I woke up early in the morning and finished getting ready to go to school. Although I had prepared, my anxious mind didn’t completely settle. Maybe because of that, my hands were shaking slightly.

Opening the window, I took in the view of the awakening street outside and took out the magical herb I had bought from Leonore last Friday. I put it in my mouth and lit it.

Don’t worry.
I’ll definitely see this view again tomorrow morning.

As I slowly inhaled the smoke, my trembling heart calmed down a bit. By the time I finished smoking, the tremor in my hands had subsided. After burning the remaining butt, I took a deep breath and set off to school.

*

Upon entering the classroom, the class president had already arrived, just like any other day.

“Did you have a good weekend?”

He greeted me in a voice that was a bit friendlier than usual. I nodded.

I naturally thought we would start cleaning up, but maybe because we had done club activities together on Friday, he seemed to have something more to say.

The president blushed and opened his mouth.

“Um, next time we have club activities…”

He hesitated, which was unlike him.

After seeming indecisive, he finally spoke a bit louder.

“Would you like to try the dish I’ll make?”

Why was he asking in such a timid tone as if he were the one cooking for me? It seemed a bit absurd.

Glancing at the president, who had his eyes tightly shut as if waiting for my response, I casually asked, “What are you going to make?”

“Huh? Ch-chocolate?”

The president stammered in response to my question, clearly not having thought that far ahead. It was evident that he hadn’t planned it out at all. Just how much did he love chocolate?

More importantly, was he really going to cook for us during this week’s club activities? According to the original story, this was something that simply could not happen.

If only it could happen, that would be the situation I had wanted for so long.

With excitement and hope, I replied to the president.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“…Okay!”

The president smiled joyfully.

After finishing the cleaning, students began to enter the classroom one by one and take their seats. As the empty seats in the classroom decreased, the hour hand on the clock approached 8 o’clock.

The tick-tock of the second hand seemed to resonate loudly like thunder in my ears.

I thought I had calmed down, but my hands started shaking again.

With less than a minute left until the morning assembly at 8 o’clock, I glanced at the clock, feeling like I was watching a countdown to an explosion.

The second hand moved.

7:59:58

59 seconds

And then, with a tick, the second hand pointed to twelve, marking the exact moment it was 8 o’clock.

WHEEEENNNG! A loud alarm echoed across the city.

“What… what is this alarm?”

“I’m so startled! What is that noise?”

“What’s going on outside?”

The classroom was thrown into chaos by the sudden blaring alarm. Students jumped up from their seats, huddling by the windows to check the situation outside.

It was understandable that the students were flustered. In the original story, it was noted that such an alarm hadn’t sounded inside the barrier for decades.

I intertwined my trembling hands and took deep breaths to steady myself.

After a moment, the alarm stopped, and an announcement began to play.

[Dear citizens, the current time has prompted a level 2 alert for actual monster activity throughout the city. All citizens are requested to evacuate quickly and in an orderly manner to the nearest shelter. I repeat, a level 2 alert for actual -]

Beyond the announcement, urgent footsteps could be heard approaching outside the classroom door.

Eve burst through the door, her expression serious.

With a firm face, she explained the situation to the murmuring students.

“This is an emergency. A massive horde of monsters has been detected beyond the western border. The west is filled with large agricultural lands, so we absolutely cannot afford to lose it. A state of emergency mobilization has been issued, which even includes academy students. Normally, first-year students would be exempt from mobilization, but this is an exceptional situation, and the teachers will select students who can contribute to the defense. I’ll announce who will stay at the school.”

The land beyond the barrier, where devices have been installed to suppress and purify the demon energy for human use, was land that had been reclaimed. The area where this land met the still undeveloped land was called the border area.

A large-scale defensive battle would unfold in the western border area. Heroes would be mobilized from within the barrier and other regions to fight against the horde of monsters and defend the reclaimed land.

In the original story, although the first-year students were mobilized, those in Class A were separated into Yoon Si-woo’s group and Sylvia’s group, assigned to relatively safe areas.

However, in the area where the protagonist Yoon Si-woo’s group was assigned, a location originally predicted to have few monsters, a greater number of monsters appeared than expected, forcing the students with Yoon Si-woo to fight fiercely.

Fortunately, due to the courageous efforts of the protagonist Yoon Si-woo, his group returned without any casualties, while Sylvia’s group returned without even engaging in a real fight.

If I could stay close to Sylvia, I might safely get through today.

That’s why I trained desperately. I didn’t hesitate to do crazy things like face a sword empty-handed, and although it was tough to kill goblins and monsters, I somehow managed to get it done.

My greatest fear was death, and because of that fear, I could accomplish things that were less daunting.

“First, all 17 students who received a zero on the first day will stay at school to help with emergency evacuation for citizens. You all understand the reason without needing to explain, right?”

There were mixed feelings of resentment and relief among the students who had received a zero on the first day.

Except for the class president, all the members from my previous training group were included.

