A few minutes later, while resisting the uncomfortable feeling of the IV stuck to his arm, Asher found some clothes in a closet.

Asher was lucky that the previous owner was male and of a similar build, so the clothes inside fit him. They were not that dusty since the closet was closed, and they were made from some form of synthetic fiber.

"Hah... not bad. Pretty comfy." Asher smiled while putting on sandals since the shoes didn't fit him.

Standing up, he tried walking a bit, and after finding he had no problem, he thought about his next course of action.

"Okay, I don't know how the fuck I ended up here. Maybe I gained a superpower to travel through time?"

Thinking about it, he thought about trying it, but quickly gave up.

"No... It could be super dangerous. What if I accidentally teleport inside a wall?!" Asher shuddered at the thought.

Sighing to himself, he decided to postpone using that power and instead investigate the outside world.

"But first, let's see if I can use anything in this room..." Asher muttered.

So, for the next half an hour, Asher searched the room. Eventually, he found a traveling backpack, some crackers in a wrapper, a form of nutritional paste(?), two large bottles of unopened mineral water, a sharp knife with a sheath, a working flashlight, and a medical kit he didn't know how to use.

In addition, he found a futuristic smart watch in an unopened box inside what seemed like a shopping bag. Unfortunately, the battery was empty, and there was no power to recharge it. But he returned the watch inside the box, containing a USB cord and a charger.

"Forget it. I can recharge it later." Asher shook his head before looking at the kitchen knife, feeling helpless. "I would have liked a proper pistol. But better than nothing."

And then, he walked to the door.

"Okay... here goes..."

Clack*

But it didn't open.

"Right. Locked. Of course." Asher bitterly smiled. He then undid the lock and opened the door.

"At least it's not jammed," Asher muttered as he stepped outside.

Unfortunately, the inside of the building corridor was dark. He could barely see anything due to the light from the apartment.

"Good thing I have a flashlight," Asher muttered, switching the flashlight on in scatter mode.

The corridor was empty, but Asher noticed trace amounts of some form of greyish-green fungal growth on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

"What the fuck is that? Is that the growth I saw outside?" Asher frowned but didn't plan on touching it. "Okay, let's get out of here..."

With that thought, he carefully stepped out and went to the elevator before pressing a button.

Tack*

Nothing.

"Powers out. Dunno what I expected." Asher rolled his eyes and looked to the stairs, a bit unwilling. "Stairs it is."

Going to the emergency stairs, Asher slowly walked down while holding the railings. But as he descended, he saw more and more of the unknown fungi. But at least the air was fresher, even better than the air he was used to.

"Well, that's ominous..." Asher muttered as he kept going downstairs.

He soon arrived at the ground floor, where the growth was so intense that the door collapsed. Or perhaps it was knocked open.

"Welp, that happened. At least there are no branches to poke my eyes out." Asher muttered as he walked to the exit.

But just as he left through the door-

"Ah..." A groan sounded beside Asher's ear, making him freeze on the spot.

Asher woodenly looked to his right, hair raised. And when he saw the voice's owner, he almost pissed himself.

It was a greenish-grey, bald, and naked humanoid around his height. It had no lips, instead having a thin slit for a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, two holes for a nose, and eyes without pupils, likely blind. Its two hands also sported sharp claws that could rip and tear skin, flesh, and bone.

It was blankly staring at him, not moving, only groaning. Of course, Asher didn't notice it, being scared out of his mind.

And so, Asher made the most sensible choice of a man with zero survival skills.

"AHH!!! MONSTER!!!!" Asher yelled and bolted back inside the stairwell.

Asher then ran two whole floors before stopping, out of breath, whizzing and panting. Out of caution, he looked back, but found that the creature didn't chase him!

"I-I, a monster... an actual fucking monster... fuck. I don't even have a gun, just a kitchen knife. And those claws and teeth... it could probably rip me in half!" Asher shook like a leaf, feeling he brushed shoulders with death. "I-I want a gun... I need a gun! I wish I had my trusty Glock with me... fuck..."

But after a minute, Asher slowly calmed down, analyzing the situation.

"Wait... it didn't chase me? Is it maybe just scary and not aggressive? Is it worth the risk to try it?" Asher wondered.

In doubt, Asher decided to give it a try.

"Fuck it. It seemed slow, so maybe I can outrun it... Let's try." 

With that in mind, Asher cautiously descended the stairs, and sure enough, the creature didn't chase him at all. Carefully exiting the stairwell, Asher looked at the monster and found it was as unresponsive as ever, as if he was non-existent.

Tack* Tack* Tack*

Snapping his fingers a few times, the creature still ignored him.

"So, it doesn't care about me? Hah. Just a paper tiger... fuck, those Chinese sayings are getting to me." Asher rolled his eyes. As a final test, Asher picked up a pebble from a plant vase and gently tossed it at the monster.

Tack*

It hit it, right in the chest. But still no response.

"Ah..." It merely groaned, as if not caring about it.

"Is it indifferent? Or just pretending? Should I be bolder?" Asher muttered, picking a handful of stones. "Yeah... let's try... I'll get ready to bolt if it does anything."

