The air in Classroom 11-B was suffocating that afternoon. The smell of sweat mixed with cheap perfume stung MacDwid Robert's nose. As usual, he sat quietly in his corner seat at the back, staring out the window with his clear yet cold blue eyes. His sandy-blonde hair partially covered his forehead, giving off the impression of a calm guy who wouldn't go looking for trouble.
But to people like Kevin and his gang, "quiet" meant "weak."
THUD!
A kick landed hard on the leg of MacDwid's desk. His pencil case fell, its contents scattering across the floor.
"Hey, mute! Are you deaf? I've been calling you," Kevin barked. He stood in front of MacDwid's desk, twirling a motorcycle key around his finger. His friends behind him giggled, as if this was the best entertainment of the day.
MacDwid took a long breath. He looked down, calmly picking up his pen. "Sorry, Kev. I was just focused on the clouds. Did you need something?"
His voice was polite. Too polite, even. But his eyes didn't show a single flicker of fear.
"You're so polite it makes me want to puke! Hand over your lunch money, I'm hanging out after school," Kevin demanded, grabbing MacDwid's collar.
MacDwid remained silent. Inside, something snapped. Something he had held back for years of being bullied, insulted, and treated like trash. He wasn't naive. He knew the world was cruel, and he knew if he didn't fight back, he would be stepped on forever.
But today, his patience had truly run out.
"Kev," MacDwid called out softly.
"What?!"
MacDwid looked up. The corners of his lips curled into an unnatural smirk. His blue eyes suddenly looked incredibly dark, like black holes ready to swallow anything.
"You know? In this world, good people only have one limit. And you... you just crossed it."
BAM!
Without warning, MacDwid's right hand shot forward, smashing into Kevin's jaw. The sound of cracking bone echoed through the silent classroom. Kevin collapsed, clutching his face which had gone instantly numb.
"YOU BASTARD! GET HIM!" screamed one of Kevin's friends.
The classroom erupted into chaos. Other students screamed hysterically. But MacDwid? He didn't run. Instead, he laughed. A raspy, wicked laugh that sounded like a psychopath villain from the movies he used to watch.
"Come on... all of you," MacDwid muttered, cracking his neck from side to side.
The next two hours were a living hell.
MacDwid moved like a shadow. He didn't just punch; he destroyed. Anyone in front of him—whether it was a bully or just a bystander—became a target of his rage. He grabbed a wooden chair and smashed it against someone's back until it splintered. He used shards of broken window glass to slash the arms of anyone who tried to grab him.
Blood began to soak the white tiled floor.
Mr. Surya, the history teacher with a bulky frame, ran into the classroom trying to stop the brutal act. "MacDwid! Stop! Have you gone mad?!"
MacDwid turned around. His face was splattered with other people's blood. He laughed again, louder this time. "Sir, don't interfere unless you want to join them on the floor."
Mr. Surya tried to lung forward, but MacDwid was faster. He kicked Mr. Surya's knee until the teacher buckled, then delivered a relentless barrage of blows. There was no respect, no fear. Only the overflow of anger that had been buried too deep.
The entire class was down. The teachers who came to help suffered the same fate. The school corridors were filled with groans of pain and the metallic tang of blood. MacDwid stood in the middle of the carnage, staring at his red hands.
"Finally... silence," he whispered.
He walked toward the classroom door, intending to leave. But as he stepped out, his ears suddenly rang violently. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
His vision turned white. His head felt as if it were being forcibly pulled from his body. He felt weightless, as if gravity had suddenly vanished. MacDwid squeezed his eyes shut, fighting off a wave of intense nausea.
It only lasted a few seconds. The moment he opened his eyes again, everything had changed.
MacDwid was still standing in the same spot, in front of his classroom door. But there were no more groans. There was no more smell of blood.
He looked inside the classroom. It was empty.
The chairs were still messy, the window glass was still shattered, but the bodies of Kevin, Mr. Surya, and the others... were gone. The floor that had been stained red with blood was now sparkling clean, as if it had just been mopped.
"Huh? What the hell is this?"
MacDwid walked out into the school corridor. It was completely deserted. He ran to the assembly field, where there were usually basketball club members practicing at this hour. Nothing. Only a basketball sat motionless in the middle of the court.
He walked out of the school gates. His heart began to race.
On the main road in front of the school, the sight was even crazier. Cars were stopped in the middle of the road. A motorcycle lay on its side. But there were no drivers. No pedestrians. Even the birds that usually perched on the power lines were nowhere to be seen.
"Hey! Anyone there?!" MacDwid shouted. His voice echoed, bouncing off the cold concrete buildings.
He ran toward the city center. He entered a large mall with its doors wide open. The escalators were still moving up and down with a monotonous mechanical hum, but there were no shoppers. Food in the food court still let off wisps of steam on the tables, but the chairs were empty.
MacDwid kept running. One hour, two hours, three hours. He searched narrow alleys, parking basements, and even the rooftop of the tallest building.
No humans. No stray dogs. No cats. Not even a fly was seen buzzing around.
The city was like a giant diorama abandoned by its creator. Everything was in its place, but the "soul" of the city had been ripped out.
The sun began to set, leaving behind a dark orange sky that looked hauntingly unnatural. MacDwid sat down in the middle of a major intersection, surrounded by hundreds of dead cars. He caught his breath.
He remembered the events of a few hours ago at school. His rage, his wicked laughter, his brutal assault. It all felt real. But now, he was here. Alone.
He caught his reflection in the window of a luxury car parked nearby. His sandy-blonde hair was still a mess, and his blue eyes stared back with utter confusion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he had used to wipe away the blood earlier. The handkerchief was clean. Pure white without a single stain.
MacDwid fell silent. He wasn't a fool. He began to realize one terrifying thing.
"This isn't my city..." he whispered hoarsely. "This is... a different world."
He looked up at the sky, which was turning a deep purple. The silence here was oppressive, as if the stillness itself was a living thing watching him from behind the shadows of the buildings.
"I'm alone..."
A small, bitter smile appeared on his face. He had just slaughtered an entire class because he wanted peace, and now the universe had granted him an absolute, deadly peace.
But was he truly alone? Or was something waiting for him in the darkness of the night that was about to fall?
End of Chapter 1