The silence lasted only a few seconds.
To Liam...
It felt like an hour.
He kept his eyes fixed on the broken doorway, waiting for the Shadow Hound to come charging back inside.
It never did.
The hallway outside remained empty.
Only the distant sounds of screaming and collapsing buildings drifted through the open door.
Liam finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
His legs gave way, and he slumped against the wall.
"...I'm alive."
The words felt unreal.
A few minutes ago, he'd watched Daniel die.
He'd accepted that he would be next.
Yet somehow...
He was still breathing.
He looked down at the fire axe in his hands.
It hadn't saved him.
He hadn't scared the monster away.
The Shadow Hound had simply...
Lost interest.
"No..."
Liam shook his head.
"It wasn't that."
The creature had looked confused.
Almost as if it had been searching for something... and failed to find it.
His chest tightened.
Was it because of the System?
Because he didn't have one?
Liam forced himself to stand.
Questions could wait.
Survival couldn't.
He searched the maintenance room more carefully this time.
A dusty backpack hung from a hook beside the entrance.
Perfect.
He emptied it onto the floor.
A worn raincoat.
A notebook.
A wrench.
He tossed them aside and began filling the bag with anything useful.
Three bottles of water.
A box of energy bars.
A flashlight.
Extra batteries.
A first-aid kit.
A roll of duct tape.
A coil of rope.
Nothing magical.
Nothing impressive.
Just things people overlooked...
Until the world ended.
As he zipped the backpack shut, his eyes landed on a security monitor mounted near the ceiling.
The screen was still on.
"...That's strange."
Everything else had stopped working when the System appeared.
His phone had dissolved into blue particles.
The campus screens had gone dark.
So why was this monitor still running?
Liam stepped closer.
The camera cycled through different parts of the university.
Every scene looked worse than the last.
The library entrance was buried under rubble.
Cars burned in the parking lot.
Students ran through smoke-filled walkways while monsters chased them from behind.
Then one camera switched to the central courtyard.
The giant wolf was still there.
It hadn't left.
It didn't need to.
Smaller monsters gathered around it like soldiers waiting for orders.
Some dragged bodies away.
Others searched through buildings.
The giant wolf simply watched.
Watching...
Waiting.
Like a king observing its kingdom.
Liam felt a chill run down his spine.
"So this isn't random..."
The monsters weren't acting like wild animals.
They were organized.
A sudden voice echoed through the hallway.
"Help!"
Liam froze.
Another voice answered.
"This way! Hurry!"
Humans.
He slowly moved toward the broken doorway and peeked outside.
Three students were running down the corridor.
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One of them was clutching his arm, blood dripping between his fingers.
The other two supported him as they stumbled forward.
Behind them came a low growl.
A Shadow Hound.
The same kind that had spared Liam.
The students saw him.
"You!"
A young woman waved frantically.
"Please! Open another room!"
Liam looked behind them.
The monster was closing the distance.
Fast.
He tightened his grip on the axe.
Should he help?
His heart pounded.
He wasn't a hero.
He wasn't a Warrior.
He didn't even have a class.
If he went out there...
He would probably die.
The injured student tripped.
He crashed onto the floor with a cry of pain.
The Shadow Hound lunged.
Liam moved before he realized it.
"Get inside!"
He rushed forward and grabbed the fallen student by the shoulder.
The other two immediately pulled him toward the maintenance room.
The Shadow Hound charged.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Liam raised the axe.
His hands trembled.
He knew he couldn't win.
He only needed to buy them one second.
The monster suddenly slowed.
Its glowing eyes locked onto Liam.
Just like before...
It stopped.
Its nose twitched.
It circled him once.
Growled softly.
Then backed away.
The three students stared in disbelief.
"What..."
The injured boy blinked.
"Why isn't it attacking?"
Liam didn't answer.
Because he wanted to know the same thing.
After a few tense seconds, the Shadow Hound turned around and sprinted away.
The hallway fell silent.
The only sound left was everyone's heavy breathing.
One of the students looked at Liam as though seeing him for the first time.
"Who are you?"
Liam opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
Who was he?
Just an hour ago, that question had an easy answer.
A university student.
Now...
Even the System didn't seem to know.
As if responding to that thought—
A faint blue screen flickered into existence.
Unlike before, it was unstable.
Letters appeared and disappeared as if something was struggling to display them.
ERROR...
Searching...
User does not exist.
Searching alternate records...
No results found.
Liam's pulse quickened.
The screen wasn't visible to the others.
They continued checking the injured student without reacting.
Only Liam could see it.
The words changed again.
Designation Updated
Unknown Entity
Status: Unregistered
Then the screen glitched violently.
For a split second...
Another line appeared.
...Administrator Protocol...
The message vanished before Liam could read the rest.
The blue window shattered into countless particles.
Gone.
Liam stood frozen.
"Administrator..."
He whispered the unfamiliar word.
Outside, somewhere beyond the burning campus...
A deafening howl echoed across the city.
This time...
It wasn't a hunting call.
It sounded like a warning.
And somehow...
Liam had the terrifying feeling...
It was meant for him.