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2024-10-29 19:42:56After being discharged from the hospital, Jed decided to do something from his bucket list.
It was a sunny Monday morning, and Jed was dressed in a pair of jogging pants and loose t-shirt. Shouldering a worn bag, he made his way to the train station. As usual, it was crowded during rush hour. Pressed against other people, he was thankful that it’d be the last time he did this.
Jed arrived at his office at the last minute before the working hour started. Apex Marketing Solutions located in the middle of Silver Lake city’s economics area. Sharing a ten floor building with four other companies, the entrance always appeared busy no matter what time of day.
Riding the elevator to his floor, Jed was greeted by the security. “You sure you want to dress like that after your one week absence from work, Mister… Hunter?”
“I see nothing wrong with my clothes,” Jed shrugged, giving a wink to the two receptionist girls who stared at him in confusion. “Is the jerky boss here?”
“Ugh,” the security hesitated, whispering, “I suggest you don’t call Mr. Burke like that when he’s in the office. He might fire you.”
“So he’s here. Good to know.” Jed waved at them and confidently strode to the office.
Many of his coworkers gawked at him and tried to stop him from doing something stupid. But he was a man on a mission. He already made up his mind and nothing will stop him.
“Where’s the presentation report I want since yesterday, you dumb fuck?!”
Jed’s ears perked up hearing those harsh words. It was his jerk of a boss. Time to pick up his phone.
“You think you’ll get promoted to be a full-time employee with this lazy attitude of yours? Keep dreaming, bitch!” The fat, bald guy in a grey suit barked at the meek young part-timer. “If you can’t do as I said, at least, dress accordingly! Are you really a woman? I fail to see any womanly features in you, Bennett!”
The other employees were silent, couldn’t do anything lest the fire of the boss’s anger burn them instead. Jed was like that before, letting the harsh words of his boss reverberate through the office walls. However, he was different now.
“Perhaps you misunderstood, Mr. Burke. This is not a strip club, so I see no fault in how Miss Bennett dresses. In fact, she is a hard-working intern who got less pay because of you.”
The fat, bald guy in his grey suit turned to his direction with an angry red face. “What did you say?!”
“I suggest you pay a visit to check your ears, Mr. Burke.”
“Who the fuck are you to–“ Burke faltered, scrutinizing him. “Jed Hunter?”
“That’s me,” he said with a puffed up chest.
“How dare you disappeared for a week from work and come here wearing your pyjamas with fucking pink hair, acting as if nothing happened?! Do you want me to fire you?!”
“I rock this pink hair, dude! Besides,” Jed feigned an apologetic face, “I would rather resign from here than to get fired by you.”
“Resign?!” the fat, bald guy repeated, “Do you think you can do that without your two week notice?”
“Then, please fire me right here right now.”
Burke slammed his hand on the desk. “You dare to act so high in front of me, Hunter?! You can’t even finish the assignment I gave you and yet–“
“Oh, you mean your due report to the Director Manager you want me to make and forced me into overtime without any pay?”
“I’m your Division Manager! That’s not how you speak to me, Hunter!”
“Was.” Jed deadpanned. “This is my resignation letter. Or, you can just fire me, if you want. That’ll make it easier for both of us.”
“No, you don’t get to do whatever you want!”
“Neither do you.” Jed looked at his manager for the last three torturous years. “I’m done being your scapegoat and a welcome mat you can stomp with your dirty feet.”
As he said that, Jed lifted his phone to eye level. It was recording the whole time Jed approached Burke. He saved the video and sent it to the company’s employee mail, exposing what happened just one floor under the CEO’s.
Realising what had just happened, Burke was blind with rage. He lounged for Jed, trying to lay a single measly punch at the face.
[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]
“Huh?”
The weak punch came, only three inches away from his nose. Somehow, he could see it clearly, like a slow motion through his focused eyes. Jed blinked and dodged to the side.
