[BL] NEET life in the Apocalypse

Chapter 2—Celebration!

by Bocchan13

Song Yu came out of his apartment for a reason. And that reason was celebrating! However, it was after all 20 years ago. He has forgotten all about his friends. Song Yu came from a wealthy family. And most of his buddies were people in the higher echelons. The only reason why Song Yu stayed in such a dingy apartment complex was because his father insisted on him ‘learning humility’.

But even that was horseshit. Song Yu looked at all of his contacts on his phone…yep, he definitely forgot about these people! Sighing, he put his phone away.

It was okay! He could celebrate by himself! First on the list…food! Song Yu happily skipped to the vendors, salivating at the juicy meat skewers.

“Aunty! Please get me 10 chicken hearts, 3 livers, and the 5 pork bellies, and 8 pig skins! Add some of that cumin powder too!” The nice lady laughed at his enthusiasm and put all of it in a bag, adding an additional stick.

“Young boys must grow up strong! Here you are!” Song Yu smiled happily and immediately took a stick out.

“Ughhhhh!!!!!” The taste…the taste! Like heaven in the mouth, the texture and fat exploded in his mouth. Song Yu just stood there in a daze, oil dripping from the side of his lips.

He was about to cry again!

“Mnnnnmmm! It’s delicious Aunty!” Can u tell me the recipe for the sauce!? Its soo good!!!”

The aunty was a kind-hearted person, her smile never leaving. Putting a finger to her lips, she exclaimed.

“A secret! If I tell anyone, all of my skewers won’t be sold! Just keep coming to my shop and I’ll keep some extra to bring back home.” Song Yu nodded enthusiastically.

“Thank you Aunty!” Song Yu bought food after food. Food that he hadn’t eaten since the apocalypse. All of those greasy fast food joints…eat! Canned peaches? Eat! Sourdough bread? Eat! Song Yu was like a buying machine, buying all of the foods he saw in sight. By the time he left the commercial street, he was hauling over ten bags of food.

Song Yu smiled happily and went back home. Laying everything on the floor, he touched each and every one of them, coveting them in his hands tightly. Looking at his palms, he hesitated before touching the skewers.

A small light emanated from his palms, and the skewers disappeared.

They were in his space.

He sighed in happiness. He probed into his subconciousness and saw the skewers in there. But not only that…his space was a lot bigger. It was like an endless vortex of galaxy blue.

“I could fit an entire house in there, huh.”

He scoured his spiritual space, the familiar feeling of peace and numbness engulfed him. Not only did the space get bigger…it seemed purer? Song Yu could not exactly pinpoint the exact difference, but it seemed that he had reached a higher level than his previous life.

Abilities were graded by power levels. When people started to get abilities, the grade always started at the base level 1. Upgrades happened when you got a better handle of your power, were able to manipulate it, or create divergent abilities. It ranged from 1-10 before becoming A and S.

The highest level from his last life was a grade A fire user in the north. They were on polar opposite sides of the country, but Song Yu remembered that the ability user was on the verge of upgrading to level S before his death. Sadly, he didn’t know his name.

Song Yu controlled his spacial ability, turning the skewers apart. Each component lifted itself out, like cooking in reverse. Until the ingredients became its most purest form. Oil. Salt, cumin, balsamic, pork shreds, garlic the wooden stick, all separated from itself leaving the raw ingredients like it was before cooking.

Song Yu smiled happily in glee as the spicy sauce concoction was indirectly unveiled to him. The one downfall to his spatial ability was that even though he could break down the component in the space, it was still intact when he took it out.

This helped Song Yu a lot during his time as the base leader. He was able to tear down components from medical equipment, military arsenal, even fertilizer for food consumption. All leaving it in even better condition than how it was before it came in. But it didn’t help if only he could see it. Describing the tools needed to the people, delegating raids every day was the leading factor to his busy 20 year life.

Since his ability was ranked 10 in his previous life, Song Yu realized that if he upgraded to grade A or even S, then not only would his space get bigger, but the amount of break down could become…clearer. And maybe…just maybe…the breakdown could stay permanent to his own specifications.

The possibilities were limitless, and now that he wasn’t a sleep deprived 45 year old, he could take this time to learn more about his ability.

Song Yu ate the skewers and food vigilantly, and rubbed his belly in happiness. He laid on the bed like a salted fish and stared at his ceiling while a food coma set in. The AC was still on full blast, and he sneezed before sourly turning it off.

The day was still early, so Song Yu took this time to go out once more. He was celebrating! He stood in front of the mirror and slicked back his black hair. It was slightly long, dangling over the side of one eye. He used to be very introverted and used his hair as a sort of curtain to hide from people’s gazes. He slicked it back and stared at his youthful face.

He still couldn’t believe it.

Was he always this good looking?

He patted his plump cheeks and sighed. He still had a baby face even when he was 45, but it was weathered by too much sun and strife. The harshness of the apocalypse did that to you. Song Yu ultimately smiled at himself.  He was 22 years old, an age where you should just go wild!

Song Yu got out of his apartment, and took a bus to the high-so neighborhood. Looking at his phone, he dialed a salon that featured many celebrities and made an on the spot appointment.

“We are currently full today, would you like to schedule for one tomorrow?”

“It has to be today please.”

“Well…there is a late scheduling fee of XXX$ would you be willing?” Song Yu looked at his credit card his old man said to use only for emergencies; a slow smile crept up on his face as he laughed.

“Yeah, no worries.”

“Alright sir, please come to the salon at 5:00pm. We will await your presence.”

“Thank you.” Song Yu closed the call and couldn’t help but smile sarcastically. The card was his savings for 3 years, and his father only ‘contributed’ some money. Luxuries were meant to be spent, and the apocalypse was looming over. Money circulation died in the apocalypse. It was just glossy paper now.

Song Yu waited until 5 before entering the salon doors. As a rich second generation, a scene like this would have surely been normal. But Song Yu had never really used his father’s influence for any materialistic means. Watching the fashionista surround celebrities that he had forgotten about, and the lively atmosphere, resulted in Song Yu once again cowering in unfamiliar territory.

A hand grabbed his shoulder suddenly. Instinctually, Song Yu condensed his aura into a blade before grabbing the hand. Twisting the wrist, a body sailed over him. If people blinked, they would not have seen this scene.

“Oof!” Song Yu’s was on guard, the aura surrounding him becoming colder and ruthless. His breathing lessened as his heartbeat slowed down extremely slow. A habit that all people in the apocalypse adopted. Intuition told him that he wasn’t in danger, but instinct denied that voice. He was at a stalemate, just staring at a young man clutching his wrist in pain.

Song Yu snapped out of this impasse and withdrew the spatial blade.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Did I break your wrist?” Song Yu knelt down and looked at the young hairdresser in distress.

The hairdresser shivered as the pain from his wrist traveled up and down his arm.

“I-I’m fine. I’m sorry for surprising you.” Song Yu just flurried around him whilst the people in the salon stared passively.