The Grave State of Affairs

Samara, who was running through the ivory hallway, couldn't help but get weary upon the emergence of the notification display. It was an unbelievable thing to see and was somewhat lucid. Samara felt exhausted upon seeing the digital screen and stopped running to leer at it with her own two jet-black eyes.

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[Survival without Power]

●[Personal Quest(Hard)]

●[User Samara Grimes must survive the chase of multiple creeps and escape from their clutches alive. To succeed on the mission, one must be alive the moment the clock hits an hour after the beginning of the chase. Good luck!]

➤[Quest Reward: Random Skill, Random Equipment.]

―<●>―

Samara furrowed her eyebrows after leering at it as she rubbed her eyes just to be sure of its existence as she thought of it as nothing more than her maddened mind trying to play tricks with her. But unfortunately, no matter how much she rubbed her own eyes and even pinched her own skin.

The notification display continued to linger before her eyes.

She shook her head as a result and thoughtfully questioned herself.

'What the hell is this, and where did it come from?'

Samara had tons of questions regarding the circumstances she found herself in. Having a notification display lingering before her sight was awfully confusing. And it dawdling in front of her eyes made it hard for Samara to see anything beyond it.

Fortunately, upon Samara's displeased thought, the notification display shrunk from its original side and drifted into the side of Samara's perception. It still created a blind spot, but the condition was a dozen times better than the late circumstances.

Seeing it shrink before her eyes, Samara raised an eyebrow, wondering what more she could do about it. But before she could continue thinking about the notification display, a distorted shriek resonated throughout the hallway where Samara resided.

*GRAEEHH!!!*

Without a single hint of delay, Samara decided to ignore the notification display and continued running away from the monstrous abomination behind her. There was no use investigating something when Samara herself wasn't safe from the humanoid freak chasing her.

As Samara ran through the hallway with all her strength, the nearer she got to its end, the bloodier the walls became. She didn't notice it at first. But the crimson blood became clearer, making Samara slightly nervous about the current state of affairs.

"T-this..."

Samara stopped as she reached the end of the hallway, heavily panting after running with all her might.

The emergency exit door stood before her, bloodied by velvet blood. Samara surveyed the surroundings, only finding a couple of classrooms and a bathroom near her. No bodies dwelled near the emergency exit despite the tremendous amount of blood splattered throughout the walls.

'This is giving me bad vibes.'

Samara worriedly thought to herself, wondering about the bloodied walls. She slowly backed away from the emergency exit door and looked at it intensely with her jet-black eyes. The dangerous atmosphere residing in the emergency exit made Samara doubt opening it.

"I want to puke, but nothing is left in my stomach anymore," Samara stated as she turned her gaze towards the classroom beside the emergency exit door. While looking at it, an idea emerged within her mind. It was somewhat a simple one.

Samara walked towards the classroom, and while advancing towards it. She took notice of the notification display, which kept conveying the same message that had emerged a few minutes ago. She stopped and leered at it again, wondering what the message was.

The notification display was regarding that of a quest, a personal quest. It was called Survival without Power, and according to the notification, it was incredibly hard. How hard it was, was a question on its own. It could be extremely tough, full of danger, or death crawling quest.

Samara started thinking about the quest, Survival without Power. She read every word plastered on the notification display with a concentrated gaze, wanting to know more about the notification quest.

After Samara concluded her tiny reading session, she came out with a somewhat simple conclusion after a short while. 'This world is f*cked...' Such was the only thought that emerged within Samara's mind, continuing to idle deep in her heart.

At first, she thought of it as nothing more but a disaster. But then, a monstrous abomination suddenly emerged, simply wanting to eat her. And finally... A personal quest regarding her own survival materialized in a digital notification display that was right in front of her own perception, lingering silently.

The situation was obviously messed up.

The reality was becoming game-like by the passing second, and Samara didn't know what would happen to the world after the disastrous landings. Did humanity collapse at the moment of heaven's fall? Or were there many of those who managed to live through it, surviving in the dark age?

Anyhow... The current circumstances were incredibly grave, and Samara didn't know how to survive through them. She was fearful of the current state of the world, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. The only thing possible for her to do was adapt and survive.

Find her family and go through the disaster and catastrophe along with them.

With this in mind, Samara managed to calm her raging mind and surging heart. Having a goal set within her mind made her road clearer than ever before. She knew that there was only one way she could walk upon. A smile emerged on her face as she silently whispered to herself.

"With the world becoming game-like, it might be possible for me to grow, making my chances of survival better than ever before." This was what Samara had in mind. After all, the current world resembles that of an RPG game. There might be quests, monsters, and many more features that she might not have discovered.

