We stared at each other for a few seconds, but I quickly noticed that his hands were trembling. Since the beating I gave them, they had avoided approaching me head-on. Though I was still nervous because I knew that if a fight escalated, I'd be expelled regardless of who initiated it.

As I sensed the situation heating up and the real possibility of them attacking me, I chose to retreat with a snort. It made me feel bitter inside, helpless.

Walking through the corridors toward the rooftop, a place usually devoid of anyone except the occasional outcast, though these days, I was the sole reject. Others like me had turned their backs on me a long time ago, and I couldn't really blame them. School life became much simpler if you were willing to bark for your master.

On the way, I noticed people who wanted to talk to me, but in the end, no one dared to. I don't know why I still found it surprising at this point. Finally, I reached the rooftop where I could finally be alone.

Sitting on the ground against a wall, I finally began to reflect on my current situation. This school consumed a significant portion of my family's resources. Even my father's high salary of over 80,000 pounds could barely support my family, considering a substantial portion was allocated here. And that was based on the fact that I had a scholarship covering more than half the expenses.

Damn, there were even people here who spent that amount on a weekend outing. It was as clear as day that I wouldn't fit in with these kinds of people, though the education was top-notch, and I had learned many theoretically useful subjects and some harder to find.

Soon, a situation snapped me out of my reverie. The moon began to approach, getting closer and faster.

However, I soon realized it wasn't the moon, but some other object. At first glance, it resembled a diamond, emitting a significant amount of light. This structure came to a halt in space and stood there silently. I quickly stood up and looked down to see if anyone else was witnessing the same thing.

A quick glance at the campus provided the answer; everyone was frozen in place, gazing at the object in the sky. I wasn't the only one, and I started looking at the object again, trying not to miss any changes.

After a few seconds, the object emitted a faint sound, although if we could hear it from this distance, it must have been a rather powerful impact. Then it began to concentrate light. Finally, a silver ray shot out and hit me right on the head.

This ray started to bathe me completely, and after a few seconds, it disappeared without harming me. Although I checked my limbs for any damage and patted my head, I couldn't feel anything different until I heard a voice seemingly coming from nowhere.

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"Alex Hughes has been selected to participate in this trial. The first wave will begin shortly. Good luck in your battle."

And as abruptly as the androgynous voice appeared, it vanished.

"Wait, who are you, what is this trial you're talking about, what do you mean by 'wave'?"

Though my shouts to the air wouldn't be answered, it wasn't necessary to answer them. I noticed a sort of purple barrier resembling flames surrounding the school. From this barrier, strange beings were gradually crawling out, resembling some kind of zombies.

"What the hell?"

I couldn't help but curse. Everything was so strange and advancing so fast. For a few seconds, I watched these beings advance in silence until the unthinkable happened.

The zombies reached a girl who seemed to have frozen due to fear, and they attacked her. Three creatures pounced on her and began to devour her.

Panic quickly spread, and everyone around began to run and scream uncontrollably. I couldn't help but gulp, but I didn't panic. The training I had received wasn't for nothing; I just needed to defend my position until help arrived.

"I just have to hold the line until help comes."

I repeated it aloud, trying to convince myself. I repeated it over and over like a mantra until the resolve flooded me, and I started to move with a small plan in mind. Without a doubt, the principal's office should have a weapon or something similar. So, that place should be the safest.

As I was about to enter the stairs, I noticed a light coming from my wrist. There was a bracelet emitting small flashes towards my eyes, almost as if trying to catch my attention. When I focused on it and touched it with my fingers, a light entered my eyes, and over my vision, it began to project information in a distinctive holographic blue color.

There were three highlighted places on the map. The first was toward the main building, where meetings were held and trophies were kept. It had a complete green bar and was marked with a home icon.

The second was marked as an infection point, with a countdown in red numbers. It was marked on the map with a claw icon and was clearly an emerging problem to be solved. The countdown would end in about 3 hours.

The last marked an exploration area and denoted an area encompassing the administrative building.

I stared at the infection point. With no additional information, a gut feeling told me that dealing with whatever that was in my best interest before time ran out.

"Who dares win!"

With determination, I decided to move. First, I needed to check the central hall to understand why the bracelet marked it with a home symbol. The complete green bar gave me a feeling that this place needed to be defended.

With resolute steps, I headed toward the main building. I didn't have a clear idea why the bracelet pointed to this place, but I had a hunch that I'd find answers there. The complete green bar accompanying the home icon indicated that this point was secure for the moment, but that didn't mean there wasn't some hidden mystery waiting to be discovered.

On the way, I saw several students entering. However, none seemed to have retained their minds. They were lost, shouting, and running without any specific direction. No one seemed to pay attention to instructions; no one was heading specifically to the main hall.

One of the young men had a baseball bat. I had no idea where he got it, but when he discarded it to run, I didn't hesitate to pick it up. Although I was more familiar with a firearm, a bat still remained a decent weapon.

At this moment, I faced some zombies. They were quite slow, and although they were numerous, there weren't more than five entering this building at the moment, but at any time it will be flooded.