When the students and teachers of Hudson University saw Elric's latest post in the campus group chat, they froze for a moment before the insults and accusations poured in like a flood.
Tommy Quinn, Chris Taylor: [??? Bro, are you insane?]
Art Chambers, Dylan Ward: [Six hundred and sixty-six likes, but man, are you seriously role-playing now?]
Zach Carter, the self-proclaimed literary genius: [This guy must be addicted to doomsday novels. A minor disaster and he's already talking about hoarding supplies and taking in a harem?]
Mia Grant, engineering diva: [This Elric guy, what kind of delusional prepper are you? With a little bottled water and granola bars, you think you can coerce us "beautiful girls"?]
Computer science cosplayer Lily: [Exactly. If the world ends, the rich guy chasing me will buy me a whole truckload of water. I'll smash it in your face for disrespecting women.]
Civil engineering major Liam Miller: [Wait, is this the Elric from Civil Eng Class 215? You're making us all look bad. We're gentlemen here. How did a creep like you slip through?]
Professor Richard: [Hudson University is in a special period right now. As students, you should donate your food and water for the good of the school. I promise the administration won't treat you badly. When this passes, I'll personally award you with extra credits.]
Student council rep William: [Professor Wang is right. Elric, bring your food and water to Dorm 307 immediately. As a student council member, I'll take the responsibility of redistributing it fairly to everyone.]
... Within seconds, the chat filled with nearly a hundred messages. Every single one either scolded Elric or tried to morally pressure him. Not a single girl privately messaged him.
Elric wasn't surprised.
It was only the fourth day since the strange "Last Wave" mist had spread across the country. Most students still had food and water, and many still clung to the belief that this was a temporary crisis, not the end of the world. They expected the government to send in FEMA or the National Guard any minute now.
Why would any girl give up her pride to message him yet?
Elric leaned back against his dorm chair, calm. Unlike the others, he had the System—and the System told him this wasn't a passing disaster. It was the beginning of true doomsday.
Three days slipped by in a blur. It was now the fifth day after the outbreak, and still no official rescue had come. Instead, the government broadcast a warning: "Stay home. Don't move around. Do not panic."
Two other announcements sent panic rippling through the internet:
The colorful mist wasn't harmless. Anyone exposed began to suffer—first dizziness, then agonizing pain, some even begging for death. The only way to resist it? Eating enough food to maintain satiety.
A strange black mold-like substance had contaminated exposed food and water. Consuming it gave temporary fullness, but within hours caused vomiting, diarrhea, and poisoning. The only cure was more uncontaminated food and water.
The news sent the value of clean supplies skyrocketing. People online even offered hundreds of dollars for a single bottle of sealed water.
Meanwhile, Elric wasn't idle. Aside from the Hudson University group, he applied to over a dozen neighborhood chats and began spamming daily posts: photos of his supplies and one clear condition—he'd only take in beautiful women.
At first, people mocked him, called him disgusting. But as days passed and contaminated food spread, the tone changed.
By the fifth night, Elric's inbox exploded—99+ unread messages and hundreds of new friend requests.
Unfortunately, most were desperate men begging for food, not the kind of women the System demanded.
Still, among the noise, a familiar notification popped up:
Dorm group "The Four Brothers"
Gavin Ross, Dorm Leader: [@Elric, dude, where the hell have you been? Heard you're sitting on a stash of food. Get back here—your three dorm bros are starving. Don't you know what brotherhood means?]
Jacob Short: [Yeah, man, we're your roommates. Bring over your supplies and we'll share. After graduation, I'll even get my dad to hook you up with an internship at his company.]
Ryan Lowe: [@Elric, brooo, I can't believe you're hiding all this from us. My uncle owns one of the biggest construction firms in New York. Hand over your food and drinks, and I'll make sure you get a spot there after graduation.]
Elric stared at their messages and chuckled coldly.
People always said the purest friendships in life were between college roommates.
For him, that was never the case.