The Author's POV

[Yesterday, at around 9:45 P.M. Hollberg, a group of unidentified individuals attacked multiple students from the lock killing 389 and crippling 107...]

Sitting on a comfy chair inside of a private hospital, I looked at the large TV screen on the wall.

Currently, a male news anchor was reporting the happenings of the Hollber accident. Next to him, a pretty female anchor added a few comments here and there.

[…According to the investigation, no valuable information was gathered regarding the aggressors as they all killed themselves or died from unknown causes. According to reports, thanks to the support of Hero rank 156 Donna Longbern and S ranked hero Connor Novak the number of casualties didn't reach the four-digit figures...]

[This type of massacre on students had never happened before in the history of the lock nor humanity. What happened yesterday will forever be remembered as 'The massacre of Hollberg' and we can only extend our support and prayers towards the victims of this accident]

Stacking the papers on the table, looking towards the camera, the news anchor's voice deepened

[Now this gives rise to a new question. Is the lock really that safe of a place? Is the lock really the safe haven advertised by the central government and the union? Who should be held accountable for the death of those 389 people? I'm not sure about you, but...]

-Clack!

-Bam!

As I was listening, suddenly the TV shut off. Following which the sound of something hard smashing against the cold hard floor echoed across the hospital.

Turning my line of sight towards where the sound came from, angrily standing up, a professor glared at what remained of the controller.

Looking back at the TV, he shouted

"What sort of nonsense are you talking about!? Do they expect us to protect all of the students when we too were fighting for our lives? Do they not understand what we went through that night!! Haa? Tell me!"

"Professor Rim please calm down."

"Professor Rim!"

Noticing the outburst, a couple of students and professors immediately headed towards the professor trying their best to calm him down.

Despite their struggle, the professor didn't calm down. It was only after more professors and students came that he finally stopped going on a rampage and calmed down.

Tensions were at an all-time high.

Not just the students, but the professors were heavily affected by the incident. Despite the fact that the professors had gone through a lot of similar situations, that didn't mean they too didn't feel terrible for what had happened.

Be it, students or professors.

They all thought one thing.

...What if I was stronger?

Could an extra life had been saved?

Looking at the commotion, I shook my head.

There were no what-ifs in the world. What had happened had already happened. You either looked ahead or remained stuck in the past.

Glancing at the students that sat next to me, their eyes were hollow. It was evident that they were traumatized by the incident.

I sort of understood what they were going through.

Having lost my parents at the peak of my dependence, I knew the feeling of losing loved ones.

Some lost their best friends, some lost their romantic partners, or some even lost their siblings.

Almost everyone lost something yesterday.

to me, an indescribable sense of guilt welled up

myself for this outcome, but every moment I stayed in

the parents of the deceased students rang throughout the whole hospital tearing a piece of my heart along

was crammed inside of

after turning the volume of my mp3 to the max

"Fuuuu..."

and decided to head out

in this

needed to get my mind off

the best place is

disturb me. The rooftop was the perfect

...

hospital, Donna was going

hero, she managed to gain access to all of the footage of the cameras installed on the first

she was currently watching was filmed by a camera that recorded the hall for rooms 500-599. Naturally, it contained the battle between the students and

bit hesitant, knowing she could get in trouble if found out, having gone through most of the reports handed in by the

last hit

what Kevin wrote on his

showed that the individual was killed by a sword strike straight

used shortswords. Amanda used a bow, and Jin

last hit wasn't

digging, Donna managed to get a hold of the autopsy report of the other black-clad individuals found inside of

in that room. Apart from the ranked one, the remaining five were all

her attention wasn't their ranks. No. It was the conditions

to a clean sword cut. This was a drastic difference compared to the other

Donna knew that inside of the room at that time Kevin and the rest had still not gone to aid Jin. Meaning that there was an external factor in

"This student…"

ordinary in every way. Inside the video, the man in question was not doing anything out of the ordinary. When the black-clad individuals appeared, he

she had been actively looking for him, she would've

next was

9:58 P.M., turning around the corner

mysteriously fall. Because of the chaos, if someone didn't look carefully, they wouldn't have noticed this small detail. It was so subtle that no one around him realized what

and slowing the video down, Donna couldn't find

more Donna looked, the more

Something didn't add up...

towards his face, his demenour in general didn't add up. It wasn't something a student should have. That emotionless and indifferent attitude was only something top

next was

575. The exact room where Jin was staying as well as

Kevin, Emma, and Amanda sweeping through the rest of the black-clad individuals in the hall. Following which they soon too entered

room the man in

Donna saw the last black-clad individual making his way towards the same room

power, he broke through room 575 creating a massive hole

she couldn't see what was going on, she could hear the sound of metal

a brilliant white light dyed the surroundings. Because of the light, the camera froze up for a solid minute. By the time the screen came back to normal,

"…Hmm."

Donna figured that during that minute where

his face with her database, she immediately found the

Ren Dover.

have a small

was during the first

left an impression on her that day.

placed him on her blacklist that day

on her blacklist that didn't mean she gave up on

maybe she needed to reevaluate her previous opinion