Collecting Titles In The Apocalypse Chapter 1: Critical Hit

'Why is the sky unusually reddish today?' Thought a young man as he walked by the street, heading to his school.

Looking at the watch on his wrist, he noticed the ti was 7:45 AM.

"Shit, today is our festival so I can't be late. I need to rush or else I'll be dood!"

The young man murmured before he quickened his footsteps, as though suddenly gained a speed boost.

It was a cultural festival day at the school he was attending to.

It was a lively event to which everyone enjoyed. A few hours later, the festival had finally co to an end and people started leaving the school campus.

The students on the other hand had to remain in the school as they needed to clean their classroom and the area of the school grounds.

anwhile, at the back of one of the school buildings, a bewildered young man in a cute tiger costu looked puzzled.

"I don't want to co but ended up coming..."

Saying that to the air, he looked around but spotted no one other than himself.

He was Dante Kitsu, 15 years old. A second-year high school student.

He ca there at the back of the school building because soone asked him to co there. But when he arrived there, he couldn't see anyone beside the line of trees a couple of steps on his right and a towering wall of the school building on his left.

Despite his na which sounded like a protagonist from a gore ani, he was a normal young man.

In front of him was an empty lot. Well, not that empty as he could see a shadow of a bipedal beast.

Is he under attack? Nope. That's him in his festival costu.

Joke aside, the reason why he was there was not a laughing matter. An hour ago, he received a letter from a girl, saying he had to co there at that hour.

He was bewildered by it. In his one-and-a-half years of high school, it was the first ti he received such a thing.

Sending a letter might be old in this era where many modern devices such as smartphones rule supre, but perhaps there were circumstances where a letter was more handful than it.

In his mind, Dante calculated that there were only a few reasons why soone had asked him to co there.

Since bullying was less occurrence in their school, he doubted it would be because of that. And he didn't rember quarreling with soone, so no bad guys would ambush him there to beat him up, he believed so. Despite many of the female students not liking him, no one ca to hurt him physically.

Since it was the case... then there was only one option left! Right?

...And that is...

A love confession!

With that in mind, he did his best to control the pounding of his chest. This is what they call excitent, maybe. Perhaps his ti to get a girlfriend had finally co.

'Oh, god, I'll be praying twice as much after this.'

Looking back at his past, since his first day in high school, he has yet to get a girlfriend. Well, he wasn't asking for it, honestly. Really.

For so reason, right on the first day of class, an incident happened that ruined his reputation.

He beca the school playboy due to a bad misunderstanding. A friend of his incidentally spoke out loud, "You love all won!!?" And he said yes. It was too late when they realized they were having a dangerous conversation in public.

Those students who heard it delivered the news to one another faster than his internet connection.

His friend was a bit of an otaku and they were discussing the title of a new doujinshi series which was "You love all won!!?"

He asked him if it was the title and Dante replied with a yes. Of course, the others who didn't know the context of their conversation took their words literally. And that was how his school life was ruined.

Thus, earning him the playboy title, making him like a big joke in the school.

There was an aggravating con to having such a title. With that title attached to his na, no girls had ever taken his words seriously, hah~. Most of the girls even treated him as if he was the most disgusting jerk in the world.

Because everyone thought of him as a playboy, every word that ca out of his mouth was nothing but insincere and a piece of rubbish to them.

It was the reason why he couldn't ask a girl to date him till now.

But, even if by chance there was a girl who would co to like him, he believed it was still difficult for them to end up together.

Why?

Well...

The reason behind that was because he was into soone.

Nonetheless, when soone asked him to co to the back of the school building, he was shocked. Maybe it was true that there was a one-in-a-million chance that soone would co to like you despite all the bad rumors.

Unfortunately, despite that, he ca there to give his honest rejection to the person who asked him to co there.

He couldn't help it. He was a person who was honest with his feelings. And he didn't want to fool anyone just because he wanted to experience dating. And also, he believed it was a good chance to clear his na.

This was his honest thoughts.

Anyway, he didn't want to date soone while he had a lingering feeling for another person.

Even though it turns out his ambition was higher than the tallest mountain in the world. In short, the girl he wished to share his future with was of a higher league than him. Like an unreachable star.

