The phone buzzed on the desk.Morning sunlight slipped lazily through the curtains, falling across the face of a boy who had long since lost his pillow to the floor.
"Ishikawa!"A sharp female voice sliced through his dream. On the screen — Beatrice.
"…What is it, Bea?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"Today's the first day of school, idiot! Don't tell me you forgot you're part of the team!"
"Team or not… I've got time."
"You won't, as usual!"
Click.Silence.
Ishikawa sighed, sitting up. "If an apocalypse started today," he muttered, "at least I'd have an excuse not to go."
He smirked, stretched, and dragged himself out of bed.
Five Minutes Later
The school courtyard was already alive with chatter.Beatrice sat on a bench beside Anna, brushing her hair back.
Anna grinned. "You ever notice you and Ishikawa act like a couple?"
"What?" Beatrice rolled her eyes. "We're rivals, not lovers. He's lazy, annoying, and—"
"And you still like him," Anna teased.
From behind them, Baki approached, a bamboo katana resting on his shoulder.
"Morning. Where's our so-called 'Demon King'?"
"Still sleeping," Beatrice snapped.
"As always," Baki chuckled.
Two more girls arrived — Soka and Sara.Soka stretched her arms toward the sky. "I want a fight already! School's boring!"
Sara smiled softly, hugging Beatrice's shoulder."Don't be mad, Bea. You know he'll show up… for you."
Beatrice blushed but pretended not to hear.
In Class
All five of them sat at their desks. On the board, chalk letters spelled:
"Team Killers — new name?"
Anna laughed. "Seriously? We're twelve. Maybe we should grow up a little."
Baki leaned back, setting his katana on the desk."What about 'Team Revival'?"
Soka: "Or 'The Survivors'?"
Beatrice scoffed. "Survivors? Hah! It's not like an apocalypse will actually start."
That's when the classroom door opened.Lily walked in — athletic, graceful, short chestnut hair shining under the morning light.Every boy's gaze instantly locked on her. To them, she was a dream — distant and dazzling.
"You're late," Beatrice said sharply.
Lily ran forward and hugged her tightly."Sorry, Bea! Traffic, buses, alarms — total disaster!"
Anna smirked. "Ah, the pet returns to her master."
Beatrice smiled faintly, placing a hand on Lily's head."As long as you're here, it's fine."
Then... the world stopped.
A faint hum filled the air.Reality seemed to freeze for a single heartbeat.And then — glowing blue screens appeared before everyone's eyes.
📟 [Beatrice has been chosen as Player #123,343 out of 5,000,000] 📟 [Anna has been chosen as Player #345,785 out of 5,000,000] 📟 [Lily has been chosen as Player #456,234 out of 5,000,000] 📟 [Sara has been chosen as Player #768,343 out of 5,000,000] 📟 [Baki has been chosen as Player #1,123,343 out of 5,000,000] 📟 [Soka has been chosen as Player #1,523,343 out of 5,000,000]
The room went silent.Anna whispered, "What the hell... 'Player'? Is this a prank?"
Baki gripped his katana. "No… this thing won't disappear."
All the windows flickered again — and new text appeared:
📟 [Game Field: Earth] 📏 [Size: 510,072,000 km²] 📟 [Field recognized as too small. Expanding world size by +1,000,000,000,000,000 km²] 📟 [Human population: 8,000,000,000] 📟 [Recognized as too small. Undead population increased to 10,000,000,000,000] 📟 [Game Start: Players vs. The Undead] 📟 [Players: 5,000,000 | Undead: 10,000,000,000,000] 📟 [Items from other worlds have been added to the map] 📟 [Every 15 days, monster ranks will increase: F → D] 📟 [Good luck, players.] Meanwhile...
At home, Ishikawa was brushing his teeth when the same message popped up before his eyes.He stared at it for a second, then grinned.
"Finally… it begins."
The First Kill
Back at school, Baki stood before a staggering corpse — a zombie."So, it really is a game," he muttered, tightening his grip on the bamboo katana."Let's see how real it feels."
He swung.💥 Thwack!
📟 [You dealt 12 damage.] 📟 [Zombie — Rank F | Health: 100 HP]
Nine hits later, the zombie collapsed into gray dust.
📟 [Zombie defeated.] 📟 [You gained: 10 Tokens | 10 Upgrade Points | 1 Soul.] 📟 [Do you want to enhance your stats?] Name: Baki Class: None Rank: F Strength: 3 Speed: 4 Endurance: 6 Mana: 0
He smirked."Five in Strength. Five in Speed."
The system blinked, confirming the upgrade.Baki looked around at his stunned teammates.
"We wanted the apocalypse, right? Well—"He raised his katana."—it's here. Let's see what the Team Killers can do."