CHAPTER 26 - Warning and Action.

[If a participant is killed before any teams are formed, then the penalty will be applied to everyone in the area.]

A red illusionary screen popped up in front of everyone's eyes.

Unlike the blue screen that they always saw, this screen was red in color and it was blinking.

But after reading it, everyone other than Alex had their eyes widen in shock.

"What the hell!"

Someone yelled in disbelief.

"Why do we have to face the penalty??"

Another guy voiced out his confusion.

"I already told you, we should just save her; now we have no other choice."

A woman, who had earlier tried to voice out her opinion about Ridha's case, just shrugged.

"But this is unfair-"

Another woman tried to let out her frustration, but Rohit's yell broke them out of their thoughts.

"We don't have time to argue about it!

She could be killed anytime!"

Rohit hurriedly pointed at Ridha, who had her clothes torn apart. The only things left on her body were her undergarments, and even that was going to be torn apart as the hands of a goblin were holding them.

"NOOO!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!"

Her pleas grew more and more desperate; she was on the verge of breaking.

Her voice was already cracking.

"We need to move quickly!"

Rohit gritted his teeth as he looked at the people surrounding him, and he was shocked to see the hesitation still there in their faces.

'Will it be worth risking our life just so that we won't lose a skill?'

Alex, who heard and saw the same notification, could already guess what they must be thinking, and so could Rohit.

The penalty of the tutorial was losing a random skill forever, but was it worth risking their lives over the fact that they might lose a skill?

They were new to the apocalypse so they still didn't know the importance of skill, or maybe because their skills were low-ranked, they didn't know how good these skills were.

But Alex knew very well how important these skills were.

So, he wasn't going to take risks.

So, if one skill were to be randomly selected, then the chances of you losing an important skill are 75%, while the chances of you losing the expandable skill are 25%.>

The AI's words only made his decision firmer.

'I was going to save her anyway.'

Alex just waved it off.

Yeah, he won't be able to kill many goblins in one go now since the things at stake right now are too high for him to take risks.

But he will still have 7 kills, so it was better than one.

"Are we going to save her?"

Garvit, who had been standing next to Alex and observing his expressions since the start, finally uttered a word.

Garvit, unlike Alex, didn't have the same morals.

Yes, he was a bluffer, and even though he looked like a bodybuilder who packed a punch, he was as harmless as a chicken.

But his mentality was a different thing.

The world was a part of the reason for his mentality to turn ruthless and uncaring about humans, but the real reason was his being a bit too attached to the animals.

He grew up with animals, met Shera along the way, and grew attached to him.

But along the way, his mentality slowly started becoming like that of an animal.

For him, seeing Ridha desperately asking for help was like watching a show. 

Shera and Garvit never had the thought of going ahead to save her flash in their minds.

Instead, they stared at Alex, reading his expressions as if waiting for his commands.

In Shera and Garvit's minds, Alex was their leader, like an alpha in the pack of wolves.

Yes, tigers hunt alone, but Shera is not a wild tiger, so we can't judge them with common sense.

Alex, who heard Garvit's words and saw both Shera and Garvit looking at him, just stared at them with his cold, golden eyes.

He didn't speak a word; he just stared at them.

For some unknown reason, however, both Garvit and Shera lowered their heads, averting their eyes.

They didn't feel good staring at Alex, and his message was clear.

'Stay out of my business.'

Garvit, who had been in business for a long time, knew what that look meant, and Shera just did what his instincts told him.

So both of them quieted down.

Alex, on the other hand, moved his eyes back toward Ridha and closed his eyes.

*Inhale*

He took a deep breath.

*Grip*

He clenched his fingers around the dagger and then opened his eyes.

His eyes, always cold, were now sharp and serious.

Alex didn't know how powerful he was compared to the goblins.

The only creature other than humans he ever killed was an undead, but their powers were suppressed.

So this was the first time he was going to fight a real monster summoned by the system.

*Swoosh*

And with a swoosh, he rushed toward Ridha, who was about to get assaulted.

Alex increased his speed, zooming toward Ridha at a faster speed.

He didn't yet activate his abilities; all of them took a lot of mana, so he didn't want to use them until necessary.

"What are you guys still hesitating for-"

Alex ignored the shocked audience and Rohit, whose words were cut off as he dashed past them.

'So fast!'

All they saw was a shadow passing through them until Alex was some distance away, and they were left stunned because of this power display.

All of their frustration, hesitation, and guilt were washed away; all that was left was surprise, shock, awe, and envy.

But there was one person who felt a different emotion….

Rohit was clenching his fists, glaring at Alex's back.

'Why can't I do that as well?!'

He gritted his teeth, unable to accept the fact that someone would be crazy enough to rush toward the goblins like that.

'If just these bastards agreed!'

His red eyes turned toward the group of people he was surrounded with.

All he could see in their eyes was pity as they looked at Ridha.

The guys were licking their lips while trying to hide the lust in their eyes as they looked at Ridha, but the ladies really did feel bad.

Ridha, right now, had nothing covering her body other than her undergarments, so the guys were staring straight at her body.

Rohit could guess that they wanted to see the remaining clothes being removed as well.

'Fucking perverts!'

Rohit clenched his palm so hard that his nails almost pierced his palms.

'I don't like it!'

Rohit roared inwardly. 

He didn't like feeling weak—no, he hated that feeling more than anything else.

Being weak was something that made his life miserable till now, and when he finally thought that he was getting stronger...

'FUCK!!!'

He gritted his teeth, looking at Alex's back.

He won't accept it, but just like the other men, he also secretly wishes for the same, and some of his frustration is because he couldn't see what he wanted to.

Ridha was a beautiful girl, after all.

Saving a beauty and becoming her prince charming was not something rare.

He wanted to do just that, but now he couldn't…..

'All because of him-'

He glared at Alex again, but before he could complete his words, his eyes widened to the extreme.