"...At last."
The giant wolf's voice rumbled through the unfinished building.
Liam's heart pounded so hard it hurt.
It wasn't guessing.
It wasn't testing him.
It knew.
Whatever an Administrator was...
This creature had been searching for one.
For him.
Without warning, the wolf stepped back.
Not because it was afraid.
Because it had made a decision.
It let out a deep howl that echoed across the campus.
One after another, distant howls answered.
Shadow Hounds.
Flesh Eaters.
Winged monsters circling overhead.
Every creature within earshot had received the command.
The giant wolf looked at Liam one last time.
"...Alive."
Its golden eyes narrowed.
"...Bring... alive."
Then it turned.
With a single leap, the massive beast disappeared over the surrounding buildings.
The ground shook as it landed somewhere in the distance.
The silence it left behind was somehow even more terrifying.
"...Did..."
Ben's voice cracked.
"...Did it just order the monsters not to kill you?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone had heard the same thing.
Alive.
Not dead.
Alive.
Emma slowly looked at Liam.
"I don't think we're safe anymore."
Liam forced out a bitter laugh.
"I don't think I ever was."
A sharp chime interrupted them.
Noah's blue System window appeared.
Emma's did too.
Ben stared at his own.
Their expressions changed instantly.
"What happened?" Liam asked.
Emma swallowed.
"The emergency quest..."
She looked up.
"It's gone."
"Gone?"
Noah nodded slowly.
"It was replaced."
He hesitated before reading it aloud.
Emergency Mission
Survive for 72 Hours.
Reward: System Advancement.
Failure: Death.
Ben laughed nervously.
"That's... that's impossible."
"Seventy-two hours?"
"How are we supposed to survive three days?"
Liam quietly repeated the number in his head.
Seventy-two hours.
For some reason...
It felt important.
Like he'd heard it before.
But he couldn't remember where.
A sudden explosion erupted outside.
The windows shattered inward.
Everyone instinctively ducked.
Smoke poured into the room.
"They found us!" Noah shouted.
Dozens of snarls echoed through the building.
The Alpha hadn't stayed.
It didn't need to.
It had sent the others.
Liam peeked through the broken wall.
At least twenty monsters were surrounding the construction site.
Not attacking.
Waiting.
Watching.
"They're herding us," he said quietly.
Emma frowned.
"What?"
"They're leaving one path open."
Everyone looked.
She was right.
Only the eastern exit remained unguarded.
Ben's face lit up.
"So we can escape!"
Liam's stomach tightened.
"No."
"They want us to."
He quickly unfolded the campus map again.
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The eastern road led away from the university.
Straight into the city.
A city they knew nothing about.
A city filled with monsters.
"They're driving us somewhere," Liam whispered.
"But why?"
No one had an answer.
Another notification flickered before Liam's eyes.
Unlike the others...
It wasn't blue.
It was gray.
Faint.
Almost transparent.
Administrator Protocol
Passive Analysis Complete
Directive Detected
Target Status: Capture
The words faded.
Liam's pulse quickened.
The monsters truly weren't trying to kill him.
They were trying to capture him.
But for what?
"We're leaving," Noah said firmly.
"If we stay here, we're trapped."
Liam nodded.
"I agree."
Emma looked toward the eastern exit.
"Then we move together."
Ben took a deep breath.
"No splitting up."
"No splitting up," Noah agreed.
They ran.
The monsters immediately reacted.
Shadow Hounds emerged from the side streets.
Not charging.
Keeping pace.
Always twenty or thirty meters away.
Watching.
Waiting.
Liam noticed something disturbing.
Every time he slowed down...
The monsters slowed too.
Every time he sped up...
They matched his speed.
It felt less like being hunted...
And more like being escorted.
After nearly fifteen minutes of running, they reached the edge of the campus.
Beyond the university gates...
The city stretched into the distance.
Smoke rose from dozens of buildings.
Sirens echoed without stopping.
Burning vehicles blocked the roads.
Helicopters circled overhead.
One of them suddenly exploded.
Something enormous leapt from a nearby skyscraper.
The aircraft broke apart in midair.
Flaming debris rained onto the streets below.
Ben stopped running.
"...We're finished."
Liam stared silently.
The apocalypse wasn't limited to the university.
It wasn't limited to the city.
As far as he could see...
The entire world was burning.
Far beyond Earth...
Within the endless halls of the Universal Survival System...
Countless streams of data flowed between crystalline pillars.
One stream suddenly flickered.
A calm voice echoed through the chamber.
Administrator Protocol has partially awakened.
Another voice answered.
Impossible. The Administrator lineage was eradicated.
Yet the protocol responded.
A long silence followed.
Finally...
A command was issued.
Do not eliminate the anomaly.
Observe.
If the protocol reaches full activation...
The speaker paused.
For the first time in ages...
There was uncertainty in its voice.
...inform the Overseers
immediately.
Back on Earth...
Liam stepped beyond the university gates.
Without realizing it...
The timer had begun.
72 hours remained.
And somewhere, hidden beyond the System's reach...
Something ancient had started to wake.