When Michael's anger subsided, he took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure.
Sean's understanding gaze gave him a sense of relief and reminded him that they were all in this together.
facing the horrors of this new world.
"I… need some time alone," Michael murmured, his voice filled with a mix of sorrow and guilt.
He moved away from Sean and the others, heading to a secluded corner of the library where he could gather his thoughts.
Michael sat on the cold floor, leaning against the wall, letting his mind wander.
Memories of the past two days flooded his thoughts: the scene of the first zombie he had ever seen, the strange notifications that had become part of their day, the thrill of seeing his stats increase.
everything had happened so fast his mind could barely keep up.
Amidst the sadness, something hardened inside Michael.
Marcus's loss in that horrific scene was a reminder to all of them of the dangers they faced.
Driven by a renewed determination, Michael stood and returned to the others.
The shock and tension in the room had subsided, replaced by a calm seriousness.
Angela remained silent, her gaze distant and sorrowful. Michael approached her cautiously, his heart heavy with guilt.
"Angela, I… I'm so sorry," Michael stammered, struggling to find the right words.
"I should have protected you. As your leader, I should have been stronger."
Angela turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears.
"It's not your fault, Michael. We all did our best. "
"Marcus gave his life to save me, not you."
Michael nodded and comforted Angela.
Then he stood and spoke loudly.
"The world as we knew it is gone, and there's no way to reclaim it."
"In this new world, we can't rely only on ourselves anymore."
"We need to work together, combining our strengths to overcome dangers and survive. I promise all of you, if you trust me again and follow me, I'll do whatever it takes to keep everyone alive."
The room fell silent as Michael's words hung in the air.
One by one, everyone on the second floor nodded in agreement, sharing the same goal.
They would face the dangers of this new world head-on, push past their limits, and fight to survive.
…
"Since I am the dean, I have decided to form a team to go to the cafeteria and bring back food and water tomorrow morning." a thin middle-aged man with square glasses stood in front of a group of people in the classroom.
"But it's way too dangerous. There are monsters everywhere outside."
"We are students, not soldiers. We won't survive out there," a woman in her thirties, wearing heavy makeup and with a slender frame, stepped forward to voice her objection to the dean's reckless decision.
"Miss Julie, everyone knows this is difficult and dangerous, but we'll starve if we don't get food from outside." The man sighed loudly and shook his head sadly.
"The food we have won't last three days for twenty people." He raised his hands to the sky, a sign of helplessness.
"Also, I have great confidence in these students. You've seen it they bravely cleared our building of monsters and saved us all."
"I'm sure they can go and return safely."
The man's expression quickly shifted from helplessness to confidence.
He looked at five students standing before him, full of determination.
"Yes, I agree with Mr. Park. Don't worry. Tomorrow, we will go out and bring you food and water. Those weak monsters cannot stop us." A muscular student stepped forward among the five, holding a massive metal shield in his hands, excited.
"Hah, Liam and his usual foolishness," muttered another young man as he followed with his friend, shaking his head helplessly.
"Thank you, brave ones. Anyone else?" The dean approached Liam and Tony, shaking their hands before turning to the remaining three students.
Silence filled the room; no one volunteered for this suicide mission.
"With great power comes even greater responsibility, so I ask all students capable of fighting to assist Liam and Tony and return to us safely." The dean clapped his hands, signaling the three students to prepare for departure.
"This lunatic is sending us to our deaths" muttered Tony under his breath as he saw the unwilling expressions on the other students' faces.
No one wanted to go on this mission not even him.
It was a suicide mission.
When the speech ended, the dean returned to his office, and the woman who had objected to going followed him.
"Hahaha, you're a very good actress, Miss Julie. These kids, although some are truly cunning, will still need ten more years if they want to surpass me."
Once Julie entered, Dean Park grabbed her and sat her on his lap, whispering in her ear.
"Your speech was excellent, sir. It was a clever plan to discipline these students."
" When they leave, no one will dare oppose you." Miss Julie began flattering the dean, praising him.
"Haha, yes, that's right. Once we're rescued, I'll make sure to treat you well." The dean laughed, pleased with Julie's words.
Julie rested on the dean's chest and said with a worried tone,
"Will we really survive?" Her words seemed to touch the weakest spot in the dean's heart.
"Of course we'll be rescued. The Z City army will not be defeated by these weak monsters."
"As dean of Z University, my name will be among the first they search for and save." The dean replied confidently,
but the slight tremor in his voice betrayed him.
........
At dawn in the library, Michael woke and went outside to practice his skills as usual.
Nightmares still haunted him every night, preventing him from sleeping peacefully.
He saw Yu-Min training outside, and a flicker of anger rose inside him before he controlled it.
"Good morning, Michael, come have breakfast." An hour or two after sunrise, Sean called Michael, who was training outside.
Once everyone finished breakfast, Michael called a meeting.
"From today, we will split into two teams, each responsible for clearing a dormitory building. "
"The plan hasn't changed: our target is the mechanical engineering building, and we will rescue any survivors we encounter along the way."
"Be careful this time; if you sense anything strange, never take risks." Michael reviewed the plan before stating it to everyone with a confident tone that left no room for doubt or refusal.
Sean pointed to Yu-Min and himself before exclaiming, "Michael, your idea is good, but we don't have enough people to form two teams."
"Only three of us can fight."
