Chapter 39: CHAPTER 38 -

Alex, who had been aware of the 3-minute head start from the beginning, was keeping an eye on everything.

From the words of the system to the reactions of the people around him, he took in everything.

*Shatter*

He remained calm, even after the barrier broke.

His plan to jump across the crater was now foiled, so he was going for the next thing he had planned.

First, he had to find out what kind of headstart they were going to have.

That would decide his next course of action.

He saw the orcs rushing in toward the humans, but he stayed still.

*Grip*

Yes, he was a bit nervous as well; it was clear from the way his grip around the dagger tightened, but he stayed still.

Then he saw it happening.

The orcs, who had their hungry and bloodthirsty eyes glaring at the humans, paused in confusion.

It was as if they couldn't see the humans, even though they were right in front of them.

He kept observing the orcs, and he soon deduced what was happening.

The AI commented, and Alex, who came to the same conclusion, nodded his head inwardly.

'So this was the headstart we were supposed to receive-'

Alex muttered inwardly, but his thoughts were cut short.

"Ahhhhhh!"

The frightened scream of a guy caused Alex to turn toward the guy, but...

*Boom**Splat*

Someone moved faster than him, and the guy who had almost peed his pants in fright was already turned into a meat paste.

"...."

The humans who saw that stopped breathing for a second; that scene was not something a normal person could look at without having their stomach churn with disgust.

But Alex just frowned at that sight.

'We aren't completely invisible...'

Alex's eyes sharpened a bit.

At that exact moment...

"Grraahhhh!"

"Raaaaaaaa!!!"

"Grooooooo!"

The orcs jumped on the dead guy's body, devouring him with a hungry expression.

The gory scene, however, was ignored by Alex.

It was as if it didn't affect him at all, and it actually didn't.

Alex had seen many diabolic things even before.

'The world was never a nice place; apocalypse is just a thing that brings those things to light.'

The world was dark before, but the light suppressed it; that light, however, would slowly vanish in the apocalypse, turning the world darker than black.

Right now, though, Alex was more concerned about the condition he was stuck in.

His eyes turned toward the system, and the system, at the exact time, voiced out.

[Just what you would expect from a bird-brain mortal.]

Alex just kept staring at the system, hoping that she would drop some hint, at least.

He didn't have much hope, but that was all he could do right now.

[can't even read the situation.]

The system scoffed, but unlike how she always did, at this moment she wasn't looking at Alex.

[You should've focused more on the rewards of the last tutorial—oh well, who am I even talking to? You're already dead.]

The Gamer System added before she turned into particles, disappearing from the place, ignoring the shocked gaze of the humans.

Alex left with a frown, now unsure of what to do; the system, like he had hoped for, didn't drop any clues.

But as luck may have it, not long after, a guy tried making a run for his life, and he ran with all of his might.

Those actions attracted everyone's attention, Alex included.

The humans' eyes widened when they saw the man escaping without even getting chased or smashed into a meat paste.

But unlike others, who kept looking at the man until he was out of their sight, Alex was observing the orcs.

'That orc is looking toward the same direction.'

He even found an orc that was staring right at the man's location before he ran, but for some reason, that orc wasn't able to see the guy.

The AI again presented its point, and again, Alex nodded his head because he had come to the same conclusion.

Unlike the other humans, he had observed both the guy and the orcs' reactions as keenly as he could, so he didn't have much doubt about his conjecture.

Yes, he wasn't completely sure either. But life was built on risks, so he decided to take this risk.

Alex looked around for it, observing the moving pattern of the orcs and trying to find a way that was farthest from their surroundings.

He wanted to have space and time to bolt away if his plan were to fail.

But before he could move, something happened.

An orc was moving closer to a woman, and from the path this orc was taking, Alex was sure that in just a few seconds, that orc would be standing over the woman.

But then he just shrugged.

'Nothing to do with me.'

She would die, sure. But what does it have to do with him?

He wasn't going to go around saving people here and there.

He wasn't that type of person.

Even the AI, who was always learning about human emotions, noted these distant and apathetic emotions of Alex.

Yet, when he saw the pleading and desperate expression of the woman, a scene played in his mind.

*Sob**Sob*

The scene of a boy, who looked no more than 9 years old, wailing as he stood alone in front of two graves.

Heavy rain poured, washing away the dry tear marks on the boy's face.

His red hair was short, but being wet, it fell in front of his eyes, almost covering his aggrieved golden eyes.

His eyes were looking for someone or anyone to support him.

Tears kept pouring out of his, and although no word escaped his lips, his expression was screaming for help.

But no one came.

The boy kept bawling his eyes out, whimpering and shivering as the cold slowly started to catch up to him.

Not long after, the boy fell to the ground, sobbing and coughing uncontrollably.

One thing to note is that, no matter what happened, the boy never let a single word out of his mouth.

Alex, who stood frozen on his spot, closed his eyes, trying to forget the scene he visualized.

"Sigh…."

In the end, however, he just sighed.

The AI, which could now feel a cluster of many complex emotions in Alex's mind, questioned him. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But Alex decided to remain silent.

He just bent down and picked up a piece of stone before he threw it toward a heap of debris.

*Tack*

A sharp sound was heard as the piece of stone crashed into some iron plate or something, but Alex just ignored it all.

He glanced at the woman one last time before he started walking away.

"Growl!"

He heard the orcs running toward the source of the sound, but again, he ignored it.

He was done with all that he wanted to do.

He could feel the shocked gazes of the people on him, but again, he just brushed it away.

The AI, whose question was ignored by Alex, asked again.

It could read Alex's memories, but as Alex had told it not to do it without his permission, it implored Alex about the doubt it had.

Alex, who was walking toward the dense forest, turned his head up toward the sky, taking in the view of the clear blue sky, something he hadn't seen for as long as he could remember.

For a second, a soft smile appeared on his face, but it was wiped off even before it could completely form.

The scene from before played in his mind, continuing where it had paused before.

*Tap**Tap*Tap*...

The sound of water drops falling on an umbrella was heard as the red-haired boy, who was sobbing between his coughs, opened his swollen golden eyes to look at what was happening.

"Let's go, Alex.

We don't want you to catch a cold now."

The boy saw a man standing in front of him, holding the umbrella, shielding him from the rain, but for some reason, the man's face wasn't visible.

The face of that man was now replaced by a blur—a blur so hard that none of the man's features could be made out.

The scene, however, stopped at that point, completely gone from Alex's sight.

Alex closed his eyes.

*Inhale*

And took a deep breath.

By the time he opened his eyes, they had returned to how they used to be: cold and unfeeling.

The AI tried to explain the intention behind its behavior of continuously asking the same question.

It could feel Alex's emotions; they were now as stable and calm as they could be.

But for some reason, the calmness felt cold.

The AI thought that it was because of its continuous inquiry that this happened, but its words were cut short by Alex.

'Sometimes things just happen.

I had no intention of helping her, as you deduced, but for some reason, I couldn't stop my hand from throwing that piece of stone.'

Alex finally answered the AI; his fingers, however, were gripping his dagger hard.

The AI decided to stay quiet at those words.

It was satisfied with just observing Alex for now; maybe it would be able to understand Alex better after it had discerned a lot of things about him.

Alex, who wasn't aware of the AI's thoughts, kept walking straight, but that was only until an illusionary blue screen popped up in front of him.

[Congratulations for clearing the tutorials.]