The corridor stretched ahead, its once bright white walls now marred by cracks and scorch marks. The lingering smell of smoke and blood was inescapable, sticking to the air like a thick, uninvited guest. I could feel the weight of the situation settling deeper into my bones with each step, but I didn't dare voice any of it.
Ken and Emily were walking ahead of me, Mia, Ryan, and Sophia a little further out. All of us were on edge, but no one said anything.
What was there to say? We were stuck in this nightmare, and all we could do was move forward, one step at a time.
"So, this is it, huh?" I muttered under my breath, my voice rough, though I wasn't sure if I was talking to myself or anyone in particular.
"One minute we're sitting in class, the next we're fighting for our lives. Typical."
Emily glanced over her shoulder at me, her usual softness replaced by uncertainty. "Avi, you okay?" she asked, her voice quiet but full of concern.
I flashed her a grin, the one I saved for moments like these. "Yeah, I'm fine. Strong as a duck," I said, flexing a muscle that didn't feel any stronger than before. It was a stupid joke, but it was all I had. Humor was the only thing keeping the dread from overtaking me.
Ken shot me a look, his brows furrowed. "You're a mess," he muttered, though there was a hint of affection behind his words. Ken was good at that—sounding irritated and concerned all at once.
"Hey, at least I'm not crying like you," I shot back with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. He huffed, walking ahead, but I could tell the slight twitch at the corner of his lips meant he appreciated it.
The rest of the hallway was eerily silent, save for the faint creaks and groans of the building. As we moved past classrooms, I couldn't help but peek inside. Some were completely destroyed—walls shattered, windows broken, desks overturned. It looked like a warzone. In others, there were just a handful of students, some cowering in fear, others staring blankly at the destruction, trying to process the situation. None of them looked particularly ready for what was coming next.
We walked past one room, and I froze for a second. A few students were still standing, some clutching weapons—makeshift clubs or pipes they must have scavenged. The door was barely hanging on its hinges, and I could see a bloodstain creeping along the floor. No one said a word as we walked by. There was no need to.
"Hey, uh, Avi, you good?" Ryan asked from ahead, his voice breaking through my haze.
I blinked, shaking my head. "Yeah, just...lost in thought."
I had no memory of what happened in that classroom—just flashes of movements. I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever I did back there—it wasn't normal. I didn't feel normal, But I had no time to dwell on it. I couldn't afford to. Not with everything that was happening.
Then, just as I was about to make another snide comment to myself, the system chimed in, its voice flooding the empty hallway.
[The Gym is now a Safety Zone.]
The announcement was jarring, like a slap across the face. A safety zone? Whatever that was, it was better than nothing. Still, I wasn't feeling too optimistic about this whole "safe zone" idea. I glanced at the others, their expressions a mix of confusion and uncertainty. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that nothing in this damn place was going to be as simple as it seemed.
"The gym's straight ahead," Mia said, sounding more alert than before. "Let's just head there for now."
"Yeah," I muttered. "Because that's totally the first place I'd go in the middle of a nightmare."
Emily, ever the calming presence, put a hand on my arm. "It's better than wandering the halls."
I sighed. She was right, of course. It was better than nothing, and right now, nothing was about all we had. So we kept moving, walking toward the gym, my mind racing.
As we approached the large gymnasium, the door wide open, I saw groups of students gathered inside. Some were sitting together, whispering amongst themselves, others pacing nervously. It was a strange sight. There were no teachers, no adults, no one who seemed to have any answers. Just scared kids, trying to make sense of everything.
I took a deep breath. "Great, a refugee camp," I muttered under my breath.
I could see that others shared the same sentiment. Some of them were huddled in groups, but there were others who looked like they had just given up. Some were crying, some sitting with blank expressions.
A few students caught sight of us entering, their gazes flicking nervously in our direction. I tried not to meet their eyes—didn't want to deal with the pity.
I let my gaze wander, looking for anything useful, when I overheard a conversation that made my blood run cold.
"No way...they fought a Demon Lord Class, didn't they?"
My heart skipped. Demon Lord Class? My head snapped toward the voice—two students talking quietly near a corner of the gym. One of them, a tall guy with glasses, was shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yeah, I heard. Their class was the only one that faced that thing. The rest of us had to deal with smaller monsters. Like, I had to fight a giant bear in mine. Nothing like what they faced."
Another student, a girl with messy hair, nodded. "I heard the NPCs came to some classes and gave them lessons on stats. No fights at all."
My mind was racing. A Demon Lord Class? That explained why I felt different after that fight. But why me? Why was my class the only one to face something that strong? And the others...they didn't even have to fight. They got lessons from NPCs. What kind of sick joke was that?
"You're telling me...that was the easy part?" Ryan muttered beside me, his voice incredulous.
I shook my head, trying to piece it together. But my thoughts were interrupted by the system's voice again.
[Congratulations in surviving the tutorial.]
The words echoed around the gym, and for a moment, all I could hear was the silence that followed.
[You are now full-fledged players.]
I couldn't stop the bitter laugh that escaped my lips. "So that's it? All of that...was just a tutorial?" I muttered, mostly to myself. "Some tutorial. I think I'd rather have skipped the whole thing."
But the system didn't care about my sarcasm. It continued its monotone announcements, like it had no understanding of the chaos it was leaving in its wake.
[Trials will be coming your way.]
[Survive and overcome to be the strongest!]
[You will now be facing waves.]
[Defend the Gym, your stronghold.]
[Rewards will be distributed based on contributions. Good luck.]
The tension in the room was palpable. Some students looked relieved, others confused, and a few were straight-up pissed off. But the one thing that echoed throughout the room was the sense of betrayal. A tutorial? We'd just been thrown into the fire for their amusement.
A few students shouted in anger, others cursed in disbelief.
"A tutorial? Are you kidding me?"
"We almost died!" someone screamed, his voice cracking.
And then, just as I was starting to form my own thoughts about the situation, the system chimed in one last time.
[Countdown: 24:00:00]
I felt a knot tighten in my chest as I stared at the countdown. 24 hours. We had 24 hours before whatever came next. I wasn't sure what the future held, but I knew one thing for sure: whatever it was, it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Well," I muttered to myself, "I'm sure glad we atleast get an alarm clock."
And for the first time since all of this started, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what came next.