It was only natural for them to react like that if they had no idea what was going to happen next.

“Daniel, Andre, and Mei, you three are capable enough for combat, but you’ll be staying at the school. If monsters come in from outside, the three of you should be able to handle them without harm.”

Sequentially, she had called out the names of the attacker, the shield, and the president.

I had been trying not to call them by their names until now.

It was because I knew they were going to stay at the school. I was afraid that calling them by name would create an emotional attachment.

Everyone who stayed at this school today would end up dead.

“Evande.”

After calling the others, Eve pronounced my name. She looked at me with a meaningful expression and asked,

“What will you do?”

Contrary to my expectations, she was giving me a choice. Even though I had shown insufficient performance during the last training, it meant she still deemed me capable.

The only martial art I had was a 2nd-degree black belt in taekwondo, and all I could do was produce flames from my hands and feet. Yet, considering that, I was relatively strong compared to the other students.

A lifeline was suddenly extended in front of me. If I chose to stay, the door to the gym would protect everyone, and I could potentially escape.

That was probably the best choice for me.

In a moment of hesitation, I remembered the history teacher’s words.
“Don’t do anything you might regret later.”

With that in mind, I cautiously pushed away the lifeline.

“…I’ll stay.”

Eve nodded at my response.

“Got it. Once the gym door closes, a signal will go to the teacher. If anything happens, close the door and hold out inside. I’ll send help.”

I nodded in agreement.

As much as I didn’t want to think about it, if I went with Sylvia and something went wrong that led to everyone dying, I would surely regret not choosing to stay for the rest of my life.

I imagined the sturdy door that seemed like it could withstand anything.

If I couldn’t trust the results of my efforts to save everyone, then who would?

Instead of taking the most reliable lifeline, I grasped the one I had discovered through my actions.

*

After Eve left with the students, we helped the surrounding citizens evacuate to the gym.

The magical barrier called the “Veil” perfectly blocked the intrusion of demon energy, but it wouldn’t completely stop the monsters from crossing through. While the demon energy was blocked, if demons forced their way through the veil, they would be significantly weakened. Nevertheless, it was still enough to pose a threat to citizens.

Normally, heroes stationed near the Veil would handle such monsters, but currently, most of the heroes had been summoned and were absent.

Thus, shelters were established in various locations to protect as many citizens as possible with the few heroes available to minimize potential damage from any monsters that might cross the Veil.

With the students who remained at the gym and a few teachers who were not combat staff, we could handle any weaker monsters that might cross from the Veil fairly easily. Honestly, it could be seen as an excessive force for just one shelter.

That would be the normal case.

What on earth had happened in the original story that led all of them to die?

Was it that strong a monster? Or perhaps too many monsters for the students to handle?

The only thing I could ascertain was that, in some way, it was the work of monsters.

The gym was described as being filled with blood. If it were an act of terrorism, there would have been bodies left behind. The absence of bodies indicated that it was the work of monsters.

One of the instincts of monsters was to devour everything they could see, whether it be living or dead. They had no limits to their appetite and grew stronger the more they ate.

Time passed.

It seemed the nearby citizens had nearly finished evacuating.

The other kids looked relieved, while I was still shaking with anxiety.

I had no idea when or where the monsters might strike.

Though I wanted to shut the door right away, I couldn’t act recklessly.

I thought it might be a good idea to check from the rooftop, perhaps spotting the monsters coming our way.

Whether in large numbers or just particularly strong, they would be visible from a distance.

If the monsters were fast, it might be too late to realize it while inside the gym and I might miss the chance to close the door. But if I could spot them early, I could run and inform everyone before closing the door.

So I persuaded the class president, the attacker, and the shield to join me on the rooftop.

The others laughed at my worries, but they still followed me up to the rooftop without hesitation.

Even a student with telekinesis, who hated bugs and usually avoided us, joined out of sheer boredom.

Once we were on the rooftop, I faced the school gate while the class president and the others took on different directions.

Honestly, we didn’t need five people to keep an eye out in all directions, but it didn’t matter.

We began scanning the quiet city from the rooftop.

 

An hour passed while we watched the surroundings.

Surely nothing would happen this way, right?

Just as I was thinking that, I spotted someone walking toward the academy in the distance.

Was there still someone who hadn’t evacuated?

Focusing on the small figure, I realized it was the girl with dark purple hair who had spoken to me before.

The telekinetic student, who had been wandering around chatting with the other kids out of boredom, noticed the girl and gasped in surprise.

“There’s someone who hasn’t evacuated yet! I’ll go tell them to hurry!”

She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and began to yell.

I wondered what she was doing, but as the girl approached the school gate, she suddenly halted and stared over here.

It appeared she had used her powers to project her voice over a distance.

For some reason, I felt as though our eyes met.

The halted girl took out a large black, shiny orb from her pocket.

Then, she smiled, grinning like melted cheese.

[■■■■■■■■-!!!!!!!!!]

A monstrous scream echoed.