The remaining time continued to disappear faster than I expected, and by the time Chen Fei finished explaining what he had discovered about Flames of Orion, the atmosphere around the school had become completely different from what it had been when Fang Xiaotong and I first arrived. Soldiers had taken positions around the outer walls, police officers were directing civilians toward designated areas, and students with abilities considered useful for combat were being organized into groups according to whatever information the authorities had managed to gather. Everywhere I looked, people were preparing for something none of us had ever experienced before, and despite all the weapons and abilities gathered throughout the school, I couldn't shake the feeling that humanity was still completely unprepared for what was about to happen.
Fang Xiaotong looked toward the large clock mounted above one of the school buildings before turning back toward us. "We shouldn't stay here much longer. If we're actually going to fight together, we need to find the others and make sure everyone knows where we're going to be when the invasion starts. There's no guarantee we'll remain together once the monsters arrive, especially if the battlefield becomes chaotic."
Chen Fei nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking too. I don't know how the System is going to organize the invasion, but if we're given some kind of battlefield or mission area, I'd rather have people I trust nearby. At least then we won't have to waste time figuring out whether someone is an ally or an enemy while we're already fighting."
I agreed with them, although there was another thought that had been bothering me since the System appeared. If the System had truly connected itself to every human consciousness on the planet, then there was no reason to believe that the invasion would be limited to our school, our city, or even our country. Whatever happened here was probably happening everywhere else as well, and that meant the four of us were only a tiny group of people participating in something much larger than ourselves.
Before I could say anything, I heard a familiar female voice from behind us.
"Yin Yuca?"
I turned around and immediately recognized the girl standing several meters away. She had long dark hair tied loosely behind her head, and unlike many of the students around us, she didn't look particularly frightened. She appeared tired, perhaps from everything that had happened during the past day, but there was a calmness in her expression that made her stand out among the crowd.
"Meiying?"
Her expression brightened when she realized she had found the right person, and she quickly walked toward us. "I thought that was you. I've been looking around the school for almost an hour, and every time I thought I recognized someone, they turned out to be another person wearing the same uniform. I'm honestly starting to think this entire school has turned into one giant gathering of people who don't know what they're supposed to be doing."
Fang Xiaotong laughed. "That's probably because nobody knows what they're supposed to be doing."
Meiying smiled before looking at the three of us. "So you actually found each other already? I was worried that everyone I knew had gone somewhere else."
Chen Fei gave her a curious look. "You came here alone?"
"Not exactly," she replied. "I came with a few other students, but we were separated when the police started moving people around. I eventually decided that finding familiar faces was probably more useful than standing around waiting for someone to tell me what was happening."
I looked at her for a moment before asking, "What about your ability? Did you figure out what you received?"
Meiying became quiet for a moment, almost as though she had been waiting for someone to ask her that question. She raised one hand, and a faint golden-white glow appeared around her palm. The light wasn't particularly bright, but there was something strangely soothing about it, almost as if the warmth carried a sense of calm with it.
"The System called it "Healing Lights," she explained. "It's an S-Rank power."
Fang Xiaotong's eyebrows immediately rose. "S-Rank? That's actually really good, especially if we're going into an invasion."
Chen Fei looked interested. "How much more can you heal?"
"I don't completely know yet," Meiying admitted. "Recently, I've treated bruises, cuts, burns, and some injuries that would normally have taken days or weeks to recover from. I don't think I've reached the limit of what it can do, but I'm definitely not going to experiment by letting someone get seriously injured just to find out."
Fang Xiaotong nodded approvingly. "That's probably for the best. An ability like yours could become one of the most important powers on the battlefield, especially if the monsters are actually strong enough to injure people with abilities."
Meiying looked toward the soldiers stationed around the school. "That's what I've been thinking about. I don't want to fight on the front line because I'm not sure how useful I would be there, but if people are going to get hurt, I want to be somewhere I can help them. There are already plenty of people with offensive abilities, but healing is something not everyone can do."
I smiled. "Then you're probably exactly the kind of person we need."
Meiying looked at me with a slightly surprised expression before smiling back. "Thanks, Yin Yuca. I was actually hoping I could find you because I wanted to ask whether you already had a group."
