Astral Hoarder: Embrace of Malevolence

Zimo walked away as everyone else was talking about their next plans, his mind still racing as he considered what he knew. He had seen how strong those things were. They were running at peak human speeds and were immensely powerful, almost as if they were using 100% of the strength of their bodies at all times.

Something told him this was only the beginning... After all, he kept thinking about the massive glowing dog... The Zombies were one thing, but the animals were different. If this rain could affect all forms of life, then what would that mean for the birds and the rest? The trees and plants too? Would they be affected? What about insects? Fish in the ocean? They couldn't hide at all, could they?

Zimo spent his day at the office, as he almost always did. But this time, it was spent not working, but looking out for news from the government and watching these things as they roamed the streets, trying to note down anything they did and the actions they tended to take at all times.

People watched him and thought he was crazy. Why was he taking notes of those black things? It made no real sense. The government would solve the situation, right?

Zimo didn't care though. He was watching out for information, not only on the Zombies but also on the animals. At first the animals wer rare, but later on, they became seen more often. Something interesting was happening whereby some would turn into one of those black-veined, dead-eyed things, while others would start glowing, turning into superpowered things that were looking extremely powerful. The ratio was more tilted towards the black-veined things though. That was for certain. 

Zimo wrote this all down, thinking of all the implications as he did. Meanwhile, the people who had resolved themselves to leave had left in a panic using their cars. Zimo was curious about what was going to happen. He had spotted the beginnings of an ecosystem forming. The Evolved animals hunted the "People" and the "People" hunted normal People.

When he looked out there, he was met with what he expected. The Zombies had put their noses up in the air, as if they smelled something, and started chasing the cars as they left. Soon enough some of those cars had gotten stuck on the road by roadblocks caused by other cars, leaving people stranded and alone in the middle of the streets that still had rain pouring down them.

Those people could not leave so they could only stay in there. And those Zombies Amazingly, the Zombies stood outside the cars and started banging at the windows for minutes until moments later they left as if they were searching for something else.

Was it because they could not get in no matter how they tried? So did that mean they were intelligent? Or did it mean that since they were there and yet they could not use tools to get in, they were pretty stupid? 

No matter how Zimo thought about it, it would not be a good thing and he could not make anything out of it he took some time to look at the part he was looking at and he looked at the time, and thought things through He was pretty funny to see. Zimo noted it down as something to think about. He would see if he could get more ideas on this in the future.

After a bit more time, he had begun to understand a bit more on the situation. They had the strength of a peak human. They had the intelligence of a dog. They reacted to sound and smell better than to sight, maybe because their eyes had greyed over.

Thinking about the Evolved ANimals, Zimo felt something else inside him. It was a need. After all immune to the rain. They were strong, and they loved eating the blue crystal thingies inside the heads of the Zombies, which might be useful for protection purposes. 

If Zimo could capture a few that would be great. If not... then it would be a bit annoying. Maybe even a bit sad.

Zimo couldn't help but hear some people talk about the fact that they were going to take their cars and leave after the rain paused. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh. Where were they going to go? 

The roads were blocked! Were they going to run around on the streets which were crawling with those hypersensitive things and flooded with black rain?? One mistake and they would either be bitten in the ass, or land on their ass thus turning into one of those things.

But still, understanding the worry in their hearts, Zimo was glad he was an orphan at that moment. Otherwise, he would have a family to go back to and people to worry about.

He had been in the foster system since a young age after his parents passed away and none of his relatives wanted to take him in, and after finishing high school with some good marks, he went to University to study Computer Engineering to change his life.

Luckily, he had succeeded. Unluckily, he was still unhappy and lonely even then. Even finding a girlfriend was a bit... difficult.

"Zimo! Why are you just sitting there? Make your Team Members some coffee!" came a voice that was charged with anger and frustration.

Team Members? ZImo heard this and smirked. Team members... what an interesting thing to say, especially in this situation. Were they still a team? He felt more like Zimo was in a shelter than anything. The army was having issues coming out and there were way too many of these things. He was lucky they had not resorted to using something like Nuclear power and it was at that moment that humanity would die for real.

Did they still think that things were going to stay the same way? With an incredulous look on his face, Zimo said, "We're not on duty today, remember?" 

"This isn't about duty, it's about responsibility. Even if you're not being billed for these hours, you still need to know your position," said Jacques, his face taking on its look of even deeper anger yet again.

"Position? Can't you see what's going on out there? What makes you think there will be a company in a week?" Zimo said with narrowed eyes, standing up and leaving before Jacques could say anything else annoying.

These people were still playing little power games. How could they not notice that there was a different food chain going on out there, being set up right in front of their eyes? Nothing else mattered other than finding a way to live.

"Zimo! Come back here!" screamed Jacques at Zimo's back only to get ignored. Jacques found himself gritting his teeth and grabbing the cup next to him to throw it at Zimo only to stop himself because everyone was staring at him.

"He's so disrespectful… What's so difficult about making coffee?" said Vinny, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know right?" said Alex, also shaking his head, only for Vinny to turn to him with a weird look.

"W-what?"

"Go get us some coffee, Alex."

Alex's face turned ugly when he heard those words. "B-but, that's not my…" 

"But, What?!" came the voice of Jacques who had turned into a demon.

Alex looked at the faces of the people he normally got along with and sighed making his rounds to grab all the cups and leave. If he had to blame someone, it would be Zimo.

It was because Zimo wasn't here that these people thought it was okay to bully him like this even though there was a junior among them who was Maya. But then again, Maya had a fat rack on her chest, and all he had was… man boobs.

Sighing as he gazed at his chest, he shook his head, his eyes taking on a glint of darkness in them. This was Zimo's fault. Everything was Zimo's fault.

