Shin sat on a wooden stool at the Bureau, one leg crossed over the other as he tapped away on the phone in his hand. He'd been waiting—waiting for Yuki to call. But ever since she transferred to the second-tier Safe Zone, she hadn't done even as little as sending a single message.

Could she have forgotten all about me? No. Her loyalty level was too high for that. She wouldn't just vanish without a word. Then what happened?

A gnawing unease crawled up his spine. Maybe the second tier wasn't as safe as they claimed. Maybe it was a trap. Another method to quietly cull more players. The System was too scheming for him to trust it.

With a frustrated sigh, he flicked open the Net. It still worked. The world might be dying, but the Internet? That bastard refused to.

People were still posting updates, livestreams, even memes—proof that the internet never truly dies.

A video caught his attention. It was uploaded two days ago.

He tapped on it.

"Good evening… or whatever time it is where you are," the news anchor began, his voice grim.

"This is Lewis Geralds, reporting live from what remains of the U.S. We begin tonight with the updated global death toll. As of this morning, the World System Analytics Agency confirms over 3.9 billion deaths since the Global System Apocalypse began just 20 days ago. The moment people realized that killing someone—anyone—made them stronger by leveling up… the world lost its mind."

3.9 billions deaths? That's like half the world population. Shin thought.

The video cut to a chaotic footage. Fires raged in the background. Screams, especially of children echoed off crumbling walls. The scene was clearly a hospital. Judging by the wails, it had been a maternity ward. But now, it was a bloodbath.

Armed civilians stormed the corridors, dragging weapons behind them. They killed without hesitation. The mothers went first. The nurses, already drowning in their own blood, lay sprawled on the ground as more attackers marched through, weapons raised.

One of them grabbed a crying infant, probably not even a day old by the head so carelessly like he was holding a fruit. The baby wailed. The man only grinned before stabbing the child straight through the chest and dragging the blade down its small torso, splitting it in half, its entrails slopping onto the floor like spilled soup.

"FIFTY COINS!! KILLING KIDS GIVES YOU FIFTY COINS!!" the man shouted with a maniacal joy in his eyes.

He waved the mutilated corpse in the air as his friends whooped in excitement and joined the massacre. The sound of blades slicing through soft flesh filled the air. More tiny bodies were torn apart. You could hear it all: the gurgling sobs of mothers being gutted, the wet, sickening shrrkk of flesh being carved, and the soft bones crunching under boots.

The camera lens was soon splattered with blood. The footage became a blur of red and smoke. Then static.

Shin stared at the screen, his expression blank, though something heavy twisted in his chest. Yeah, he'd done his share of despicable things since the world fell apart, but that? That was something else entirely.

He couldn't imagine stooping to stabbing a newborn. He knew the odds of those infants surviving were near zero, but still… he'd rather toss a grenade, or let them die through the collapse of the building. But holding them… stabbing them directly?

No. That was a line.

The footage returned to the reporter.

"The United States leads all nations in total fatalities. With an estimated 393 million firearms in civilian hands, it was one of the first to descend into full-scale war. Over 190 million Americans are confirmed dead, with another 70 million unaccounted for."

"Entire states have been abandoned. GPS satellites are tracking survivors forming war guilds. Some even livestream executions to gain notoriety."

The screen changed to a shaky video, showing bare-chested maniacs standing atop a hill of dead bodies, screaming and firing rifles into the sky like they were celebrating a holiday.

Shin sat still. So across the globe, people have joined war guilds, working together to kill the others? This could really be the end of the world.

"In Nigeria, local militias seized power quickly. " Lewis continued. "Old gang networks became war guilds overnight. Some villages reportedly worship high-ranked killers as living gods. Lagos, once Africa's largest city, is now a dead zone."

"In Japan, where gun ownership was rare, the killing came slower, but more crueler. People didnt only rely on their system skills, but used other methods like poisonings. Arson. Knives. Over 70 million Japanese citizens are dead or missing. Suicide rates surged in the first week… but were soon overtaken by homicide. Schools became battlegrounds. Apartment buildings turned to tombs. Even families turned on each other."

A drone footage panned over Tokyo, showing the crumbling buildings, skeletal remains on the streets, smoke rising in the distance and the massive walls of the nearby Safe Zones.

"Still, not everyone gave in to violence. Some groups have turned to faith. They believe this is the work of the devil… and if they come together in prayer, they might end the madness."

The screen changed again, this time to a group of protestors marching down a ruined street. They held signs with handwritten slogans: "Repent!" "The Second Coming is Near!" "Stop Killing Each Other!"

At the front walked a Priest in a black shirt and trousers, a white collar at his throat, a robe over his outfit and a Bible in hand as as he sang along with the crowd.

But their singing was soon cut short by the roar of a truck engine.

A vehicle full of madmen sped down the debris-ridden road, weaving between corpses and wrecked cars. The moment the gunfire started, the protestors scattered.

The first to run was the Priest himself. He tossed the Bible away, his legs flailing like a cartoon character as he sprinted ahead of the crowd with his robe flying behind him.

"HAHA! Why are you running, preacher!? Ain't you gonna pray!?"

"Look! The man of God is in front! What a coward!!"

They laughed as they opened fire, mowing people down. The driver plowed through those too slow to run, flattening them like bugs.

The footage ended.

Shin rubbed his temples.

What a goddamn joke.

People talked about faith and screamed of miracles all the time, but when death stared them in the face, they all ran. Why not die in faith or pray for salvation or whatever? It seemed to him like they were pretending to be holy while in truth, they were all just killers who hadn't been cornered yet. They'd survived this long. Did they pass the second elimination round by completing quest only? Or they'd killed too.

He scoffed. What hypocrites!!

The broadcast resumed.

"A wave of concern is spreading through the survivors as well. People are beginning to question where the government is in times like these. There is also the disappearance of public figures like actors, models, musicians etc. It's still an unsolved mystery. Many are already calling this era The Great Cull... but I wonder—could this be only the beginning? The System hasn't told us what happens when the killing stops. Some rumors say it won't let us. That soon, players won't just fight each other—but…"

Scrrrk... scrrrk—

The video glitched, then went dark and silent.

Shin tapped back with a sigh.

That's when the noise inside the Bureau pulled him back to reality. People were pushing, shouting, and clawing at each other like animals. He looked up. Dozens of small glowing portals had opened in the ceiling. From them rained today's supplies: sweet potatoes and bottles of water.

So this was the drop. Yesterday it was meat and rice.

Today, it was famine food.

This zone's done, Shin thought grimly. It won't last much longer.

He would have to move on. Soon.

"I just want to reap one more S-rank skill…" he muttered.

Still seated, he watched as Sylvia and Lilian gathered the supplies for him calmly. No one dared to mess with them. Not anymore. Everyone knew whose servants they were.

And no one wanted to risk Shin hacking into their systems and turning them into obedient lapdogs.

TBC