Chapter 19

But unfortunately, his timing was terrible.

Creeeak.

Rattle. Rattle.

The moment he entered their line of sight, the skeletons surrounding the town snapped to attention.

A red light flared in their empty eye sockets.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, they moved fast.

In an instant, the skeletons surrounded him, cutting off every escape route.

He tried to weave through them, but there were too many.

“NO! GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTERS—GAAAH!”

THWACK.

A blade swung.

The man’s right hand flew through the air.

A skeleton had casually lopped it off in a single stroke.

The survivors inside the safe zone froze.

This was nothing like the goblins they had fought before.

The skeleton’s movements were precise. Clean. Efficient.

The sheer force and speed of their attacks were on par with a well-trained human warrior.

Even from a distance, it was clear

These things weren’t mindless undead.

They were killers.

“AAAAAAAH! PLEASE! HELP ME—GAAAH—!”

THWACK. THWACK. THWACK.

His screams were cut short as the skeletons hacked him apart piece by piece.

At first, they had been methodical, slicing with practiced ease.

But as his cries weakened, they became brutal.

By the time the last stroke landed, there was nothing left but meat.

A pile of flesh and shredded fabric, soaking into the dirt.

“Oh my god…!“

“Ugh—! URK—!“

The sight made several survivors gag.

Some dropped to their knees, dry heaving.

Others actually threw up.

No matter how many goblins they had killed, this was different.

They weren’t looking at a monster’s corpse.

They were looking at the dismembered remains of a human being.

Even he found himself at a rare loss for words.

This wasn’t just a warning.

This was a massacre.

And from the never-ending screams echoing from the distance, it was happening everywhere.

“Doomsday.”

A word that had once seemed almost exaggerated now felt unbearably heavy.

For the beta testers, this was a brutal challenge.

For the ordinary people outside these walls, this was the end of the world.

“…Shouldn’t we help them?”

The voice came from somewhere among the survivors.

It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular—just a quiet murmur, a stray thought spoken aloud.

A natural question.

But not a single person agreed.

If anything, one of the other survivors frowned.

“Help who?“

“Anyone out there. If we leave them like this, they’re all going to die.”

The screams outside hadn’t stopped.

But unlike before, the number of voices had dwindled significantly.

And there were only two possibilities for that.

Either they had successfully defeated the skeletons…

Or they had been killed and could no longer scream.

And the more likely answer was obvious.

The group fell silent.

Then, the tattooed man scoffed.

“If you wanna help, go ahead.”

“What? You’re just going to sit here and do nothing?”

“The fuck do I care? Who even are you? Why are you dragging me into this?”

“This isn’t about you! It’s about saving people!“

“Saving people, my ass. If I gave a shit about saving people, I’d have been a firefighter, not some office worker.”

The tattooed man spat on the ground and jabbed a finger toward the skeletons.

“I’m not risking my damn life fighting those bone freaks. If you wanna be a hero, go play knight by yourself. Or find someone else stupid enough to join you.”

“….”

The young man clamped his mouth shut.

Unlike the weak goblins from earlier, these skeletons were a real threat.

They had the raw strength of an adult human male.

And worse—sharp swords, easily capable of slicing people apart.

Even a beta tester could die in a fight like that.

Asking someone to help wasn’t just a favor.

It was asking them to risk their life.

“Is… Is there really no one?”

“….”

He hadn’t specified who he was asking.

But everyone knew what he meant.

They all averted their eyes, pretending not to hear.

His desperate gaze darted around, searching for anyone willing.

Then, finally, it landed on him.

Their eyes met.

The silent plea was clear.

He stared back and responded flatly.

“Nope.”

“…I didn’t even ask yet.”

Embarrassed, the young man’s face flushed red.

Rejected by everyone, he turned and hurried back inside his house.

One by one, the other survivors followed suit.

No one wanted to risk their life for a stranger.

Especially not when that risk included being hacked to pieces.

“Hard to blame them.”

Even he wouldn’t do something like that for nothing.

If he was going to risk his life, the reward needed to be worth it.

No one could guarantee a simple “thank you” was worth dying for.

Shaking his head, he turned to enter his own house.

But then.. “Excuse me. Do you have a moment?”

A man, about his age, stopped him.

Unlike the others, his expression was calm.

He wasn’t nervous or desperate.

Confident.

His instincts immediately recognized it.

A beta tester.

This guy was the same as him.

“My name is Ethan Cooper. I’m a Paladin—one of the warrior subclasses.”

Once inside, the man introduced himself without hesitation.

Paladin, huh?

Not the best in terms of raw damage, but an incredibly stable class.

One of the only ones with access to healing magic early on. As soon as he finished, Ethan got straight to the point.

“I’ll be direct. You’re a beta tester, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“….”

Ethan blinked.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected such an immediate confirmation.

His reaction made him chuckle.

“What? You thought I’d be shocked or try to deny it?”

“N-No, that’s not it.”

The hell it wasn’t.

It was obvious he had expected some kind of dramatic confrontation.

Like some detective revealing a suspect’s hidden secret.

The kind of moment where he would smirk and say, ‘I knew it all along.’

“What gave it away?”

“Huh?”

“It’s pretty damn obvious, isn’t it?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Anyone who isn’t freaking out right now is definitely a beta tester.”

He gestured around.

“Look at this mess. The world’s collapsed, people are dying, and everyone’s had to kill for the first time. You think someone who’s never experienced this before would just be standing around, calm as hell?”