Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Aurelians — Training Chambers

Big Mike and Emily chose to advance by consuming crystal cores, so they didn’t remain in the training chambers for long. A little over ten minutes later, both successfully broke through to Stage SS.

With that, every member of the Fallen Star Squad except Miles had reached Stage SS.

They had all been Stage S when they entered the Eldoria Continent. In a little over ten days, the entire squad had advanced to Stage SS. Their growth had been astonishingly fast.

But only they knew how many risks they had taken to get there.

Without Ethan’s heaven-defying Riftwalk, which allowed them to travel freely through space, they wouldn’t have been able to survive on the Eldoria Continent, much less advance this quickly.

Once their breakthroughs were complete, Big Mike and Emily returned to the great hall at the center of the Aurelian settlement.

Everyone finally tore their eyes away from the dancers and looked at them.

”Well? What skills did you get?”

”Heh. Stage SS really is a major dividing line. My abilities changed a lot.” Big Mike could barely contain his excitement. ”My Innate Abilities gave me Flame Body. It lets me turn into a man of fire, doubles the damage of my fire-type abilities, and makes me immune to fire-type damage. Pretty badass, right?”

”Definitely,” Sean said with a grin. ”Does that mean water-type abilities hurt you more?”

”Uh… how did you know?”

”Wasn’t exactly hard to guess. If you turn into living fire, of course you’re going to be weak against water.”

”Fair enough.”

”What about your new Stage SS skill?”

”That one’s a little strange. It’s called Fate Roulette, and I can only use it once a day.”

”Fate Roulette?”

Everyone looked puzzled. The name alone made it sound unlike any ordinary ability.

”What does it do?”

”It lets me spin a roulette wheel and randomly gain a special ability. The result can be good or bad, temporary or permanent,” Big Mike explained quietly.

”There are bad results?”

”Yeah! What kind of bullshit is that? I’m scared to even use it. Feels like I wasted my Stage SS skill.”

”Not necessarily,” Henry said. ”Ethan told us that the stranger an ability is, the more incredible its effects can be. And with a name like Fate Roulette, it definitely isn’t a simple skill.”

”Henry’s right,” Sean agreed. ”You might’ve hit the jackpot.”

”Why not test it now? We’re not in any danger.”

”Well…” Big Mike gritted his teeth. ”Fine. Let’s try it.”

He activated Fate Roulette.

A blurry wheel appeared inside his mind, but he couldn’t make out anything written on it.

The moment it appeared, it began spinning on its own. Big Mike didn’t even get to decide when it started.

Before long, the wheel began to slow. Then it stopped without any input from him.

He was nothing more than a spectator. He couldn’t see the possible outcomes or control when the roulette started and stopped. All he could do was summon it.

Everything else was left to fate.

The instant Fate Roulette stopped, Big Mike sensed something. His expression changed, and he immediately rushed into an empty room.

”?”

Everyone watched him go in confusion.

”What just happened?”

”No idea. Why’s he acting so weird?”

Quite a while later, Big Mike emerged looking utterly devastated.

The sight immediately alarmed the others.

”Big Mike, what happened?”

”I…” Big Mike suddenly threw his arms around Sean and burst into tears. ”Sean… I’m ruined!”

”?”

”Ruined? What part of you is ruined?” Sean asked blankly.

”I-I’m not a man anymore!” Big Mike sobbed. ”I haven’t even held a girl’s hand! I’m still a virgin! I don’t want to live anymore!”

”!”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

”Wait…”

”A roulette spin can make that thing disappear?”

”It didn’t disappear. It just… won’t get hard anymore.” Big Mike wailed even louder.

”…”

”Damn, Big Mike. Our condolences.” Everyone looked at him sympathetically.

”No! I can’t live like this!” Big Mike suddenly spotted Henry and grabbed him like a drowning man clutching a lifeline. ”Henry, take a look. See if you can fix it!”

He started dragging Henry toward the empty room.

”Uh… I’ve never treated that before,” Henry said helplessly.

”Your healing is incredible. You can definitely fix it!”

”Not necessarily. Nothing’s injured, so what am I supposed to heal?”

Henry thought for a moment.

”How about we cut it off? I can try growing you a new one.”

”…”

Big Mike fell into deep contemplation before cautiously asking, ”Would the new one be the same as the old one?”

”I have no idea. I’ve seriously never treated anything like this before. But judging by my experience regenerating other body parts, it should come back the same. I doubt I could make it any bigger even if you asked.”

”As long as it doesn’t come back smaller.” Big Mike’s expression turned resolute. ”Let’s do it!”

”Wait, Big Mike,” Garrick hurriedly interrupted. ”Didn’t you say the abilities from Fate Roulette could be temporary or permanent? Maybe this is only temporary.”

”You call this an ability?!” Big Mike nearly lost it.

”Uh… your skill says you randomly gain a special ability, right? So this might technically count.” Garrick gave him an awkward look. ”Try checking your mind for more information. If it’s an ability, you should know what it does.”

Big Mike finally calmed down enough to close his eyes and examine the information in his head.

His face soon lit up with joy.

”Hahaha! It’s temporary! Thank God, it’s only temporary!”

He practically danced around the room like he’d just won the lottery.

”Whew. That’s good.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Jokes were one thing, but if Big Mike had really become permanently impotent, they would’ve been worried. Something like that could completely change his personality.

”This Fate Roulette is such a scam,” Skinny Pete complained. ”Wasn’t it supposed to grant you a random special ability? Why did it start by taking one of your abilities away?”

”Uh… it actually did grant me a special ability,” Big Mike admitted awkwardly.

”It’s called Absolute Purity. I’m temporarily immune to all poisons and aphrodisiacs. Charm effects and seduction don’t work on me either.

”For example, I can watch those women dance right now and not feel the slightest bit interested.” Big Mike looked miserable.

”Oh…” Understanding dawned on everyone’s faces. ”That explains it.”

”But if you gained such a powerful ability, how did you immediately figure out the side effect was that you couldn’t get it up?” Skinny Pete asked.

”I was already starting to get hard watching the dancers. Then I spun Fate Roulette and everything just… went limp. Of course I noticed.”

”…”

”How long does it last?”

”Three days,” Big Mike said miserably.

”Well, there you go. Spend the next three days focusing on training. Forget about watching beautiful women dance.”

”…”

Big Mike looked heartbroken. Yet when he glanced at the dancers again, he truly couldn’t summon the slightest interest.

It was like trying to watch porn right after getting off. He felt absolutely nothing.

”Why is this happening to me?” Big Mike raged. ”I’m never spinning that damned roulette again!”

”Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” the others said with a laugh. ”Fate Roulette’s effects are this powerful. You might find plenty of uses for it later.”

”…”