7: It might be worth a fortune!

Day 6 before the Apocalypse.

Vivi arrived back in Rostia in the early hours of the morning, just as dawn was breaking and by the time she reached her apartment, she was completely exhausted.

It was still too early to visit the malls and buy new clothes, so she decided to freshen up and get some rest first.

“What a week,” she groaned, collapsing onto her bed with a tired expression.

Rolling onto her side, she turned her gaze toward the bag containing the golden crystals.

“Thirty golden crystals…” she whispered, still struggling to believe the unbelievable haul she had secured.

It was an impossible hoard that dwarfed even Veridia’s greatest prodigies.

But as the initial excitement faded, doubts began to creep into her mind.

“Am I being too greedy? Or am I simply aiming too high?” She frowned at the bag. “What if fusing with all these crystals kills me?”

She let out an exhausted sigh, frustrated by her own spiraling thoughts.

Before she knew it, she slept off like a log and when she next opened her eyes, an eerie crimson glow had filled the room.

She bolted upright, threw off the covers, and rushed to the window.

The sky had turned red, even already fading.

The crystal drops had already happened, and the streets below were packed with panicking crowds. People were shouting, running around, and pointing at the strange objects scattered across the pavement.

Vivi hurried to the nightstand and grabbed her phone.

The digital clock read 1:45 PM.

“Damn it! I overslept!”

Panic surged through her as she sprang into action, hurriedly stuffing clothes and other essentials into her suitcase.

Before she could zip it shut, her phone began to ring, instantly followed by a heavy, demanding knock at her front door.

She froze.

Glancing down at the screen, she saw Ward’s name flashing across the display.

‘Could he really be the one standing outside?’ she thought, a bitter frown twisting her features.

Sighing, she walked out of the bedroom, closed the door, then she crossed the small living space, and wrenched the front door open.

True to her prediction, Ward and Susan stood in the hallway.

“I thought I made it perfectly clear that we’re over,” Vivi said coldly, glaring at them both.

Ward wore his usual smug, arrogant expression. “Haven’t you looked outside yet? Have you seen what’s happening?”

Susan chimed in eagerly, stepping forward. “Early this morning, the sky turned red, and all these strange objects started raining down, smashing everything. Look at this...” She held up her palm, revealing a glowing white crystal.

Vivi raised an eyebrow, instinctively making a small movement to inspect it, but Susan immediately pulled her hand away, clutching the crystal protectively with a greedy grin.

“It’s mine,” Susan said possessively. “Who knows? It might be worth a fortune!”

Ward chuckled, nodding in agreement. “I grabbed a blue one, too. Who knows what these things actually are? They literally fell from the sky. The religious fanatics downstairs are already screaming that the end times are here.”

Vivi stared at the two of them with an indifferent expression.

“Is that all you managed to get? You didn’t secure any more crystals?”

Susan gasped as though she had just remembered something important. She playfully slapped Ward’s shoulder.

“Oh, that’s right! We could have grabbed one for Vivi, too. Although...” She let out a sad, sympathetic pout. “There were just so many people in the way, scrambling for the crystals. By the time we thought about it, everything was gone.”

Ward nodded right along with her. “That’s right.”

Vivi knew they were full of it. From the memories of her past life, she knew Ward had originally scored at least one blue crystal and two whites, while Susan had managed to hoard two white crystals.

Even so, they weren’t entirely wrong about the chaos. The streets had descended into madness as people fought over the strange objects, making it difficult for most individuals to collect more than one or two.

A few fortunate people had managed to gather several crystals and share them with their friends or family, completely unaware of just how valuable they would become.

“You know…” Ward said, stepping closer with a patronizing smirk, “just in case the world really is ending, you only have me to protect you, Vivi. You don’t have anyone else left.”

Nami stared at him, her chest tightening. Those words had always been his favorite weapon, and in her past life, they had worked because he had known exactly where she was vulnerable.

Her parents had died in a plane crash when she was nineteen, leaving her alone in the world. Her younger sister had also been missing for so long that Vivi had exhausted every possible means of finding her without success.

Many people had eventually concluded that her sister was dead, but Vivi never accepted that possibility.

As long as she didn't see her sister’s body, she refused to believe she was gone.

Still, the absence of her family had left a painful emptiness in her life.

Ward had entered it like a knight in shining armor, offering comfort and protection when she needed them most. Having grown up sheltered by her parents, Vivi had been too naive to recognize his true intentions.

She had trusted him with everything her parents left behind, believing he was helping her protect their inheritance.

Instead, he had slowly taken it all for himself under the pretense of caring for her.

And now, after everything he had done, he still had the audacity to stand before her and claim she needed him.