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.

As I stared at the students next to me, an indescribable sense of guilt welled up from within me.

...I had already mentally prepared myself for this outcome, but every moment I stayed in the hospital felt agonizing.

The desperate cries of the parents of the deceased students rang throughout the whole hospital tearing a piece of my heart along with it.

It felt suffocating. Almost as if I was crammed inside of a small room with barely any oxygen to breathe.

Only after turning the volume of my mp3 to the max did I manage to calm myself down.

"Fuuuu..."

Taking a long breath, I stood up and decided to head out to get some fresh air.

The longer I stayed in this place, the worse I felt.

I needed to get my mind off of things.

'Perhaps the best place is the rooftop'

A quiet place with no one to disturb me. The rooftop was the perfect place to clear my mind...

...

In a secluded space inside of the hospital, Donna was going through the records of the recent incident.

Because of her reputation as a ranked hero, she managed to gain access to all of the footage of the cameras installed on the first floor.

The video 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 the black-clad individuals.

Though she was a bit hesitant, knowing she could get in trouble if found out, having gone through most of the reports handed in by the students a certain report peeked at her curiosity.

—The last hit wasn't mine

That's what Kevin wrote on his report...

The autopsy report from the agents on the <D+> ranked black-clad whom was found next to Kevin and the rest showed that the individual was killed by a sword strike straight to the heart. Donna knew that apart from Kevin, there was no one else in that room that could use a sword.

Emma used shortswords. Amanda used a bow, and Jin used daggers.

If the last hit wasn't his, then whose was it?

After doing a bit more digging, Donna managed to get a hold of the autopsy report of the other black-clad individuals found inside of the room where Kevin and the rest were found.

In total there were six black-clad individuals found in that room. Apart from the <D+> ranked one, the remaining five were all <E> ranked. A stark contrast to the other one.

However, what caught her attention wasn't their ranks. No. It was the conditions of the bodies.

Two of the three black-clad individuals were found without their heads. Moreover, once again, they died due to a clean sword cut. This was a drastic difference compared to the other three which were without a doubt killed by a dagger due to the depth of the cut as well as the size of each stab.

Matching the timing with the footage, 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 play...

"This student…"

Indeed, after looking at more footage, there was a student who caught her attention. From head to toe, he was 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 was nowhere to be seen. It was as though he had disappeared.

If not for the fact that she had been actively looking for him, she would've assumed he had died along with the many other students that night.

What happened next was even more mysterious.

Suddenly at 9:58 P.M., turning around the corner to the 500-599 corridor, he appeared.

Whenever he walked, black-clad individuals would 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 had happened.

Even after zooming the camera and slowing the video down, Donna couldn't find out what was happening.

The more Donna looked, the more she was confused.

Something didn't add up...

As she zoomed the camera 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 heroes that had gone through many similar ordeals had...

What happened next was even more confusing.

He entered room 575. The exact room where Jin was staying as well as where Kevin and the rest entered afterward.

Fast forwarding the clip, Donna saw Kevin, Emma, and Amanda sweeping through the rest of the black-clad individuals in the hall. Following which they soon too entered room 575.

The same room the man in question had entered...

A couple of minutes after they entered, Donna saw the last black-clad individual making his way towards the same room they entered.

Using his power, he broke through room 575 creating a massive hole in the wall.

After that, though she couldn't see what was going on, she could hear the sound of metal clashing against each other followed by loud screams.

Ten minutes after the black-clad individual entered the room, a large explosion shook the room where subsequently, a minute after the explosion, 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, everything was quiet and no one came out from that room.

"…Hmm."

After thinking for a bit. Donna figured that during that minute where the camera froze, the student in question left the scene.

Taking out her tablet and after matching his face with her database, she immediately found the identity of the student in question.

Ren Dover.

She did have a small recollection of him.

It was during the first day of training.

He had left an impression on her that day. Not a good one.

She had placed him on her blacklist that day thinking that he wasn't worth having expectations for.

Of course, although she placed him on her blacklist that didn't mean she gave up on teaching him. She only gave up on having expectations of him.

...but after watching the footage, maybe she needed to reevaluate her previous opinion of him.

-Ring! -Ring! -Ring!

Just as Donna's curiosity was increasing, her phone suddenly rang.

Frowning she took it out and answered the call.

Listening to the call, her posture instantly straightened. Nodding her head multiple times she politely said

"Yes, yes, yes...I will be there immediately"

-Tak!

Hanging up the phone, Donna quickly got her stuff and rushed towards the entrance of the hospital.

"Why out of all times did they have to come now..."

Officials from the union had arrived...

-Clank

Closing the door behind her, only the video Donna was watching was left to play in the emptied room.

...

Standing on the rooftop of the hospital I took a long breath and looked at Hollberg.

The sky was blue and the sun brightly lit the city. No signs of what had happened the night prior were evident, and part from the occasional ambulances moving to and fro in the city, it seems like the chaos had died down.

Everyone was just going about their day almost as if nothing had happened yesterday.

Maybe it was better this way...

As I was looking at Hollberg from the rooftop, I couldn't help but look back at the incident. Especially what had happened while I was under the effects of [Monarch's indifference]

I thought about this before, but...

[Monarch's indifference] was an extremely scary skill.

I didn't think too much about it before, but, under the influence of [Monarch's indifference], it felt as if my body was being controlled by someone other than me...It felt as if I was under the depths of the sea and my body was moving on its own.

Despite the fact that I knew what I was doing, the process and how I was doing things was beyond my control.

It was like anything aside from my goal didn't matter. Regardless of what I did to achieve the goal, it didn't matter. Be it sacrificing lives or killing. As long as it helped me achieve the goal, it was enough.

...That's how it felt.

Scary.

Very scary.

Especially since my actions may have resulted in Jin and the others forming a negative opinion of me.

Either way, regardless of how I wanted things to have played out, it was too late for me to regret it.

'You can't change the choice you made, all you can do is not let it ruin you'

This quote perfectly described how I felt at the moment.

I could only move forward and go along with the changes around me.

-Clank!

Suddenly, as I was in deep thought, the sound of the rooftop door opening echoed across the rooftop.

Turning around, my eyes soon paused on a black-hair red-eyed youth.

'ah...seriously?'