In any society, the law of the strong reigns in some way or another. Now, it was merely applied in its purest form.
Kill or be killed.
A situation where people had no choice but to commit murder to survive.
However, at the moment, the others seemed intent on finding a way to escape instead of following the scenario.
"It's finally gone…"
"What should we do now?"
"C-call the police!"
[All types of access to this room will be restricted until the scenario is complete.]
Lenoch drowned out the voices around him, focusing on the words in front of him.
As expected, this indeed resembled the plots in apocalyptic novels.
+
[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value]
Category: Main
Difficulty: F
Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures.
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Compensation: 300 coins
Failure: Death
+
'Proof of Value'. This increased the probability that greater beings were observing them. There was also a message about 'constellations' entering earlier.
The fact that it was a 'main' scenario was emphasized many times hinted at the existence of other types of scenarios as well.
'30 minutes…'
In games, F was a low difficulty. The 300 coins promised as compensation before would likely have a place to be used—maybe for stats, or in a special store. The way people's heads exploded before also proved that the penalty was not a joke and it would probably happen to them as well if they were to fail.
However, the most important point was…
'Creatures…'
Killing a 'human' wasn't specified, it should work as long as it is a 'living being'.
His gaze sweeping the corners of the room, the clean place made it unlikely that they would find any bugs here. Paired with the fact that the door wouldn't open, exploiting this loophole in the current situation was impossible.
Thus, it went back to the matter at hand—he had to kill a human here.
"…"
Although killing wasn't a problem for him, the ones here had done nothing wrong. Lenoch glanced at the other innocent people in the room, planning to keep a low profile for now.
…Moreover, with his physical strength, if anyone attacked him right now, he would likely die.
There was enough time. He would observe the situation first.
Turning his head to the side, Lenoch thought of the classes outside this room. The students would probably be in the same situation.
"The police aren't answering!"
Meanwhile, instead of calming down, the staff members grew increasingly anxious.
[11:13]
People sobbed, some made calls… At that moment, something changed.
"Everyone, look!"
Everyone focused on their phones.
Not having one, Lenoch glanced at the screen of the person next to him.
The current situation was at the top of the real-time searches.
The president dying… A level 1 national disaster situation… The message was clear—the same thing was also happening outside this room.
However, what had caught their attention was a video. Clicking on it, it relayed the scene of people in a supermarket.
Screams. The timer reaching zero. The voice of the one filming, "It isn't a joke, everyone. They're serious!"
In the staff room, everyone held their breath.
Blood splashing. The sound of heads exploding one by one. "The world is end-"
The phone filming falling to the ground, proving that the one holding it had also died. Then, the video was cut off.
Despite not finishing his sentence, the message was clear.
The world is ending.
Moreover, a chill coursed through their bodies as the staff members were faced with an even more horrific realization.
This was real.
And now they had to kill each other.
People slowly started to distance themselves from one another, looking around warily. Some gulps were heard.
[9:37]
Then, a voice broke the stalemate.
"E-everyone, you're not going to listen, right?"
Finally, another opinion emerged.
"But… If we don't, we'll end up like them."
"You can't, that's murder!"
They began to argue among themselves, panic spreading. Among the chaos, a woman next to Lenoch squatted down while holding her head and muttering incomprehensible things, showing clear signs of a panic attack.
Lenoch got closer and spoke up, "Madam, do you hear my voice? Take deep breaths—slowly, inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale."
After the woman calmed down, she broke into tears and said, as if seeking reassurance that the current situation wasn't real, "Do we really have to kill people?"
Lenoch made an awkward smile and replied, "I'm afraid there's no other way."
The woman continued to cry.
[5:46]
Outside the room, the voices of students yelling resounded.
Still, the fact that the people in this room hadn't physically attacked each other for the past 25 minutes showed that modern society was far more peaceful than World 3.0. Had this not happened on Earth, it would have immediately turned into a bloodshed.
…Had this not happened on Earth, he would have been able to use magic, and would have won the bloodshed. Here, he was at risk of death from the slightest attack and lacked enough flexibility to avoid blows.
Without mana, he was truly helpless.
Lenoch tried to use magic again. A small amount of mana responded. With a bit more time, he could use a little more mana.
[3:14]
Someone grabbed the throat of another person. Then, others attempted to stop that person, the argument escalating.
Meanwhile, Lenoch was lost in thought. Although he could not exploit the loophole of 'creatures' to pass the scenario, maybe he could use it if asked how he cleared the scenario, and lie about fortunately killing an insect to pass… However, he first needed to prove his theory wasn't wrong.
But even if it was wrong, others most likely wouldn't have tested if killing 'non-human creatures' worked, so the lie should still work, right? (If it didn't, he just had to silence them.)
[0:57]
It seemed like the scenario was also coming to an end. He should start moving now.
Approaching someone, Lenoch reached out his hand toward the nape of their neck, lightning leaving his fingertips.
"Ugh…!"
In response, the man collapsed with a groan.
[0:36]
Lenoch was out of breath, having exhausted all his mana.
However, it wasn't over yet.
'The output was insufficient.'
The man was still alive.
Before the others could regain his senses, Lenoch raised his foot and stomped down on a vital point. Unfortunately, with his weak strength, it wasn't enough to break the man's spine. He had to hit him a few more times.
As expected, it was a good decision to wait until the end before committing murder. Being out of mana, he would have been defenseless if anyone had tried to retaliate.
Sweat flowed down his forehead as Lenoch put all his energy into stomping on the man's neck, out of breath. Even with a better health than before, moving was still physically straining.
[0:14]
Lenoch ignored the screams around him. Others were too scared to approach him anyway.
[0:06]
Crack.
Finally, a notification appeared.
[You have achieved the 'First Kill' achievement!]
Lenoch stopped and met the terrified gazes of the staff members.
[100 coins have been earned as additional compensation.]
They looked at him as if he were a monster.
Nobody moved for a while. Then…
[The given time has run out.]
There was a loud sound. Lenoch didn't need to turn around to know that someone's head had exploded.
[Paid settlement will begin.]
People's heads started exploding everywhere, a bit of blood splashing on Lenoch.
One by one, everyone else died.
However, Lenoch remained calm.
[You have killed 1 living thing.]
[Kill History: One person.]
[100 coins have been acquired!]
Through the window, the sight of broken buildings and monsters greeted him. At some point in time, the city had been destroyed.
[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value has ended.]
[300 coins have been acquired as a basic clearance reward.]
[100 coins have been reduced for the channel usage fee.]
[Additional compensation settlement will begin.]
Out of the corpses in the room, the body of the woman who had a panic attack earlier caught his eye.
"…"
Everyone in this place, except him, was dead.
[A handful of constellations admire your scenario.]
Lenoch stood in silence, the smell of blood filling the room as pieces of flesh and dead bodies surrounded him.
"…"
[The constellations have sponsored you 500 coins.]
[Constellations of the Absolute Evil admire your scenario.]
[Constellations of the Absolute Good show faint hostility toward you.]
[A few constellations are asking how you can be so calm.]
[Some constellations are curious about you.]
[The constellations have sponsored you 100 coins.]