the apocalypse hit

In a class in Harvard, a group of students was seated in a lecture room, attentively listening to the professor explaining the lesson.

In the second row, a student in his late teens had his head resting on the table, seemingly asleep.

Suddenly, he jolted awake, rising from his seat with a surprised expression, glancing around the room.

The professor turned around at the commotion, and upon seeing Leon, his features turned angry. He addressed him sternly, "Student Leon, I don't care how proficient you are in computer science or whatever it is. This is a history class, and you have no privileges here. I've turned a blind eye to you treating my class as your bedroom, but keep your dreams for your bed. The next time you do this, you will be kicked out immediately."

Leon sat down, unsure how to react. His brain struggled to process everything; upon entering the portal, he felt as if he had jumped from a ten-story building and he felt his body getting crushed.

The moment Leon opened his eyes, it coincided with the time he reached the floor, prompting him to jump up.

As he calmed down a bit he quickly checked his pocket for his phone, retrieved it, and checked the date.

"17,8,2023? This is a few months before my death. I should be in one of my caches. What am I doing in a lecture hall?" Leon questioned, scanning his memories for an answer.

The professor's face seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall who he was exactly.

Lost in thought, Leon felt a tap on his back, bringing him back to the present. As he turned around, he was met by the face of another student, a man around the same age as him.

His complexion was pale-white, his hair black, and his eyes red with dark circles under them..

"Are you good, man? You looked terrified," asked the man with a deep voice, reminiscent of those heard in Porsche and Ford ads.

"Wait, is that you, Jairus?" Leon inquired.

"Yeah, of course, it's me, Jairus. Are you sure you are okay, you weren't smoking something right ??"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. It was just a nightmare," replied Leon.

Turning around, Leon finally remembered the place. It was the time when he returned to studying, specifically Mr. Jeremy's history class.

This was a class he never bothered to study for, given that Leon entered the institute based on his exceptional abilities in hacking and cybersecurity.

He had a deal with the institute's dean: attend all classes like any other student, but grades would solely depend on computer-related subjects.

As Leon found an answer for his situation, there was a snag—this was supposed to be around ten years ago. Then, he recalled Varian mentioning that this world was a bit different from his original world.

"This must be what he was speaking about."

After that he remembered the bottle Varian had given him, Leon intended to grab his bag, but the bell rang, signaling the end of the lecture.

"See you again next week, students, and don't forget your project. Next week is the deadline, and for you, Mr. Leon, I hope I won't need to repeat my remarks," announced Professor Jeremy.

"Don't worry, Professor Jeremy, this won't be repeated," replied Leon as he stood up, internally adding a "Fuck you" with the middle finger at the same time.

He grabbed his bag and opened it. As expected, the gift was there, but he decided to leave it for later, planning to examine it at home as he didn't know what kind of effects it had .

Putting his laptop in his bag, Leon started walking out but was stopped by someone calling out,

"Leon, wait for us."

Leon turned around to find four men walking towards him.

"Oh yeah, the boys. I totally forgot about them. Sometimes I can't believe I was able to make friendships again back then, and looking at them now, they're still very handsome even in this world."

From left to right, there was Jairus, the one who checked on him earlier, very attractive with clean white skin and red eyes. Then there was James, standing at 6'2 feet (190 cm) with an athletic body, yellow eyes, and blond hair. Next to him was Marcus, a bit shorter than James at around 6 feet, with purple eyes, silver hair, and attire that exuded a sense of nobility. Marcus was the one who called out to him earlier. Finally, there was Neophem , with long black hair and green eyes, the shortest in the group at around 5'11.

This would have been a perfect group that would attract the attention of every girl. The only problem was him.

He didn't despise himself; standing at 6'1, he was relatively handsome. However, in comparison to the rest of his group, he felt he was by far the least attractive.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Marcus, noticing Leon standing absent-mindedly as the group reached him.

"Nothing serious, I was just thinking about the project," Leon quickly fabricated a good lie.

"Don't worry about it; it's not important," said Jairus.

"I should. If I don't complete it, I seriously think that the professor will try to kill me," replied Leon.

"Let's forget about studying and go get some food," suggested Neophem , prompting the group to move.

As the group started walking, they engaged in casual conversation about random topics. Upon reaching the restaurant, they took a table and placed their lunch orders.

While waiting for their food, another group approached them. The leader of the group stood next to Marcus and spoke in a mocking tone, "Hey, I didn't think you would stay here. Why aren't you with your family on this big day? Don't tell me they left you back as a guarding dog?"

"Yeah, I'm here to make sure that stray rats like you don't start messing around," answered Marcus in a nonchalant tone, not bothering to look at the man as he continued eating.

"Who are you calling rats?" the man shouted, the hairs on his neck standing straight.

"Just fuck off, can you?" intervened Jairus, staring them down.

The man was about to say something else, but his friends quickly dragged him away.

"I really can't understand the rich families' bullshit," said Jairus.

"What can I do?" replied Marcus as he shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands in a gesture of helplessness

"What was that about anyway?" asked Leon.

"If things go as expected, you will know very soon. There's no need to spoil the surprise," explained Marcus.

Upon hearing these words, the rest of the group, except for Leon, exchanged furtive glances. They returned to their casual chatting until they finished their meals. As they walked in the halls to the next class, suddenly everyone in the hall fell frozen.

No one could move as they all saw one thing:

[ The survival phase has started ]