There were tons of possibilities. Samara might be wrong, but she might also be correct. Though... The reason why Samara managed to arrive at such a conclusion was simple. It was because of the fact she had read system novels on the internet before the unfortunate end of the world.

"Let's not assume that the world is ending. It might only be my city or country which met the unfortunate circumstances." Samara shook her head and decided not to assume anything unless confirmed. It was better not to think of something that might or might not happen.

It would only bring unnecessary problems.

Assumptions and theories were nothing more but a coping mechanism for Samara in this grave situation she found herself in. Samara wanted to not believe a blatant lie created as a cope and the craziness before her, thinking of it as nothing but madness. But Samara knew two things.

There was a clear truth and the hazy truth.

Samara had to face the transparent truth that there were abominations in the school and the disaster was grave. And she had to investigate the hazy truth regarding the quests, the end of the world, and many more theories deep within her mind.

But then... Slowly but surely. No matter how much Samara tried to separate the clear and hazy truth. They were becoming one as deep within her subconscious. Samara wanted to believe it. It was the only way a weak girl like her could stay sane in this damn horrifying setting.

"Really... It isn't easy to stay sane." Samara wryly smiled as she uttered such words. Samara then turned her attention to the notification display, which had the quest plastered atop it.

If there really was an RPG system in this damned and despicable world. Samara would have a chance of survival against the abominations. Of course, this was a moment of Samara losing her sanity. It was nothing more than hopeful thoughts of a grim future.

She practically kept reminding herself of things that weren't a fact.

Though, if she really did want to confirm the information. Samara would have to conclude the quests and get the rewards. If a quest reward does appear, then an RPG system exists in the current reality. This would solve a lot of doubts within Samara's mind.

"The quest requires me to survive for an hour after the chase in the nurse's office began. After that, I would receive a random skill and equipment, aiding my chances of survival when facing the abominations. The ones chasing me are also called creeps according to the quest."

Samara started uttering the words in the notification display, reminding herself of the information gained from it. The creeps were the crawling humanoid, monstrous abominations. The fact that it was in plural form meant a loathsome idea. It was that there would be more creeps chasing her.

Followed with this simple idea, Samara knew to be careful when treading in the school. Any more creeps than one would be imminent death. A state she would rather avoid than face. That was the current mentality of Samara Grimes.

She knew her limits and if passing beyond them required her to face death. Then she would rather not face it at all. After all, in these disastrous circumstances. A single severe injury could mean certain death. And Samara didn't want to be inflicted by such a thing.

"From now on, I need to be careful and not gain the attention of the creeps. Otherwise, it wouldn't be surprising for something grave to happen to me." Samara uttered to herself as she shook her head and continued walking toward the empty and deserted classroom.

The reason why Samara wanted to go there was crystal clear. It was because of the windows pointing towards the direction where the emergency door was currently facing. Samara would see what was beyond the emergency exit by quietly and sneakingly peeking through the window.

It was an excellent plan to create in the current circumstances, and there was little to no risk. As long as Samara hid, all would be good.

With this in mind, Samara cautiously walked into the classroom while surveying the room with a scrutinizing gaze. She was extra careful as something might be hiding in the empty and deserted room. Of course, she might be wrong, but it was better to be cautious than never.

'I don't want to get ambushed.' Samara silently thought to herself as she concluded her survey on the classroom. There was nothing much within it other than the apparent closet. There was the teacher's table, but it was empty, which was a bit strange.

No one should have enough time to get their things during the announcement.

"Teacher Droga, of the first year class C. He was somewhat a strange man, though that was nothing more than my own description of him." Samara was a bit suspicious about the teacher. "Hmm... Did he know something about the disaster?" She questioned herself before shaking her head, denying the thought.

"I shouldn't continue guessing things without evidence," Samara remarked as she wanted to stop her head from getting over paranoid. It might be because the teacher left before the disaster. Why should the disaster be known by a random teacher to be even in her mind?

"I'm getting worse by the minute." Samara sighed as she knew that it was good to be cautious. But when the assumption gets too much, the guess would be subconsciously considered a fact. That was something Samara would want to avoid.

Samara then arrived at the window and looked beyond it. What she saw was quite a horrifying sight. The world became something Samara couldn't even recognize. It resembled that of an alien realm. She never thought that everything would change this fast.

"T-This..." Samara quietly mumbled under her breath, but before she could continue muttering the things that wanted to escape her heart. She felt a shadow overlapping her body. She turned her gaze upwards and saw something intensely gazing at her.

It was a pale creep looking at her with its fish eyes.