Alexander sat astride his motorcycle, one hand loosely gripping the handle as the other rested against his thigh.
For the first time since everything started—
He stopped moving.
Not completely relaxed. Not safe.
Just… still.
The silence inside the classroom pressed in around him. It wasn't true silence—there were distant sounds bleeding through the walls. Faint screams. Something heavy collapsing somewhere far off. A low, dragging noise that didn't sound human.
But compared to outside—
It was quiet enough to think.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Right."
The past hour replayed in fragments.
The world leaders.
That announcement.
Immortality.
Then—
Gods.
Punishment.
And now—
This.
Monsters crawling out of nowhere. People torn apart. The dead getting back up like broken puppets.
"…Great."
That was all he had for it.
Not shock.
Not disbelief.
Just mild irritation.
At first, there had been something else. A kind of high. Watching everything fall apart—it had felt… right, in a way he couldn't explain.
But that feeling was already fading.
Reality was settling in.
And reality—
Was inconvenient.
His eyes lowered slightly, unfocused.
Questions surfaced.
Too many.
Where had these so-called gods been all this time?
Watching?
Waiting?
If they existed, why now?
Why not earlier?
And when they said everything from fiction—
Did they mean everything?
Every story?
Every nightmare people had ever imagined?
"…That's stupid."
But so was everything else happening.
His fingers tapped lightly against the bike.
Did this affect other colonial planets too?
Or just Earth?
Not that it mattered right now.
What mattered was—
"What am I supposed to do?"
That one stuck.
Weapons—he had some.
Transport—covered.
But after that?
There was no plan. Not a single idea of where he was going after this or what he was doing?
He didn't have any friends or family to go and save. Not even a pet.
Maybe he could build a secluded bunker for himself somewhere and watch everyone else eat shit.
Yeah. Actually, that did sound like a good plan.
But then what about stuff like food, electricity, and all of that? Alexander didn't consider himself stupid in any sense, but he was also not very knowledgeable.
He clicked his tongue quietly.
"…Fuck me then."
His thoughts then when to the creatures themselves. He wasn't dealing with one threat. It was everything.
Trolls, orcs, zombies, and whatever the hell that centipede thing was.
A mix of the worst things ever imagined, all thrown into reality at once. And he didn't even know what half of them were.
The only reason he recognized trolls and orcs at all was because of some random lesson he'd been forced to sit through years ago—something about the history of vintage forms of entertainment.
"Dungeons… something."
Didn't matter. The point was— he lacked information.
Badly.
"…Knowledge."
That was the problem.
And the solution.
He needed to understand what he was dealing with.
What could kill what. What couldn't. What to avoid.
He may not know much, but what he did know was that these types of things always had weird ways to kill them, like Vampires and the sun or stuff like that.
So he needed that kind of knowledge badly.
And the only way to get that—
"…People."
The word sat wrong in his mind.
He leaned his head back slightly, staring at the ceiling.
Working with others, trusting them, relying on them.
"…Yeah. That sounds like a good way to die."
People panic and make bad decisions.
People scam, lie, cheat, and betray you.
People get you killed.
That was just common sense.
And even if he wanted to— who the hell would work with him?
His reputation alone made that unlikely.
Hell—
Even he wouldn't team up with himself considering that point of view.
A faint snort escaped him.
"…And that's assuming anyone useful is still alive."
Most of the people in this school? Useless.
Useless ass scum who spent their days wasting away drinking, partying and sleeping around long before this shit show started.
Now?
They were probably just dead.
Or worse.
They were still alive.
The thought passed quickly.
No point dwelling on it.
Instead, he shifted slightly and glanced toward the nearest window.
Might as well check.
He moved quietly, stepping closer and peering through the glass.
What he saw—
Made him pause.
The centipede.
It was far larger than before. If its size the first time was enough to constrict around a small-sized car, now it was probably more than capable of wrapping around a whole truck.
It crawled along the side of a nearby building, its massive segmented body clinging unnaturally to the vertical surface. Its legs moved in a synchronized ripple, gripping concrete like it was nothing.
Its body stretched on and on, longer than it had any right to be. But that was not the fucked part. Alexander could swear that there was something different with the head. It seemed more...
Humanoid.
Then—
It climbed over the edge and vanished above the roof.
Alexander watched the last segment disappear.
"…Noted."
That building was off-limits. Immediately. Never even going to consider it.
He stepped back from the window—
Then froze.
A sound.
Close.
From the hallway.
Something hit against the barricaded door.
A stumble.
Fast, uneven footsteps.
Alexander's eyes sharpened instantly.
He grabbed the metal bat, adjusting his grip as he moved into position beside the door, angling himself just enough to see through the narrow gap of the barricaded window.
What he saw—
Was almost funny, to him at least.
The nerdy kid from earlier.