He then threw them, this time, with more force.

Woosh* Tack* Tack* Tack* Tack*

Several of the stones hit the monster, one even in the eye! Its eye began to bleed amber blood, but it didn't react.

"... Okay, it is official. I am invisible to it. Or it is brain-dead. Or likely both." Asher narrowed his eyes, his courage returning. He then placed a hand on his kitchen knife. "Should I try killing it?"

If it moved, he would never dare think about it. But since it was idle and unresponsive, and it bled, it meant that he could kill it. After all, it was a monster, not a human.

But after thinking about it, Asher shook his head.

"Forget it. If it dies, who knows what would happen? I might get targeted by a horde of these things or something. Better to ignore."

With that, Asher carefully left the building, entering the streets.

On the city streets, cars were overturned and overgrown, strange fungal trees were growing, and he saw more creatures idly standing around, ignoring him.

"Wow... for the first time, I am glad to be ignored. But I wonder why? They look carnivorous. Am I unpalatable? Or is the fungi around them better on the menu?" Asher muttered.

However, he quickly understood that this was an opportunity!

"Doesn't that mean I can explore the city without worries?! Woohoo!" Asher cheered.

But then, he returned to contemplation again. "No, wait. This world went through a disaster. Heck, the creatures before me might be the previous inhabitants! Would I get infected or some shit if I continue staying here?!"

Thinking to that point, Asher couldn't help but shiver. "Fuck... I don't wanna turn into those... things. I hope I am wrong."

Shaking his head, Asher cleared his doubts and looked around. "Okay, no point in thinking about it. I should focus on exploring and getting some supplies."

With that, Asher started exploring the street. The first location was a grocery store, but it seemed it had been ransacked. Everything edible was taken away, or the strange fungi grew on it.

"Well, so much for food..." Asher grimaced as he went to the second stop, an electronics store.

But merely after a short visit, he left. Not only was it ransacked, but he didn't understand the futuristic gadgets inside, especially since they were all in Mandarin!

"A waste of a good 10 minutes..." Asher grumbled.

The third shop was a shoe store. This time, he found a pair of traveling shoes with excellent protection, exactly what he needed.

"Well, at least the shoes and clothes were not taken away... But these shoes are super comfy. I wonder what material they used."

And then, he arrived at the fourth stop- A jewelry store.

"Of course, the jewelry store was not robbed. I can't even get in since it is locked." Asher pursed his lips, looking through the dusty shopping window.

There was an assortment of jewelry inside, some of which looked super expensive, but they were locked away inside, just outside his reach.

"At least 10 kg of precious metals and gems inside. I wish I could get inside the shop..."

Just as he was thinking that, he suddenly had an urge. It was a gut feeling. He felt that he could truly enter the shop if he wanted to!

"Ha... haha. No way... right?" Asher warily laughed, finding the thought ridiculous.

But after laughing for a bit, he tried it.

The next moment-

Woosh*

Asher found himself inside the shop. At the same time, he felt slight fatigue, but it was minuscule at best.

"Hey, would you look at that! I do have powers!" Asher widened his eyes and suddenly grinned. "So I can teleport? Fucking awesome!"

After calming down, Asher started looting the shop. However, he quickly found that most items were under lock and key, and only some low-value items were outside on open display. The others were protected by bulletproof glass or some other similar transparent material. And don't even mention the safe! He couldn't even open the manager's office.

"Well, drats. I can't take anything else unless I have the proper tools or a key." Asher grumbled, pocketing the scant jewelry he found. "Still, I bet these can fetch a few thousand bucks. If I somehow return from this shithole, and I get hunted down or something, at least I can sell these to some shady dealer... assuming he doesn't shank me."

But then, he had a crazy thought.

"Wait... If I can teleport... maybe I can also teleport items?" With that, Asher looked at a locked display case. Inside was what he suspected was a green jade necklace. After having an urge, Asher made a grabbing motion, and with a light sound, the necklace disappeared, appearing in his hands!

At the same time, he felt negligible fatigue, but he ignored it.

"Fucking A! Hahaha! I'm like some magical thief in those comics!" Asher had a toothy grin before eyeing the rest of the jewelry. "Let's clean up the place!"

Ten minutes later, Asher's bag was filled with a few kg of jewelry. The rest were inside shelves, and he couldn't fetch them.

"Well, that is a good-enough harvest. I can probably get off the grid with this amount." Asher muttered. But then, he realized a simple problem. His bag was getting too heavy.

"Damn, if only I could magically store it all in a magical dimension or some... thing? Hah."

Asher paused, realizing that the familiar feeling resurfaced. He felt that he could store the bag inside a magical space.

"... Eh, what the heck." Asher shrugged and tried storing a ring inside.

The ring disappeared, appearing in some form of space under his control. And then, he tried taking it out, and it popped back out. At the same time, he felt negligible fatigue.

"Okay. So, I have Teleportation, Spatial Swapping, and Spatial Storage. Got it." Asher nodded to himself before storing the bag inside the space. "Let's continue exploring while it is still daytime."

With that thought, Asher teleported out of the shop and continued exploring (Looting) the city.