Burke stumbled forward. Jed used that fleeting moment to trip his jerky manager’s feet. The plump, bald man couldn’t evade and ended up flailing on the floor in his hands and knees, with humiliation and anger overtaking him. “Hunter!”
A smirk played on Jed’s face. He never thought he’d see this scene with his own eyes.
[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]
And the floating panel warned him again. Its blue and white interface overlaps with Burke’s distorted ugly face.
[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]
Screeeeech!
“Aaaaargh!”
“Alien!”
“There’s monsters here!”
“God! My leg!”
“N-no! Don’t–“
“Someone please help!”
“Argh! It hurts!”
“Please no!”
“Help!”
“Call the Force!”
“Someone call the force please!”
Jed’s eyes widened as alien monsters came seemingly out of nowhere. There were many of them. They were small, head barely reaching the office’s desk top, yet they were ferocious. With sharp fangs and long claws from its six legs, the little monsters crawled from one corner to the others, attacking his coworkers with ease.
Trying not to panic, Jed ducked down under the desk and looked at his surroundings. Blood everywhere. He had to do something.
[Extraterrestrial core detected.]
The white and blue panel appeared again only for his eyes to see. Jed wondered if it would ask him to eat the disgusting alien core again.
[Extraterrestrial core detected.]
[Extraterrestrial core detected.]
[Extraterrestrial core detected.]
The words were repeated, while his coworkers scattered to save themselves. Clearly, Jed saw the stark red core through the clawed little monsters, as if he had a special x-ray vision.
He had to do something.
Gritting his teeth, Jed spotted a cutter fall to the floor near him. He reached it, gripping it tight. The little monsters dashed here and there, yet Jed could follow their movement with apparent ease.
Taking a deep breath, Jed slid the cutter’s sharp edge out and threw it to one of the monsters.
Screech!
The cutter landed on its mark, rendering the small alien to bleed murky green liquid from its wound. However, since the core remained untouched, it still moved and started to regenerate slowly.
Clicking his tongue in distaste, Jed looked for a sharp object and found a pen near him. He aimed for the core, hoping it’d reach the core with one single hit.
Screech!
He did it.
The little monster’s core was stabbed and in three seconds, it stopped moving altogether.
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
Jed ignored it and continued his hunt. He searched for another sharp object and used it as a projectile to kill the alien monsters.
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
The messages repeated again and again, until he killed the last little monster and the EADF’s small platoon arrived at his floor.
“All clear!” one of the soldiers said to his communication device, pointing the Force’s standard anti-alien riffle at the dead target. Then, his eyes moved to inspect the people trapped inside. “Anyone hurt?”
Knowing that he could rest easy now, Jed sighed a relief and slumped against the office’s wall. He didn’t think his last day at the office would become like this. Thankfully, the alien monsters were small in size, unlike the giant one attacking the city’s west side three weeks ago.
“Are you okay, sir?” A soldier came to Jed with his mask off.
Every soldier must wear the standard protective mask to prevent an unknown airborne negative effect from the alien they were against. It also had a built-in device for easier communication with the control room and the others. Besides the logical reason, it also made the soldiers look badass.
Nodding, Jed grinned. “It was easy peasy.”
Somehow, the soldier who asked him looked familiar.
“Mr. Hunter?”
“Ah, you’re the man who wore eyeglasses yesterday, right?”
The soldier rubbed his neck, “Yes, that’s me. I wore contact lenses while fighting.”
“You look so different!”
“So are you.” He meant the hair Jed dyed bright pink. “You rock it.”
“Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name yesterday.”
“Because I don’t introduce myself. My name is Benjamin Smith.”
“Thanks for coming to help us.”
Benjamin directed his gaze to their surroundings. “Is this what you're doing?”
Shrugging, Jed grinned again. “I guess you can say that. They were so weak compared to the giant frog in the selection exam.”
“Is that so? You have good accuracy. It’d be a waste to not join the Force with that talent.”