Glasses cracked. Shirt soaked in blood. One leg was dragging slightly as he limped forward in a desperate attempt to escape.
He looked like he was barely holding himself together.
Behind him—
Something followed.
Not quite like the zombies.
This one moved differently.
Its body was hunched, limbs slightly too long, joints bending at uncomfortable angles. Its skin was stretched thin over bone, grayish and cracked, as if it had dried out from the inside.
Its mouth hung open wider than it should have, revealing jagged, uneven teeth slick with fresh blood.
And its eyes—
They weren't empty.
They were aware.
Focused.
Watching.
It didn't rush.
Didn't sprint.
It walked.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like it was enjoying itself.
Playing.
Alexander could see it clearly—the way it adjusted its pace, letting the distance close just enough before easing back again.
Herding him.
Savoring it.
The boy tripped.
Hit the ground hard.
A choked cry tore out of him.
"Help—!"
The creature slowed even more.
Its head tilted slightly.
Amused.
Alexander watched.
Unmoved.
Ready to ignore it.
Then—
A thought.
"…Knowledge."
The boy.
He remembered.
Smart.
Top of his class before everything went to hell.
The only reason he ended up in this backwater as a school was money, or lack of it.
Alexander's gaze shifted slightly.
"…Might be useful."
Not as a fighter. Not as anything physical.
But information?
That had amazing value to Alexander right now.
Still—
There was a problem.
The thing chasing him. He didn't know what it was.
Didn't know how to kill it. Didn't even know if it could be killed easily.
It looked like a zombie. But it wasn't the same.
It looked a lot smarter than the ones he saw first, from how it moved, probably physically superior to them, too.
Overall, just plain worse.
"…Tch."
A small exhale.
Then, he made his decision.
He didn't need certainty.
Just an opening and he had one.
The creature was distracted, focused entirely on its prey.
Alexander moved immediately.
He grabbed his remaining javelin in one hand, metal bat at his side, as he quickly removed the baricade on the window and slipped out quietly.
Distance—
Good enough.
Angle—
Clear.
He adjusted his stance.
Feet planted.
Grip firm.
"…Let's see."
No hesitation.
He stepped forward hard, driving force through his body, channeling it into his arm—
—and threw.
The impact of his foot hitting the ground echoed sharply.
The creature reacted.
Its head snapped toward the sound.
Too late.
The javelin cut through the air—
And pierced straight through its skull.
Clean.
Violent.
The force didn't stop there.
It drove the creature down into the ground—
Pinning it.
Right on top of the boy.
For a brief moment—
Everything went still.
Alexander blinked once.
"…Huh."
That worked.
Better than expected.
Then, he saw a flash of golden light where the creature fell.
Something flickered in front of his vision.
A clear and sharp chime played in his ear.
Not from outside.
From inside his head.
[Congratulations on your first creature slain in the Reckoning of Gods.]
[You have proven your valor and will as the 7th person in your region to slay a creature.]
[Your will has identified with an adequate boon.]
[Call out your status to complete the process.]
Alexander didn't move.
Didn't react.
For a second—
He just stared.
"…What?"
Then—
A sharp and panicked scream could be heard.
The boy.
Alexander clicked his tongue.
"…Of course."
He moved over quickly, stepping around the creature.
And immediately saw the problem.
The javelin.
It hadn't just pinned the thing.
It had gone through it—
And into the boy's shoulder.
"…Unlucky."
Without ceremony, he grabbed the shaft and pulled it free.
The boy screamed again.
Louder.
Messier.
Blood followed.
Alexander kicked the creature's body aside—
Or tried to.
It didn't move.
Instead, it started to break apart.
The flesh collapsed inward, turning brittle, crumbling into ash.
It disintegrated completely.
And the ash—
Moved.
It lifted off the ground in thin streams, drifting toward him.
"…Hey—"
He stepped back.
Too late.
It sank into his body.
Through his skin.
Alexander froze for half a second.
Waiting as he expected to get assaulted with gruesome pain or at least blow up or something.
"…Huh. Well, that's disappointing."
Before him, the boy was still crying.
Alexander turned.
Walked over.
Then grabbed him by the face.
Hard.
Forcing him to look up.
The reaction was immediate.
The boy went silent.
Eyes wide.
Terrified.
Not of the monsters. Of him.
Alexander held his gaze for a moment.
Cold and Dead.
The boy shut up immediately.
Then—
Without a word—
He dragged him.
Back toward the window.
The boy cried out again as he was pulled along, his injured body scraping against the ground.
Alexander didn't slow.
Didn't care.
He hauled him inside the classroom, then climbed in after him.
The window shut behind them, locked and barricaded once more.
Only then did he release him.
The boy collapsed onto the floor, clutching his wound, breathing in short, panicked bursts.
Alexander stood over him, his head filled with thoughts of the strange messages that appeared after killing the creature.