Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 253: The Epilogue of Finn Thorne

["...Springs went, winters passed. As the years have gone by, more and more, the apocalypse becomes a distant memory. I find myself sometimes in thought, questioning if maybe it was all a dream–a nightmare, but then I remember–I remember the experiences ingrained into my body.

Then all over again, I feel thankful that I’m here, with you."]

At his desk, he sat in a spacious office built within a house, having a personal view outside of the window that overlooked the acres of verdant fields. He took a moment in thought, giving his mind a minute of rest before beginning to type away at the code once again.

As he was focused on his programming, the door to his office opened with the light rattle of glassware following.

Glancing over, he watched the girl, barely tall enough to reach her arms up, set the mug of coffee down on his desk. She had the same ethereal, blue hair as her mother, though shared the same sharpness in her eyes as him.

"Thanks, Amelia," he smiled, giving the young girl a pat on her head.

"Mhm," she grinned as though just happy she managed to deliver the coffee without spilling it.

The days were often quiet, though may some see them as uneventful, to him, each day was one to be cherished.

["As winter arrived for Amelia’s fifth birthday, Charlotte and I rented a cabin in the Deschutes forest. It was the first time Amelia got to experience snow."]

With a mug of steaming coffee in his hand, he stood by the opened door of the wooden cabin, looking out towards the snow-white stretch.

Beside him, Charlotte leaned her head on his shoulder, watching alongside him as the small girl made herself a snowman, "She doesn’t seem to mind the cold. I hope she doesn’t get sick, though."

"With how many coats you have her wearing, I think she’ll be fine," Finn laughed softly.

As the hours passed in the quiet, snow-covered forest, the aroma of stew filled the cabin as Charlotte prepared dinner. Though the idea was to get away from technology for a few days, Finn couldn’t help but check his laptop as he sat near the window, typing away.

"Ahhh—!"

–A frightened scream of a young girl made his blood immediately run hot. There was no second guessing who such a yell belonged to, leaving him practically flinging the laptop from his lap as he shot up.

"Amelia–!?" Charlotte called out, running out of the kitchen.

Finn ran past her, picking up the hunting knife left on the table, "Stay here!"

There was no thought in his head but running to his daughter, not so much as putting on a coat as he leapt out of the front door. As breaths left his lips as frost, he pushed himself through the leaf-barren trees, tracking down that scream with haste.

"Aaaaah...!"

Again, he heard it, then found it within a moment as he slid down a slope. There she was, unharmed, though not free from danger; the small girl pressed up against a tree, faced with a beast tenfold her size.

As he removed the knife from the bear’s body, he fell backwards into the snow as the beast slumped over beside him. He breathed out, watching the cloud of coldness part from his lips, staring up at the sky as snowflakes trickled down.

The lacerations across his entire body would leave him dead within moments; he was well aware of that fact as the snow all around him became dyed crimson.

Yet–

["Grizzly bear defeated."] ["Anarch Coin x10 obtained."]

[Experience points: +1000]

[Level six reached.] [0/1500]

[Assimilated ability from ["Grizzly Bear"]: "Bear Strength"]

The prompts that appeared in his vision felt like a hallucination spurred by the rapid closeness to death.

’I leveled up? No...That’s impossible. Systems don’t exist anymore...’ He tiredly thought, laying in the bloodied snow.

"Finn!"

–The concerned voice of his wife brought his eyes to open as he shot up. It surprised him that he was still alive, let alone able to pick himself up. He watched Charlotte slide down the frosty slope, rushing over to him.

"Are you okay!? The bear–you–" Charlotte worriedly asked in a panic.

As she wrapped her arms around him, he found himself stunned, not feeling an ounce of pain through his body–just the opposite in fact; he felt better than ever.

"I’m...fine?" He answered, questioning it himself.

"All of this blood, your clothes...Finn, how’re you unharmed...?" Charlotte questioned, inspecting his body with tears in her eyes.

It was beyond any logical conclusion of worldly possibilities, though there was only one answer he could come to, looking at his bloodstained hands.

"...Status..." He whispered.

[Level: 6] [0/1500]