Down on the first floor of the building, chaos remained unsettled.
Teachers and students scrambled in every direction, desperate to hide from the Zombies. However, their efforts were futile, and soon enough, they found themselves as the targets of the creatures.
With each passing moment, the hordes of Zombies multiplied, while the numbers of people alive remained a question.
Those who were lucky and still alive hid themselves in secure locations, praying for the nightmare to end. But whenever the screams of their schoolmates reach them, they couldn't do anything but cower in fear and nervousness.
After some time, the noise of screams and shouts stopped echoing throughout the school.
It wasn't because the threat of the Zombies had disappeared; rather, there were hardly any survivors left to be preyed upon.
"Growl..." But growling sound still remained high as the Zombies wandered around.
With no targets or humans in sight, they all single-mindedly walked, emitting bloodthirsty growls as they searched for their next prey.
Inside a dimly lit chemistry lab, located on the first floor, a few people were huddled in hiding.
Their pale faces were etched with worry and anxiety as the continuous banging of Zombies reverberated at the door. Despite their persistent attempts, the barricaded door held firm, obstructed by heavy objects like shelves, preventing the Zombies from gaining entry.
Moreover, as it was a laboratory, there were no windows facing the corridor where the Zombies were located, giving them a sense of safety.
Amongst the survivors in there, there was also Aki Fujiwara, Haru's stepsister.
Her face was etched with a frown of worry and anxiety as she stared at her phone, hoping for a call that she knew would not come, given the absence of a network signal.
"Haru..." she murmured, clutching her phone tightly.
She knew Haru was somewhere out there in the school, but it had been quite a while since their last call. Given the dire circumstances, her heart couldn't help but worry about his safety.
'Haru... just safely stay hidden... and please... don't do anything reckless...' She pleaded in her heart.
She remembered how she had given out her location in a moment of anxiety. Now, filled with worry, she regretted her decision, knowing him too well to believe he would stop until he reached her, despite the danger lurking everywhere.
They had known each other since elementary school and had been always been together as more than good friends. However, in the past few months, as they became a family due to their mother and father marrying each other, a crack seemed to have formed in their relationship.
Despite her attempts to maintain normalcy in their relationship, she could feel the change in Haru. He had erected a wall between them, and it deeply hurt her. However, she understood the reasons behind his change and felt powerless to change the situation because of her decision.
But now after hearing how worried he was when they were on the call, it made her happy for the first time in a while that Haru still deeply cared for her.
However, this realization only intensified her worry, as the gravity of their situation became increasingly apparent, and she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Haru.
Putting her phone aside, Aki then shifted her worried gaze on the only adult presence in the lab and walked toward her.
"Damn it all... why did it have to happen today of all days!" the woman muttered, pulling at her long black hair in frustration while sitting on her chair.
"Orimura-Sensei..." Aki called out.
"Aki-chan!!!"
Suddenly, the same person turned and grasped Aki's shoulder as she continued, "What do I do!? Just when I finally found a good man to go on a date with, this hell started!!! WHY!? Why did it have to be today of all days!?"
"Eh? Um..." Aki felt troubled as she heard her problem, not knowing how to reply.
Orimura Akiba was a twenty-seven years old teacher. Despite her good looks and intelligence, she remained single with no prospects of marriage, and the reason behind it was her weird antics which she displays from time to time, making her relationships to end on the very first day, or rather within an hour.
Despite the chaos and danger that surrounded them, Orimura seemed more upset about her ruined date plans than the zombies outside.
Any normal and sane person would not be worrying about such trivial matters given the time and situation they were in, and best example would be those few students in here, whose faces were pale and were trembling in fear.
But they all knew what sort of teacher she was so no one found it strange.
"Oi! Sensei! Can't you read the mood? Why are you worrying about this nonsense right now?!" Instead of Aki replying to her, another person stood up and spoke out in irritation.
The boy appeared to be of the rough-and-tumble variety with blond hair and a strong build, but even he looked a bit pale with fear, given the circumstances.
"Yoshida-kun, my problems are not something a kid like you can understand! I don't get paid enough for this!!!" She replied back to him.
"And besides, if it wasn't for me helping you all, you all would have been good as dead out there!" She added.
"Wha-!?"
"Yoshida-san, please stop..." Before Yoshida could say anything further Aki stopped him.
"Tsk."
Yoshida would have argued angrily if it was anyone else, but considering it was Aki, someone so kind and good-natured who had helped him with tests many times, he couldn't bring himself to say anything further.
"Orimura-sensei didn't mean anything negative... She's just trying to lighten the mood," Aki hastened to clarify, turning to her teacher. "Isn't that right, Sensei?"
"See, if only you had a bit more brain to get it, like her!" Orimura playfully teased Yoshida, sticking out her tongue, which did not suit her image and age.
She then turned back to Aki and inquired, "So, what did you want to ask?"
Seeing that the situation had calmed, Aki asked with a visible expression of worry on her face, "Sensei... do you think anyone will come to rescue us?"
Hearing her question, everyone turned their attention to their teacher, hoping for some words of reassurance.
"Rescue, huh? I wouldn't hold any hope in that if I were you. Whatever is happening is beyond our imaginations, and I don't think it will be resolved easily," she replied with a helpless expression.
"What do you mean?" Yoshida asked cautiously.
She pointed towards a blue hologram screen that was floating, visible only to her, and continued, "As much as this sounds insane, these game-like interfaces, or whatever this thing called the System is, it's our only way to survive for now. Do as it says - level up to get stronger and survive."
"You think we can fight them?" Aki asked with a troubled expression as she stared at her System's interface.
"Fight is not the right word, Fujiwara-san. We have to kill them as the System says."
Fear and nervousness hung on their faces as Orimura finished.
The thought of fighting was already beyond their means, yet being asked to kill those who were once their buddies or schoolmates was a daunting task.
Understanding their troubled feelings, she continued, "Don't think too much about it for now... Given our situation, I think for now we should just remain hidden here and hope for the best that they leave us alone after a while. But don't hope too much, or else you will be disappointed."
Her words hung heavy in the air as silence regained its place, as no one chose to say anything afterward.
They, too, understood the helplessness of their situation with the looming threat of zombies.
"Maemura-san?" Aki called out as she returned to her seat in the corner, sensing that something was amiss with her friend.
"A-Aki..." Maemura responded in a panicked tone as she saw Aki approaching.
"What happened!? Your face is burning hot!!" Aki exclaimed, quickly touching her friend's forehead and confirming the high temperature.