READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 2: Hazards
I never imagined that a video game-like interface would appear before us.
Morning, 7:30 am,
Baek Seong, you're here finally!" A familiar figure approached me; it was Lee Sehyung.
"Yeah, do you need me for something?" I asked, placing my bag on my seat, the second row near the window.
"Yeah, can I borrow your math homework for the algorithm?" He raised his two hands close to each other, eyes forcefully closed.
"Again? How many times have you done this? I opened my bag and searched for a brief moment, taking out my notebook while talking. As I was talking to him, a slight guilt appeared on his face. He efficiently copied my notes into his notebook quickly before the bell rang.
"CLAAANG-CLAAANG"
As the bell rang, our homeroom teacher entered, and he showed our humble respect by standing as he entered the class. He nodded as if to tell us to sit down.
As we sat down, the class began. As time passed, it was already noon.
NOON 2:27 PM,
"CLANG-CLANG"
The bell rang for our lunch break. We each headed toward the cafeteria. The cafeteria was crowded with the usual buzzing, and people's gossip could be heard; the voices were getting mixed and creating an odd echo everywhere.
I and my friends grabbed the curry from the cafeteria and went to the rooftop. As the cafeteria was too loud for us. We gossiped and ate our food. The day was slightly sunny, and as we were immersed in our conversation, the light around the surrounding area began to darken; it was strange. We looked at the sky and got the impression it might rain; however, when I looked at the sky, I could not comprehend what I was seeing. The sky had no clouds so far; it had this thundering sound echoing as it formed a gate-like appearance and suddenly became hollow as if... A portal opened to another world.
"What the hell is going on?!" I shouted, shivers ran down my spine, my heart pounded like a drum, a cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and my eyes widened. Sehyung's expression remains unchanged.
...CRACKLEEE.... A
A loud ear-hammering sound could be heard as the ground quivered, causing a tremendously dangerous earthquake... causing us to stumble, unable to stand on our own two feet.
"God! What's happening!?" My friends screamed out...CRASH! ...
A few buildings broke down in front of our eyes as they turned to debris. Some buildings somehow managed to hold a standing position, including our college institution. It…
It was as if the world was ending before our very eyes.
The gate-type entity trembled in the sky, revealing various types of monsters such as goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, elves, and different wolf species only seen in video games and novels. Upon coming out of the gate, they charged toward our college. The college tumbled ominously as it struggled to hold its stable position. The air surrounding the campus is filled with tension as terrified students, professors, and other people run away from the campus or hide within the remains of buildings and structures.
But it was a matter of time before the monsters breached the wall...Suddenly a blue pop-up window appeared before us as if we were inside a video game or in a fantasy novel.
[System: YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO BE A PLAYER]
My eyes widened, and I felt shivers down my spine as I stared at the screen, but the interesting part was how cruel the system is to give such a clear condition.
[System]
Clear Conditions:
Survive the onslaught of the monsters. Reach the safe zone.
Remaining time: 30 minutes
[Situation: The door began to crack under the relentless assault of the monsters. The wall was getting weaker and weaker as time passed, and the monsters were getting closer by each second. The smell of their presence was passing through the tiny gaps in the door, the stench of rotten flesh and decay, and the monstrous roars were getting louder and more intense…
As far as we could tell, the situation is dire. I, along with my friends, rush to the location where our entire class has collected. A neighboring girl squeals, her eyes wide with fear. "What the hell is that smell?" That black-haired girl is our class representative, Hyejin So-ho. I gaze in her direction, and she appears to be frozen in place. Shock and fear are written all over her face. She looks to have snapped out of her daze, her gaze darting around the room, taking in our surroundings.
"Everyone, we need to calm down for a moment." She caught the class's attention within a minute, and it appeared that she grasped the situation.
"We are going to figure out how to survive the onslaught!." She exclaimed
At that moment, a thought crossed my mind: if we are in a novel, we could view our stats if that's true. I muttered, 'Character Profile'. A light blue pop-up window before my eyes reveals my information.
[System]
Name: Baek Seong
Age: 20
Unique attribute:
Overall stats: strength lvl 1, mana lvl 1, agility lvl 1, sense lvl 1
As I looked at my screen, the age, name, and overall all appeared; it was easy to understand apart from the unique attributes, which were blank in my case. Next, I approached Sehyung, "You gotta check your 'character info."
"What do you mean by 'character info'? Like a video game or something?" He asked, hand on his chin.
"Just say the word, and a pop-up window will appear before you," I said.
My heart skipped a bit; my tongue dried. Is his stats the same as mine or... superior? What about his attributes? Various thoughts crossed my mind. After what felt like an eternity, sehyung spoke,
"It seemed my name, age. Overall stats are all the same apart from the unique attribute."
I was flabbergasted as I leaned in to see his unique attribute; in my case it was blank but he had 'Selena Grace.'
"Selena Grace,huh? Sounds like a healing or divinity ability, right?"
"Must be from the Greek mythology goddess."
Sehyung looks at the window before replying to me,
"It seems I've got some kind of device healing ability, I guess, but in this situation, an offensive skill would be better."
…CRAAASH…A
As we were discussing suddenly, we heard an ear-thrashing sound. As I turned my head to see what happened, I saw the door was breached, and the monsters started to enter the hall.
Our eyes widened in horror as we realized the monsters had breached the doors and the space between us was closing in. "God!" someone screamed in terror within the crowd, voice trumbled.
The first monster to appear was a goblin, but it was the usual goblin seen in games or novels. It was a distorted-shaped and bony humanoid creature, with gray, flaky hard skin, black claws, and an enormous throat with pointy and curved teeth.
The monster then let out a horrifying screech that pierced the air, and we felt shivers, then it ran in our direction. We all backed off, grasping and crying in fear; some tried to get as far as they could, but they were blocked off by other students struggling to get away from the approaching monster. Some of them stumbled while escaping.
The monster's hideous appearance freezes some of our feet from moving, legs trembling, and our heartbeats rising every second.
"Get away from them." Sehyung stepped in and, for the first time, spoke with a determined tone, different from his usual carefree attitude
He held up both his hands, and a bright and glowing light appeared from his palm. It took the form of a long sword, with a sharp edge at the tip.
"Stay close." Sehyung spoke again, pointing the sword at the approaching goblin. He raised his hand, and a few swords appeared, formed with light. As he hand-downed the light sword that pierced the goblin's heart, it let out a vicious screech and collapsed onto the ground.
"Not a bad start," I said while looking at the fallen goblin. "But we have more of them coming. We can't let them get too close."
We were surrounded by a swarm of goblins; there was nowhere else to run anymore, and this time we had to face them head-on.
To…Be…Continued