Jed felt Benjamin’s odd stare, but he tried to brush it off. “Ah…”
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
They parted ways a little awkwardly. Jed didn’t really want to risk his life to join the Force when he had other things he always wanted to do. Maybe he’d start hunting for real cigarettes at the borders. The travel and accommodation expense wouldn’t be cheap, but he got that covered from his saving money.
But –
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
The notification refused to disappear.
[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]
Jed sighed, grumbling with a pout by himself.
[Failure to use Ultimate Skill – Devour for the next 72 hours will result in punishment.]
“Punishment? What can a hallucination even do?”
Jed said, without knowing the nightmare that will happen in three days.
.
.
.
Bucket list of things I want to do before I die:
1. Eat chocolate ice cream
2. Kiss a girl
3. Resign from work and tell my jerk of a boss off X
4. Dye my hair pink X
...
…
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Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 5. Public Punishment
“Hmm?” Jed looked at his reflection through the mirror. It had been three days since he resigned from the office and small alien monsters attacked out of nowhere. It also had been three days since his strange hallucination said he’d receive a punishment. [Warning.] [You have failed to use Ultimate Skill – Devour.] [You will be punished.] “Talk about time,” Jed snickered, wondering what would happen now. [Punishment: Public humiliation witnessed by ten people.] “Public humiliation? Nah, that’s not my cup of tea.” Jed walked out of his sparkling clean bathroom. “Let’s see, what shall I do for today?” He moved to his desk, where he wrote the bucket list in his notebook. For the last three days, he had added more things he wanted to do, and crossed off some of them. ‘9. Get a pet 10. Wear the EADF's cool combat suit X 11. Smoke a real cigarette 12. Watch a life football match 13. Sky-diving 14. Clean my apartment 15. Play video games all day 16. Shop witho
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 6. The Freak and the Mute
Jed arrived at the Earth Allied Defense Force’s Emmiton Province Base minutes after the appointment ceremony was held.“Dude! You’re late! I thought you didn’t make it!”A blond man with one mole under his left eye approached with a cheerful face. They bumped fists, and Jed instantly remembered who this person was.“Ricky Mitchell, nice to see you again.”“Are you okay? I heard you stayed in the hospital for a week? I’m so sorry about that. It was my fault. If not because of me, you wouldn’t get eaten by the monster–““It’s fine, Ricky.”“Are you sure?” Ricky shifted on his feet uncomfortably, “Because if not, I’ll give you half two thirds of my monthly payment to make up for the horror and injury you suffered for the rest of my life.”“That’s just too much.”“I agree.”Jed faltered at Ricky’s shamelessness.“I mean,” Ricky rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “I have five younger siblings who live below my minimum wage working in the Monster Disposal Unit. I just, ugh, I
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 7. Monster Disposal Unit Heist
“What do you mean you’d piss and shit yourself in public if you don’t eat an alien core now?”Jed never thought he’d tell anyone about this traumatising and humiliating nightmare even for once. Let alone only one day after the merciless punishment happened.Sighing in disbelief himself, Jed grunted, “It is exactly what it sounds like. What more do you need me to explain?”“Dude? Like, seriously? Everything!” Ricky crossed his arms. “Of course you need to explain everything. Are you even aware of the words coming out of your mouth?”“… yes?”“You must be joking!”“I know it sounds crazy–““Now you get it!”“–but the punishment for failing to do that already traumatised me. I can’t go through that the second time.”Ricky looked at him as if he grew a second head. “What do you mean by the second time?”“Do you really need me to explain that?”“I want to see it.”“Dude!”“Sorry!” Ricky turned away and held his stomach, shoulders visibly shaking. “…”“Please stop laughing at me.”Ricky did
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 8. Ultimate Skill – Devour!
