"Lea, I am waiting for orders. Tell me when you want me to attack."
Sara's voice cut through the roar of the monster. Their teacher turned toward Sara with an open mouth, telling her not to interfere.
But the more she thought about letting other students interfere, the better it would be for her reputation. She was sure that no one could handle this rift monster anyway.
The only way to eliminate these illusion monsters was to press the special button in her system. And she would only be gracious enough to push it once these students understood their position on the pecking order.
If more people wanted to try their hand and strengthen her position, then she did not care. She was the one coming up as the winner here.
"Sara, get into position. Instead of shooting the monster, try to get our classmates back safely."
Lea ordered. It was only possible to fight a rift monster with proper technology. And Sara did not have her special ability guns approved for indoor use. She would not be able to fight against these opponents.
Sara knew that as well, but she pretended as if this was a massive inconvenience to her.
"Tsk, Lea, you are serious? Do you want me to rescue people instead of killing the monsters? You know that it's not my speciality, right?"
Sara asked, mainly because she wanted something from Lea. Sara was like an annoying little sister Lea had known since birth. She was very easy-going and indulging when it came to Sara.
And she also understood why Sara was behaving like this.
"Fine, I will take you during my upcoming rift expedition. Now, would you please do as you are tasked to do?"
Lea asked, and Sara nodded. She quickly ran out from the defence line toward the last safe zone. No one had paid attention to them except Robina, so her classmates were shocked to see her dashing past everything.
"Teacher, is it safe? A-Are the monsters going to come after us now?"
The other students asked once they watched Sara run past the defence line. But the teacher was not worried. She looked at Sara and relaxed.
"Don't worry about your classmate's actions. I assure you that you will remain safe if you remain behind the safety line, right? I was not lying about it. Now watch and learn what happens to those who try to go into the rift without proper help-"
The teacher was halfway into her monologue when Sara brought out her zip-liner and shot it toward her classmates.
Since it was an ability weapon, the zipline circled the student's waists and pulled them toward a safe area.
The fast speed of that retrieval must have hurt, but neither Himawari nor Nile complained about it. They both had been frozen stiff because of the shock and could only move once Sara helped them.
"Ah, looks like you both failed. You both are among my brightest students, so it's a shame to see you both fail like this. But I am a generous teacher and will allow you another chance if you ask me."
Both Himawari and Nile were considering this possibility. They did not even care how hard it had been for them until now. They needed to find a way to impress their teacher.
"Oi, this is not good. The monster is heading right toward us. W-What do we do now? Teacher, do something."
The teacher looked up sharply at the approaching monster. The monsters in these simulations were programmed not to head toward the student section.
If a monster was heading toward them, then that monster was malfunctioning. And such a malfunction could not be allowed.
"Wait a minute. Let me check something. Huh? This is not right. This monster is not recorded in the data. Our system is not controlling it. Is this a random bug? This is not good. We need to get away right now."
The teacher panicked once she did notice what was happening. She pretended to be brave and daring in front of her students, but she was far from it in real life.
Since their teacher did not know what to do, the students panicked because of their teacher as well.
This situation was getting worse by the second. The monster attacked outright, its sharp nails against the barrier. It sparked but refused to give way. They were safe for now.
"Listen, everyone, I will call the headquarters now. I don't know what is wrong with this stimulation, but this is not normal. We should not be getting attacked by any monster in the safe zone and-"
[Come, play with us.]
[We've come to greet you. Won't you look at us?]
[Look up at the sky. Isn't it just beautiful? We are here to meet you again.]
Lea was the first one to look up. The clear grey sky of the apocalypse ripped itself apart to show a giant eyeball. The eye grinned before the sides of the rift began to open wider.
Black, unformed hands reached out from the rift and headed toward the ground. The surroundings became darker, and that was when everyone else started looking up.
"AHHHH, WHAT IS THAT ABOMINATION IN THE SKY?"
It was concerning when even the teacher did not know what was happening. This was the first time this phenomenon occurred; no human had witnessed this site last time and remained alive.
"Is that…the rift? H-Hey, this is a simulation, right? It looks just like the description of the apocalypse in our texts. The person who programmed this must be a genius. Teacher, you can stop pretending now. There is nothing to be afraid of."
One of the students tried to laugh and pass this situation as a one-time prank being played on their class. He looked toward their teacher, waiting for her to confirm his suspicions.
But their teacher was frozen stiff, and she looked uncomfortable.
"I…this was not ever programmed into our system. T-The rift's data is causing conflict in our system. I need to let the admin team know about this."
The teacher made a quick call, but the danger remained.
The force of the rift was too strong, and the usual surroundings were beginning to get pulled into it. The students were still left standing because of the gravitational pull. But it would be too much for them to handle in a few minutes.
"Hey, there is supposed to be an emergency handle under the artificial sand, right? Teacher, you need to raise them before we get pulled in by the rift. Who knows when the admin team will respond to our worries."
Robina made the quick decision and the proper judgement. Being from the Viscount family gave her an edge over the others while acting in high-stress situations.
Lea was sure Robina had been outside the dorm and into the apocalypse-affected regions. So, she was not as affected as some other students (and their teacher) and appears to be right now.
"Y-You are right. I will activate the emergency padding. Everyone quickly grip the ground and does not let go. I am sure the admin will resolve this issue soon."
The teacher tried to maintain her cool, but she was afraid for her life. She wanted to teach this class, not lose her life.
The students did what they were asked to do. Everyone had forgotten the earlier test; the only objective was survival.
"Sara, you've worked with the admin team before. Based on your experience, what is our ETA for help?"
Lea asked Sara, but the cat-girl did not seem confident. Sara was holding herself stable with the help of her zip gear, and her other hand was working on her system.
But from the frustrating sigh she heard, Sara was not getting a good reception from the other side.
"It is impossible to say when we might receive help. I cannot connect to the main team and check on their progress. It is worse than when we are outside the dorm."
Sara complained, but it was a given why this was happening. The rift was blocking all waves from travelling in its vicinity, causing things to become unaccountable.
And once the rift passes them, it will not leave any sign.
"Looks like I do not have a choice now. I will have to take a considerable risk to get anything done. Sara, wish me luck in what I am about to do."
Lea did not give Sara time to prepare herself before she propelled herself toward their teacher.
The poor teacher was freaked out and on the verge of crying when Lea reached her. Tears stuck in their teacher's eyes, and fear clouded her vision.
"Teacher, you are given an emergency sequence-ending bomb for such situations, right? I need you to hand it over to me."
Lea asked, but their teacher was not able to respond. The teacher was shaking too much to pull the bomb out.
So, Lea had to open their teacher's bag and take the bomb out herself. That was the easiest method to put an end to this rift.