Consumed By Insanity

A few minutes have passed since the Godking Roshan's departure. Yet, most people remained nailed at their spots, preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Kyle was no different. It took him quite a while to digest all the pieces of information the Godking Roshan was trying to convey.

Although it was difficult to believe, Kyle finally accepted the fact aliens were now in the process of invading the Earth.

'Ah f*ck! I really hope my family is alright amidst this insanity.'

Kyle desperately wanted to storm his way out of the dome, but realization soon dawned over him. With his present capability, it won't take him a day to meet his demise. Not to mention the aliens that were about to arrive, Kyle, who had no proper education on survivability, may die swiftly in the harsh environment.

*Clap* *Clap*

"Listen up. Although that guy's statement was hard to acknowledge, we had no choice but to. I, you, and all of us have directly witnessed multiple meteors falling from the sky and how the man established a dome to shield us. The Matrix Band attached to our wrists is also a piece of credible evidence to support his claim. Therefore, it's safe to assume we're presently entering the apocalypse era." The student association president, Bernard Wayne, spoke in a clear voice. His explicit elaboration attracts many students' attention.

"Is that mean we can't use our cell phone?" One of the students asked.

"That's highly possible. The electricity would soon cut off as well if another attack hurled against power plants." Bernard said logically after a brief contemplation.

"Then, how am I supposed to contact my family? They must be apprehensive about me."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The best solution we have at the moment is to wait for the military to arrive. They were specially trained for this sort of type of situation and would obviously soon reach their hands on us." Bernard shared his thoughts.

Many students nodded their heads in agreement hearing Bernard's opinion, including the majority of the senior professors.

"Sorry Bernard, we old folk couldn't offer much assistance. We would leave such significant matters decided by youngsters, which is you to be precise." One of the old professors stepped forward and patted Bernard's shoulder with a warm smile.

"Is that so? So, based on your words, I can interpret that from today onward, I'll be the one in charge of our group's affair, right?" Bernard asked with a smile.

"Definitely!" The professor answered almost in an instant.

"Then, I'll appoint you, teacher, as a guard."

"A guard??" The professor asked puzzlingly.

"Yeah, a security guard. If aliens somehow manage to get inside the dome, you'll be on the frontline to become bait. Your fat stomach must contain juicy meat. The most suitable allurement." Bernard defined it with a chilling smile. He licked his lips in a seeming way a beast does when it discovers its prey.

"Oka-eh? A-a bait?" The professor shuddered in between his stutter.

"Yes, since your aging physical body isn't qualified to carry hefty-related stuff or move agilely, isn't it an honor to become bait for the future pioneer of humans?"

"Y-you!" The professor pointed his finger, trembling in rage.

Ignoring the professor's response, Bernard continued, draping his arm over the former's shoulders, acting as though they were close friends, "Alright, chill. That was just one of the worst scenarios I considered. The aliens might be unable to step the dome's perimeter. What are you scared of?"

"Have you lost your mind, student Bernard? Who do you think you're, having the audacity to act like this to your elder? Scram your arms off my shoulders!" The professor cried out furiously.

"Heh, do you still think you're in a position to lecture me? I'm the one in charge here!" Bernard hollered in return. "Are you still used to ordering me around like your lackey just because I'm the student association head? Your reign is over, old man. I can do whatever I want now, including beating you! Either follow my commands or leave!" A tinge of madness flashed across his eyes as he tightened his arms around the professor's neck.

Bernard then proceeded to glare in the student's direction, "You guys, as long as you stay here, you ought to obey my rules. Otherwise, dire consequences will be waiting for yo-"

Bernard's words were cut off when a punch landed on his face.

"Screw you, bast*rd! Did you think you could command us as you will because you're the student association president?" The man was about to continue to throw another fist when his hand was abruptly grabbed by someone.

"Stop it. Although his personality is kinda twisted, his way of thinking is splendid. We need to utilize his mind in order to increase our survival rate." A foreign man with blonde hair spoke. His stocky build was enough to intimidate everyone in his age.

'If I'm not wrong, this foreign man should be a third-year senior, Thomas Riverstone, a fanatic judo martial artist.'

"Guess it's your lucky day, sh*thead." The man released his arm from Thomas's grip and walked away.

Bernard spits blood out of his mouth and mumbles, "Sick bast*rd."

"Get up. We need your other ideas." Thomas forwarded his hand and pulled Bernard to his feet.

"Tch, why should I help ungrateful people?" Bernard refused while wiping the remaining blood on his mouth.

"Because if you don't contribute your brain to this, I'm afraid you might become a mass target." Thomas flashed an innocent smile.

"Heh, you're quite clever, aren't you?" Bernard quipped.

Thomas smiled but didn't say anything.

Bernard brushed past him and went to the front of the crowd, "Like every apocalypse movie taught, rather than trying to live independently, it would be far better for us to stay together and combine every resource we could find. Henceforth, before the electricity is snipped off, we need to move our belongings quickly to the gymnasium since that room has the biggest space among the other rooms. Autobots, roll out!"

Although the students had witnessed Bernard's true nature revelations and found his personality was unlikeable, they couldn't deny that his idea was great. So, they quickly returned to their dormitory to pack up their things.

When Kyle arrived at his dorm room, one of his roommates greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hello, Kyle, how's your stat?" Mu Chen asked with his eyes gleaming in curiosity. He was a Chinese guy who first arrived in the dormitory when school orientation started. Usually, he'd kept his hair neatly trimmed, a typical nerds look. However, his hair was disheveled today, and a trace of weariness was evident on his face.