“Hands up or I’ll shoot you.” Jed felt the muzzle of a gun was pressed against the back of his head. He froze on the spot and did as told. “Who are you?” The female voice was achingly familiar, but Jed couldn’t place a name nor a face on it. “This is no place for a cleaning service. I’ll give you one last chance to tell me your name.” Jed gulped at the threat. “My name’s Phillip Youngs and I’m here to clean. If you don’t believe me, then why did my key card work to get me here?” “I’m sorry for my rudeness.” The gun’s muzzle was no longer against his head, but Jed had this urge to duck right about now– “Oh? You can dodge well for a cleaning guy.” Jed cursed as he crouched to avoid the girl’s attack. However, when he turned around and looked up, he didn’t expect to find Ellie Hawkins to stare at him with murder in her eyes. “Why are you attacking me?” “Because you’re a fraud.” “N-no, I’m not. I told you, my name is Phillip–“ “Youngs is dead.” Ellie started with an emotionless t
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 9. Zero Gravity Dive
This was school. Every day, every hour of classes.Basic combat and advanced weapon training. Alien biology and technology. Tactics and strategies. Survival Skills. Communication and Coordination. Psychology. Standard Medical Training. Intelligence Analysis.Many things to learn.Jed worked as hard as anyone. All of them struggled for the first time in their lives. They better struggled here than against an alien monster.But the games – that was when the fun began.The Captainof the 9th Division, Henry Reed, introduced them to the game room in their second month. The arena was located in the northeast building of the base, far from where they lived. They walked to where the biggest diving pool Jed ever saw was built, about half of a football field. The floor was clear thick glass, so they could see what lay beneath the water.Jed was shaking with excitement. One more list he’d crossed off in his bucket list.“Let’s get you dressed first,” Captain Reed said, climbing down the stairs on
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 10. Let Game Begins
Jed placed his feet on an uneven object as big as his previous office desk and pushed himself away. The impact made him dashed towards a red prism near the diving pool’s side.He didn’t know left or right, nor where up and down was. Before the game started, the way up was clear because the water was lighter due to the clear glass. However, once the game began on Captain Reed’s command, the clear glass was closed by a lid and everything became darker.The zero gravity environment in the diving pool also made everything feel the same. There was no pull towards the earth’s core, so one could easily forget where the way up was while being here.Nearing the red prism, Jed stretched his hands in front of him, bracing the impact to not make him face-plant against the hard object again. He saw one of the white cubes containing a gun headed there, so he’d get–“Not so fast, Jerky Jed!”Ryan Tanner appeared from behind the red prism and snatched the white cube away. It opened with a touch, show
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 11. The Last One Standing
00:03:23That was the time left before Captain Reed stopped the game. Jed only had less than four minutes to hide as best as he could and arm himself with a Lightlock.He had fallen into Ricky’s trap like a fool. He underestimated the blond and unknowingly mocking him like their other teammates, that he didn’t consider any other possibility. When Ricky pulled that Lightlock out of nowhere and shot him dead in the chest, he felt so betrayed like an idiot. However, he felt relieved because it’d be a fair fight.00:02:07Time was ticking down and Jed’s win slowly seemed so unreal. Ducking behind a yellow prism, he hid from the living menace who strolled around like a predator.“Where are you, little fish snack?” Ryan looked around while singing a tune. “Come here, come here, Jerky Jed.”That was the second time Ryan Tanner called him that. Now, Jed wondered why he was a jerk here. As long as he re
Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System 12. The Holy Search for A Chocolate Ice Cream
