Valen looked around the room.

"We just need to escape the academy."

A teacher frowned.

"...How?"

Valen answered without hesitation.

"Through the main gate."

Silence.

The hope they had just evaporated.

"...Are you fucking kidding me?"

"There are dozens of monsters outside!"

"And this is your brilliant plan?!"

The shouting was directed entirely at Valen.

Yet...

He simply smiled.

"Does anyone have another plan?"

He spread his arms.

"I’m listening."

Silence.

"No one?"

"Huh..."

He nodded slowly.

"But outside there are monsters!" one student shouted.

"And inside?" Valen replied immediately.

"The only difference..."

"Is that you’ve already seen the monsters outside."

"You haven’t seen what comes out of those eggs."

"They could be giant serpents."

"They could be hybrids."

"They could be something none of us has ever seen before."

"I don’t know."

"But I know one thing."

"They didn’t place forty eggs inside this academy because they were weaker than the monsters outside."

His smile disappeared.

"So your plan is to stay here and wait for help that may or may not arrive in time."

His voice became sharp.

"Then I have to disagree..."

"Think."

"What does the spy want?"

"Our deaths."

The room slowly quieted.

"If staying here was safer..."

"...the spy would’ve tried to push us outside."

"He didn’t."

"Think."

Everyone lowered their heads.

Even the teachers.

A woman finally spoke.

"W-What if..."

"...you’re the spy and you are saying this to push us outside?"

Valen looked at her.

"Oh, come on."

"I know you’re scared but don’t stop using your brain."

"I’m here for the first time."

"So tell me..."

"How exactly did I memorize the patrol routes?"

"The guard rotations?"

"The teachers’ schedules?"

"The students’ dorms?"

"The academy’s defenses?"

"The spy had to know all of that."

"I don’t."

Silence.

Another student slowly raised his hand.

"...Even if you’re right..."

"How are we supposed to escape?"

"The monsters will kill us."

A teacher nodded.

"And don’t tell us to fight."

"You saw them."

"It takes multiple people just to kill one."

Valen looked around.

"...Who said anything about fighting?"

Confused looks spread across the room.

"We fight only if something blocks our path."

"Our goal isn’t victory."

"Our goal is to escape."

"But how?!"

"We can’t outrun monsters! We all will die!"

Valen took a deep breath.

Qasim had a bad feeling about what he will say next.

Then...

"...Not all of us will die."

Blink.

Nobody reacted.

Their minds simply stopped.

Valen continued before anyone could process it.

"If we stay here..."

"Everyone dies a certain death."

"If we run..."

"Some of us live."

"No!"

Verm stepped forward.

"That’s insane!"

"You’re asking us to sacrifice each other!"

Timon crossed his arms.

"...He’s right."

Verm stared at him.

"What?"

"It’s the best option."

"Do you even hear yourself?!"

She pointed toward the injured students.

"He’s telling us to run like ANIMALS..."

"And pray the monsters eat someone else first!"

"That’s not a plan!"

"That’s abandoning people!"

Timon clicked his tongue.

"So what?"

"As long as I’m not the one dying."

"That’s better than staying here and dying for sure."

He looked at the other students.

"If you are lucky enough you will live."

"Think, Verm."

"Stop pretending the world is fair."

Verm looked around desperately.

"Guys..."

"Say something."

She turned toward the teachers.

"Please."

One elderly teacher slowly stepped forward.

"...I’ll stay behind."

"If buying thirty seconds means another student survives..."

"...then that’s enough."

Another teacher nodded.

"So will I."

"I’ll do the same."

Not everyone agreed.

Some teachers remained silent.

Eyes lowered.

Quietly calculating...

After all...Life is Life.

Prioritizing your own life isn’t a crime.

Verm stood frozen.

Looking at everyone.

Looking completely helpless.

Qasim quietly watched Valen.

Only now did he understand.

Valen had guided everyone here.

Step by step.

Started sounding reasonable.

Qasim had never imagined Valen could be this cold.

But...

The plan wasn’t going to work.

A soft hand rested on Verm’s shoulder.

"I agree with Verm."

A girl with short pink hair stepped forward.

"This is too much."

"...Sona."

Verm whispered.

Another student stepped beside them.

Blue hair, calm eyes.

The strongest student in the second year.

"Sir Valen I understand your reasoning."

"But..."

He glanced toward the injured students.

"I can’t accept a plan that abandons them."

"...Isaac."

Hope slowly returned to Verm’s eyes.

After Isaac spoke, others found their voices.

"My brother can’t even walk!"

"If we run, he’ll die!"

"This isn’t right."

"I refuse."

Even some teachers sighed.

"...I’d be ashamed to survive like that."

Soon...

The room split into two sides.

One willing to follow Valen.

The other desperately searching for another answer.

Valen didn’t interrupt.

He simply watched.

Waiting.

Qasim silently stood with them.

Personally he agreed with Verm.

Back on Earth...

He had been the weak one, the sick one.

He couldn’t bring himself to accept leaving people behind.

But he also didn’t want to die.

He could only hope they found another plan.

Suddenly—

Meow.

A small black cat leaped onto a teacher’s shoulder.

The woman froze.

She listened quietly...

As if the cat were whispering to her.

Then...

Her face turned pale.

"...One of the eggs hatched."

The room fell silent.

Isaac immediately spoke.

"Let’s see it."

"If it’s weaker than we think..."

"...we’ll know staying is still possible."

Nobody objected.

The strongest members of the group left together.

The top five student, five teachers and Valen along side Qasim.

They hadn’t even reached the training grounds when they saw it.

It wasn’t a serpent.

It wasn’t even close.

A gigantic insect.

Its body stretched several meters long.

Dozens of legs scraped across the stone floor.

Its mouth...

Was nothing but layers of teeth.

Nobody needed to be told.

The creature charged.

The battle began.

Twelve person.

Three full minutes...

To kill one creature.

When it finally collapsed...

Everyone dropped to the ground.

Breathing heavily.

Not because they were exhausted.

But because...

They all realized the same thing.

If fifty eggs hatched...

They will be nothing but dead.

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