“Mom, need me to help anything?” She walked over with her hands behind her back.

 

“I’m fine by myself,” her mom smiled at her and patted her head. Despite her already being 19, she still reminded her of a child. 

 

Her hair was soft and silky.

 

Iris shook her head against her palms. “I’m going to the supermarket today.” She needed to stock up supplies. She felt like the world was going to end soon.

 

The reason being, the recent changes to her body as well as what that girl had said. If the world didn’t end by summer, then she would just consider it a part of her black history. 

 

Her mom nodded and released her hand. “Go, I’ll be fine by myself.”

 

Iris stuck her tongue out. She would call Maria over before she left. She took out her phone and before she could dial it, Aelis called her.

“Hello?”

 

“Want to go out today?”

 

“I’m going to be busy…. Are you going to be with Bruna?” 

 

“Mmhmm, they will be hanging out too.”

 

“Never mind then…” If she were alone, she would ask, but since there were another two, she definitely wouldn’t. It was a strange logic, but whatever.

 

“You sure?”

 

“I am. Have fun. Also… maybe you should… stock up on food and water…” 

 

Iris didn’t want for her reply and quickly hung up. Her face felt hot.

 

Like this, wouldn’t it just telling her that she believed the world was going to end?

 

However, it was better than not saying anything. If it did end, she wouldn’t have a guilty conscience like this.  

 

She covered her face. Too embarrassing!

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“N-nothing....” 

 

Suddenly hearing her mom’s voice, she took a deep breath, and walked into her room. They say, when something reaches the extreme, you would instead feel nothing. Which was what she was feeling right now. Void. It was like she had achieved enlightenment.

 

She shut the door and jumped into the bed.

 

“Ahhh!” Alright, she felt like she was going to die of embarrassment. She blamed her mom for almost having no presence.

 

After taking deep breaths, she slowly calmed down. 

 

Her mom shouldn’t know what she was talking about. She consoled herself.

 

She changed out of her pajamas and after grabbing her wallet, she went out of the door. She needed lots of jerky and water. That was literally the only thing that came to mind if the apocalypse hit. Maybe a bat as well.

 

She didn’t immediately go downstairs and to the adjacent door instead. She grabbed the handle that was hanging in the upper middle section of the door and started to knock. 

 

Not long later, Maria opened the door and came out.

 

“Auntie, can I ask you to take care of Mom for me? I’m going to go shopping.”

 

“Sure.” Maria casually went over. Iris went downstairs and left the apartment. She fixed her expression and walked through the streets. 

 

When she arrived at the supermarket, she simply grabbed a push cart and picked up a stack of bottled water. 

 

She hoped she would be able to carry it all the way home….

 

Although it felt light when she lifted it up, she wasn’t exactly confident she could carry it through a few blocks then up a few flights of stairs.

 

At times like this, she really wished her dad was nearby. Unfortunately, he was off working.

 

After checking out the stack, she lifted it and made it out the door under the strange gazes of passersby. 

 

“Do you need help?”

 

A boy around her age came up to ask her. There was a slight blush on his face, clearly he had picked up a bunch of courage to step forward.

 

“Thanks, but no thanks.” 

 

Unfortunately, Iris politely declined. She felt it was surprisingly light. She could probably carry another stack as well. The only problem was the blaring sun. 

 

At this rate, she would become a salted fish before she made it back.

 

Drip.

 

Suddenly, she felt something drip onto her hands. Drip, drip.

 

One drop after another, it started to drizzle into a light. And before she noticed, it had turned into a heavy downpour. People began to run in the sudden rain, including Iris. However, after a few steps, she stopped running, along with everyone else.

 

She felt her heartbeat speed up, and her head started to throb. A massive amount of something was entering into her from the surroundings.

 

“Ahh!”

 

She didn’t know who started first, but people started to scream on top of their lungs. Their voices sound less and less human and more like beasts.

 

Iris felt her vision grow hazy, and her head growing more and more heavier. It was as if everything was concentrating inside, causing her to feel like her head was going to explode.

 

Not good…. She muttered in her heart. Too much energy was entering into her head, and she needed to regulate it somehow.

 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t control it. Therefore, she did the only thing that she could. Get into a horse stance.

 

She felt like her brain was going to fry due to embarrassment. God, she was doing a horse stance in the middle of the streets with a stack of water bottles in her hand. 

 

Fortunately, her sacrifice had paid off, as energy started to circulate through her body and concentrate on her lower abdomen instead.

 

Although the headache was still there, and energy was still concentrating in her head, the burden was a lot less.

 

“Roar!” She watched as someone in front of her seemed to lose control of himself as his body enlarged, ripping through his clothing while fur grew all over his body. His eyes grew a glowing red, and his teeth grew sharp. The beast howled into the azure sky. 

 

Iris gulped. A part of her wanted to run away, but she knew she wasn’t going to get far. In fact, she realized something bad! She couldn’t get out of her position. It was like a large stream was flowing into her from the surroundings, locking her in place.

 

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but after seeing the man grow all fluffy, she started to feel an itch. It was concentrated on her ears and her lower back. 

 

It quickly became stronger, and she wanted to scratch. Unfortunately, she was stuck in place by the rain, causing her to feel like she was being tortured.

 

She felt like she was about to go crazy. 

 

She was also fearful. She wasn’t going to turn into that beast in front of her right? 

 

Suddenly, the itchiness spiked as something bursted out from behind her. Not only this, her ears moved upwards turning into a pair of fluffy fox ears.

 

They were black, just like her hair.

 

Following her instincts, she raised her head towards the sky and let out a beastly roar. Her canines had elongated, however, they weren't as long as what you would see in vampires. 

 

No!

 

She did her best to go against that instinct and started to lower her head. 

 

Suddenly- she felt something explode in her head, taking her senses along with her.

 

The only thing she could feel was a cool current spreading from the center of her head, throughout the rest of her body.

 

The first thing that returned was her vision, followed by the sound of sirens, beeping of cars mixed with the sound of beasts and gunshots.

 

She was no longer in a horse stance, and instead on the floor, awkwardly holding onto the stack of water.

 

However, what appeared in front of her caused her to be speechless. Today, it was just one turn of events after another.

 

Calamity System

 

Xiv’s successor 

 

Seed of Calamity

 

Level 1

 

Task - None

 

Options 

 

In front of her was a transparent screen. If it weren’t for the stinging pain on her butt, as well as the droplets of rain that fell on her, she really felt like she was in a dream.

 

Unexpectedly, Iris was thrown directly into the opposite camp of humanity.