Looking around, he saw no one beside him, "Could it be just a prank?" It was only then that he realized that there was also that.

He bit the cloth of his costu because of overseeing that possibility.

While growing anxious because he saw no one after coming there, he decided to leave, but then suddenly stopped on his feet a second later. He heard footsteps from behind him. He glanced past his shoulder and was surprised by who he saw there.

Stopping on her feet, a few steps away from him, was a very familiar student in her light blue school uniform.

What?

Neneth?

It's Neneth Wyte!

The class goddess!

'Don't tell she's the one who's asking to co here...'

'For real? Is this even possible?'

Her figure while directly blocking the sun behind her, giving off an image of a divine being.

Is this the descent of the goddess? Is he going to die now? He cleared up his thoughts quickly.

Despite the orange brilliance of the sun blinding his vision, her beautiful eyes were shimring and sparkling more than the brilliance of the sun itself. As though he was staring into a pair of starry night skies where millions of stars were dazzlingly twinkling all at once.

He was extrely captivated by them.

Her pretty long lavender hair slightly swerved to the side by a slight breeze coming from the trees nearby.

He wanted to quickly open his phone cara and take a picture of this wonderful mont right in front of him. Beautiful was not enough to describe her.

...She's so blinding and dazzling...

"Ca— Can..."

She opened her mouth and he listened carefully. It was the first ti he heard her voice sounded like that. Normally, she was calm and firm. But right at that mont, she looked hesitant and flustered.

This side of her was new to him. Maybe he was blessed to see this new side of her. He felt very grateful.

By the ti he entered high school, he already graduated from being an otaku and he had beco a mainstream person, who even dyed his hair into light blue to look cool. However, due to the misunderstanding, he was having a slight seatback at the mont. But he promised to redeem himself sooner or later.

"....."

Regardless, he remained silent while holding his breath to not interrupt her. It was as though ti had moved slowly at that mont, and all he could hear was his pounding chest.

'Is she going to confess to ? Really? I an... she is the girl I yearn to share my feelings with. I fell in love with her the first ti I saw her back on the first day of school, especially since she's the only girl who didn't showed contempt on while others did.'

But since she was a level 100 school goddess while he was a level 10 school crook only, he reminded himself to be content just by watching her from afar. Like a fan to his idol. The difference in their reputation was heaven and earth apart.

Looking at her, it looked like she was having trouble expressing herself. He felt weird. Despite being in love with her, he felt more guilt than happiness at that mont.

'Why is that?' He asked himself in confusion.

Was this because of the gravity brought by their gaps? Or maybe the weight of responsibility if by chance they started dating. Can he even make her happy? Can he support her? He felt worried, but he would do his best to make her happy for the rest of her life.

'Wait, why am I thinking ahead? Do I think I am so heartthrobs?' Honestly, in terms of looks, he believed he could be proud of his face. 'Sha on . If soone read my thoughts right now, I would die in embarrassnt for real.'

Urg.

'Is Neneth going to ask to date her?'

She already opened her mouth before he could say anything.

"P-please... go out with !"

"O-okay!"

The reply ca out of his mouth instinctively as he turned around to face her. Unexpectedly, at that mont, shock overwheld them more than joy.

She must have been very embarrassed because her face was downcast as she said those words. He could see her eyes shut close while clenching her fists so tightly, and with her arms straight down.

Since her body was quivering— aning, she summoned all her might just to express that confession.

When she heard his sudden reply, she opened her eyes again and looked toward him. Their eyes t and ti seed to have stopped at that mont. Seconds later, he saw her eyes blinking a couple of tis. Then an awkward silence descended on them.

"....."

Suddenly,

"W-who...?!"

A bewildered voice ca out from her mouth and stunned him. It brought a different tone than earlier. It sounded in complete disbelief. The expression on her face alone told him that she didn't expect it was him, Dante, who she expected to see there.

Now... Wait wait wait...

He needed to breath and calm himself.

"Is sothing wrong here?" He asked, trying his best to remain calm and positive despite growing nervous.

While covering her mouth with both hands, she replied, "I-I thought you were Kyzer. Ah no, d-d-don't misunderstand . Uh, eh..." she suddenly looked flustered and very red.

He didn't know what she was flustered about, but at the ntion of soone's na, it was as if sothing inside him had broken into millions of pieces.

