"Run! The Safe Zone is opening!"
The scream triggered a stampede.
Four hundred students, terrified and desperate, surged toward the Library building where the green beacon pulsed. It was human instinct: See danger, run to safety.
Elara grabbed Bhy Khay's arm, her nails digging into his skin. "Bhy Khay! We have to move! There are only 98 spots left! Viktor is already halfway there!"
Bhy Khay stood still. He didn't move a muscle.
He watched the chaotic mob trampling over each other, pushing weaker students into the mud. He watched Viktor leading a pack of football players, shoving people aside to get to the reinforced glass doors of the library.
"Bhy Khay!" Elara shouted, pulling him. "Are you crazy? The timer is at 4 minutes!"
"Stop," Bhy Khay said. His voice was calm, cutting through her panic. He pulled his arm free and pointed at the library doors. "Look closely, Elara. Use your eyes, not your fear."
Elara blinked, forcing herself to look.
The mob had reached the doors. Viktor was at the front, pounding on the glass. The green beacon was shining right above them. But the doors... weren't opening.
"Why aren't they opening?" Elara whispered. "The beacon is green."
"Because the System isn't a charity," Bhy Khay said cold. "It's a filter."
He tapped his temple, activating his [Sovereign Eyes].
While the other students saw a green light representing safety, Bhy Khay saw the raw code floating above the door mechanism.
[OBJECT: SAFE ZONE GATE (Library)]
[STATUS: LOCKED]
[ENTRY REQUIREMENT: PLAYER LEVEL ≥ 2]
[CURRENT PLAYER AVG: LEVEL 1]
"They are all Level 1," Bhy Khay analyzed, his eyes scanning the data stream. "The System set a trap. It gathered all the weak players in one spot, gave them false hope, and locked the door."
Elara's face went pale as she realized the implication. "If the door is locked... and the monsters are coming from behind..."
"Then the Library entrance is a slaughterhouse," Bhy Khay finished. "It's a chokepoint. When the timer hits zero, the Second Wave won't spawn randomly. It will spawn on top of the crowd."
He turned away from the library.
"We aren't going there."
"But—" Elara started, then stopped herself. She looked at Bhy Khay. The fear in her eyes was replaced by a sharp, calculating glint. She was smart; she realized he was right. "If we can't enter without being Level 2, we need Experience Points (XP). We need to kill something."
"Exactly," Bhy Khay nodded, impressed. She caught on fast. "I'm Level 2 because I killed the Hellhound. You are still Level 0. You can't enter."
"So we hunt?" Elara asked, her hands trembling slightly as she gripped the metal pole he had given her.
"No," Bhy Khay said. "We scavenge. Follow me."
Instead of running toward the library or the open courtyard, Bhy Khay sprinted toward the Chemistry Lab.
Inside the Lab, the air smelled of sulfur and broken glass. It was empty. Most students had fled during the first wave.
"Why are we here?" Elara hissed, checking the corridor behind them. "We have 3 minutes."
"The System follows RPG logic," Bhy Khay said, walking quickly to the chemical storage locker. "Mages need Mana. Warriors need Stamina. But early-game items are scarce."
He kicked the locker open. Inside were standard school supplies: Hydrochloric acid, Ethanol, Sulfur.
To anyone else, these were just chemicals.
To Bhy Khay's [Sovereign Eyes], they were ingredients.
[ITEM: ETHANOL (90%)]
[POTENTIAL: CRAFTING MATERIAL]
[ITEM: SULFUR]
[POTENTIAL: EXPLOSIVE COMPONENT]
"Elara, freeze this," Bhy Khay ordered, tossing a bottle of ethanol at her.
"What?"
"You're an Ice Mage. Your passive skill lowers the temperature of things you touch. Cool the ethanol until it's thick, but don't freeze the glass."
Elara didn't argue. She caught the bottle. Her hands glowed with a pale blue mist. She focused, biting her lip. "I... I think I can do it."
While she worked, Bhy Khay grabbed a handful of sulfur and some frantic cleaning rags. He was moving with terrifying speed.
Combine. Craft. Modify.
[SYSTEM ALERT: CRAFTING ATTEMPT DETECTED.]
[INTELLIGENCE CHECK... PASSED.]
[RECIPE CREATED: PRIMITIVE FROST BOMB.]