Fang Xiaotong immediately glanced toward Chen Fei and then back toward Meiying with a grin. "Well, we do now."
Chen Fei laughed. "You're deciding that without asking anyone?"
"I'm asking right now," Fang Xiaotong replied. "Meiying, do you want to join us? We have Yin Yuca, whose luck seems to be capable of doing things that shouldn't be possible, Chen Fei with an SS-Grade ability, and me with Sonic Speed. You're an S-Rank healer, so unless you have somewhere better to be, I'd say we're already forming a pretty good team."
Meiying looked between the three of us before letting out a small laugh. "You make it sound like we're already some kind of elite party."
"We're not," I said. "At least, not yet."
Chen Fei nodded. "That's exactly why we should stay together. None of us knows what the invasion is going to look like, and even if our abilities are strong, we haven't had enough time to properly understand them. Having different abilities that cover each other's weaknesses is probably more important than simply having the highest ranks."
Meiying considered his words before giving us a determined expression. "Alright. I'll join you."
Fang Xiaotong immediately extended his hand toward the center of the group. "Then it's decided."
Chen Fei placed his hand over Fang Xiaotong's.
Meiying hesitated for a second before placing hers on top as well.
I looked at the three people standing around me and couldn't help feeling that something important had just happened. Only yesterday, we had been ordinary students who had no idea that the world was about to change. Now we were standing together with powers that could completely alter our lives, preparing to face an invasion created by a mysterious System that none of us understood.
I placed my hand over theirs.
"Let's survive this together."
The four of us nodded.
For the first time since the System appeared, I felt as though I wasn't facing the unknown alone.
Then the world went silent.
The conversations throughout the courtyard gradually disappeared, one after another, until thousands of people were standing beneath the afternoon sky without saying a word. Even the soldiers seemed to notice the sudden change, and several of them raised their weapons while looking toward the horizon.
I instinctively looked upward.
A translucent blue interface appeared before my eyes.
[First Invasion]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:10]
My heartbeat immediately accelerated.
Ten seconds.
Fang Xiaotong stared at the countdown beside me. "It's starting."
Chen Fei's hands slowly began glowing with orange light. "Everyone, get ready."
Meiying took a deep breath as the golden-white light of her healing ability appeared around both of her hands. "Stay close. If anyone gets injured, I'll do everything I can to keep them alive."
The numbers continued falling.
[00:00:07]
The soldiers surrounding the school raised their weapons.
[00:00:05]
Students with combat abilities began activating their powers, filling the courtyard with strange lights, flames, energy, and countless other phenomena that had never existed in the world only two days ago.
[00:00:03]
I clenched my fists.
For some reason, despite the fear building inside me, I felt strangely calm.
Perhaps it was my luck.
Perhaps it was simply the realization that there was no point in being afraid anymore.
[00:00:02]
Fang Xiaotong lowered his body slightly, ready to move at a moment's notice.
Chen Fei's entire body became surrounded by flickering flames.
Meiying stood behind us, her healing light growing brighter as she prepared herself for the injuries that were almost certainly coming.
[00:00:01]
The sky changed.
A deep rumbling sound rolled across the horizon, so powerful that the windows of the nearby buildings began vibrating. The clouds twisted violently above us as an enormous black distortion appeared high in the atmosphere, spreading across the sky like a crack in reality.
People began screaming.
Soldiers shouted orders.
The System interface disappeared.
Then another message appeared before every human being on Earth.
[FIRST INVASION HAS BEGUN.]
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the sky opened.
Countless dark figures began falling from above.
Some were humanoid.
Others were enormous beasts.
Their bodies were covered in strange armor-like scales, claws, horns, and grotesque features that made it immediately obvious that these creatures were not ordinary animals.
The first monster struck the ground outside the school with enough force to create a crater.
Then another landed.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire horizon was filled with them.
I stared at the approaching army of monsters as my mind struggled to comprehend the sheer number of creatures pouring into the city.
Fang Xiaotong stepped forward.
"Brother Yin," he said, his voice unusually calm despite the chaos erupting around us, "I think we finally found out what the System meant by an Infinite Game."
Chen Fei's flames erupted around his body.
Meiying tightened her fists.
I took a deep breath.
The first monster roared.
And then,
the battle began.