Pause System: Harem In The Apocalypse

*Step* *Step* *Step*

Quiet footsteps resounded across the empty apartment stairs as a staggering gray haired boys climbed up it.

His legs were shaky, his pants were heavy, his eyes were dim of light.

He was covered in sweat and as of that moment, he was one with exhaustion.

The flesh on the walls and ceilings were all being dissolved around him. The violent shaking of the building only grew larger with every passing second.

But none of that seemed to bother him, or rather, none of it drew his attention.

There was only one thing flowoing through his mind as of that moment, and that was...

To go back to them.

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"Hey... It's been a while, are you sure nothing's happened to Gray?" Aurora asked with a worried gaze.

"It's been a few minutes. Sure this is longer than expected but it's fine! This is Gray we're talking about." Responded Violet with a carefree look.

The two girls were fully clothed up again, they were feeling rather cold and were sure Gray wouldn't be in the mood or possibly the state to do anything else with them.

'Of course, a monster had to come and ruin the mood... Just like always...'

"Besides... Look at the walls."

Aurora looked over at the outside of the room, the weird chunks of flesh were both dissolving and disintegrating upon being split up from it's parts.

It was clear based on it that Gray had indeed already finished the fight off on his side.

"I can't feel anything with my psychic ability so I'm sure he'll be back soo-"

*Creak*

The two girls felt shivers rush down their spine as something dropped onto the bed behind them. It was clearly something big judging by how the bed creaked and... Through the corner of their eyes, they could see it.

A person's figure.

Filled with fear they quickly turned around with their guards up, only to end up staring right at Gray's shirtless and drenched in sweat figure.

He was holding onto an empty flask which resembled that of the potion he'd given them last time they were extremely hurt. He'd taken it on the way.

"Gah- You... You almost gave me a heart attack just now!" Yelled Violet before hugging him.

Aurora's terrified expression which was brought for by his sudden unexpected appearance, suddenly changed into a warm fuzzy smile as she also hugged him.

"...Took you long enough..." She muttered with a blushful look.

Gray didn't say anything at first and simply embraced the two in his arms tightly. With a flustered expression he stared at the screen before him.

[You Killed a Cursed Flesh Bringer]

[You gained 470 XP!]

[XP: 2520/2800]

[LEVEL UP OPTION USED:]

[1- FULL BODY RECOVERY.]

[LEVEL UP OPTIONS REMAINING: x2]

Gray had made it back to their arms through the use of one of his three options, now he only had two options to choose.

And deep down in his mind, he already knew what he was going to go for.

[OPTION SELECTED:]

[4- MYSTERIOUS ROULETTE.]

[OPTION SELECTED:]

[4- MYSTERIOUS ROULETTE.]

From simply the thought alone, two giant dark wheels appeared before his eyes right ahead of the bed.

Gray had initially planned to pick three wheels but as a result of the battle he had just faced, he ended up giving one of them up just to recover his body.

The reason he had selected the two now was so that he wouldn't rely on the recovery option and waste it.

If he truly needed something then he'd have to make do with the current amount of [Coins] in his possession and his own endurance.

'If I waste them on recovery alone, I won't get stronger... I still have the [SP] which I have yet to use, now would probably be a good time to start thinking of what stat I'll specialise in.'

Gray looked at the two who were still holding on tight, they showed no signs of letting go any time soon and were smiling brightly.

It made sense that they were in a good mood, after all they finally didn't have to hide the affection they had for him.

'I need to get stronger... More powerful... No matter what it takes...'

*Rumble* *Rumble*

Gray's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the violent shaking coming from the entirety of the room.

"Ah...! God damn it... What now...!?" Violet asked fully annoyed that their moment was interrupted again.

"Just one thing after the other... Everything's shaking.." Aurora added with dark eyes.

The two girls were clearly annoyed that their moment was being interrupted again, it was as if the universe was trying to stop them from cuddling.

"The building's going to collapse... That thing had it's roots spread out throughout the ground, so to kill it, I had to destroy it." Said Gray.

The two girl's ears twitched as they heard this. They both looked up at Gray's face and simultaneously asked.

"Destroy what?"

Gray smiled and replied.

"The building's foundation."

"Eh?"

"What?"

A multitude of thoughts passed by their minds. First came confusion, then after disbelief.

And as their bodies began levitating along with the bed and all of the other remaining furniture in the room.

"Violet! Stop using your ability!"

"It's not me!! We're falling!!!"

There was finally acceptance.

[Telekinesis.]

Violet's eyes began to grow bright as she held onto the two, her plan was to fly them out through the window before the dissolved flesh's acid could spill on them.

But before she could-

Everything around them froze.

*Blink*

Their eyes widened as in the following instant, the two found themselves standing at the edge of another building, watching as the one they had just been on collapsed.

A chilling cold breeze crashed against their body, snapping them out of their thoughts into reality.

"What...?" Violet asked with a shaky tone.

"How did we... Don't tell me..."

Aurora was cut off by Gray who hadn't let go of them. "Yeah, I used my ability to get us out of there."

[Mark Of The King Third Stage...]

[Temporary Activation.]

The two girls looked up with surprise, for a moment, just a moment they caught glimpses of a golden patterns spread out across his chest, arms and forehead.

But that pattern seemed to disappear almost instantaneously after.

Gray sighed as he watched the building and room crashed right onto the street's roads. Countless Zombies were squashed to pieces from the collapsing debris.

The collapse ended up falling on a much higher margin of Zombies than they had initially anticipated, there was a horde gathered right ahead apartment due to the leakage of Violet's energy so the kill count worked wonders.

Gray felt a hint of regret as he watched the zombie's get crushed one after the other, it was a shame there wasn't a feature which allowed him to get XP form such methods.

Violet and Aurora on the other hand watched the sight with dejected looks.

'No... Not that special room... It had everything...' Aurora squealed inwardly.

Violet on the other hands let her thoughts out.

"God damn it!! We were so close too!!!" She shouted out from the top of the building as the sun began to rise.

Realising how ridiculous she sounded, her face turned bright red from embarrassment after she turned to them.

As they watched this, Gray and Aurora at each other before giggling with one another.

"I-It's not funny!!"

It had been a while, since the three of them had watched the sunrise together. Now that the Kessho's and horned ones were gone, they could feel a little more at peace.

Gray leaned into Violet's ears, pulling in Aurora as he did so before whispering. "There'll be plenty more opportunities, don't worry."

His grey hair swayed against the wind as a bright smile appeared on his face.

*Thump*

Seeing his innocent smile along and hearing his words made their hearts skip a beat. In that moment, they fell even harder for him than they already had.

"..."

The two didn't say anything and simply gazed at him with sparkling eyes at first.

The one to break them out of their trance was Gray himself who suddenly looked up at the naval fleets above their heads and said. "For now let's go get the others and help Ria out with the repairs..."

"And after that... Let's relax... And continue off from where we left off..."

The fact that Gray could boldly say such things was something completely unexpected.

Without a doubt, he had definitely changed in the short time frame since they had met.

The air around him felt more mature and lively.

'He's finally found his purpose...' Aurora thought to herself as she watched.

She too suddenly smiled brightly before saying. "Sounds like a good plan to me. I've been dying to relax after all this war too"

"What do you think? Violet?"

Violet who was still somewhat caught in the trance suddenly turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, I feel like all of us deserve some rest..."

Having finally decided on what they were going to do next, whilst still filled with the joy that they had reunited the three set off once more.

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"[Realm.]

"I knew conquering the Labyrinth would be hard but this..."

*Drip* *Drip*

"This is beyond my expectations..." The young man quietly muttered with blood drippign down his body on the inside of his spherical field.