Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

The water is weightless and warm, like floating in a dream - but his mind is stuck on Haima.

He thinks about their final interaction. The way he held her so closely. It felt like a cruel joke - their intimacy had finally broken through to a deeper level. He'd felt like they were ready for the next step in their relationship - either making it official, or sharing a true intimate moment.

And now, he's not sure if he will ever even see her again.

He pushes that thought out of his mind - of course he would. Haima is strong. Outside the kingdom, all alone - it's incredibly dangerous. But if anyone can handle it, Haima's the one he would put his money on.

She isn't just powerful, she's got incredible sensory abilities. She can find a way to stay out of danger.

And hey, she's able to talk to ghosts like nothing. So she also is the type to find unlikely allies when she needs to.

Barns resurfaces, coughing up water again.

"How long was that, Clancy?" he asks excitedly. He'd gotten so lost in his thoughts, he had no idea.

"FORTY-THREE SECONDS."

"WHAT!?" Barns shouts. "No way! I could hold my breath longer than that before I even started this training!"

"FOCUS!" Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

Barns furrows his brow. He's done over ten attempts now, and it doesn't appear he's made any progress whatsoever. Still, Barns isn't the type to give up even if something isn't immediately successful.

He dives again, trying to focus on the technique. Imagining bubbles. Imagining breathing underwater, like a crab.

'Or maybe…' Barns thinks to himself. 'Maybe I can try to imagine having gills or something.'

He closes his eyes again, but all he can see or think about is Haima. He understands why she had to leave in such a hurry. It's not like Underhill and Maria would endorse having a murderer walking free around town - and Barns isn't sure if he even had the moral authority to defend Haima in such a case.

Still, if she killed someone, she must have had her reasons…no way the girl he'd come to crush on was a whacked-out serial killer.

Or is she?

Barns shakes his head under the water. Those types of thoughts wouldn't help at all. He knows he needs to push Haima out of his mind. At least for right now.

Glug glug.

A few bubbles escape from his mouth, but he's pretty sure they're just air bubbles. Still, he focuses on how the air feels as it leaves his lungs and he sinks deeper into the pool. If only he could re-create that sensation in reverse.

He thinks about what it would be like - for bubbles to form in the water instead of from his lungs. To flow into him, not out.

He can imagine the sensation, but he can't quite replicate it. As he attempts to focus, he finds his mind drifting again. He'd encouraged Maria to make some preparations for a festival. The last festival she organized didn't go over too well - she DID try to boil Clancy alive.

'Oh, well,' Barns thinks to himself. 'I think she's got that out of her system, at the very least.'

Speaking of systems…

He thinks about Zelia, and all the intrigue surrounding her 'blossoming' relationship with Underhill. But Zelia isn't the only Administrator he's interacted with…

He shivers under the water just thinking about the other Administrator, Pallas. The hanging brain. He hasn't interacted with the thing ever since it gave him the ability to level up - a fact he's not upset about in the slightest. If he never sees that brain again, it'll be too soon…

Though Barns knows the truth. If he's truly going to reset the apocalypse, he'd encounter Pallas again before long.

He surfaces again, looking over to Clancy. He was just about to run out of air, but that time definitely felt longer.

"How long, King?" he asks again. But the crab isn't paying attention - in fact, he's completely turned around, leaking a little bit of foam from his mouth.

Two bodacious girls from town are approaching the pool in skimpy bathing suits. They both have curves in all the right places, bouncing up and down. Barns starts staring too.

He just lost a girlfriend, after all. Maybe he could get away at least with a peek.

As he floats on the surface of the water, the two girls point at him and wave. "Oh my gosh!" one of them says excitedly. "Is that the legendary hero!"

'Screw it, I could use a break.'

Barns waves. "Hello, ladies!" he says cockily. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

The two women (easily 9/10s) jump into the pool and start swimming around. They seem a little nervous to be in the presence of Barns and the king, but they're having fun, splashing each other.

He swims over to them at the shallow end of the pool, wading toward them. His torso fully out of the water, he's glistening with water, and his muscles (which have grown even bigger since he's started 'leveling' are almost as impressive as Godrick's - on a much smaller frame, anyway.

The two girls laugh and eye him up and down. He suddenly feels a little embarrassed - he's in nothing but wet underwear, and it's not leaving much to the imagination down there.

Clancy pivots to watch, his mouth still frothy as his eyes zoom in on the girls' chests.

"Nice to meet you two," Barns smiles, staying low enough in the water so that his underwear aren't visible. It's keeping him roughly at eye-level with the girls' chests - he doesn't mind.

"Glad to see you both decided to enjoy the amenities," he says, before chastising himself internally. 'Enjoy the amenities? Really?'

"Oh, yeah! Our friend Jordan suggested we come by here! She said it's always pretty empty! He-he!"

"Yeah, but we weren't expecting to run into celebrities here! Oh my gawsh!"

Barns blushes. "Celebrities? Me and Clancy. Naw. We're just the heroes who are going to save the whole world."

Clancy scuttles closer to them, but doesn't get into the pool. Even the perverted crab knows his place - and Barns had a rough day.

The wise crab could tell that even if Barns wasn't talking about Haima, he was thinking about her. It's not every day someone finds out their almost-girlfriend is a murderer.

"AMBIANCE MODE!" Clancy declares, shooting a powerful jet of foam into the water. The water froths and roils, immediately becoming warmer - almost like a hot tub. The surface of the water begins to grow a little foamy, like they're in a nice bath.

"Good thinking, King," Barns says, looking back at him with a wink. The boy and his crab exchange a knowing nod. Clancy is giving him the 'thumbs-up' - this moment is all for Barns.

"Oooh," one of the girls says, noticing the increase in temperature. "This is really nice!"

Barns flits his eyes flirtaciously, looking back and forth between the two women. "Guess I should properly introduce myself," he smirks. "I'm Barns. And who might the two of you be?"