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2024-10-29 19:42:56Leo stood there frozen unable to believe his own eyes. His girlfriend was cheating on him with his boss.
Katie, catching sight of Leo, gasped in shock. “You...what are you doing here?”
Ethan, moved away from the two and leaned casually on the elevator wall, folding his arm with a sly grin on his face.
Leo struggled to find words amid the whirlwind of emotions crashing over him.
“You--why--whats was going on here?” Leo sputtered his voice quivering from the shock. It was as if his whole world had been turned upside down.
Katie had a guilty look on her face but she quickly brushed it off and looked right at Leo with confidence. All trace of shame on her expression was gone.
“"That's right, Leo. I cheated on you. I was only with you because I thought you had potential, that you'd achieve greatness. But you've disappointed me. Reduced to a mere coffee boy, you're nothing but an embarrassment.”
Each word Katie uttered was like a dagger through Leo's heart. It was the excrutiating pain he had ever felt. No amount of mistreatment or harsh insult he face had hurt this much.
Leo had attempted to conceal the extent of his mistreatment from Katie. He had thought since Katie worked on the top floor and him on the 13th, he would keep her in the dark about his plight. He had hoped she wouldn't discover the truth until he had a chance to change his circumstances, but she ended up finding out.
Leo gaze then turned Ethan and he saw him grinning. He frowned figuring out that Ethan must have been the one behind his secret been revealed.
Ethan then affirm with a nod as if reading Leo's mind.
He had seen Leo and Katie on a dinner date wearing a couple t-shirt, and felt resentment.
He couldn't understand why a beauty like Katie would date a poor useless bum like Leo.
Then he thought she must'nt have known Leo had been reduced a slave. So Ethan made a decision to expose him.
Ethan had called her to the 13th floor and there she saw Leo mopping a coffee spill while his manager berated him.
In a hurry to clean up the mess, he tripped and he fell to the ground. Causing the whole office to erupt into laughter.
Katie covered her face in embarrassment, she couldn't believe she was dating such a loser. Leo hadn't even told her he had gotten demoted and wasn't the manager anymore.
Ethan seized the opportunity and asked her if she knew Leo. Katie denied it and Ethan proceed to woo her, offering her riches and luxury. Katie couldn't resist, seeing a chance to ascend the social ladder by dating the owner of the company.
She accepted Ethan's advances and had been waiting for the right moment to break up with Leo. That's why she had invited him to lunch.
Ethan had called her earlier to give her a gift and offered to treat her to an expensive meal. She had immediately decided her meal with Lei would have to be postponed.
On their way down the elevator stopped on the 13th floor, and as soon as the doors opened, Ethan suddenly started kissing her.
Katie knew Ethan had done it on purpose because he knew she had a thing with Leo, but she didn't care.
The luxurious bag Ethan had just gotten for her was a dozen times the entire money Leo had ever given to her.
“I'm breaking up with you Leo. I don't want to date a loser who can't even take care of me. I need to survive as well and you look like you're barely hanging,” Katie coldly said.
Leo couldn't deny the truth in her words, but the fact that she was cheating on him with the very person responsible for his suffering was a bitter pill to swallow.
"I know I'm lacking," Leo admitted, "and I can't provide for you like he can. But you should've broken up with me before jumping into his arms."
“Of all people why him?” Leo said pointing at Ethan.
“Hey, watch where you point those hand. I think you've forgotten your place you bastard.” Ethan chimed in with a threatening look.
Leo refused to be intimidated.
This was his breaking point. Things were never going to get easier, things would never get better.
“Why would you date this bastard of all people!” Leo yelled unable to control his anger but Katie slapped him hard on the cheeks.
“How dare you, talk to him like that!” Katie exclaimed.
Leo chunk stung with pain and he felt humiliated.
“Fine let's breakup. It seems I was so blinded by my feelings for you. I didn't see you were just a shallow oppurtunist." Leo spat unable to control his anger.
