At least, that’s what I thought.
Suddenly, a sound that tore through the very fabric of the world rang out. It wasn’t a ringing; it was as if thousands of needles were piercing my eardrums at once. As everyone in the class screamed in pain and covered their ears, it appeared.
Right in front of my eyes, a translucent window hovered in the air, glowing with a cold blue light.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[GLOBAL SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE.]
[EVENT: WHEEL OF DOOM]
The wave of panic in the classroom erupted after that initial shock.
"What the hell is this?" Matt, in the next row, tried to punch the air in front of him with a trembling hand. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. "Teacher! Is this your doing? It’s not funny!"
Mr. Henderson couldn’t answer. He, too, had dropped his chalk and was staring at the window appearing before him with dull, terrified eyes.
The window in front of me had changed. A colorful wheel appeared, spinning like a massive, cosmic roulette table. There were thousands of thin slices on it, more than I could possibly count.
The words I could read made my blood run cold. [Warrior]... [Archer]... [Thief]... And those glowing ominously among them: [Blood Mage]... [Necromancer]... [Paladin]...
[WARNING: 59 SECONDS UNTIL THE START OF THE DOOM PROTOCOL.]
[PLEASE SPIN THE WHEEL TO SELECT YOUR CLASS.]
[CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT SPIN WILL BE PUNISHED AT THE SYSTEM'S DISCRETION.]
"This... this isn't a web novel," I whispered, my voice cracking with fear. My heart was pounding as if it wanted to break through my ribcage. This was real. And I didn't even want to think about what "Punishment" meant.
"Look outside! Look at the sky!" a scream rose from the back rows.
Half the class rushed to the windows. I lunged from my seat as well, and the sight I saw took my breath away.
The sky was no longer blue. It was painted crimson. Massive fireballs, trailing plumes of smoke as they glided through the clouds, were piercing the atmosphere one by one. These weren't meteors. These were the bullets of an execution squad.
The first major explosion occurred on the horizon. The city skyline illuminated for a moment with a blinding light, then the ground shook.
I looked at the timer on the window. [10... 9...]
"It's real," I said to myself. Fear was giving way to the instinct for survival. "This damn thing is real!"
I turned back to the class and shouted at the top of my lungs. "Spin it! Spin that damn wheel right now! Or we’re going to die!"
No one was listening to me. Chaos reigned. Some were clutching their phones, crying; others were trying to hide under their desks. Matt was frozen, staring blankly at the screen in front of him.
[5... 4...]
I didn't hesitate. If this was a nightmare, I’d just be embarrassed when I woke up. But if it was real... I reached out and slammed the virtual red button with all my strength.
[WHEEL SPINNING...]
The needle began to spin rapidly, the options turning into a blur of colors.
The terrifying roar from outside drowned out the screams inside the classroom. Another one had fallen close—very close. The school building shook to its foundations; fluorescent lights burst, raining glass shards and sparks down upon us.
[3... 2...]
The needle was slowing down. It passed [Spearman]... passed [Alchemist]... it flickered over a sickly-looking slice of purple and black... and stopped.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[CLASS ACQUIRED (UNIQUE): GENE-...]
I couldn't read the rest.
BOOM!
The world turned to white, sound, and pure pain. The shockwave tore through the classroom walls like paper. The last thing I felt before my consciousness sank into darkness was being hurled through the air.
I woke up with a metallic taste in my mouth. Blood.
I coughed and pushed myself up. My lungs were filled with dust and smoke. There was an unbearable ringing in my ears, but beyond that, I could hear other sounds.
Screams. Human screams. And something else. Wet, wheezing, hungry sounds.
I lifted my head. The classroom had turned into a battlefield. Half the ceiling had collapsed, the desks were snapped like matchsticks and people injured and killed as a result of the explosion...
"Anyone... is anyone can move?" I called out, my voice barely a rattle.
Right ahead, near a fallen cabinet, I saw Matt. His back was to me, kneeling on the floor.
"Matt? You okay?" I took a step toward him.
At that exact moment, that cold, emotionless System voice echoed inside my mind.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
[50% OF THE CANDIDATES WHO DID NOT SPIN THE WHEEL HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SUBJECTED TO MONSTERIZATION.]
I paused. "Matt?"
Matt slowly began to turn toward me. But the turn wasn't natural. His spine snapped into a reverse arch, the sound of breaking bones echoing in the silent classroom.
When he faced me, what I saw made my blood freeze.
Matt's face was melting. His skin rippled as if something was boiling underneath it, and slimy, grey muscle tissue erupted from the places where it tore. His eyes were pushed out of their sockets like balloons about to burst.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
His mouth... his mouth was no longer the mouth of a human. His jaw had unhinged, ripped all the way to his ears, and from inside grew irregular, shark-like rows of needle-sharp teeth.
