The group looked at me, "You guys, are very lucky, incredibly so, you won't ever believe it," I said.

"My first intention was to save my friends, and my friends only, then leave you all for the gutters," my words sounded heavy and they were heavy, for a reason.

"I'm no saint, I'm no god, I didn't save you because I was charitable, I saved you for one purpose and one purpose only, for convenience," I said.

"What do you mean by that?" someone asked.

"What is your value?" I asked the person.

He didn't understand.

"How many contribution points do you have?" I asked.

"I have a hundred…" he said.

"Of that hundred, how many of them were yours?" I asked again.

He didn't dare reply. None of them were his.

"Exactly, it was thanks to me, for clearing the University that you even have contribution point. It was thanks to me that you survived, it was thanks to my effort that you get a shot at breathing. So, tell me. What is your value to me?" I said.

No one could answer.

"NOTHING!" I spoke. "You're nothing, not a fraction more than the people outside the gates, the people dying outside. You're the same. But you know what, you're just lucky," I said.

"What, what do you mean! Why just us, those three from before, why did you let them out," another student spoke.

"Will killed twenty-four undead by himself, and protected several students, where were you?" I spoke.

"Nadia helped the wounded, healed a few of the students and protected others. Where were you?"

"Marry killed twelve undead by herself inside a lecture hall where she was the only survivor, where were you?"

No one replied.

"You're all sheep, guided by fear, and hoping to be saved without doing nothing in return. You have no value, you're all worthless. But, you're lucky," I said.

"However, I fucking hate luck! Luck is the ficklest of bitches, the most unreliable thing. Just because you're lucky, you get to be saved and live here for free, FUCK THAT! I'll have you all work to the bones. If you can't fight the monsters, then you'll clean the sewers, you'll do surveillance, you'll train and you'll grow stronger, only then will you be allowed to exist within the Safezone." One student was about to speak when I gazed at him with as much murderous intent as I could.

It was frightening, clear from how white his face turned immediately after.

"Don't you fucking dare speak! Don't you fucking dare say the words you're thinking about!" I spoke.

I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"Who are you to tell us this!" were probably the words he wanted to say.

"In this place, I'm a dictator, a king. Do what I say, or die. I won't ever accept anyone who has no 'value', make yourself valuable within the safe zone to stay in it. And if you don't, then you'll be kicked out. That's all," I said then turned to leave.

Just as I approached the door, I stopped.

Because I knew that the stick alone isn't enough, I had to present the carrot.

"Not all of Oakland was hit. Only the central region we're in. a lot of you here are from the dorms if not all of you, meaning that most of your families live a bit far from here. If you make yourself of use, then I could invite your families over. This is all I can do for you, make yourself valuable, or die trying." I said that and then left the room.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

That could have been one of my most cringe worthy speeches to date. But, I had to get the message through because some people are too fucking stupid or act stupid to understand that a metric fuckton of shit had already hit the fan.

I can't be using slackers and people who can't do much for me. The world is turning to shit very fast and I need reliable people I can use.

Having slackers who present nothing but mouths to feed is the best way to screw myself over.

Food supplies are going to get scarcer by the minute, and we need scavengers and hunters in the close future.

They can be scavengers, but they need to train first.

I already spoke to John about this, and he'll be doing his best to put those kids in shape.

For now, I was face to face with the three, Will, Marry and Nadia.

"Will, your mum, she is already here," I said.

"Huh? How?" he asked.

"Remember the appartement in downtown?" I said.

"Oh…wait, you knew this whole clusterfuck was going to happen?" he said.

"I told you it will happen," I said

"You told me it will happen a month later," he exclaimed.

"Well, I was wrong, still they're safe," I turned to Nadia.

"Wait, my parents also got the invitation this morning to come to downtown… was that your doing?" she asked.

"Yes, but yours were fucking stubborn. Anyway, they're also safe," I said.

"How do you know that?" she questioned.

"I had a tank at the ready next to your house. They should arrive by morning," I said.

"Huh… why are you so interested in me?" she asked.

"Well, I think he is in-" I hit Will to the side.

"Keep your mouth shut will you, you already made this shit damn difficult dude," I said frowning.

"Is this related to the regression you spoke about…" she asked.

I glared at Will.

"Sorry…"

"I'll explain later," I said then turned to Marry.

"You don't need to say anything… I understand," she said.

"You do?" I asked.

"Yes, I had my doubts at first, but. I suppose I could put one and one together," she said.

"Care to explain?" I said.

"You sure you want to hear this?" she said.

"Yes I'd like to have some outsider insight," I said.

"Right, first, the fact that you're a regressor I could believe that," she said.

"How can you believe that? That's not something that is easy to believe," I replied.

"From what I could see from your actions, you're very strong and seemed surprisingly calm through all of this. It was like you knew all of this, you also gave a lot of details on the events, the undead and even the boss you fought. You also have a skill which no one had," She said.

Her analogy was pretty perfect.

"How…" will speak.

"I read a lot," she said.

"Huh…"

"Anyway, secondly you're either a stalker…" she said as she looked at me and glanced at Nadia.

Which was a bit strange.

"Or you and her, in the future…were an item, which is pretty probable. Though I don't know how that happened… I mean, her boyfriend isn't someone that…ah." She said as if she realized something.

"That's why you broke his legs," she said.

"No, you're wrong there, I didn't cause his death the first time," I said.

"What do you mean?" this time Nadia asked.

I turned to her and said, "Do you want to hear this?" I said "It's not going to be pretty, also, it is something that you will not believe, since you haven't experienced it yet," I said.

"Just speak," she said.

"You killed Joe Miller, with your own hands, in the first round," I said.

She frowned.

I sighed and added, "In the first time, I never made it to the University, and Will wasn't as strong," I said.

This was all I needed to say for her to understand. It was simple.

I wasn't in the university, and it was one month after, Oakland wasn't hit so they still attended university, because the government had promised that everything was under control.

It was scary at first, but once the undead hit Oakland, shit turned out the same way as today, only me and Will were missing.

A lot had changed but something still remained the same. The students had spent far longer than one single day in the university then. Food became scarce and people turned more and more vicious, especially since the system and increase of mana throughout the world multiply emotional outbursts. People who used to have anger issues back in the normal world became berserkers with the influence of mana. And it was easy to understand what would happen to a bunch of people trapped with issues in the head for long periods of time with death surrounding them from all over.

Back then, the people in the university tried to survive with whatever power they had, and they prey on the weak. And Nadia, before she joined my party was one of the victims. What happened to them...was unspeakable. It was a trauma that she could have never gotten over, and it plagued her until the end. She even killed the very man who did that to her, with his friends. With her own hands. And she still wasn't satisfied.

Those were some dark days.

"Anyway… it's awkward I don't think I need to explain more," I said.

Marry then resumed, "Anyway, this proves it. I was probably dead in the first run. Since you never came, I would have never made it out of that amphitheater, meaning I was not someone you ever knew. And if you didn't know me, you never had the urge to send someone to my family," she spoke pragmatically and coldly.

Damn, she is smart.

"Where does your family live?" I asked.

"Very far away, I think they shouldn't be in danger now, but I'll need to bring them here. I heard what you told the other guys inside, do we need to do something?" she asked.

"No. you did enough, give the security personnel your parent's address, and they'll make sure to bring them over if. Now, I need to work on the second part of this hell," I said.

I turned to look at Nadia who was still deep in thought but couldn't say anything.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," I said then headed up. "I'll need to get you geared up and ready for the second Phase. Rest well, tomorrow is going to be hell."