His insulted earned him a kick to his stomach from Ethan, and he crumpled to the ground clutching his stomach in agony.
“You son of a bitch. How dare you talk to my woman that way. You're worth nothing and you don't mean anything to her anymore. So know your place.”
Leo groaned feeling shitty that he said such awful words. He knew he couldn't work here anymore that for sure.
He couldn't live like this any longer, one where he'd lose all his dignity, so Leo made his choice.
“Hey Ethan. Do you know the most painful thing you can do to a man?" Leo asked standing up with a wicked grin on his face.
Ethan frowned wondering if Leo had gone insane, but then Leo suddenly moved, delivering a well aimed kick to Ethan groin.
Ethan yelp with a pained grunt as he collapse to the ground. His expression turning into a ugly visage of pain as he placed both hands on his crotch.
Katie was shocked by Leo's audacity, and rushed to Ethan's side, cradling him as he groaned in pain.
“Leo have you mad. How dare you hurt him.”
Leo ignored her, he felt liberated. He flung off his glasses and loosened his tie, taking heavy breath. He could finally breath.
Katie looked at Leo like he was a different person. She didn't think he was someone capable of hitting someone.
“You...you'll pay for this. I'll make sure you pay." Ethan managed to say but he was still in obvious pain.
Leo didn't reply and left with a snort. He didn't care what would happen. Worst case scenario he gets thrown in jail for assault. At least that would spare him from the loan shark.
As he walked towards the exit he ran into the manager, who seemed surprised to see him
“You where are you going here ? Don't you have work to do.”
“Work? what work. I quit just a few minutes ago."
Mr Thompson blinked in disbelief.
“Is this a joke.”
“Do I look like I'm joking?"
Leo said and walked past him but then a voice causes him to paused.
It was that of Ethan yelling for security to catch him
Leo look back and saw a pair of burly men hurry toward him.
He clicked his teeth in frustration and turned to run, but then, a text suddenly appeared in his field vision, startling him.
[Initiating connection to the new world: Earth...]
[Connection successful]
[Integrating System]
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“What is this?”Leo asked, staring at the words written on the screen in front of him, but since security were chasing after him, he ignored the message and ran. As he raced towards the exit, Leo saw everyone was staring into the air with amusement. Leo stopped and looked back to see the security men had stopped chasing him as well. Leo's gaze then fell to the words hovering in front of him, he realized he wasn't the only one seeing the strange words, but everyone else.The words then changed with a mechanical ding and the message read.[System Integration will begin soon. Those who survive will become denizens of the new world, and those who fail will become abominations. Brace Yourself]“Brace yourself?” Leo repeated, confused, but then he felt a sharp pain sear through his head. He winced and clutched his temples, shutting his eyes as he endured the torment, but then the pain slowly dissipated and Leo felt relief.Leo cautiously opened his eyes, wondering what was really going
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Favored By The System Chapter 7: Effects
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The whole battlefield erupted with a powerful explosion consuming both cockatrices and goblins alike. Leo covered his ears so he wouldn't get deaf from the earplitting sounds.With his eyes shut, he grinned heartily enjoying the sounds of system notification ringing in his head.As soon as all his bombs had finished exploding, Leo opened his eyes to see the damage he had caused. His mouth shot open, the whole place was like a scene from hell, trees on the ground, leaves caught on fire, body parts of goblins and cockatrices everywhere.The explosion had killed about 80% of the monster below and the remaining were far too injured to be a threat. He turned towards, the cockatrice boss and goblin, and saw they were still alive. But they were still fighting with each other despite the chaos.He noticed the Cockatrice was stealing glances in his direction while defending the attacks from the goblin. Leo figured the cockatrice boss knew he was the source of the explosion but couldn't do a
