||"What are you willing to sacrifice for your survival?"||
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Riverland Academy
It was early morning on a bright Saturday, and the students and staff of the prestigious Riverland Academy remained rooted in their places of rest, savoring the weekend.
Inside a lonesome dorm room, Draven, a young man with short white hair, lay on the bed, seemingly deeply asleep yet not at ease—his eyes twitched and his mouth quivered subconsciously as he seem to be caught in a nightmare!
Soon, his body began to react; he stretched out and shifted his head uncomfortably from one side to the other, a stressed expression quickly creasing his handsome visage.
This continued for the next ten minutes, and then suddenly…
"Nooo!!!"
Draven jolted awake, his voice laden with anguish and horror. His eyes snapped open, swinging from side to side as though the nightmare had followed him into the waking world.
Fortunately, it didn't.
He face-palmed and muttered, "Yet another weird nightmare."
Strangely, he hadn't experienced a single night of sleep without a horrifying nightmare for the past week.
Also, oddly enough, recalling the details of those nightmares proved impossible no matter how hard he tried.
Even now, remembering this dream made his head throb.
Draven massaged his forehead and thought aloud, "I've only read a few dark, scary history textbooks at the library and one classic horror novel—could that be the reason I'm having these nightmares?"
He shook his head and strolled into the bathroom to wash up and change into a fresh set of clothes.
It was the weekend, so he naturally had no obligation to go outside.
On weekends, extracurricular activities like club meetings and sports were usually held.
However, as an introvert, Draven never bothered to join. His weekends were always spent resting, completing assignments, or reading books from the library.
A few minutes later, Draven stepped out of the bathroom in fresh clothes, wiping his hair with a clean towel that briefly obstructed his vision.
When he finished and removed the towel from his eyes, he was greeted by a shocking scene.
"Huh."
Confused, Draven rubbed his eyes again, convinced some dirt had clouded his vision and distorted what he saw.
"What the heck…?"
But nothing changed. Draven's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, speechless, as he took in the strange sight outside.
It was dark—lightless as a moonless, starless night, which was very strange, since just a few minutes ago it had been the bright, early hours of the morning.
Draven was extremely confused—had he lost track of time? Was he hallucinating? He had never smoked or drunk alcohol, so this couldn't be some drug-induced illusion.
He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above his bed.
"Just a few minutes past eight—it's still morning, so what's happening? Why is everywhere so dark?"
At first, he even wondered if it was an eclipse, but he quickly dismissed the idea since the last one had occurred only a few weeks ago.
"Ahhh!"
Draven was still lost in his confusion when a blood-curdling shout reached his ears, jolting him.
'The shout came from outside.'
He rushed to the window, driven by curiosity to uncover the source of the horrifying cry.
Reaching the window, his eyes first locked on the sky—it was unlike any natural darkness. It felt sinister, straight out of a horror movie.
The sky was darker than any midnight, an oppressive void above.
Numerous dark crimson clouds drifted across that black expanse, creating a chilling sight.
'What the heck? Am I dreaming?'
Draven could hardly believe such a sight was possible.
"Ahhh!"
"Somebody help!"
"Get off me!"
"Not my balls... no, no... Ahhhhhh!!!"
Several blood-curdling screams thundered from every direction below him.
His eyes darted down to the street, which now resembled a scene from a sci-fi horror film.
"What the heck!"
His eyes widened at once.
Sprawled across the usually peaceful street were students and teachers in chaotic flight.
He saw dozens of them scrambling, shrieking in terror; some even shoved others aside to gain speed.
His gaze fell on bodies lying motionless on the ground, presumably dead, dark red liquid pooling beneath them.
Under his widened gaze, he saw one student kick something hard on the ground and trip.
The young lady started crawling back frantically, screaming at the top of her lungs as she pleaded with the student chasing her to leave her alone.
Her chaser—a tall male student—continued moving closer.
His movements were jerky and uncoordinated as he closed in on her.
The girl's frantic scrambling came to an abrupt halt as he fell on top of her.
Draven's eyes widened even more as he watched the male student clamp his teeth to the female student's neck and begin devouring her as though she were a big piece of chicken.
His fingers dug into her body, ripping her flesh apart.
It was a gruesome sight.
Yet somehow, this was exactly what was unfolding all around him.
He cast his gaze wider across the surroundings and saw the same bloody scenarios being repeated everywhere.
He noticed more pursuers like the one devouring the helpless girl at that very moment.
Some of the corpse on the ground, including that of the girl that had just been devoured, rose up and began staggering towards the living and sane targets.
They all shared the same slow, jerky movements.
Upon closer examination, he even realized they were not normal humans.
Their skin was green and rotten.
Their eyes were pale and lifeless.
Their clothes, wrapped around them, were soaked in blood, with tiny bits of body parts like eyes and small fragments of skin from the people they had devoured.
"This is definitely a dream! It can't be happening. This isn't real."
Draven thought, his head swiveling as he frantically took in the nightmare unfolding beneath.
His heart pounded in his chest.
His stomach churned at the gore.
Soon, the area was thick with the rotten smell of flesh and the metallic stench of blood.
The horrified screams of the helpless people and the guttural groans of the horrors themselves reverberated.
As an avid reader of webnovels, he immediately recognized the scene unfolding before him.
It was the end of the world — The apocalypse!
He had always fantasized about experiencing the apocalypse firsthand, but he never dreamed it would one day become such a reality, albeit a gruesome one.
BANG!
BANG!
Draven was still confused and caught up in the chaos when loud bangs sounded at his door, reminding him he wasn't untouchable in this apocalypse.