*Snap*
A single snap echoed through the whole blue-colored dome.
The already tense atmosphere has now become suffocating.
Everyone knew that the snap, paired with the wide grin on the system's face, was anything but a good sign.
Everyone waited with batted breaths and taunted bodies.
Their eyes were looking around for any changes.
*Badum-Badum*
The only thing that could be heard was the violently beating heartbeats of the humans in the dome.
But that was only until the system hadn't opened her lips...
[Now, it's time for you guys to get a view of the situation outside.]
The grin on the system's face didn't diminish; it only widened, just like the eyes of humans.
"Growl!"
"Snort.."
"Grrr…"
Everyone finally realized what the system wanted to show them.
Garvit wasn't immune to the shock; his eyes were wide open as his legs trembled a bit, but he was all right because of Shera's support.
But Shera himself wasn't doing great.
The tiger had its fur standing to the end as its big, round, slitted eyes kept staring at the things that the system was trying to show.
*Grip*
Even Alex was gripping his dagger as hard as he could, his cold eyes observing the surroundings.
*Thud* X n
Some people fell back, directly on their hips; fear was clear on their faces as they tried to crawl backward.
"N-No…."
"..... are we going to die?"
"God, save us."
Despair-filled voices were heard as the people took in the details of the area around the dome.
Grievance, horror, despair, disbelief, stupefaction, and doubt were the emotions that could be perceived by the people inside the dome.
[See it now? This is how it is all over the world.
The world is never going to be peaceful or relaxing for you guys; you all better get used to it.]
The system scuffed, but looking at the expressions of the humans, her face turned a bit red.
{Hehehehe…}
The despair and suffering of the people in the dome were like a sweet serum for the system, and she was enjoying every moment of it.
What she did before was simple; she made the blue-colored dome covering the view of the humans transparent again.
Now, the humans could see what was happening outside.
They were unaware of the situation till now since the system had made the barrier opaque after the roar was heard, shielding the humans from the sound or the view of the outside, but not anymore.
"Huff!"
"Grrr…."
The sounds and the view on the outside were not being shielded anymore.
The apocalyptic scene in the area was now open to those inside the barrier.
Large, green monsters that looked like buffed-up and grown-up versions of the goblins could be seen roaming around the barrier with clubs or hammer-like wood in their hands.
They seemed to be oblivious to the presence of humans inside the dome-like barrier.
The large crater formed by the quake before could be seen even now, and looking at that crater, a chill couldn't help but go down the spines of the humans.
That large gash on the earth reminded the humans of the roar from before.
'Was that thing a monster as well?'
'Will we ever have to face that thing?'
Such questions clouded their heads.
"Growl…."
But the growls and grunts of the monsters outside of the barrier pulled their attention toward them.
Just thinking about how strong those beings would be makes their legs weak.
The goblins that looked much smaller than those 2-meter-beasts were giving them a hard time, so much so that many of them even thought that without Alex and Shera, they would've died.
So, how could they not fall in despair when they look at those 2 to 2.5-meter-long beasts?
Their palms were large enough to crush the humans' skulls without much effort.
They doubted that even Alex might not be able to defeat one of those beasts, much less a group of them.
Even Alex thought the same.
He wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat all of them.
'Escaping is a different matter, though.'
Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the deep crack in the ground.
A crater so big that it seemed to have divided the whole planet into two.
But then his eyes turned toward the system, only to find it giggling to herself as she looked at the humans, who were realizing how hopeless their situation was.
She had a palm covering her lips, and her giggling was suppressed, but it wasn't hard for Alex to know that she was happy; the sheer amount of glee in her sapphire-blue eyes told everything.
She was enjoying the situation as much as she could since she didn't know when she was going to come across a view like this.
The tutorials were about to end, and the main scenarios would take a bit more time to get decided, so she wanted to fill her quota of desperate humans for a few days.
But Alex kept staring at her with his emotionless eyes.
He was still ignored, as the system didn't even spare a glance at him, who wasn't making the expression she wanted to see, but he kept on it.
Alex believed—no, he was sure that there was something more to this situation.
Yes, this apocalypse was a sudden change, and many people couldn't adapt, but some did, and Alex was one of them.
Alex had been reading the information section of the system for some time now; after all, it was too big for him to read it all at once.
Among them, there was a line written in bold letters.
[-No scenario would be impossible to complete; you just have to find the perfect condition.]
Alex didn't have anything that told him to believe that the rules wouldn't be broken.
Maybe the system had the authority to change the rules, or maybe the rules never even mattered to the system, but he still believed that the rules were something that couldn't be broken.
The world has already turned into something where trusting humans is the last thing you would want to do, but a human needs something to believe in this despondent situation.
Even Alex wasn't immune to that need.
He was strong, sure, and he had an AI that could help him survive, but no matter how many tricks he had up his sleeves, he knew that there was a power disparity between him and the system.
The system was strong enough to shield them or make them invisible to a being whose roar was enough to freeze them in fear and terror.
That made Alex realize something…
'It is not something I can hope to win against, at least not yet.'
Yet, the system never used her power until the conditions stated in the rules were met.
She desires the sight of humans' despair, but she just clicks her tongue in frustration when the humans somehow survive.
Yes, as the AI mentioned, the system was following the rules.
This did make Alex wonder who made the rules, but he decided to not focus on that matter for now.
He's not even strong enough to stand against the system, so what's the use of thinking about an entity that can make the system rule-bound?
Alex just continued to stare at the system.
The system tried to ignore him as she had been doing, but after a while, she couldn't help but grind her teeth, her jaw clenching hard as she closed her eyes.