The goblin was running away from Lucien and Nicky, holding a huge knife in its hand. There were only a few meters between it and Mai, but it felt as if everything had slowed down. It kept darting left and right, confusing those watching. Mai gripped the umbrella tightly in her hands, but the goblin was incredibly fast. Before anyone could understand what was happening, the goblin leapt into the air and hurled its knife toward Mai. Mai swung the umbrella and managed to push the goblin back. The goblin regained its balance and immediately charged at Mai again.
"Don't be afraid, Mai, you can do this!" Lucien shouted.
Mai was terrified, but she couldn't give up. She stomped her foot hard on the ground, took her stance, and thrust the metal tip of the umbrella forward with all her strength. Her eyes were shut tight; she couldn't see what was happening and could only hope that everything would turn out fine. After a brief silence, she opened her eyes. The goblin was impaled on the tip of the umbrella. With one last weak attempt, it swung the knife in its hand, then began to fade away.
"I did it… I did it, I beat it!" Mai ran to Lucien in excitement and hugged him. Lucien smiled and hugged her back."Yes, you did it. You were amazing."
Everyone was watching them, resting in the temporary peace that had settled in.
"Hey, Lucien, can you stand up?" Nicky asked, extending his hand toward him. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place is dangerous—let's go into the cafeteria. It's safer there."
Lucien grabbed Nicky's hand and, with Mai's help, stood up. His leg was in better condition—at least he could stand and walk.
"Mai… you really came back for me. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you there."
That voice came from behind them—it was Rei. Nicky looked at Lucien as if to ask what was going on, but Lucien shook his head, meaning no.
"This is between them. We shouldn't interfere."
Nicky helped Lucien into the cafeteria. The barricades were scattered everywhere, making it relatively easy to get inside. Mai stayed behind and began talking with Rei. Lucien and Nicky sat down somewhere they could still see the girls.
The cafeteria was quite large, with walls mostly made of windows. Many tables and chairs had been used as barricades, so almost everyone was sitting on the floor in a corner. From their expressions, it was obvious how exhausted and terrified they were. About ten students remained, but the place looked as if it had once been far more crowded. School bags, wallets, cell phones, and half-eaten meals were scattered everywhere.
"So… 10 GG. That means I can only buy 10 stones with this. I'm going to need more," Nicky said, breaking the silence.
"10 GG?" Lucien looked at him.
"Yeah. I defeated a goblin, and that earned me 10 GG. GG stands for Genre Gold. I'm an FPS Genre player right now, so I can buy ranged weapons and ammunition."
He showed Lucien by swinging the slingshot in his hand.
"The ranged weapon you're talking about… is that slingshot?" There was a hint of disdain in Lucien's voice.
"Well, I mean… I'm a T0 player for now, so I can only buy a slingshot and stones, but they're actually pretty effective." Nicky smiled at Lucien."I heard about what happened this morning. That cursed Rowan—if I'd been at school, I would've made him pay for that."
Lucien examined Nicky's clothes carefully."You were at morning practice again, weren't you?"
Nicky and his team often trained together in the mornings, especially when tournaments were approaching, and usually arrived at school around the second period.
"Yeah. Everything happened while we were on the way. We were returning to school by bus, and then those screens appeared in front of all of us. Since most of the team are athletes, no one else became a player—just me."
Lucien listened carefully."So the outside of the school is like this too?"
Nicky nodded seriously.
"To be honest, when everything started, we were almost back at school—but we did get a chance to see outside. A lot of adults and elderly people were trying to understand what was happening. Then the monsters appeared. Dogs the size of wolves, and skeletons roaming around. They started attacking people. Most couldn't resist—almost everyone vanished after just a few hits, just like the monsters do."
Lucien listened in horror.
"So everywhere is like this… No one's coming to help us. Then how did you get so good with a slingshot? Are you some kind of secret sharpshooter?"
Nicky opened his character window.
"I'm sure you have a Genre too. I've never met anyone who loved games as much as you. Look—what do you see?"
Lucien could see Nicky's character page. After examining it for a moment, he noticed something.
"This is different. DAMAGE, RELOAD SPEED, AIM SPEED, RANGE, AIM, CRIT DAMAGE…"
Nicky nodded.
"Just as I thought—you're not an FPS Genre. I'm sure you have magical or fantasy-type abilities. You've always loved that kind of stuff. A boss fight wasn't enough for you unless the boss was shorter than a building."
Lucien and Nicky started laughing, as if nothing terrible had happened, as though they were just two friends talking about games.
"Well, you're not wrong—but I have something different. It says GENRE MASTER for me."
Nicky began reading Lucien's character page.
"You've got to be kidding me. So you can use magic and abilities?"
Lucien explained everything—what he had experienced and how things had reached this point.
"So you can access every market? Even the FPS Genre one?"
Lucien checked, and it was true. The slingshot and stones were there, along with other weapons waiting to be unlocked.
"Whoa… there are tons of explosives here. And modern armor, military equipment, night-vision goggles—these would be incredibly useful."
Lucien examined the items in the market with admiration.
"Hey, look at this. When you reach T2 FPS Player, you can buy MREs. That means the food problem disappears."
Lucien's eyes widened.
"500 GG for a single day of food? That's insane. That's 50 goblins. And ammo boxes are 500 GG too. Being an FPS Player looks expensive."
Lucien checked his own wallet and saw he had 50 GOG. He wasn't earning GG—he was earning the more valuable GOG.
"Hey, hey, I want to see that gacha thing. You've got enough money—come on."
Lucien laughed at Nicky's pleading eyes and opened the GACHA page, but something was different. The price was listed as 500 GG or 50 GOG.
"How can it be this expensive? I used 10 GOG earlier."
The system sent another response window:
"GACHA T0–T9:The Gacha market is a market type that evolves as it is used. Each level increases your chance of obtaining rarer rewards, but also increases the price.Current GACHA Level: T1GACHA Level Up Requirements:– At least 10 GACHA Rolls– At least 1 RARE Prize"
Lucien and Nicky read the message. They only had one chance—but they were luckier than most.
"Are you going to try it?" Nicky asked challengingly.
"As if you even need to ask." Lucien pressed the ROLL button without hesitation and began watching the spinning screen.