Cruel World

Although the orc was killed quickly by the prison warden, it was just the start as more things started falling from the sky. None could see clearly at first because of the darkness, but now they could see clearly that the monsters were thrown from outside the huge wall.

Many monsters fell inside the city, bringing chaos and destruction everywhere they landed. The monster also started massacring around them. Blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the ground red.

Screams rang and echoed in the sky as everyone panicked and ran everywhere. The city descended into chaos as everyone was running for their lives, disregarding everything.

After all, not every place had experts like the prison warden, as almost every expert in the city was deployed to the city wall.

The city government bodies reacted quickly as extraordinary people started appearing, and many people also started to descend from the city wall, facing off the monster falling from the sky.

The sound of battle was heard everywhere, not just at the top of the wall anymore. The extraordinary people also started to intercept the monsters in the sky, not letting them have the chance to land and causing a massacre. As there were many extraordinary people, the method used was different. Some just jumped high into the sky and killed them before they could reach the city; the more skilled one would then use the corpse as a cushion to jump and kill another monster. While the mages used various spells to attack the monster, they filled the sky with many dazzling lights as fireballs, lightning, and winds were thrown into the sky. They avoid using earth spells because they could fall back and hit other people.

Fear and despair filled the entire city. The sound of battle competed with the screams, filling the sky with a deafening sound.

Ash watched everything happening in front of his eyes with a stunned expression.

His mind couldn't process what was happening.

Everything just feels unreal—so unreal.

Not even two days ago, he was just some normal person in a peaceful world full of technology.

War.

It was something so foreign to him. Not two athletes that were competing full of safety gear, not underground boxing that happens inside a ring, nor was it a movie that was full of visual effects. But there was real war, a war that was full of despair and death, where deaths and blood were everywhere. But now, it happened just in front of him.

It felt surreal—so surreal that he thinks that everything was just a dream.

If not for the heartbeat that beats like a drum and the fear that overwhelms him, he would really think that everything was just a dream.

Luckily for him, he was in front of the prison and under the protection of the prison warden.

Many people also started to crowd where he was, pushing and pulling among themselves, crushing him in the middle.

No one cared if there was someone who fell and trampled under them. Everyone was just thinking about themselves.

Maybe the only ones who still cared about others were mothers who lost their children, who were persistently screaming and calling in hope that their children were still alive and would come to them.

The battle lasted for an entire night and finally ended when the sun finally shared a bit of its light with everyone. The monster began to retreat, leaving those inside the city to fend for themselves.

Unexpectedly, the monster was not as aggressive as it was at night.

Hmm?

How strange?

Wasn't the monster usually becoming more aggressive the more cornered they were?

Peace finally returned when every monster in the city was killed.

But no one had a happy expression, everyone's expression was gloomy and dark.

Although everyone had such expressions, he could see something that made him unsettled.

It was as if everyone was already used to it.

Used to war and death.

How?

How can everyone get used to something like that?

Just where in the world did he transmigrate?

Creak!

Ash suddenly heard sounds like an old door being opened, creaking because it was not lubricated periodically.

He turned around and saw a woman coming out of the door.

He was stunned.

Then he saw that many people began to come out of their houses one by one.

He frowned when he saw that there were only a few people coming out of every house.

"Are you thinking about, 'Why don't they let the people inside their house?'"

Ash was startled and turned towards where the sound was.

He didn't know when, but the prison warden was already sitting at his desk leisurely. In his hand was a cup filled with an unknown liquid that was still producing smoke.

Ash nodded at the prison warden's question.

Wouldn't it reduce the casualties greatly if many people could enter the house?

"Kekeke, what a naive boy! You better change your mindset quickly if you want to live longer. I don't know where a protected boy like you came from, but this was a cruel world; everyone lived for themselves. They didn't care how many people were sacrificed, as long as they were safe. 'To better protect ourselves, we need shields that are exposed to danger.' Do you understand, boy?"

Ash was silent in contemplation when he finally realized what the prison guard meant. It was just like the saying, 'To escape from a beast, we don't need to be faster than it; we only need to be faster than others.'

With the people outside, the monster wouldn't bother attacking the ones inside the house.

"I understand."

"Smart boy. We also need to know that we can't invite wolves to our home."

Ash narrowed his eyes and scanned everyone near him. He finally knew the reason why no one let the people outside go inside their house.

In a cruel world where surviving was difficult, one could do anything to survive. Killing and robbing were not rare occurrences.

In a chaos of war where death was everywhere, they could just blame it on the monster. No one would know what happened, and no one would bother to investigate the deaths of a few people because the casualties of the war were more than that.

In the end, everything would be left as it is, with the grievance of the death and the smile of the killer.