Jacob Tan

Solo Apocalypse - 42

On the outskirts of Roothaven, where the meager illusion of civilization faded and the swamp seeped, I perched above in a canopy meant for birds larger than human. Moss every branch such that any wrong step could be fatal.

Fatal for the regular climber, that was.

My clone was one of many, scouting the area, and eyeing the wildlife. By now, all my clones save for the unreachable were renewed. First was still with the group from the library, vying for the end of the swamp. I ‘chec...

Solo Apocalypse - 41

A crowd had formed as people elbowed their way forward, pushing and shoving to get a better view. I took my places among the crowd, watching from different vantages. A group of armed men, swords, clubs, and other crude weaponry in hand.

A large man with scarred arms climbed above the roots, staring down at the masses as his group shouldered and suppressed the crowd. His eyes were dark and his face just as scarred. A jagged smile.

“Welcome to the apocalypse!” He boomed, his voi...

Solo Apocalypse - 40

A single step was enough to say goodbye to that twilight sky. We wasted no time in leaving the [Sleepywood], taking our rewards, Items, and anything else before pushing through that prismatic portal. There was a subtle sense of displacement before the world reasserted itself. The constant buzz of insects, the humid warmth, and the new surroundings slid into clarity. It was a welcome change in atmosphere, better this than the feeling of constantly being watche...

Solo Apocalypse - 39

I was a survivor.

The apocalypse had killed me countless times, it had taken… things from me. My peace of mind, my ignorance of hardship. It stole my illusion of potential happiness. It had stripped every layer of my morals, my mind, and my body. Challenged me with unbearable torment, pain, and agony.

It had broken me, thrown me the pieces, and demanded I make something of myself or die.

I whispered to myself, inaudible. “You’ve already decided, Evahn,” I said. “Ne...

Solo Apocalypse - 38

The howl was piercing. It shook bone and rattled the twilight sky. A shimmering of light in the air, a blanket of something falling over the forest. The woods became altogether more dim, deeper into that equilibrium of light and shadow.

Suddenly… awake.

The first gloaming scythe appeared from the treeline, peeling away from its natural mottled—a [Firebolt] slammed into it, setting it on fire. Stronger and brighter than I remembered. ...

Solo Apocalypse - 37

I faded in and out of consciousness. General weakness and the natural desire of the body to recover forced me to sleep, to rest. When my original conscious slept, everything else seemed like a dream. Stark points of realism, lucid dreaming with the vague awareness everything I did was somehow real.

Because it was, actually.

I lowered the bow, watching the arrow quiver in the wood. Ten feet from my wooden target. I frowned, adjusted, and loosed another arrow. The whistling projecti...

Solo Apocalypse - 36

[Solo’s Instinct] warned me just a moment before the ground exploded and the world was thrown to dust. My head snapped back and something ripped at my flesh, tearing a scream from my throat.

I heard shouting faintly, as my head lolled. It took me two seconds to realize my hearing was shot. Two more to realize I was on the ground. I forced my eyes open, seeing double vision. Parker was dragging me away, blood dripping down his forehead. His mouth was open, veins bulgin...

Solo Apocalypse - 35

“From what I’ve gathered, most Skills are affected in some way by the attributes.” Rickson was telling us, looking out the building’s windows. The group had taken to speculating about the system and theorizing how it might function in our free time.

The structure used to be some kind of study or warehouse. There were more of those faint symbols on the stone. Tables strewn with diagrams, scrolls, and odd containers. Shelves full of oddities and trinkets, chests a...

Solo Apocalypse - 34

My eyes glided across an otherworldly scene of modern man in the close spaces of a ruin framed by a forest tinged blue. A space removed and alien, washed with moonlight.

Sixth’s [Twilight Saber] glinted in the twilight, sleek with scarlet blood. A stark contrast against the blue-green backdrop of the [Sleepywood]. My clones had wordlessly taken to the front without any complaint. They were, after all, expendable.

It was a good thing that they di...

Solo Apocalypse - 33

“Is this not ever strange to you?” Rose asked me—asked Ninth.

Ninth shifted. “Honestly, this is the first I’ve done this.” He said. “Believe me when I tell you it’s pretty disorienting.”

My original self was testing the [Twilight Saber], facing against Sixth, the only uninjured clone. It was strange setting myself against myself. I knew every movement, every thought of my opponent because it was my own.

And yet, there was a strange...

Solo Apocalypse - 32

In the end, enough people decided to leave the [Sleepywood] that it passed some invisible threshold whereupon the rest decided as well. I watched them leave. They stepped through the prismordial sheen framed by the stone portals and, on the other side, I watched them in return.

Inside, Parker was one of the left, along with Rose and Rickson. He looked at me. “Shall we head out then?”

I blinked. “You’re not leaving?”

Parker looked at me and I saw ge...

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Solo Apocalypse - 31

We fell into a rhythm. My clones acted as forward scouts, accompanying both Jack and Rickson, as we made our way back to the exit.

“If we run into trouble, don’t hesitate to leave me behind,” Ninth told Rickson.

“You said you feel everything your other selves do… are you sure?” He asked, uncertain.

“Positive.” Eighth replied, having a variation of the same conversation with Jack.

There was no need for them to accompany my clones but both claimed it woul...

Solo Apocalypse - 30

I sat as Ninth dug into my backpack. He wordlessly handed me a water flask which I drank from voraciously. It tasted like plastic. Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth were leaning on trees around the camp, staring out into the dusk. A few people were checking their shadows, flickering around the campfire.

Most were staring at an Evahn. Wondering which one was real.

“So you can copy yourself?” Rickson was somehow the bluntest. “That’s amazing. Is that a Class? Somet...

Solo Apocalypse - 29

It was a prickling across my skin, a shiver up my neck and down my arms. My frantic eyes were drawn to everyone else, moving unaware. I twisted, unable to locate what was wrong when I found Rose and Jack staring at me with wide eyes.

No, behind me. Screams broke out.

In a single moment, everything crystalized, and I whirled around. A nightmare loomed. A too-human grin on a creature that was anything but. Angular features as to highlight a sharpness in the air. Ha...

Plans For Patreon

First of all, thank you to everyone who miraculously decided to pledge to me.  It's a little baffling truthfully. 

I've added additional support tiers for anyone interested in reading the story in advance, ahead of my regular posts on RoyalRoad. Currently, I've prepared only a single advance chapter but I'll be adding a second one soon enough.

For now, I'm keeping the number of advance chapters relatively small as I've heard its a pain to update them for every tier. If a...