Jed never imagined that his hunt for a chocolate ice cream would lead him through the throng of people dancing in waste in a nightclub called Goddess’ Virtue. But here he was, spending his first off-day from the Force to cross one of his bucket lists.He heard a rumour in the dining hall about Smokey, the night club’s owner who trades on the black market. It was the only place he could think of concerning the rare chocolate ice cream that stopped being produced when the last factory was destroyed about three decades ago. Even though he knew the method to make it himself, to get cocoa as the main ingredient would be impossible.Alien monsters attacking one place after another in random outbursts caused the supply chain around the world to be restricted. Besides, the government and leading figures often disregard anything else besides eradicating the remaining alien monsters on Earth and strengthening the military force in preparation for another invasion in
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53. Unknown Potential
Ricky groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. The dim lighting of the infirmary comes into blurry focus. His body ached, a dull reminder of the events he vaguely remembered from the previous day.He sat up, wincing, and looked around the room. Several of his younger siblings were there, along with a few base personnel, all of whom seemed to be grinning at him.“Hey, sleeping beauty,” his brother Michael said, smirking, “Decided to join us again?”Ricky rubbed his eyes, confusion etched across his face. “What… what happened?”“You don’t remember?” his sister, Lily, asked, her eyes wide with excitement. “Your teammate said you took down two flying aliens. By yourself.”Rikcy blinked, his heart skipping a beat. “What? No, that can’t be right. I don’t even remember half of yesterday's attack.”“Believe it, bro,” Michael said, crossin
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52. The Sniper’s Prey
“…what the hell?”As he was busy trying to figure out the control panels, Jed almost missed the moment the humanoid alien and his Draquilonis were blasted from behind. Precisely, from the ground where the base was located behind the spaceship.Like lightning, the sniper took down the humanoid alien in one shot. Something Jed dreamed he was capable of doing, sadly, he couldn’t.Seeing as the humanoid alien was killed, he thought it was safe to land the spaceship now. The large viewport in front of him showed more city lights below. He had to turn the ship towards the west, where a desolated rocky plain with no building or civilian housing was located. Nothing was there, making it a safe place to land.Jed gritted his teeth as he pulled on the controller bracelets. The spaceship thrusters roared against the planet’s gravity as he tried to redirect the ship.However, he heard a sharp crack echoed through the alien spaces
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51. Alien Spaceship
[Active Skill – Molten Pierce]Jed grinned as he activated his skill.Molten Pierce took less than a second to form in his right hand. The jagged material of his Threxian Exosuit morphed into a drill with a fiery orange edge. He punched the alien’s chest with it, enhanced by a penetrating force that sent the alien through the metallic airlock.The slender humanoid alien was thrown out of the spaceship, but Jed was sure it’d still be alive. Moreover, with one Dracuilonis flew past the broken airlock to save its master. At least, this gave them enough time to do something about the nuclear bomb aboard in this ship.“Max–“Jed stopped himself, realising that he called the captain’s name. But, Max ignored him as he was busy trying to speak through his earpiece and connect to the base. “Control room, can you hear me?”He doubted it would work. The last thing Jed heard was that craz
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50. Dual Blades and Warhammer
Jed’s dual swords, Noxblades, glinted under the flickering lights of the narrow corridor. His breath came in measured intervals, each one syncing with the hum of the ship’s bio-engines. Standing across, a slender humanoid alien mirrored his stance, its own dual blades that came from its long limbs shimmering with an eerie, otherworldly glow. With a sudden movement, both of them lunged. Blades clashed against blades, sparks flying as they exchanged rapid, fluid strikes. Jed’s muscles burned as he parried and struck, his eyes locked onto the alien’s unblinking human-like gaze. The alien’s movements were almost dance-like, its agility matching Jed’s Hyperreflexia, a passive skill that granted him superhuman reaction times for dodging and countering attacks swiftly. Not stopping, Jed recalled the skills that came with these dual blades. ‘Crosscut!’[Active Skill – Crosscut][CD: 59 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -500]As if his arms were moving on their own, Jed gave a crisscrossing attack
- Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System
49. Stealth and Speed, He Said
