Thirty feet away, the Mana Centipede probed the ceiling tiles with its long antennae, registering the faintest air currents in the corridor. Each shift of its dozens of chitinous legs produced a muted clicking sound against the plaster.
Zero vision. Sensitive to ground vibrations.
Allisson remained as still as a statue, his left foot hovering two inches above the floor. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he eased the sole of his shoe back down to the ceramic tile, transferring his weight without generating an impact.
With his left hand, he reached into his trousers pocket and found a four-inch wooden whiteboard marker he had used during class.
Projectile mass: approximately 40 grams. Distance to distraction target: 20 feet past the monster.
Allisson calculated the required arc. With a smooth flick of his wrist, he tossed the marker over the creature, sending it gliding near the ceiling until it struck a metal door at the far end of the hallway.
CLANG!
The echo of vibrating metal boomed through the corridor like thunder.
The centipede’s response was instantaneous. The beast twisted in a frantic spiral, spinning its entire torso on the ceiling to face the origin of the noise.
As it turned, its dark chitinous back armor shifted, exposing its ventral joint—a strip of soft, pale biological tissue connecting the armor plates to the central nervous segments.
Allisson didn't wait. He surged forward in two fast, deliberate strides, bringing the Twin-Blade Alloy Spear to bear.
The four-foot steel pipe combined with his arm span gave him an effective strike distance of five feet. He didn't need to step into the danger zone of the beast's razor-sharp legs.
Clean thrust. Maximum pressure point.
Allisson struck with the full weight of his 12 Strength, driving his body forward.
THRUST!
The twin mineral claws pierced the soft tissue of the centipede’s underbelly simultaneously. The impact drove deep, sinking through nerve clusters and locking against the inner wall of its carapace.
The creature released a high-pitched hiss, contorting violently against the ceiling. Its chitinous legs whipped frantically through the air in search of its attacker, but Allisson leveraged the length of the steel pipe to keep the monster at bay, applying continuous upward pressure.
Thick, greenish blood dripped down the shaft, spattering inches from his hands.
In under fifteen seconds, the centipede’s muscular rigidity failed. Its five-foot body collapsed onto the hallway floor with a dull, lifeless thud.
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[ENEMY DEFEATED: Mana Centipede - Lv. 3]
XP Gained: +50
[LEVEL UP DETECTED!]
You have reached Level 4! (+0.5 to all attributes / +1 Free Stat Point / +1 Mana)
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Allisson retracted his spear and took two quick steps back, keeping his guard up. The warm energy of the level-up coursed through his body, sharpening his posture and refreshing his stamina.
He brought up the visual interface while scanning the hallway.
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[STATUS PANEL]
Name: Allisson (Human)
Level: 4 (0 / 100 XP)
Class: None
[STATS]
Strength: 12.5 (12 + 0.5)
Dexterity: 9.5 (9 + 0.5)
Constitution: 7.5 (7 + 0.5)
Intelligence: 16.5 (16 + 0.5)
Perception: 17.5 (17 + 0.5)
Mana: 4 (3 + 1.0)
[AVAILABLE FREE POINTS: 3]
[UNIQUE SKILL]
[Infinite Evolution] (Level 1): First Milestone: Level 10.
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With a dry mineral snap, the centipede's core thoracic chitin plates detached from its corpse, hardened by the condensation of Mana into a pair of dense materials: [Rigid Chitin Plate x2].
Allisson harvested the materials quickly and slipped into the adjacent room: the supply closet. He turned the handle—unlocked. Stepping inside, he pulled the heavy wooden door shut behind him and jammed a chair under the knob.
The quiet of the internal closet offered his first true breather since the onset of the event. Allisson sat on a padded chair, set his spear across the desk, and removed his glasses to wipe them on the hem of his shirt.
He looked down at his hands. They were no longer trembling.
A quiet, fleeting smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
His colleagues likely assumed that a twenty-five-year-old math teacher spent his Friday nights grading lesson plans or drafting exams. The reality was quite different.
After exhausting six-to-eight-period workdays dealing with overcrowded classrooms and mental fatigue, his sole sanctuary had been the glow of a phone screen in the dark of his bedroom.
Allisson had spent countless hours devouring action web novels, light novels, apocalypses, and progression systems—stories about collapsing worlds and humans who had to adapt to new mechanics to survive.
Who would have thought that hundreds of chapters read for pure escapism would become my best survival guide?
It was precisely this mental library that had kept his brain from slipping into the deep state of denial that had paralyzed the students and faculty. While others waited for government rescue or the return of power, Allisson had accepted the new premise the exact millisecond the first translucent window hovered before his eyes.
Yet, a mind trained in formal logic refused to view the situation as a mere video game.
He leaned his head back against the chair and began cross-referencing the data collected over the past two hours.
Hypothesis One: The Nature of Mana and the System.
Universal Mana: The opening prompt cited "Mana Density." This wasn't mystical magic spawning from nothingness; it was the introduction of a fundamental physical constant into Earth's ecosystem. This energy altered atomic structures, conductivity, and cellular DNA. Technology had collapsed because the electrical conductivity of materials had been warped by Mana interference.
Faunal Metamorphosis: The stray cat and garden centipede weren't "monsters summoned from another dimension." They were Earth's native fauna undergoing an aggressive, accelerated mutation to occupy the new ecological niches created by this energy. Humans who failed to evolve rapidly through combat would inevitably drop to the bottom of the food chain.
The System as an Interface: The status panel, attribute points, and XP bar weren't a video game rendered in thin air. They were a visual translation interface. The human mind could not consciously process a drastic leap in energy density across muscular tissue, neural capacity, or biological matrices without snapping. The System translated these complex biological alterations into quantifiable numerical variables—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Perception.
"A numerical model to calculate adaptive potential..." Allisson murmured softly, sliding his glasses back into place.
He glanced at his unique skill: [Infinite Evolution].
If the System was a tool to guide the adaptation of life on Earth, his skill was an anomaly—one that allowed him to direct his own biological restructuring upon reaching specific thresholds.
With three Free Points in reserve, an efficient reach weapon, and his XP bar set to Level 4 (0 / 100 XP), the equation was clear: he needed to clear the classroom block and reach the courtyard or administrative wing before higher-level entities completely established dominance over the terrain.
Allisson stood up, gripped the Twin-Blade Spear tightly, and unlocked the door.
The time for reflection was over.