"Pretty ordinary, I believe. How's yours?" Kyle replied while chugging a bottleful of water.

"Look!" Mu Chen extended his left wrist, and a status screen immediately appeared before Kyle's eyes.

[Name: Mu Chen]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[Title: None]

[Level: 1]

[Attribute Points: 0]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 1]

[Endurance: 1]

[Force: 1]

Kyle couldn't help but reveal a schadenfreude smile as he studied Mu Chen's stat that was poorer than him.

He quickly coughed to hide his expression and said in a stifling cackle, "Hmmm, not bad. Wait, how do you display your status screen to other people?"

"You only need to check an option box around the left corner of your status screen." Mu Chen explained with a smile.

"Oh!" Kyle summoned the status screen and did as his friend told.

[By checking this box, you will allow other Matrixter to view your status]

[Yes or No]

Kyle pressed for yes.

[Are you sure you want to continue with your status revealed without restriction?]

[Confirm or Cancel]

Kyle didn't hesitate to press the confirm button.

[Your status information is now displayed to the public. You may change it to private by unchecking the option box.]

'Sigh... It feels like I'm living in a game now. How unreal.' Kyle mused, turned to his friend, and showed them his status.

"Woah, your status attributes are twice as mine!" Mu Chen clamored.

"Hehe," Kyle gave a forced laugh, mildly embarrassed for receiving an intense admiration stare from Mu Chen.

"Aren't you a bit enthusiastic today? Is it because you've been reading a lot of system novels recently, and it's finally transpiring in our lives now." Kyle changed the topic without thinking twice.

The room abruptly fell silent, and Kyle received a smack on his head, "You idiot, who would feel joy at times like this?"

"I know, I know, that's why I deliberately said that. It was to cheer you guys on." Kyle defended himself. "You guys' expression looked so glum earlier that the whole room emitted an ominous ambiance. It's even challenging for me to breathe in the same air as you guys."

"Haish... I can't contact my family. That's why I'm so depressed earlier." Su Sibai explained from the side. He was a bulky-build guy with a softie heart inside.

"Me either." Clementine seconded.

The room once again descends into a gloomy stillness.

Kyle also had no energy to brighten the aura and silently packed his possessions.

The sky was already dark when they arrived at the gymnasium. A few hours have flown by since Bernard's arrangement was issued. The second wave of meteors began during that period, exactly just like Godking Roshan's claim.

Despite the surrounding dome's wall being altered to be opaque, the people could vaguely nevertheless feel the impact through some mild earthquakes.

"Hey, you, come here." A rather tall guy suddenly called him out.

"Yes?" Kyle asked in visible confusion.

"You're a freshman, right?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Alright, since you look so idle, I got a task for you."

'Look idle?' Kyle glanced at two plastic bags he respectively carried in both his hands. 'Is this guy fuck*ng blind?'

"Let me carry those bags, instead. You should go to the west warehouse to fetch gasoline." The senior insisted.

"Gasoline? For what purpose?" Kyle asked perplexedly.

"I don't know. Bernard just told us to bring him a pack of gasoline. Anyway, stop asking me questions, just do the job properly, alright. Here's the key. See you later." The senior fled away after handing over the key. He didn't even take the bags with him!

'Who's not doing the job properly, now?' Kyle shook his head inwardly.

He contemplates for a moment when his gaze caught the scene of students looking like in the middle of an intense argument. Kyle also stared at his bloated tummy before decisively carrying on the senior's task.

...

It cost him around ten minutes to finally locate the warehouse the senior mentioned. It was a small warehouse that was used to store garden tools.

He inserted the key and began entering the place after switching on the light. It didn't take him long to spot a stark-red jerry can on the corner of the room.

He grabbed it, smelled it, and confirmed it indeed contained gasoline. At that moment, the light suddenly went off.

"Dafuq!" Kyle hurriedly carried the jerry can and ran out of the building as fast as possible. If he can describe what thing scares him most, that's a ghost.

"Sh*t! I forgot to lock the door." Kyle cursed as he stopped in his tracks. He didn't expect the electricity would be cut off this soon.

He reluctantly returned to the warehouse in total darkness. It was morbid and gloomy. Various wild images started to invoke inside his mind involuntarily, making his breath slightly heavy.

It was then he suddenly sensed something fast slipped past his feet.

"W-what was that?" Kyle was about to instinctively flinch out in fright when he discovered he couldn't move his body.

"This... What's happening?" Kyle muttered in panic. His heart was drumming crazily as a sense of uneasiness creeped his mind.

"Kekeke, to think I'd be forced to be in a passive state just by infiltrating a human base, what a joke!" A distant voice with a clear obnoxious tone reached into Kyle's ears.

'Human base? Don't tell me this guy is one of the aliens the Godking Roshan mentioned previously? But how the heck did he manage to get inside the dome? Wasn't the dome specially designed to repel the alien? Just, what's going on here?' Realizing his mind had gone astray too far, he immediately scrubbed off his thoughts and shifted his focus, contemplating how to escape.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Kyle screamed, trying to stall the time as much as he could. There's a possibility that his friend and the senior might be looking for him if he went missing for an extended period.

"Kekeke, I know what is currently cooking inside your mind." Kyle's heart did a jump as he stared in the voice's direction in horror.

"What do you mean?" Kyle released a nervous laugh.

"Kekeke, you guess... Be honoured that you'll be my first victim. Farewell, lucky human." The invisible pressure suddenly lifted from Kyle's body, but it was too late for him to avoid the stinging force aimed at him.