Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 3 - Superhuman Speed And The Abandoned Tunnel

Rudy reached his home, and the first thing he did was to see his mother. However, he became sentimental after seeing his house.

ʼIt has been five years since…ʼ After looking through the house, he found his mother sleeping on the couch of the living room.

ʼDid she have a night shift again?ʼ Rudy wondered.

Rudyʼs mother used to work multiple part-time jobs to take care of the house. He wanted to help and share the burden, but his school had prohibited students from having a part-time job.

”Fuck rules. I will earn a lot using my powers.” Rudy decided.

He went to his room and changed his clothes.

ʼI will find a job where I can use my super strength.ʼ

Rudy lived with his widowed mother. His father had died in an accident when he was three years old, and since then, his mother has taken care of him.

”Mom will also get remarried next month to the guy she met on her job. So I will get a stepfather and a step-sister.”

Rudy left the house and went to search for a labor job.

ʼI donʼt think they will allow me to do a labor job. And even if they did, they will ask for my ID, and they will know I am a minor.ʼ

Rudy couldnʼt get a job in a normal way, so he was planning to do it another way.

”Think… think, Rudy. Where can you use your powers?” Rudy looked through his phone to see a job that didnʼt require ID. After searching for a few minutes, he found a job at a swimming pool.

”Great! They are paying 100$ to clean one pool. They have 12 pools of different sizes. I can even offer to wash the slides and earn extra.”

Without wasting any more time, Rudy made his way to the swimming pool. However, it was 10 KM away from where he was. He opened the maps in his phone and searched for the shortest route possible, and he found one through an abandoned tunnel.

Rudy rejoiced and went to the tunnel. After walking for a few minutes, he muttered, ”The condition of the tunnel is good. Why was it abandoned?”

Rudy wanted to get there as soon as possible before anyone else took the job. He started walking hastily. However, after walking for a few more minutes, he realized that he was alone.

Of course, he knew that he was alone, but he felt like he wasnʼt alone. The tunnel got darker and darker as he walked further. Rudy hadnʼt realized it yet, but the tunnel was pitch black, and no one should be able to see anything inside it. However, Rudy had gained the ability to see clearly in the dark.

Even his footsteps echoed in the tunnel, making them sound like he was walking with many others.

He plugged his earphones and played his favorite song playlist to avoid thinking too much.

”Maybe I should run. This tunnel is 5 KMs long, after all.”

Rudy started running, and then he started running fast, faster than he had imagined. He was running at the speed of 30 KM per hour. He wanted to stop but didnʼt know how to. He knew that if he stopped all of a sudden, then he would trip and fall, resulting in fatal injury.

After getting into an accident in his previous life that destroyed his future, Rudy was afraid of another accident. He slowly decreased his speed and eventually stopped.

”Thank god it was a tunnel.” Rudy sighed and gasped for the air. ”If it was on the street, then I would have definitely hit a car.”

Rudy was going to have a hard time controlling his powers, and there were many more powers he had yet to realize.

He started running again but made sure not to run too fast. After running for a while, he heard the sound of footsteps that didnʼt belong to him.

Even with the music on, Rudy could hear the sound of his surroundings. Even if his earphone had a noise cancellation system, he would hear the sounds because of his superpowers.

At first, he thought it was just the sound of his footsteps echoing, and his ears were playing tricks on him, but upon walking further, he realized that wasnʼt the case.

To confirm his doubt, he stopped walking and stood still. And as expected, he could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

ʼThat is the sound of a shoe hitting the ground, so it canʼt be an animal.ʼ

Rudy tried to act normal and kept walking forward, hoping he would eventually see the source of the footsteps. After walking for a few more minutes, Rudy came across a girl.

She was wearing a high school uniform, and she was walking in the opposite direction of Rudy. Her skin was pale as though her body had no blood left, and her hair was dark black. Her eyes looked lifeless, and her steps were steady but abnormal.

Rudy sighed in relief and muttered, ”It was just another person passing through the tunnel.”

For some reason, he couldnʼt take his eyes off the girl. He watched the girl walk past him and muttered, ”I donʼt know, but something looked off about the girl.”

He shrugged off the possibilities he was thinking and started walking again. After walking for a while, he felt as though someone was watching him from somewhere. He glanced around, but no one was there. However, when he looked back, he saw the same girl following him from a distance.

”...” Rudy was confused at first, but he thought maybe she wanted help with something.

”Hey, are you okay?” Rudy asked, but the girl didnʼt reply.

”Umm, do you need help?” he asked again, but the girl stood still with her gaze on the ground.

”....”

Rudy thought it would be for the best to leave her be and started walking. However, even after walking for five minutes, the girl still kept following Rudy.

ʼMaybe she just wants to pass through the tunnel?ʼ Rudy wondered. He wasnʼt feeling the same anxiousness as before. In fact, it felt warm and pleasant.

Rudy kept walking without paying any attention to the girl, and when he looked back, the girl was nowhere to be seen. After that, he exited the tunnel and sighed in relief.

He looked at the time and saw that one hour had passed. However, he was only walking for about 30 minutes.

”I should hurry.” He then rushed to the pool and asked them to hire him.

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Authorʼs Note- Who was.... that girl?