World Apocalypse: Apocalust

Chapter 35: Chapter XXXV - One Step at a Time

Sage rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the small smile tugging at her lips.

"I said I’d stick around. I didn’t say I was joining your little club."

"Same thing."

"No, it isn’t."

"Sounds like the same thing."

Noah shook his head as he watched the two bicker beside him. Before he could say a word, a familiar sensation suddenly appeared in his view—the violet screen materialized right in front of him.

〔Main Quest Updated〕

〔The Red-Headed Archer〕

〔Objective: Convince Sage to join your team.〕

〔Status: Completed〕

〔Reward: Pending〕

Noah stared at the latter part of the notification.

Reward pending.

His eyes shifted to Sage, who was still engaged in an argument with Levy, seemingly oblivious to the floating screen beside them.

Noah’s curiosity gradually returned and moved past the reward. If the System initiated the quest to nudge him toward her deliberately, there had to be a reason behind it. At least that’s what he thought. He tossed the thought back into the files in the corner of his mind labeled: important but not really—all lowercase.

What mattered most was that he gained another capable teammate, someone with a bit of personality to boot. It wasn’t a huge deal, but when you’re out there killing walkers and trying to stay alive in a world that was now holding one against you, it was a real morale booster. Not quite as much as Levy, though.

He turned his focus to Levy, who made a gesture that caused Sage to laugh.

One step at a time, he thought.

He glanced down the nearly deserted streets—they were practically empty, aside from a few lingering stragglers—then shifted his gaze back to the System interface. Not the violet one, but the familiar version everyone had received.

He moved past the Status screen and reached a list of System functions that read:

〔Status〕

〔Inventory〕

〔Global Chat〕

〔Regional Chat〕

〔Trading〕

〔Friends〕

〔Party〕

Noah studied the options for a moment, dismissing the Status prompt, before selecting Inventory.

The list suddenly disappeared, replaced by a new interface featuring fifty square slots neatly arranged in rows, each outlined with a thin silver-gray border. They were all empty, leaving Noah to wonder just how much he could actually fit into it.

Along the top were several small options he assumed were meant for organizing the Inventory—sorting, selecting, and deleting items. They were simple enough to understand at a glance, though he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he accidentally deleted something important.

At the bottom of the interface was another number accompanied by a small ×50.

Noah stared at it for a moment. "Fifty items per slot...?"

If that was what it meant, then the Inventory was considerably more useful than he’d initially expected. He glanced toward the bags hanging from their shoulders.

A lot more.

He had no idea how the System determined what could and couldn’t be stored, but he figured he’d come to figure that out with time.

"Okay," he muttered, raising the spear in his hand. "Let’s see..."

Noah took the spear in both hands and tried to will it into the Inventory to no avail. Frowning, he tried again, focusing more intently, yet the wooden shaft still lay in his palms.

"Come on..." he muttered angrily, more out of frustration than anything.

He eventually moved the spear toward the screen, more out of curiosity than anything else, and as soon as the weapon made contact with the interface, it vanished from his hand.

Noah smiled and looked down at his empty palm before turning his attention back to the screen. The first slot, previously empty, now contained a small icon of his steel-tip spear. Beside it was a simple: ×1.

"So that’s how it works," he muttered. "Not practical but useful nonetheless."

He moved in closer, examining the icon. It looked like a carbon copy of the spear—if it were designed for a LEGO Ninjago figure.

So how do I go about seeing the information?

The moment the thought formed in his mind, the inventory screen vanished just as swiftly as it had appeared. In its place, a new interface popped into view.

He raised his brows. At the very top left, written in thick white lettering, was a single word:

Trading

A rundown of the weapon’s information immediately surfaced before him.

〔Steel-Tip Spear〕

Type: Weapon

Quality: Common

Durability: 94/100

A basic spear fitted with a sharpened steel tip. Simple, reliable, and effective.

Noah’s eyebrows rose.

Huh. So the System provides equipment information through the trading screen. How niche.

His eyes lingered on the durability a moment longer, the number refusing to leave his mind. If the System bothered to include it, there had to be a reason. Weapons wore down. That much was obvious, but how exactly the System handled that wear was another matter entirely.

Will it just snap in half after reaching zero?

He imagined the spear suddenly breaking in the middle of a fight, leaving him with nothing but a useless wooden shaft and a hungry walker in front of him.

That would suck.

Another question that would only be answered with time.

Noah glanced down at the space where the spear had been before looking back toward the trading screen. The process itself had been simple enough, yet the amount of information the System provided made him realize there was probably more to it than he initially thought.

His gaze drifted across the rest of the trading screen, curiosity beginning to outweigh his initial caution. If something as basic as a spear had this much information attached to it, he couldn’t help but wonder what the more advanced equipment looked like.

But that would have to wait until he found or received one of his own—or until someone who had awakened created a listing for one.

Before he could dwell on the thought any further, an arm slipped around his shoulder and pulled him away from the screens.

"I told you," Levy said. He wore a knowing smile as he said it. "He just completely zones out."

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