Doomsday: My Football System In The Apocalypse

Both Emmy and Sunny were not surprised that their grandfather already knew that he had failed to awaken an ability. After all, he was a powerful monk and could distinguish who possessed an ability from who didn't just by looking at them. So, they weren't surprised.

But really, were they seeing things, or had the man's face actually turned a shade of red? No, that couldn't be.

Sunny couldn't help but say,

"Old man, your… face,"

He said, pointing at their grandfather's face.

"What's wrong with my face?"

He asked, rubbing his palm on it.

"Look, it's red,"

Emmy answered, holding up a shard of mirror to him.

The man looked into the mirror, only to quickly look away in embarrassment. He cleared his throat and said,

"Hmm, you guys flatter me. When was the last time I saw you two smile at me like this? Especially you, Sunny—you've never smiled at me before, not even once. So I can't help it, you know."

The two siblings couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of their gentle but cold-hearted grandfather acting shy like this. After laughing for a little while, they stopped as their grandfather stared at them with a serious look. Suspecting he had something important to say, they both quieted down and focused.

The old man faced Emmy and began to speak.

"Seeing that you're fine and doing well must mean two things. Either you didn't attend the awakening ceremony—which I'm sure would never happen, given your ambition to get an ability—or…"

He paused, his gaze moving between the two of them.

"Or you guys already know what happened at the ceremony."

"What do you mean?"

Sunny was the one to speak, looking stunned.

"I'm sure you already know. Now that it has come to this, I should warn you—"

"I still don't understand what you mean,"

Sunny interrupted, speaking in a commanding tone.

"The fate that befalls everyone who fails to awaken an ability, and what the organizers do to them. I'm sure you already know about it, seeing as Emmy is doing well here,"

The old man said in a calm, stern voice.

Now it was Emmy who replied. He suddenly got to his feet, pointing a shaky finger at his grandfather.

"You wicked man! Don't tell me you knew about it before and didn't mention anything to us! You didn't even stop me from attending the ceremony despite knowing I could die!"

Emmy said angrily.

"Would you have listened if I had tried to stop you from attending? I mean, you've always been crazy about getting an ability and becoming the best footballer,"

The old man replied.

"Let's say I wouldn't have listened, but you should have prepared something for me beforehand—or come to the ceremony with us!"

Emmy said again, still angry.

"The day I entered the Heavenly Tower was the end of it, and I never knew you would fail to awaken an ability. More importantly, I was sure your great brother—my disciple—would save you without thinking twice,"

The man said with a smile.

Emmy pointed his finger again, wanting to say something, but his brother stopped him and spoke instead.

"But you should have mentioned something to us. You should have warned us and told us your worries. What if I hadn't been smart enough to look into the matter and save him at the last second? I could have lost my only brother,"

Sunny said sternly.

"If you were that stupid to overlook something like that after losing your friend two years ago, then you're not my disciple. And thanks to you, other kids who failed to awaken were spared this year—apart from those who had already been given the pills before you got there,"

The old man said.

"They were spared? Why?"

Emmy and Sunny asked at the same time.

"To clear people's suspicions, of course. Even if you're foolish enough to leak what you found to the world, nobody will believe you as long as those few kids are alive. That's the meaning behind their actions,"

Te declared.

"Wow, smart move. Now, what will happen to us?"

Emmy asked.

The man sighed, looking at both of them with a serious expression.

"Nothing will happen for now, but they'll be keeping an eye on you both. Any wrong move, and they'll silence you. So I have to warn you: I know I can't take you under my wings, but you both need to be careful from now on. Just act as if you know nothing, as if what you saw today never happened. Treat it like a dream—and like neither of you attended the awakening ceremony today.

"Emmy, you should focus on your football career and ignore everything around you. Sunny, you should also focus on whatever good things you're doing, protect your brother, and not stand out too much. That's the only advice I can give you. Those people are heartless."

Then he stood up, pushing the load of gifts he had brought toward Emmy and said,

"Actually, I came here today with gifts to congratulate you, thinking you had successfully awakened an ability. If I had known you failed, I would've stayed at the temple, waiting for you to come to me for help—then I would have locked you up. Haha. Now tell me, what do you need me to do?"

Both Emmy and Sunny stared at each other. It was just as they had thought: their wicked grandfather would have forcefully taken them in if they had gone to him for help. Thank God he had come to visit them instead.

'But how did he know we needed something?'

Emmy thought.

"Why are you staring at me like that? I'm sure you need me to do something. Don't tell me those welcoming smiles earlier were free,"

The old man said with a smirk.

"Damn, he caught us,"

Emmy whispered into his brother's ear, smiling nervously as he said,

"Actually, we need you to create a charm that will help me hide the fact that I don't have an ability—even with the use of those ability-checker devices."

"What if you get caught?"

Their grandfather asked.

"If you do a good job, then I won't have to worry about getting caught,"

Emmy said calmly.

The man smiled, then turned around and walked toward the door.

"If there's nothing else, you can come for it tomorrow."

With that, he left.

"Grandfather, you're the best!"

Emmy shouted, making sure he heard.

---

After the plan was set in motion, Emmy couldn't wait any longer. The system still felt unreal to him, so he couldn't help but keep scrolling through it, up and down, with maximum attention.

"Will you just keep staring at that the whole day? Aren't you coming to help me with this so we can quickly go get the watch before the store closes? It's already sunset,"

His brother's voice came from behind the wardrobe, where he was busy sorting through the different clothes their grandfather had brought along with the gifts.

"Oh, I almost forgot,"

Emmy said, quickly getting off the bed to help his brother.

"Wait, did Grandfather top up the account for us?"

He asked.

"Yes, why?"

Sunny answered.

"It's already the end of the month, and we'll resume school two days from now. I need to go get my own personal training kit to show them that I have arrived,"

Emmy said with a smirk on his face.