In Uttarakhand, between Khaliyan and San, nothing other than dense forest could be seen by the satellite.
There, inside a dome-like structure made of translucent blue color, stood a group of 13 people, all of them looking up at a single spot with varied expressions.
Some had concerned looks, some looked agitated, some were trembling with rage, some gazed at that spot with uncertainty, and some were serious, but there was one guy with red hair and cold golden eyes, who had no emotion apparent on his face.
[Time before the tutorial: 10 seconds.]
A blue illusionary screen kept floating in his sight, showing him the timer that was about to hit zero.
His eyes, however, were focused on the same spot as others. A place where a ball of light appeared before it started taking the shape of a humanoid body.
[Hah…..
You are free from the petrification already?]
The first thing everyone heard was those words tinged with regret before a world-shattering beauty materialized, shaking her head in regret.
The boy in question just stared at the girl that materialized, with an emotionless look.
[Well, whatever….
I'll get more chances.]
The girl then shrugged her shoulders.
Her eyes then moved away from the guy, and turned toward the others, scanning them with a squinted gaze.
Their expressions weren't hidden from her, she could read them like an open book, but did she care?
Nope.
[I'm here to tell you guys that although the number of participants required is not filled because of some guys running away instead of following my advice, we will have to do with the number we have.]
The girl began in an uninterested and dismissive tone, and even though the irritation in her voice when she spoke about the people running away was quite clear, no one spoke anything about it.
[13/ 18]
This was the number of participants since the ones who were supposed to arrive, ran away.
[In 5 seconds, your world will turn into an apocalyptic world.
And right after that, you will face the goblins you are supposed to.]
The girl, who was the system, paused and scanned the surroundings.
[Go on.]
She waved her hand to a lady who had his right hand raised, asking for permission to speak.
But her face clearly showed her disinterest in even listening to the lady.
The lady, however, still asked what she wanted to ask.
"What about the ones who ran-"
*Tremble*
The lady was about to ask a question but before she could complete her words, she felt the ground beneath her tremble.
The lady paused with a frown, but then she realized it was not just her who felt it; everyone here felt it.
[I would be holding onto something if I were in your place, mortal.]
Just then, the system turned toward Alex and uttered with a chuckle.
Alex frowned, but…
The moment Alex heard those words, his head snapped toward the large boulder that he was sitting beside.
The chuckle of the system was never a good thing, it would only chuckle if it saw humans suffer. So, after the AI told him about the earthquakes, he could only come to one conclusion…
'More are coming…'
Yeah, more earthquakes, and if the system advised him to hold on to something, they were not going to be light.
*Tremble*
As Alex rushed toward the boulder, the ground trembled again, but this time, it was better felt by everyone, and the system's words, although were for Alex, they heard it as well.
So, connecting the dots was not hard.
"An earthquake!"
One guy yelled out loud.
"Take cover!"
His friend, who was standing beside him ordered everyone to take cover.
That friend's name was Rohit Kumar, and he was an army officer, so his presence called for attention and strictness, causing everyone to nod their heads.
"On the ground!"
Rohit roared out an order as he felt the ground tremble again, harder than before.
Everyone quickly lay down on the ground.
Garvit and Shera shared a glance.
"Growl?"
The tiger growled, questioning Garvit about what they should do.
Garvit glanced at the group lying down on the ground, and then he gazed at Alex who was almost at the boulder….
"Let's go."
He hopped on Shera as he pointed toward Alex.
Shera, the tiger, nodded its head….
*ROAR*
And with a roar, it rushed toward the boulder Alex was now holding on to.
What everyone other than Alex failed to notice was the diabolic grin on the system's face the moment it noticed people lying on the ground.
*Tremble*
Along with the earthquake, Alex heard the AI's voice, informing him about the earthquake's status.
The look on the system's face told Alex that the ones lying on the ground were not ready for what they were about to face.
*Tremble*
<5.5.>
The increasing magnitude only confirmed Alex's guess.
*Tremble**Crack*
<6.5.>
Alex left like the world was shaking lightly because unlike the tremble before, now the earthquake was entering the scale that's called major.
And it didn't seem to be stopping.
Alex had already seen Garvit and Shera who were sitting over the large boulder.
Well, it was not actually a boulder, it was a small mountain, and it seemed to have been broken down for something.
But yeah, it was strong and stable.
*Tremble**CRACK*
<7.5.>
This time, along with the earthquake, the crack that was ignored by everyone last time, was heard again, but it was way louder this time.
"The tent!"
Rohit finally realized what it was as he pointed at the large tent behind them.
It was even a surprise that it was standing until now, but it looks like Garvit used a lot of money to make that tent.
In the end, however, it was just a tent, no matter how strong it was….
*Crack-Boom**Crumble*
It crumbled. The main mast holding it up started to snap…..
"Run!"
Rohit shouted as he saw the tent descending over them.
[Yeah, yeah, run.
Run for your life!]
The system, in the air, somehow had a pack of popcorn in her hands as she cheered for those guys.
The humans, however, didn't have much time to run since the tent was falling toward them at a very high speed.
The stronger and more enforced the tent was, the heavier it was, and that meant the speed at which it fell would be faster.
*TREMBLE*
<8.5.>
If that was not enough, the magnitude of the earthquake was getting higher, almost at a catastrophic level.
*CRACK*
But the problems didn't end there…..
*Boom**Boom*
They could hear a loud cracking sound as the world shook.
*Crack**Boom*....
The sound of trees cracking and falling was heard.
*Rumble*
The world rumbled as if screaming in pain, and then they saw it…..