"No, we have seven people who can fight. We just need to level them up a bit."
Michael pointed to all the males except for Uncle Paul, excluding Angela from the team.
"I will not accept any objections."
"Those who do not like my orders can leave the library. I will not stop anyone."
" I've already said that I will do whatever is necessary to lead everyone to survive, and this is what I am going to do." Michael cut off objections before they could be voiced.
Every word he spoke was filled with confidence and authority.
His gaze fell on everyone, and with his commanding presence, no one dared argue. At that moment, Michael exuded the aura of a leader.
"We will leave in ten minutes. Prepare yourselves." Michael immediately departed after saying those words, followed closely by Sean out of the library.
Sean stood near his best friend and whispered,
"Michael, do you really think this is the best way?"
"This is the only way," Michael replied curtly, but the confidence and determination in his eyes were clear to everyone.
"Okay, I'm with you." Seeing Michael's eyes, Sean smiled and patted Michael's shoulder.
Suddenly, human shadows appeared coming from the cafeteria direction.
Michael and Sean's expressions changed; they drew their weapons and rushed forward to confront them.
.........
Over an hour after Liam's team had left their shelter to go to the cafeteria…
"Did you notice that too, Tony?" A girl on the team noticed the strange situation and spoke.
"Yes, the closer we got to the cafeteria, the fewer zombies we encountered."
" It seems someone came before us and cleared the way." Tony replied, nodding to Rose. He gripped his bow tightly, activating his exploration skill to survey the surroundings.
"Do you think there's anything edible left in the cafeteria?" asked another student, carrying a greatsword covered in blood on his shoulder while chewing gum.
"If we can't find anything there, we'll look elsewhere." Liam replied tersely, seeming tired of the pointless discussion.
When the team reached the cafeteria, they found it empty of anything edible. Their nerves nearly snapped, and the boy with the great sword started smashing everything inside.
"What should we do now?" Rose asked, playing with her green hair, ignoring the noise of destruction around her.
"We'll go to the dorm complexes and look for food there," Tony sighed, holding his head. He really wanted to return and tell the dean that they found nothing, but he knew no one would believe them.
.....
Back in the present, as Tony and the others saw two shadows rushing toward them, they drew their weapons, ready to fight, mistaking them for zombies.
"Jean, wait! They're survivors." Thanks to Tony's skill, his vision was enhanced enough to see that it wasn't zombies rushing toward them.
Tony stopped the fifth team member, who hadn't spoken since the beginning of the journey.
He was a short young man with dark blue eyes and blue hair.
Oddly, he wasn't carrying any weapon, but the glances he received from his team members made it clear he wasn't as simple as he looked.
Sean, always better at social interactions than quick-tempered Michael, stepped forward and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Sean, and this is my friend Michael. We're survivors from the library. Can you tell us who you are?"
' OH, I didn't expect anyone here to be higher level than Sean'
Michael thought, glancing at the five people in front of him using his skill.
"I'm Liam, and these are Tony, Rose, Bernard, and Jean. We are survivors from the technical college building." Liam stepped forward, shook Sean's hand, and introduced himself and his team.
"So what brings you guys here?" Sean looked at the many bags they carried. Although he already guessed the answer, he asked.
"Are you the ones who cleared the cafeteria?" Tony stepped forward, shaking Sean's hand, asking coldly.
"Oh yes, that's us. You know, there's no food in the libraries." Sean scratched the back of his head, pretending to be embarrassed.
Michael smiled at the exchange and decided to join in the fun.
"So, I guess you were heading to the dorm complexes, right?" he asked, offering to accompany them for safety.
"Thanks, but I think we can handle it ourselves." Before Liam could agree, Tony rejected Michael firmly.
"As you wish. Also, I warn you it's clear you don't know, but the advanced zombies are insanely strong."
"We lost people just yesterday because of one." Michael shrugged and returned to the library with Sean after telling them.
Liam looked annoyed and angry. Once Michael and Sean left, he began interrogating Tony.
"Why did you reject them, Tony? They clearly know the place well, and our survival chances would have been higher with them."
Tony immersed himself in deep thought over Michael's last words.
"Did you notice that too, Jean?" Tony ignored Liam's shouting completely and addressed Jean.
"Yes, they're strong." Jean nodded to Tony.
Everyone took a deep breath hearing Jean call others strong. Jean was known as the strongest here, so his recognition made it clear these newcomers were not ordinary.
"For me, I'd rather die by zombies than be betrayed by my teammates." Tony shrugged. In the deadly silence of his companions, he began walking toward the dorm complexes.
Once they arrived in front of the library, Sean asked Michael, "What do you think of them?"
"Well, you might not believe me, but one of them is already level six." Michael shrugged sarcastically, looking into his friend's eyes, who had been bragging about his high level with glee.
"Overall, they're strong."
"The weakest is level 3. I couldn't see their skills, but their stats were above average, especially their leader Liam, and the short one in the back, Jean."
Michael's face looked serious as he spoke about Jean and Liam's stats.
"We need to hurry and level ourselves up too." Sean nodded seriously when Michael finished.
Everyone Michael had asked to go out with him had arrived, and to Michael's surprise, even Yu-Min was present.
"We'll go to the dorm complexes, help everyone level up and get weapons first, then we'll split into two teams to speed up the rescue operations."
Michael decided to make a slight adjustment to the plan when he noticed most of their weapons were low-quality junk.