"A... Alex..." Matt's voice came out muffled and watery, as if he were drowning. These were his last human words.
What followed was a pure, primal roar.
Matt—no, that thing—dropped onto all fours. As his fingers and toes lengthened into bony claws, his clothes tore away. He was no longer human. He was a punishment.
And he was looking at me.
"Damn it!"
I turned and started running. I bolted into the hallway. The school corridor was total chaos. Through the smoke, I saw other students fleeing in panic. Some were wounded, others lay motionless on the ground. Many of the people appeared to have been injured by the explosion, while some looked like they had been brutally murdered.
I could hear the wet footsteps and the wheezing behind me. That thing was fast. Incredibly fast.
There were other monsters that resembled what Matt had transformed into, but none of them showed any interest in me; they all seemed to have chosen their prey and were only chasing it, which meant that Matt's prey was me...
"Clear the way!" I shouted, pushing past a group of frozen students.
I headed for the stairs, but the stairwell had collapsed. There was no way out.
I ducked into the chemistry lab at the end of the hall and slammed the door behind me. There was no lock. I leaned my back against the door, gasping for breath.
THUD!
The door shuddered. I could hear the metallic sound of Matt's claws on the lab door.
THUD!
The hinges strained at the second hit. The strength of that thing was incredible.
I backed away into the lab. I was cornered. Behind me were the window-side benches; in front of me was a door about to be shattered.
The door burst inward with a loud crash. That grey, muscular monster that Matt had become appeared in the dim light of the lab. Its dripping mouth opened and hissed at me. Its eyes... those bulging eyes looked with nothing but hunger. There was no sign of recognition.
It lunged at me.
Time slowed down. I had nowhere to run. All I could do was throw myself to the side with pure survival instinct.
I lunged sideways, but I wasn't fast enough.
Matt's bony claws sliced through the air and grazed my left shoulder.
I felt my t-shirt tear, followed by a sharp, burning pain. The claws had gouged deep into my skin. My blood began to trickle warmly down my arm.
I fell to the floor, my hand going to the wound on my shoulder.
The monster, enraged by the miss, roared again and turned back toward me. It was preparing for its second and lethal strike.
At that moment, beyond the pain, something triggered in my mind. That blue window appeared before my eyes again, this time with a blood-red glow.
[CLASS ACTIVATION: GENETIC ABOMINATION]
[BIOLOGICAL CONTACT DETECTED.]
[TARGET: MUTATED HUMAN (LOW TIER)]
[PASSIVE ABILITY ACTIVE: BIOLOGICAL HARVEST]
[PASSIVE ABILITY TRIGGERED: BIOLOGICAL HARVEST]
[ANALYZING GENETIC CODE...]
[MUTATED HUMAN (LOW TIER) GENETICS DETECTED.]
[DO YOU WISH TO SAVE THIS GENETIC CODE TO SLOT 1?]
[YES / NO]
Time slowed down as if stuck in mire. The burning sensation in my shoulder pierced through my brain, and my heart thudded in my ears. Matt—that thing—retreated with a growl, tensing his hind legs like a coiled spring. He was preparing for a second leap, one that would surely be fatal this time.
I screamed "YES" in my mind at the button flashing before my eyes. Yes! Damn it, yes!
[PROCESS CONFIRMED.]
[SLOT 1 FILLED: MUTATED HUMAN (LOW TIER)]
Matt’s jaw unhinged to its limit, and spraying saliva, he launched off the ground. He came at me like a nightmare drifting through the air. His target this time wasn't my shoulder; it was directly for my neck.
At that exact moment, a new notification filled my field of vision.
[GENETIC ROULETTE AVAILABLE.] [ACTIVATE?]
Matt was at his highest point in the air. I had only milliseconds left before death.
"Activate!" I shouted, my voice sounding like a scream laced with terror.
[MANA CONSUMED: 10 MP]
[GENETIC ROULETTE ACTIVATED.]
[SOURCE: SLOT 1]
[SPINNING WHEEL...]
Symbols began to spin frantically before my eyes, but Matt had already landed on me. I was crushed under his weight, my breath knocked out of me. As that hideous mouth full of shark-like teeth closed in on my face, the only thing I could do was instinctively shield my throat with my left arm.
Just as his teeth touched my skin, the system made its decision.
[TRAIT ACQUIRED: HARDENED SKIN (LOW TIER)]
[DURATION: 5 MINUTES]
CRUNCH!
Matt’s jaw clamped down on my arm.
I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed in pain. I expected my bones to shatter and my veins to rupture. Yes, it hurt. There was a blunt agony as if my arm had been caught in a vice.