Nobody noticed that after Zimo said what he said, Jacques had a pensive expression on his face before heading to the manager's office and closing the door behind him. They may not have been listening but he was. 

He might be lazy, but he was one of the smartest people in this company. And that was part of the reason why he had occupied the position he had anyway. He had thought about it and realised that Zimo's words were valid. The world was not going to stay the same. He had to make the most of the time he had right now while everyone else was unprepared.

Zimo, meanwhile, was scrolling on his phone again, figuring that he needed more information. And there was nothing else to do at that moment.

That was when he found a trending video that made his eyes pop open. It was a video of a man shooting one of those things, only for the thing to keep coming at him even after ten body shots. It was only when the man shot its head was when they died.

The people in the comments section were going crazy.

[This video confirms they are zombies! The World is being overrun by zombies and Demonic Beasts just as foretold in the heavenly tomes on Webnovel!!]

[This video looks fake, why would you spread panic like this?]

[Why are you guys happy? If you're still alive that means you have been forsaken by the lord. Repent now so that he may come down and cleanse your soul!]

Zimo read through the comments smiling at times and shaking his head at other times. These people did not understand, did they? The world they thought they knew was gone now. It was only after a bit more time that Zimo finally found a video of what he had been looking for.

It was a video of someone finding an animal that was glowing in colour, and the animal then looked incredibly colourful, looking at the camera and then sneering before speeding away.

The video was titled, "Sonic is that you?"

Yeah, buddy. That was not Sonic. Maybe it was as the comments were saying. Maybe it was a Demonic Beast... Zimo continued scrolling, finding information and noting it down. Zimo had even already forgotten about his lack of sleep and the hunger he was feeling. All that mattered was this. 

Right at that moment, Zimo heard the rain's sound soften in his surroundings and he couldn't help but smirk. The rain was stopping. Turning his head to the window, he confirmed his thoughts. The black rain stopped, leaving a sky that was still overtaken by blackness.

Looking to the ground, Zimo sighed. It had already been over 8 hours of heavy black rain and those things were still walking around aimlessly out there. And he had already confirmed it. As if by magic, the black rain had stopped not only in his region and country but all around the world. 

There was no way this was normal.

Zimo came out of the toilet, heading back to his work floor and that was when he saw everyone eating some snacks they would have gotten from the vending machine. But looking at the vending machine, Zimo couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. They had broken it open.

And it seemed the food was now under the protection of the manager who was looking at everyone with pride and happiness. But he was not the leader of all those people who were coming together at that moment. It seemed the leader was the CEO, who stood there, deathly pale his face taking on shades of purple and green.

Well, it made sense. He and the other executives had left, only to get stuck at the roadblock. It seemed they were lucky to have returned. And now, as they sat there, they were looking at everyone in anger at not being able to return to wherever they wanted to go.

Seeing those people eating well, Zimo's stomach grumbled. He had not eaten in over 12 hours and he felt some hunger in himself so he went forward to join them. After all, since they were thieves, then it meant they must understand that money was nothing special anymore and that they had to consider their health before anything else. And when that was the case they would see what was going on. Before he could even talk to the man he was already getting an earful.

"Zimo! I heard you don't want to work anymore?!" Said Manager Rob, looking at him in anger. Zimo couldn't care less though. Ever since that moment he saw the man reluctant to stand up because of a boner he couldn't care less what he said.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to work, it was that it is not my job to get coffee," Zimo said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He was getting confronted in front of everyone like this. Did that not mean that Rob thought he had enough justification? Well, unfortunately, Zimo knew he was in the right this time too. "I'm not some coffee boy, I'm a Developer,"

"What did you say to me!?" Rob said, fuming as his handsome face grew darker by the second.

Zimo did not even bother repeating himself. He merely looked at the pile of food that was being rationed, saying to them, "Could I have some food too?"

"Should you have some food? A lazy employee like you wants to have some food?! How dare you!!" said the CEO, making Zimo turn his head to him in wonder.

When did he become a lazy employee? If he was a lazy employee then nobody else there was hardworking. He was singlehandedly responsible for over 20% of the codebase. In the entire company. Everything rested on his back, and it was Atlas that was holding up this entire company. 

And this CEO… Just because he had gone out there during the rain only to get stuck in his car, like an idiot... Why was this guy venting his frustration on him? This guy thought he could push Zimo around just because of his "position"?

What a bastard.

It seemed the Boss could read Zimo's mind at that moment, as his face turned darker and darker by the second. "You're looking at me like that?! How dare you just look at me without saluting me as your boss!"

"Yeah, how dare you Zimo! This is your CEO, someone who earns more and has more connections to powerful, influential people than you can imagine. Now you're asking for his food without even saluting him?" Jacques chimed in, putting in his two cents, having noticed this was the perfect moment to do so. 

The CEO nodded as everyone else began admonishing Zimo, and then he raised his arms in the air. "I've decided. Considering your rude behaviour and conduct, you will be fired from this company effective immediately. Take your things and vacate the premises."

What? Vacate the premises? Were they effectively telling him to go die?

Zimo surveyed the scene with a sigh, shaking his head before walking away. It was clear that a corrupt company would be led by a corrupt boss. As he returned to the team's office, he discovered his belongings in the trash, soaked with coffee and other substances. Seeing Jacques' smug expression, Zimo realized it had been a deliberate act.

Gathering his belongings and placing them into a box, Zimo departed under the watchful gaze of everyone present, who regarded him as a fool. 

As Jacques, who had dutifully assumed the role of supervising Zimo's exit, trailed behind him, Zimo's heart grew cold with the harsh truth of his situation. He was being escorted to his demise by his kin, all for their twisted amusement.

It was a confirmed fact now... His world was not what he thought it to be.