• Campus Chaos

The cafeteria was silent. Everyone was on edge as the system window hovered above them.

"Survive..."

"Two hours!?"

In an instant, the absolute silence was replaced with panic.

As if to make matters worse, the ground trembled below them. The entire building shook violently as the very floors cracked open.

"Seems it's already starting!" Seo-Yeon shouted over the noise, her grip tightening on Ji-Hoon's arm.

"Mana is already descending..." Ji-Hoon uttered to himself.

Around them, students were screaming, and chairs and tables were tumbling across the cafeteria floor.

The system window reappeared...

[The Monsters are closing in!]

"Shit this wasn't how the trial went in the first timeline?!" someone shouted from across the room, "How are we supposed to defend ourselves when we can barely stand due to the crazy tremors!?"

The tremors grew stronger, and ceiling tiles began to crack and fall.

A heavy light fixture crashed to the floor, narrowly missing a group of students filling the air with dust.

The students screamed and scattered in all directions.

"We need to get out of here before this whole place comes down!"Ji-Hoon nodded, his face set with determination.

He turned to Seo-Yeon and whispered, "Stay close to me, no matter what."

All Seo-Yeon could do was nod her head silently.

In another corner of the cafeteria... Sung-Tae, one of the most popular kids in the school known for his athletism wore a smug expression.

"These fools, instead of using their limited time preparing for ways to survive, their cowering like bugs."

Sung-Tae was calm about the entire thing. He accepted his fate, or in this case, the fate of the world.

The world he knew was no more and as such, it's best he prepared himself for what's in store.

He glances over at the food storage, "This is my chance to secure food."

His eyes met those of the cafeteria staff, they stood by like a guard dog knives in hand. However, the staff looked nervous, their eyes darted around at the students in the room.

The earthquake made it harder for them to maintain their balance.

"Hmph, they can barely stand still, this is child's play for someone like me." Sung-Tae was prideful about his abilities as an athlete.

"If I move quickly, I can take them by surprise and grab enough food to last me through this chaos."

He waited for a particularly strong tremor to hit before making his move.

The cafeteria staff stumbled as the ground shook violently, and Sung-Tae saw his chance.

"Now!"

He sprinted toward the serving area.

His plan appeared to be flawless, but just as he closed in, he realised he made a blunder... "Woah!"

He acted in a hurry and this led him to misjudged the distance and trip, losing his balance.

He ended up slamming his into the solid surface. The pain shot through his leg. Sung-Tae grimmaced in pain, "I didn't take into account the counter."

The cafeteria staff immediately noticed the sudden movement and turned their knives toward Sung-Tae. "What do you think you're up to kid!?" A burly man with a scruffy beard asked as he lunged forward with his blade aimed at Sung-Tae.

Sung-Tae tried to recover, but the earthquake's tremors made it difficult to find his footing. Athlete or not, being injured didn't help make things better with the current predicament.

"This food is mine!" The staff member plunged his knife into his gut.

The pain was sudden and intense, and Sung-Tae gasped, clutching at his wound with both hands.

The cafeteria workers quickly overpowered him, pulling him away from the serving area and forcing him to the ground.

The other students stood by, looking at him with a slight serious expression, with some backing away and others frozen in horror at the sight of the blood. It was obvious these ones were the one who died in the early stages of the trial in the original timeline.

The staff member with the scruffy beard glared down at Sung-Tae, still holding the knife. "Suits you for trying to steal our food!"

Sung-Tae's thoughts raced as his strength began to leave him. "No... not like this," he thought as his vision started to blur away.

"I just wanted to make it through... I thought I could find a way... I just wanted to survive..."

The cafeteria staff gathered around, creating a barrier to guard the food supplies. The chaos and panic grew worse, and the earthquake's aftershocks kept shaking the building. The first person to lose his life, the first casualty was Sung-Tae.

Ji-Hoon wore a nonchalat look on his face as he watched the life in his classmate's eyes fade away slowly, he didn't care in the slightest, this was the apocalypse after all. "All hell is breaking loose..."

The towering staff members stood still guarding the food. "Why don't you kids go get food elsewhere, outside, maybe you won't get devoured by the monsters?" One of the staff member stated.

"That's right, we won't harm you, as long as you behave yourselves, but if you come close to our food, we'll make you regret it."

Ji-Hoon didn't know what to make of the current change of events. They couldn't even escape the room as the exit was located behind the food counter.

"The way I see it, we only have two options," He turned to Seo-Yeon. "Wait for the entire building to be overtaken by monsters and meet our end. Or, face them in an attempt to escape."

The others also understood the cards that they were dealt. However, amidst the confusion, one person saw the current turn of events as an opportunity... "Haha, this is perfect!" Min-Joon shouted catching everybody's attention. He stood with his group, their eyes were also locked on the cafeteria staffs that were guarding the food.

"This is our chance," Min-joon declared with a steady voice.

"We need to move now, Sung-Tae tried doing it alone, but we'll do it together. They're only seven of these pigs and dozens of us. I say we rush them, stash whatever item we can get our hands on and make a beeline outside!" He declared pumping his fist in the air.