Why Can't I Find Them?!

Blue pixels had begun gathering on the north side of the valley. Within seconds, they materialized into hordes of terrifying monsters: ginormous minotaur, snake-haired gorgons, and winged wyverns charged towards the students with reckless abandon.

The freshmen who were closest began fearfully running away. Not unexpectedly, the fleeing students were accompanied by screaming and shouting. The noise drowned out even the ferocious roars of the monsters.

However, amongst the fleeing students, there was one who stood steadfast. Sparks began gathering around his body, before suddenly dancing into his palm.

"Begone, filth."

A white flash filled my vision and blinded me for one second.

Suddenly, the front lines of the monster horde were electrocuted. They stumbled and fell, creating obstacles for the monsters behind them-- wyverns had to swerve to avoid their fallen comrades while the terrestrial monsters tripped over their brethren.

Despite the blockage, the monsters crawled over each other as they scrambled towards the boy.

However, the pale-skinned boy was only vaguely annoyed.

"I only killed the one directly in front of me…"

He skipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the reaching claws of the gorgons.

I recognized him immediately.

The white haired boy's name was Leo. He was Gauss' main rival and greatest ally.

He's not the one I'm looking for though…

My dynamic vision was pushed to the limits as I scanned the crowd with careful eyes.

I saw Lucia further away, but she was already too far and running in another direction. She wasn't the person I was looking for anyways, though I still regretted not being able to work together.

Where is that person?

Without warning, the ground quaked. I nearly lost my footing, turning around to see what had caused the commotion.

A boy with black hair like obsidian and glittering blue eyes like diamonds was face-to-face with an isolated minotaur. I recognized him immediately.

Gauss was the only one who could face minotaur head-on, though that was limited to only one. The other monsters must have been unintentionally lured away by the fleeing students.

Somehow, the blue-eyed boy had managed to kick the minotaur's knee and caused the monster to fall onto its back-- that must've been the source of the quakes. Before the monster could get back up, Gauss ran away with his D ranked agility and outpaced the other students and monsters with ease.

"I suppose this test was perfect for Gauss… After all, he's basically been living in a survival challenge for the past two years…"

Seeing the main character himself caused me to feel some guilt. After all, I had written the story and fundamentally was the root cause of all of Gauss' suffering.

Well, it's not like I knew that my book would become reality, I reasoned to myself.

Those selfish words did little to comfort me, but I didn't have any time to feel bad about myself.

Soon the monsters would be upon me as well, and without finding the person I was looking for… I stood no chance against the horde. Unlike the other main characters, I did not confront the monsters directly-- they were of a completely different caliber. People like me could only run with their tails tucked.

Although I wasn't fast enough to outrun the monsters, they focused on the easier, slower students. I winced as I heard people behind me stumble, their screams chasing after me as I ran. Their deaths weren't real but I knew that dying would hurt.

Hopefully, I won't have to experience it myself, I prayed as I sprinted as fast as I could.

As the valley widened, I saw the ground open up into vast plains covered in yellowing, dying grass. My mana-enhanced eyes also saw that the plains transitioned into dense forest after about thirty meters.

Looking behind me, I realized that my F+ ranked agility was not enough; the monsters were slowly catching up despite how I was pumping my legs as hard and as fast as they could go.

My only chance was making my way past the treeline and out-maneuvering the monsters.

I plunged into the field of dying grass without stopping, charging forwards recklessly.

Behind me, I heard several students scream abruptly, before their cries were cut off.

Those were the students who tried to hide in the grass.

"Humanoid class monster, the minotaur. Renowned for their brawn and bull-like head, but lesser known for their incredible sense of smell," I recited to myself. The simulated monsters behaved just like what I had written in my novel, easily detecting the hiding students and prioritizing the easy food.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the less-informed students, the monsters were distracted.

My reckless charge towards the tree line was successful, but I didn't slow down after I was shaded by the forest that surrounded me on all sides.

Instead, I began pushing myself harder and running faster.

I didn't find the person I was looking for at the beginning… That means I have to get to the location where they died in the novel and intercept them…

After gaining some distance from the tree line, I carefully climbed the tallest tree that I could find. Hiding amongst the trees so as not to get spotted by the wyverns that flew through the air, I began looking for landmarks.

Shading my eyes as I circulated my mana, I spotted the place I was looking for:

The Castle.

An imposing bastion of sturdy stone-- the last traces of the simulated civilization that used to inhabit the simulated Gate we found ourselves in. The Castle had been abandoned when the defenders had run out of food and been forced to suicidally leave the safe walls in an attempt to flee to somewhere with more supplies.

However, the students only had to survive for thirty minutes. Long-term concerns like food and supplies were irrelevant and the Castle was the perfect short-term base.

Most importantly, the person I was looking for (at least according to System Overload) was going to be there before they died.

I measured the distance between the edge of the forest and the Castle.

"I should have enough time to get there."

…

"I just hope that they're still alive by the time I arrive."

I climbed down from the tree and began dashing in the direction of the Castle.