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Leo activated his ability, and the stones exploded, swallowing the cockatrice. The creature didn't even get the chance to scream as the explosion consumed it, causing instant death. Leo watched the charred body of the cockatrice fall to the ground and wiped the sweat off his forehead, falling to the ground. The battle had taken a lot out of him, and the debuff he had received from the cockatrice's last attack had made him even weaker. He read the notification flashing in front of him:[You have defeated the cockatrice sub-boss][Level up][Level up][Level up][You have been rewarded with 15 power points, Power Stone (S), and a new skill [Sonic Blast]][Apocalypse Baby taking effect...][Reward has been doubled] “Yes,” Leo exclaimed, balling both fists. He had taken advantage of the battle between the two different creatures and had reaped bountiful rewards. From leveling up, which netted him power points, to power stones, coins, weapons, and even a new skill, Leo was eager to check
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Chapter 11: Leo vs Chicken 3
Leo's hand stung from the force of the slap delivered to the cockatrice’s beak. He flexed his fingers, wincing slightly. Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have done that. The creature, with its head turned by the impact, slowly redirected its gaze toward Leo, disbelief etched on its avian features. How dare this human, this mere Rank-E, lay a hand on the mighty cockatrice boss?"YOU...""Shut it!" Leo interrupted, raising his arm. “Just come over here, and let's get this over with. I don't want to waste too much time; I've got a lot of your kind to kill.”The Cockatrice boss, initially taken aback, now seethed with rage. Leo's audacity baffled him. Despite the peculiar strength of Leo's aura, inferior to his own, the human spoke as if he were the apex predator. The Cockatrice boss then gritted its teeth and charged toward Leo, hate burning in its eyes.Leo, nonchalant, plucked a couple of stones from his inventory and tossed them toward the oncoming creature. “Here, have some stones.”The Cock
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The whole battlefield erupted with a powerful explosion consuming both cockatrices and goblins alike. Leo covered his ears so he wouldn't get deaf from the earplitting sounds.With his eyes shut, he grinned heartily enjoying the sounds of system notification ringing in his head.As soon as all his bombs had finished exploding, Leo opened his eyes to see the damage he had caused. His mouth shot open, the whole place was like a scene from hell, trees on the ground, leaves caught on fire, body parts of goblins and cockatrices everywhere.The explosion had killed about 80% of the monster below and the remaining were far too injured to be a threat. He turned towards, the cockatrice boss and goblin, and saw they were still alive. But they were still fighting with each other despite the chaos.He noticed the Cockatrice was stealing glances in his direction while defending the attacks from the goblin. Leo figured the cockatrice boss knew he was the source of the explosion but couldn't do a
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Chapter 9: Goblins vs. Chicken
“Goblin find chicken, chicken far over there, many chicken big and a big one but dangerous.” “Even the scout can talk!” Leo uttered in surprise and held his temples. The absurdity of it all left him dumbfounded. He wondered if it was because the goblins were being human like in some ways, was why they were capable of speech compared to the cockatrice. Suddenly, the boss goblin rose sharply to his feet, its demeanor more serious.“Today we hunt down chicken. And when we kill them and after, we have a feast!” he declared, his words met with enthusiastic cheers from his troops.“You lead the way.” The goblin boss commanded the scout and took its weapon. A crude oversized axe that fits its strength. The scout goblin navigated, and the boss followed, leading the packs towards the cockatrice.Leo decided to flee before he got spotted. The goblins were going to war with the cockatrice, but from the fight he saw earlier, he knew the goblins didn't stand much of a chance. Leo wasn't conce
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Chapter 8: Speech
[Goblin Troop: Rank D] The goblin were dressed in tattered rags, clutching wooden club with trembling arms, only a single one holding a crude dagger. They had fearful expression on their faces as they glance back over their shoulder. In a few seconds Leo found out what it was that was chasing them. A scorpion like tail shot out from the shrub impaling the slowest goblin in the group. The creature effortlessly lifted the lifeless corpse and hurled it towards its companions ahead, causing them to tumble to the forest floor in disarray. The cockatrice stepped out, and close the distance with the goblin. The green creatures stood and grip their weapons with trembling hands, showing their backs was suicide, they had no other option but to fight. Leo watching the show, took out a piece of meat from his inventory and began to eat. It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment. The goblins, driven by a primal instinct to survive, let out a collective battle cry and lunged at t