K-Kyzer...?

A supernova explosion happened inside him.

His gaze dropped. He knew it. Now he understood. How would soone like Neneth confessed to him? That must be the worst joke ever. Ahaha... he secretly laughed mockingly to himself.

aning... This was all just a misunderstanding! Now that he thought about it. The one who wore his Tiger costu before him was Kyzer, his rich, handso, gentle, and top student classmate who's popular with both girls and boys.

Since he received the letter right after they exchanged costus, that ans... The letter was not ant for him but for Kyzer!

If he made a guess, the person who handed the letter earlier perhaps hadn't noticed that it was already him who was inside the costu and not Kyzer anymore. Or maybe the letter was handed to multiple hands before it reached his hand. Though the latter was unlikely to be the reason. But whichever of them, one thing was for sure, that the letter was not ant for him but for Kyzer.

'Ah... so that's what happened... that makes sense now.'

What an awful feeling he was feeling right at that mont of realization...

He sucked a mouthful of air into his throat to calm down for a bit.

Since having a bad reputation made other people not take his words seriously, he made sure to focus on adding his attribute points to his ntal stats through positive thinking. Thanks to that his state of mind was of a higher level than normal people.

However, despite having higher ntal stats, he could still feel the pain in his chest causing havoc to his mind.

Perhaps it was impossible for a goddess like her to like a lowly human like him. He should have started changing himself first. But he already did that and not even character developnt could help him.

If only so god granted him a wish right at this mont, he would ask for a character developnt upgrade for himself as quickly as possible. But he knew that was impossible.

While avoiding eye contact with her, he asked a question. "Uhm... B-By any chance... is the letter intended for Kyzer?" He asked while sneaking glances at her.

The beauty in front of him breathed deeply while pressing her delicate hands on her chest. Perhaps trying to calm down herself as well.

She slowly nodded her head, confirming his guess.

Seeing that, more damage took his health points away. He was barely alive at this momnet. He could even see his soul escaping from his mouth.

'Alright. Ti to go.'

He let out a sigh as the throbbing pain in his chest grew stronger, and then he forced a smile as he dragged his trembling legs in her direction.

"M-My bad. I-It seems a misunderstanding happened, ahaha," he left those stuttering words when he passed by her.

"....."

Maybe being considerate toward him, she remained silent.

"Let's just pretend this did not happen, okay? I hope for the happiness to the both of you and Kyzer..." he mumbled.

Although he said that calmly, he was barely holding his tears from bursting.

Even though she was the one who was confessing, he was the one who felt rejected for so reason. Urg, he couldn't help it. He was in love with her. Knowing she likes soone, doubles the pain.

'Oh, pain! I'm fading away.'

It seed like an ani villain with a 'Celly' na had stabbed his tail into his chest to sap him dry. Honestly, he preferred that to happen as he wanted his existence to disappear completely at that very mont.

He continued walking away without waiting for her reply.

He didn't know what to feel at that mont. He felt overjoyed when she confessed, only to feel rejected a second later. It felt like he got a girlfriend for a second only, ouch!

Tomorrow he'd be winning the fastest breakup in the history of mankind.

Complicated emotions welled inside him at that very mont. Enough to make him want to volunteer to live on Marsa for the rest of his life if ever the Space Agencies succeeded in terraforming it.

Even though he reminded himself multiple tis that he was just one among those many extras who thought she was out of their reach, and that they could not date her in this life, it was still very painful once the person you fell in love with fell in love with soone else.

A 'critical hit' hit him, sapping all his remaining HP dry and leaving him with a one-point only. He was sure this feeling of utter bitterness would be gone in a couple of days. He just has to bear with it and stay in his room while recuperating.

"Man, this day is awful. I wish I'd die today and be reborn into a more handso, rich, and as godly as immortal cultivators young man tomorrow."

Those words he mumbled disappeared in the air at the sa ti his silhouette disappeared from her sight.

"Wait!"

He heard a faint call, but perhaps it was only his hallucination, so he ignored it and continued leaving. He had no more stamina left to continue the fight.

"I am utterly defeated." His mumbled disappeared in the air.

"Urg. I feel like throwing up."

"Oh lord, please give the power to rewind ti."

This is very disheartening for him.