Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

The next morning, Axel stood shirtless, his lean, angular muscles glistening with sweat. His breathing was steady, and if someone were watching, they might have thought his entire body was pulsing in sync with each inhale and exhale.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the half-used second-level life crystal in his hand. A satisfied smirk spread across his face.

”Yeah... this is definitely worth it.”

He hadn’t wasted a single moment. Five full cycles of Force depletion and tempering in one night, and the crystal had only been drained by half.

”If I fought Orion now, even at his full strength, I could go toe-to-toe with him.”

The confidence surged through him. He was stronger, faster, sharper than before. Part of him wanted to check his current stats, but there was no time—Vince and the others were on their way. The selection trials were closing in fast.

Axel quickly showered and cleaned up, but as soon as he stepped out, he heard Kaia and Millers arguing outside.

”Millers, you’re fucking disgusting! You stayed out all night and expect me to believe you just went out for a drink?” Kaia’s voice was sharp, cutting through the morning air.

”I swear to God, I only had a few drinks!” Millers protested. ”If I’m lying, Axel will go impotent. If you don’t believe me, ask him!”

Inside the room, Axel, who was casually making coffee, froze mid-pour. His expression darkened.

The fuck did I do to deserve this? Swear all you want, but don’t fucking bet on my dick.

......

After the morning drama, the group gathered in a circle. The atmosphere was tense but focused.

”I’m sure everyone’s seen Axel’s information by now,” Vince began. ”The only thing left is his awakening skill—which he hasn’t shown us yet.”

His gaze locked onto Axel.

”Axel, demonstrate your skill. We need to fully assess your strength to determine how much danger you’ll be in during the selection.”

Axel had expected this. From the beginning, he knew there was no way he could keep up the lie that his awakening skill was Undead Guide.

So, he had prepared for this moment.

”Mr. Vince,” Axel said calmly, ”I recently discovered that my awakening skill isn’t Undead Guide. It’s something else…”

He let the words hang for a moment before dropping the bombshell.

”All Things Simulation.”

The room fell silent. Everyone stared at him, confusion evident on their faces. They had encountered all kinds of awakeners before, seen some of the strangest abilities, but they had never heard of All Things Simulation.

Axel had anticipated this reaction. ”Yeah,” he nodded. ”I thought the same thing at first. So I did some digging.”

He grabbed Vince’s laptop, quickly pulling up a webpage. An old document from 2029 popped up. For everyone in the room, that was before they were even born. They read the details in silence.

Back in 2029, awakeners weren’t classified the way they were today. Anyone with an awakening was thrown into battle, regardless of whether their skills were meant for combat or not. That was when a man named Victor awakened All Things Simulation.

At first, his ability seemed weak as hell—he could only mimic low-level awakening skills. Because of that, nobody took him seriously, and he ended up in a third-rate war academy.

For years, he lived in mediocrity. Then, everything changed.

A beast tide attacked his city. The local defense army was crumbling, retreating, ready to abandon the civilians.

Victor stood up. With just a third-level awakening, he helped the defense army turn the tide, leading a desperate counterattack that saved tens of thousands of lives.

The military took notice. A deeper investigation revealed his true ability—as long as he studied an awakener closely enough, he could simulate their awakening skill. During his academy years, he had observed and trained under various mentors, unknowingly copying their abilities.

At that time, true combat monsters were rare—most of the highly talented awakeners were support-type or life-system users. But Victor kept adapting, learning, growing, and finally became a military powerhouse.

A sixth-level awakener, holding a high-ranking position, and one of humanity’s greatest assets. Until he disappeared. During a sniper operation against another beast tide, Victor vanished.

That was over thirty years ago. Today, he was just a forgotten hero—his name buried in old military records.

Over time, other awakening skills similar to All Things Simulation had started appearing, but they all had severe limitations. Most of them could only mimic specific types of skills, and powerful awakening abilities remained completely out of reach. Plus, awakeners were already rare enough—there simply weren’t enough cases recorded in books or databases.

Vince and the others finished reading, their faces unreadable. The room was silent again.

Axel leaned back and shrugged. ”So yeah,” he said casually. ”That’s the only recorded case of All Things Simulation. Pretty rare ability, huh?”

Nobody spoke for a moment. Then, finally, Vince smirked. ”Well, shit,” he said. ”That’s… interesting.”

Axel just grinned. The lie was in place. Now, he just had to play the part.

Vince folded his arms. “Then show us.” They were curious as hell.

Axel took a deep breath. He had already prepared for this moment, and now it was time to sell the act.

“First—Recharge.” He turned to Vince and activated the skill. A warm energy flowed through Vince’s body, his skin flushing slightly, his fatigue vanishing in an instant.

Vince blinked. “Well, damn. That felt... nice.”

“Second—Healing.” Axel took out a knife and sliced a shallow cut on his finger. A small trickle of blood seeped out. Before anyone could react, he activated Healing. The bleeding stopped instantly, the wound sealing itself up completely—not even a faint scar remained.

The room fell dead silent. Then—

“Holy shit.” Millers was the first to break the silence, his voice full of disbelief. Even though the others didn’t say anything, they were just as stunned.

Most awakeners had one type of ability, and their skill could only evolve within that category. For example, Vince’s ability—Physical Advancement—allowed him to enhance objects. His rapier, just a standard Whisper Syndicate weapon, became sharper, more durable, and deadlier when he activated his skill.

At lower levels, he could only slightly reinforce an item’s durability. As his strength increased, so did the effects—but the skill never changed its core function.

Awakeners did not jump between categories. But Axel? He just displayed two completely different abilities—Recharge, which boosted energy, and Healing, which restored injuries.

One was combat-focused. The other was to be a doctor.

This shouldn’t be possible.

As the team absorbed what they had just seen, Millers muttered under his breath: “Damn… if you use Recharge in bed…”

The words barely left his mouth before he froze. Two death stares—from Rosaline and Kaia—locked onto him.

He instantly sat up straight, clearing his throat. “…I mean, in battle! Yeah! It’d be great for battle! The team’s stamina would improve significantly!”

The room’s tension relaxed slightly. Ignoring Millers’s nonsense, the others focused back on Axel. But this time, their expressions had changed. Until now, their team had no dedicated support awakener.

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