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Chapter 7: Effects
Leo's anticipation bubbled as he clutched the upgrade stone in his hand. He couldn't wait to find out it's effect, so he hurriedly used it.He had expected it to stone crack like the power stone, but instead, a simple notification materialized before him.[Would you like to use the stone on Exploding Touch?]“Hmm...Yes,” Leo mumbled awkwardly, embarrassed he had tried to break it. As if responding to his consent, the upgrade stone in his hand disintegrated into a radiant burst of light.[Exploding Touch is now upgrading][Upgrade Successful][Exploding Touch is now Rank D]Leo didn't check it's effect though, he swiftly took out the second upgrade stone and used it as well.[Exploding Touch is now Rank C]Once it was done, Leo then scrolled down to his ability section to see what kind of effect his ability got for jumping two ranks.Not surprising the changes were remarkable. The countdown had been reduced to 20 seconds and the cost of mana had diminished to 3. Along with it came per
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Chapter 6: Upgrade Stone
Leo figured it only seemed hard because he was still a low-level player, once he levelled up, killing so many cockatrices wouldn't be that big of a deal.And with his special title, Leo would eventually reach a point where he would get enough coins to go on a shopping spree.Leo also believed a stronger monsters would definitely drop more coins, so if he wanted to enjoy the comfort of the system, he had to power up quick.“Guess oracle saying the strong will rule wasn't wrong.” Leo mutteredFor now, the cheapest thing in the system shop was a bottle of water which costs ten coins, the total number of coins Leo had.He was thirsty, after eating the meat, so he decided to buy it instead. As soon as Leo ten coins disappeared, a bottle of water appeared in his inventory. Leo took it out, and examined it. It looked like your regular bottle of water from earth, with ‘Tutorial Water’ written on the paper around it as the name of the company.Leo then uncorked the bottle and downed the wate
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Chapter 5: Shop
As soon as the cockatrice felt Leo touch it's neck, it wriggled with even more intensity and finally yank it's beak free.It turned hatefully towards Leo who had hit the dash. The bird feeling wronged, screeched loudly and immediately gave chase.The bird took powerful stride it's feet kicking up dust. Leo wasnt that fast and with it's pace it was going to catch up quick.Leo had never ran so fast in his entire life. The sounds of the cockraice approaching was a good motivation.He just needed thirty seconds. Thirty seconds and his ability would take effect.Leo could hear the bird even closer now, despite the headstart the bird was slowly catching upHe was panting wildly and his chest was burning in exhaustion, but he kept pushing“You stop you die” he yelled to motivate himself, but he couldn't keep running at top speed for long.Leo then spotted a tree at a distance and decided to run towards it. The cockraice followed kicking up the gear, it beak on the verge of clamping down on
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Chapter 4: Cockatrice
A young man on appeared in a green and lush forest. He was dressed in a white shirt with a black tie and black pants, a stark contrast to his surrounding.He looked around at his surroundings with curiosity and muttered in awe. “So this is the tutorial.”This young man was Leo. The tutorial was a far cry from the hellish landscape he imagined.He had expected dark menacing woods, with creepy noises and roars, or a cave with bones and skulls, where bats jump at you from nowhere.But, Leo found himself surrounded by a sea of vibrant green foliage. Towering trees created a dense canopy, and dappled sunlight filtered through. Nature's aroma filled the air. Unexpectedly, the ambiance was serene.Ding! [System is now available]The holographic interface notified.Finding a nearby tree, Leo settled down to explore the system and grasp its mechanics first, before he took any action.With a mere thought, Leo accessed the system, and the floating panel updated.Name: Leo Rank: ETitle: Apoca