Jed managed to find a small opening to the alien spaceship and cautiously stepped through the airlock.The spaceship was a massive, imposing vessel with an eerie otherworldly design. Its walls were composed of a dark, metallic material that seems to absorb light rather than reflect it. The corridor was lined with sharp, angular edges and adorned with pulsating crimson energy conduits that gave off a dim, menacing glow.The air was thick with mechanical hum, and the occasional flicker of blue and purple energy fields added to the foreboding atmosphere. It seemed that everything here felt almost organic in nature.“Alright, my awesome self, just stick to the plan.” Jed muttered to himself. “Find Max, get out. It’s all about stealth and speed. You got this.”He had less than five minutes to do that. Awesome, he said.Jed moved forward, his Sky Dominator boots didn’t make any echo as he thread inside, thanks to his n
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48. Sky Dominator
[Item – Frogsbane Coil was drawn.]Jed swung the dull pink whip, snapping his wrist to make the end curl around the tailless manta ray reptile. It screeched in anger, but Jed didn’t let go. He gave a thug on his Frogsbane Coil, making him and the manta ray reptile to jerk each other.He managed to get on its back despite the flying monster’s useless roar of shockwave and struggles. Once he got a good grip on the manta ray reptile, Jed drew his right arm and shot it quickly to its thin back.The flying monster roared and roared in pain, but Jed didn’t let go. He curled his fingers on the small core located in the middle of its chest and wrenched it out. The manta ray reptile gave a final roar and its struggle ended. It dropped dead from the sky, along with Jed who couldn’t stop grinning.“Well, there’s no better time to eat a snack than now, hmm?”And so he did.[Ultimate Skill – Devour was activated.]“Damn right!” Jed laughed as he was free falling from the sky. “I better get the bes
- Bucket List of the Apocalypse: Devour System
47. Headshot
“Do you think this is enough to defeat me?”The slender monster said as its cracked face reconstructed in a matter of seconds. Its twig-like hand reached out for Jed, the four fingers spread right in front of Jed’s face. From its narrow palm, a crack formed and opened, showing a small hole.Jed barely had time to react before the slender monster shot him dead in the head.[Active Skill – Fungal Shield][CD: 59 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -100]Bang!Agony exploded through his head, and he fell to the ground and screamed in pain. His vision went dark, and for a moment, he was sure he was dead.[Alert!][Alert!][Alert!][HP: 7/100]Through the haze of pain, Jed desperately tried to call for a skill in his repertoire.[Active Skill – Regenerative Spores][CD: 359 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -400]Miniscule spores were released from the small gaps
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46. Shadow Cloak
The air brushed fiercely all around Jed’s body as he tried to make sense of the monster’s strength. He had to do something before it greeted him in the sky and kicked him down to the earth.“Shadow Cloak!”[Item – Shadow Cloak was drawn.][You may activate its invisible feature at will.][However, attack initiation will deactivate its feature immediately.]A dark cloak shrouded around Jed’s body, and he disappeared into thin air.Invisible.“So I was right.” The semi-translucent humanoid monster remarked. Its slender face looked like a piece of chopped wood with a pair of slanted eyes and wide mouth, looking around it in wonder. “You absorb creatures to get their strength too. Just like me. I wonder if you can fly, too.”Jed couldn’t. It’d be cool if he could, though.The semi-translucent monster looked up at the sky, couldn’t
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45. Curious Monster
[Ultimate Skill – Devour was activated.]Boooom![You have devoured Velociphron.]Something fell from the sky. A tall humanoid figure with an ominous presence that sent Jed reeling.[You received rewards as follows.]He ignored the blue and white panel that only he could see. It told him the rewards he got from devouring the humanoid monster just now. How could he, when a more menacing creature dropped from the sky, like a bad omen for a curse after he ate another alien core.Jed cautiously observed the new alien.It stood taller than Velociphron, with a semi-translucent, shimmering skin that shifted colours every few seconds. It had elongated limbs and fluid movement, like a walking serpent as colourful as a disco ball.“What are you?” It asked curiously, staring at Jed with unblinking six eyes on its face.When he locked eyes with the colourful slender creature, he felt an eeri
