Khalifa: Queen in the Apocalypse

It was fortunately a Saturday school day, and Caius could only leave her alone to rest.

He allowed her to stay with him, low-key asking her to live there since she wouldn’t be going to the dormitory anyway. She thought about it for a while and decided not to take him on his offer.

She was planning to do too many things. It wasn’t that she wanted to hide them from him, but he was a very horny man.

She feared she wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything if she lived with any man.

This was not good. She had an apocalypse to prepare for.

After a few hours of rest, she prepared herself to go outside, taking out her phone to check on her financial status.

She looked at her bank account. There was a total of 4300 dollars which was her life savings from her jobs, grants, and contest wins.

In addition, Jacob sent her 200 as promised for the kissing lessons, kindly asking her when’s the continuation along with his sending.

She rolled her eyes and ignored him. She was too busy for this.

Going back to the issue at hand, she wondered how to prepare for the apocalypse with this money. Even the book didn’t say how long it would last.

In the book, even after a few years, the zombie problem hadn’t been dealt with. Only that the surviving humans were strong and united, giving hope that there was a happy untold ending somewhere.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand: The average spending of a middle-class worker in her country was about 1000 dollars per month, with an average earning of a little above that.

With this amount she could rent a month (or two, but the apocalypse was likely to happen before the landlord asked her for it), as well as basic necessities for her to survive for at least a year.

It was just that she may not be able to keep all these items. After all, her space was really small—a hundred cubic meters, that was: 5 meters by 10 meters with a 2 meter ceiling height. One square meter was still plantable land and couldn’t be used as storage.

This could indeed store a lot, but not enough to guarantee a comfortable life for an indefinite period of time.

As she went to the real estate office, she passed by a familiar bridge and saw the old man again.

Fortunately, she had hoarded a lot of food in the space and handed a pack of snacks to him and his dogs.

"You look a bit different, young lady." He said, his wrinkled face narrowing with a smile.

"A good change, I hope?" She asked. She was still wearing her usual disguise and she was a bit curious as to what he was to say.

He had dementia, as she witnessed various times in the past—like acting as if he met her for the first time—but he never said nonsense.

"Not sure," he said, shrugging, before starting to eat. She smiled and shook her head, saying goodbye.

She rented a decent furnished studio unit and bought some standard recording equipment for her live streaming.

Why live streaming? Because it not only gave way for popular creators to make money, it could also give her a channel to those rich people she could get funds from.

Not to mention, as long as people watched her recorded video or replays, she would get royalties.

What else could a girl with no network do?

She had done research on the popular acts of influencers. It was either food, travel, clothing, or entertainment.

She set up the living room as a clear area where she could do her shows, and compressed the living spaces everywhere else.

Fortunately, the furniture was compact and multi-purpose, so such arrangement didn’t make the rest of the house feel cramped.

Arranging herself and applying a little make up, she dressed herself simply but showing just enough skin.

She wore a blue silk tank top, and a skirt. Not too revealing, but very sexy.

As she dressed up though, she discovered something very peculiar. She was combing her hair when she found white hair.

But she looked closer and discovered it was more blueish-silver than white, very similar to what she had in her previous life.

She stared at the strands in deep thought, but she couldn’t tell what was the answer for now, so she put the issue aside for a while.

She set up the camera and checked on her angles, sounds, lighting, and other things she had to consider.

Unlike other high mages, she didn’t look down on entertainers at all. She found them quite fun, so there was no psychological barrier in what she was doing at all.

She opened her room and she titled it ’mermaid’, sitting on the upholstered chair looking at the screen.

For a while there were no changes, but she was patient and still as water and she sat for a couple of minutes, waiting.

She watched as the number of people in the stream increased to two digits and stopped.

This was obviously the cap a newcomer who hadn’t done anything yet can achieve.

[So beautiful! Is it a star?]

[A bit presumptuous to call herself a mermaid right?]

[I think she’s worthy!]

[I don’t know her. Must be someone about to debut!]

She smiled at the camera and there was silence, before comments started pouring in.

[You’re so beautiful!!!]

[That smile hits my heart]

She chuckled at this, "Thank you." and more comments about how lovely her voice poured in.

Mostly it was asking what her name was, how old she was, or if she had a boyfriend.

Of course, it wasn’t all positive.

There were naturally a few acerbic comments.

[Tsk another slut!]

[The entertainment industry is really going down if this gets popular]

Khalia was naturally unaffected by all these and simply smiled, enchanting most of her viewers.

"Today I will be singing ’You are my World’ by Kaize." She said, "I don’t claim to do it better than others, I only hope you enjoy it as I enjoy singing it."

You are My World was the most trending song lately. A song by a popular idol, Kaize, who was considered to be the top artist of his generation.

Singing his song was naturally a risky move.

She didn’t have to look at the comment section to see some violent reactions.

However, she opened her mouth and started singing. Voice reverberated through the mic and the screen, capturing her audience, making them feel like floating relaxedly in the water.

The comment section went completely silent, and everyone was in a daze until she uttered her last syllable.

"Done."

When she finished the comment section was still empty, before abruptly exploding, the lines scrolling so quickly one could barely follow the messages.

[Amazing!!!]

[You’re gonna debut soon, right?!]

[Whoever says you will embarrass yourself eat your shit like you promised!]

[Received reward from Flowerbites: +100 Roses]

[Received reward from Lilia: +10 Bikes!]

[Received reward from Kaizelover733: +10 Fireworks]

[Please sing more!]

[When is your debut??]

She wouldn’t enter the entertainment industry, of course, she didn’t have time.

However, this was a good compromise so she decided to be very kind to her fans.

"Thank you for your support! I will return tomorrow for another cover. Is there anything you want to hear?" She asked, and the comments poured in.

As well as the rewards.

Khalifa smiled. Maybe she’d be able to place a lease on a good villa if she continued like this.

***

Later, in the adjacent City A, a quirky man ran to a starred dressing room. He didn’t look particularly well-put and he wasn’t very good-looking.

At first glance, no one would think he was the manager of some of the most successful public figures.

"Kaize! Kaize!"

He called and saw the target person, sitting on the couch, lazily resting. He had shoulder length wavy reddish hair, an earring, extremely sharp facial features. Very handsome, as always.

The dashing star, who was resting on the couch, frowned at the noise. "What?"

"Kaize, look! It’s another cover of your song." He was so passionate, but his artist only rolled his eyes.

He was honestly not interested. How many thousands of covers were out there?

This guy found him whenever he watched someone do a mildly passable rendition of his song and it was extremely annoying.

"Go away." He said, but the man did not give up.

"Come on! Listen to it, just once!"

Kaize, honestly, was not in the mood. He’d been having pervasive dreams lately and he hadn’t had enough sleep.

But then the other man played the video, and an ethereal voice surrounded the room.

He couldn’t move for a while, before he abruptly sat up and grabbed the phone from his manager, phoenix eyes fixed on the gorgeous face of the woman singing.

His entire body burned as he looked at her. After a few beats, his gaping expression turned into a sly seductive grin.

’Found you!’ he uttered.

The muse in his dreams!

It took you long enough!