But... there was no tearing.
I opened my eyes.
The sight I saw brought my stomach to my throat. My arm... wasn't my arm. The section from my elbow to my fingertips had taken on the same sickly, purplish-gray color as Matt’s skin. My skin had blistered, hardened, and thickened like a layer of dead meat. The veins upon it stood out like black worms.
Matt’s teeth were embedded in this hideous armor but hadn't gone deep. He had only managed to squeeze and scratch the surface.
The shock was brief. Realizing he couldn't sink his teeth in, Matt began shaking his head violently from side to side, trying to tear my arm off in a rage.
"Get off me!"
I gnashed my teeth, pressed my right leg against his stomach, and pushed with all my might.
The kick didn't send him flying across the room. I wasn't super-strong. My stats were still at the level of an average human. But my leg had also turned purple and hardened. It made a solid thud, like kicking a heavy log.
Matt stumbled and fell back, his claws screeching against the tiled floor.
I scrambled to my feet and looked at my hands. Not just my arm, my entire body had taken on that disgusting purple hue. If I looked in a mirror, I probably looked like a monster, just like Matt. I had turned into a "freak." But right now, this monstrosity was the only thing keeping me alive.
[REMAINING TIME: 04:48]
My time was limited.
Matt composed himself again. His growl came from deeper within. This time, he wouldn't underestimate his prey.
I quickly analyzed the situation.
- Durability: We are equal. He can't bite me easily.
- Strength: He is stronger. He can toss me around or strangle me with his claws.
- Intelligence: He is an animal. I am still thinking.
The chemistry lab. I looked around. Broken glass, overturned stools... and the locked cabinet behind the teacher’s desk.
"Chemicals," I whispered.
Matt tensed up again to pounce. This time, I didn't wait. I ran sideways toward the teacher’s desk. Thinking I was fleeing, Matt lunged after me. His speed was incredible. As I rounded the corner of the desk, his claw grazed my back. A sound like sparks flying from hardened skin rang out, but I wasn't wounded.
I got behind the desk and smashed the cabinet glass with my elbow—that hardened, purple elbow.
Sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and various solvents sat on the shelves. I didn't have time to read the labels. I grabbed the largest bottle with the orange "DANGER" warning on it.
Matt jumped onto the desk. Saliva hanging from his mouth soaked the wood of the desk. He looked down at me like a predator that had cornered its prey.
"Come on," I said, my hands shaking as I opened the cap, but my voice was steady. "Come and get it."
The monster roared and leaped at me. As he soared through the air, I swung the bottle in my hand with all my strength toward his open mouth and face.
The bottle didn't break in mid-air; it shattered exactly when it hit his face.
The liquid exploded.
Matt’s roar instantly turned into a high-pitched, blood-curdling shriek. The moment the acid contacted his already mutated, sensitive, and melted flesh, smoke began to rise.
He slammed into the ground, trying to tear at his face with his hands. The acid was melting his eyes, his nose, and the mouth where those hideous teeth were. The smell spreading through the air... the scent of burnt flesh and chemicals... was unbearable.
But he wasn't dead. He was blindly swinging his claws around. His tail—when had he grown a tail?—was smashing the laboratory benches.
[REMAINING TIME: 02:15]
I had to finish this. Before my transformation ended, before he could get back up.
I saw the overturned fire extinguisher on the floor. A heavy, red, metal cylinder.
I ran and picked the extinguisher up. It was heavy, but with the adrenaline of the moment, it felt like a feather.
I approached Matt as he writhed in pain on the floor. His face looked like melted wax, smoke still rising from it. He was still trying to growl at me, trying to sense the vibrations on the floor and attack.
"I'm sorry, Matt," I said again. This time, there was no tremor in my voice. Only pure pity and necessity. "I'm saving you from that thing."
I raised the fire extinguisher into the air and brought it down with all my strength onto that melting skull.
THUD!
Metal hit bone. Matt’s body convulsed.
It wasn't enough.
I hit him again.
THUD!
Again.
THUD!
On the final blow, the skull completely caved in, and Matt’s body went limp. He remained motionless. Only my rapid, ragged breathing filled the room.
The fire extinguisher slipped from my hand and hit the floor. I collapsed to my knees.
A blue window appeared before my eyes, glowing amidst the dust and smoke of the room.
[ENEMY SLAIN: MUTATED HUMAN (LOW TIER)]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 50 EXP]
[YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!] [LEVEL 1 -> LEVEL 2]
[STAT POINTS +3.] [MAIN QUEST UPDATED: 1/5 LEVELS]
The hideous purple color on my body slowly began to fade, and my skin began to return to its old, soft state. But that feeling inside me... that mixture of victory and disgust... that was permanent.