In less than sixty seconds, Bhy Khay had rigged three crude Molotov cocktails—but instead of fire, they were chilled by Elara's mana.
"We have 90 seconds," Bhy Khay said, strapping the bottles to his belt. "Let's go back to the Library."
The scene at the Library was pure chaos.
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Viktor screamed, smashing his fist against the reinforced glass. "My father is Senator Adebayo! I command you to open!"
The crowd was crushing people against the glass. Someone was crying. Someone else was bleeding.
[WAVE 2 STARTING IN: 00:10]
"They're going to die," Elara whispered as she and Bhy Khay watched from the second-floor balcony overlooking the courtyard.
"Not all of them," Bhy Khay corrected. "Just the ones who don't pay attention."
[00:00]
[SYSTEM: WAVE 2 INITIATED.]
[TYPE: SWARM (Goblin Scavengers)]
The ground didn't crack this time. The vents exploded.
From the roof of the library, from the drainage pipes, from the windows—small, green-skinned creatures poured out. There were dozens of them. Small, fast, and armed with jagged shanks.
"SKREEEE!"
They dropped directly onto the crowd pressed against the door.
"HELP!"
"THEY'RE ON ME!"
It was a massacre. The students were packed so tight they couldn't swing their weapons. Viktor was thrashing wildly, using other students as shields.
"Now," Bhy Khay said.
He didn't jump into the fight. He lit the rag on one of the Frost Bombs and threw it—not at the goblins, but at the center of the goblin swarm.
The bottle smashed.
WHOOSH.
It didn't explode with fire. It exploded with a blast of super-cooled mist. Elara's magic, concentrated by the chemical reaction, flash-froze a circle of ten goblins instantly. Their movements slowed to a crawl.
"Elara! Target the frozen ones!" Bhy Khay commanded. "Cast [Ice Shard]! They have a 'Brittle' debuff now!"
Elara extended her hand. "Piercing Ice!"
A shard of ice shot from her palm. It hit a frozen goblin and—SHATTER.
The goblin crumbled like broken glass.
[TEAM KILL CONFIRMED.]
[XP SHARED.]
[Elara Vance: LEVEL UP! (0 -> 1)]
"Again!" Bhy Khay shouted, throwing the second bomb. "Don't aim for kills! Aim for assists! We just need to hit Level 2!"
They worked like a machine. Bhy Khay controlled the crowd with the bombs, creating "Kill Zones," and Elara finished them off with precision shots. They weren't fighting the horde; they were farming it.
While Viktor and the others were flailing and screaming, Bhy Khay and Elara were gaining XP safely from the high ground.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Elara Vance LEVEL UP! (1 -> 2)]
"That's it!" Bhy Khay grabbed her shoulder. "You're Level 2. We move."
They jumped from the balcony, landing in the clearing Bhy Khay's bombs had created.
Viktor saw them. He was covered in scratches, swinging a baseball bat wildly. He saw the path Bhy Khay had cleared.
"You!" Viktor shouted. "Help us! Use those bombs!"
Bhy Khay didn't even look at him. He walked straight to the Library door.
The students pounded on the glass, begging to be let in. The glass remained sealed.
Bhy Khay placed his hand on the scanner.
[SCANNING...]
[PLAYER: BHY KHAY. LEVEL: 2. ACCESS GRANTED.]
[PARTY MEMBER: ELARA VANCE. LEVEL: 2. ACCESS GRANTED.]
HISS.
The massive glass doors slid open—but only wide enough for two people.
Bhy Khay stepped into the cool, safe air of the library. Elara followed him, casting one last look at the screaming students behind her.
"Wait! Take me!" Viktor lunged for the gap.
Bhy Khay turned and pressed the [CLOSE] button on the internal panel.
"Sorry," Bhy Khay said through the glass. "Safe Zone capacity is limited. You should level up."
The doors slammed shut in Viktor's face.
Inside, the noise of the slaughter was muffled. It was quiet. Safe.
Elara leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor, exhausted. She looked at her hands—they were shaking, but she was alive. She looked at Bhy Khay.
"You knew," she whispered. "You used them as bait so we could farm the XP safely."
Bhy Khay checked his stats. He had leveled up again.
"I used the environment," Bhy Khay corrected, sitting down on a library desk and opening a bag of chips he found. "Welcome to the Battlefield, Elara. Class is in session."