump and scream for joy.

Of the 2 options that were before him, one of them was an ability and the other was a gear. The question was, which one was more useful to him in the short term without sacrificing the long term potentially fully?

Afterall, Ethan didn’t want to die too early in the apocalypse. The more he learned and saw about the new world, the more he thought it was more exciting than the old world.

When he said he wanted something exciting, an apocalypse wasn’t exactly what he prayed for, but beggars are not choosers?

Who was he to choose? He would do with what he had.

Of the two options, Shadowstep Dash promised survival. With it, he could dart out of reach, dodge killing blows, and live where others would die. It turned him into the ultimate survivor.

It was safe and reliable. You may even call it cowardly, but in a world suddenly turned apocalyptic where mutated monsters and even monster choristers lived, an ability to enhance survival was as vital as it came.

The Gauntlet, on the other hand, now that was power.

It was straightforward; it was brutal, bloody, and straight up dangerous. It meant stepping into the fight, not away. It meant advance and not retreat.

For weeks now, Ethan had relied on improvisations to scrape by, hovering between life and death, wondering and worrying if and when his special ability would give him a trash improvisation that would finally end in him losing his life.

Even since joining this group, what they knew him for was that he was the gambler, the gambling jack of all trades.

But all he actually did was act as support and the wild card of the group, specialized in getting improvisations to create an opening and waiting for Reid or Kara or Jonas to deliver the killing blow.

But what if they couldn’t?

Like the Conductor showed, and like the updated system just showed them, there were ranks in the apocalypse. The apocalypse just started, but surely, with time, the monsters would grow stronger.

Just like Awakeners, the monsters would also climb the ranks. What if the day comes that they stumble upon a battle-oriented monster E Rank monster, and not a Coordinator like the Conductor?

What would he do then?

What of the day that he’ll meet a D Rank, or even a C Rank? What would he do?

What if the day came when there was no one left to save him?

These questions pulsed in Ethan’s head repeatedly.

He flexed his empty hand, imagining weight there. He imagined spikes, force, strength, the feeling he felt when he punched through the head of the very first monster that he encountered in the apocalypse back in the city.

The feeling of not just dodging death, but breaking it.

He took a deep breath; decision made.

His breath came slow and steady as he finally looked at the Wheel again. "Gauntlet," he whispered.

DING!

~----~

[Choice Registered!]

[Confirmation: Exo-Spike Gauntlet]

[Cost: 10 IP]

[Processing... please wait...]

~----~

The Wheel flared.

Pain stabbed into Ethan’s right arm, burning from shoulder to wrist. His hand convulsed, fingers locking as though gripped by invisible claws.

The fire built until he screamed.

Resin poured from his palm, hardening into jagged spines that wrapped around his hand like molten steel cooling in shape. A gauntlet of black spikes formed, pulsing with faint light, fused seamlessly to his skin.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it dissolved, folding inward, vanishing as though swallowed by his bones.

Ethan collapsed to his knees, panting. When he opened his hand again, it was bare as if what just happened. The only thing that reminded him of what just happened was the dull ache still in his muscles.

But then, the Wheel glowed in confirmation.

~----~

[Permanent Acquisition Confirmed: Exo-Spike Gauntlet]

[Rank: F]

Tier 1 gear locked into inventory. Will no longer disassemble after uses. Can be upgraded with future IP.

...

[Inventory:]

Kinetic Grapple Launcher.

Exo-Spike Gauntlet.

[NOTE: All permanent acquisitions of the Gacha System are tied to the Rank of the host. The only exception are temporary improvisation draws.]

[NOTE: The rank of all improvisations shall be labeled, whether gears or abilities, etc.]

...

[Remaining IP: 6]

~----~

’2 permanent acquisitions now’. Ethan grinned.

He clenched his fist, and the gauntlet materialized instantly, spikes gleaming in the firelight. Reid’s gaze flicked toward him, cool but approving. He didn’t know exactly what happened to him, but he approved of it nonetheless.

Kara tilted her head, an unreadable smile tugging at her lips. Jonas whistled low. After this weird system encounter, they all changes as they received their rewards for defeating the Conductor.

Travis raised his brows and muttered, "Well, remind me not to argue over dinner portions".

The others laughed.

The fire crackled. Around it, four new Rank F Awakened tested their strength in silence, while one of them with a Wheel clenched his spiked gauntlet.

The system had revealed itself, introducing ranks, stats, and progression, the step forward in the apocalypse.

Maybe this was the only way forward for humanity.

And if the Conductor had been nothing more than an early-stage Coordinator in the grand scheme of things, a mere E Rank, then what lay beyond would not just test their strength, it would also demand evolution.

Ethan stared at the gauntlet in his hand until it dissolved again. The Wheel pulsed faintly in his skull, satisfied.

The road west was no longer just survival, it was a climb.

And every climb had predators waiting at the top.