World Awakening: The Legendary Player
"Oh, Nox, don't be so dramatic. Boys will be boys, right Mark?"
Mark puffed out his chest. "Yeah, Ms. Joy. He’s just sensitive."
The class laughed even harder at that. Ms. Joy joined in, her laughter ringing out with theirs.
Hearing them all, hearing her laugh, something in him finally snapped. It wasn't a loud break, more like a quiet, final click.
He realized it then, with a cold, hard clarity. No one was coming to save him. No teachers, no police, no parents he never had. No one cared. If he wanted this to stop, he would have to be the one to stop it. He was the only one who could.
His face remained blank, but his mind was suddenly very clear. He reached down slowly, his hand going into his worn-out school bag. The laughter died down a little as a few students noticed his deliberate movement, a strange stillness about him.
He pulled out a gun.
The classroom went silent. Utterly, completely silent. Mark’s smirk vanished, replaced by wide, terrified eyes. Even Ms. Joy stopped laughing, her face paling.
"What… Nox, what are you doing?" she stammered, her voice suddenly shaky.
He didn't answer. He looked around at their faces, one by one. Fear. He saw fear now. Good. He was ready. He was going to make them all pay. He was going to end it, all of it.
Just as he was about to raise the gun properly, a bright blue screen appeared right in front of his face. It was translucent, and only he seemed to see it.
[Congratulations! You have met the requirements!]
[1st Player Chosen!]
[You have won the System!]
He blinked. What the hell was this? He was still holding the gun, his finger near the trigger, but his mind was thrown into confusion. A system? Requirements? Won what?
He just stood there, staring at the floating blue words. The gun felt a little less steady in his hand.
The other students and Ms. Joy were staring at him, their fear now mixed with bewilderment. They couldn't see the screen. They just saw Nox, armed and dangerous, suddenly freeze and stare at empty air.
No one dared to move or make a sound. They wondered what was going on in his head. Had he finally lost it completely?
Then, the ground began to shake. It wasn't a small tremor; it was violent, like the whole world was being ripped apart. Desks toppled. Bookshelves crashed. Students screamed, scrambling, trying to run but mostly just falling over each other in panic.
Ms. Joy shrieked and dived under her desk.
Nox, caught off guard, stumbled but managed to grab onto the window sill, finding a good grip. He watched the chaos unfold around him, the blue screen still patiently hovering in his vision. The shaking went on and on, a relentless, deafening roar as the building groaned and protested. It felt like it lasted forever, but it was probably closer to an hour.
When it finally stopped, an eerie silence fell, broken only by whimpers and the distant sounds of destruction. The classroom was a wreck.
Then, new text appeared on the blue screen in front of him.
[Merge complete.]
[Current world population: 20 billion.]