Liam sat in his seat reading a novel , feeling an acute sense of unease as the screen flickered to life, displaying a quest notification that seemed straight out of a twisted game. "What is this system?" he muttered to himself, glancing around the bus where chaos was unfolding.
The message on the screen read: "Kill other beings."
A cold shiver ran down his spine as the other passengers began to react with a mixture of fear and frenzy. In an instant, violence erupted.
Liam, who had always prided himself on avoiding confrontations, was now thrust into a nightmarish scenario.
As he looked around, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The system's demands were clear, and with every passing second, more people succumbed to the madness.
In a desperate attempt to stay alive, Liam felt a surge of adrenaline. Suddenly, someone lunged at him from behind with a knife.
Instinctively, Liam disarmed the attacker, grabbing the knife and holding it tightly.
"30 seconds," the system's notification blared. "Kill other beings."
Panic was palpable. People screamed, some cried, while others fought desperately for survival. Liam, on the other hand, slumped back into his seat, resigned to his fate.
The countdown was merciless.
"5, 4, 3, 2..."
As the numbers ticked down, Liam squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the worst. An eerie silence fell over him as the system's connection seemed to falter. Then, without warning, a jarring explosion shattered the tranquility, followed by an agonizing, visceral display of chaos.
Liam was miraculously spared from the grisly fate that befell everyone else on the bus.
Opening his eyes cautiously, he saw that he was still alive. His mind raced with disbelief and relief.
The fragments of reality seemed to waver, reflecting the turmoil of the system's malfunction. "This has to be some kind of twisted plot," he thought, finally daring to move.
The bus door swung open, and Liam cover in blood stepped out onto the street, only to be met by a familiar, ominous figure.
A man in a dark robe with an imposing presence strode confidently down the pedestrian lane. He held a phone in one hand, a gun in the other, and a sword strapped to his back.
Liam's heart skipped a beat. It was Theodore Evermore, the protagonist of the nivel he had been reading for the past fifteen years. Ethan, the quintessential brooding, melodramatic character, was now standing before him, seemingly real and dangerously close.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Liam thought, his disbelief palpable. The system buzzed again with a new message: "Quest completed. No kills required. Liam remains alive."
As Liam cautiously opened the bus door to escape, Theodore gaze locked onto him. The sight of Ethan's intense stare sent a jolt of panic through Liam. Without a second thought, he sprinted away, bolting across a nearby bridge.
Theodore, surprisingly agile for his somber demeanor, pursued him relentlessly. As Liam reached the end of the bridge, he couldn't resist a defiant gesture. With a smirk, he flipped Ethan off, reveling in a fleeting moment of rebellious satisfaction.
Theodore eyes widened in shock. "Did he just-? Never mind, he's dead anyway," he muttered, though a hint of curiosity lingered.
The system interrupted Theodore thoughts with an alarming update: a 10 billion platinum coin bounty was now placed on Liam's head, dead or alive. "The gods really have it out for this guy," Liam thought, feeling a surge of anxiety.
"Why me?" Liam groaned, his thoughts racing. "And why does the Goddess of Life want me to eat three times a day like she's my mother?"
With the situation becoming increasingly dire, Liam decided to take a different approach. He wasn't about to try and become some overpowered hero. Instead, he thought, "I'll copy some skills from that overpowered main character and have a little fun before this ends."
