Chapter 1

[If you could earn three bags of bread by completing one of these challenges, which would you choose...

[A: Defeat a C-302 apocalypse cockroach.]

[B: Spend one hour in a sealed room with a hundred million red cockroaches.]

A glowing screen hovered above an abandoned road.

More than a hundred people stood beneath it, staring up and talking among themselves.

"Three bags of bread! That's a huge reward!"

"I haven't eaten in three days. If I could get three bags of bread..."

"C-302. Another unknown type of cockroach. That's too risky."

"Remember the MA-1002 ant? It sucked a grown man dry in an instant."

"Option B might be doable. A hundred million red cockroaches shouldn't eat people, right?"

"This is the apocalypse! Who knows if those red cockroaches are normal?"

"Idiot! Even ordinary red cockroaches could kill you in those numbers!"

"Ha. What can't kill you in this hellhole?"

Among the crowd, twenty-year-old Leroy York narrowed his eyes at the [Choice] on the screen. His clothes were worn, and his face was smeared with dirt. He looked like a homeless man.

"I'm running out of food... Maybe it's time to take a gamble."

The apocalypse began six months earlier.

Countless monsters, supernatural horrors, and otherworldly beings appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered humans on a massive scale.

Around ninety percent of humanity died. The survivors struggled to flee for their lives.

Monsters and supernatural horrors could track humans by scent and hunt them down.

People could no longer settle in one place for long. They traveled together instead, forming survival teams, larger groups, and entire bands of wanderers...

Leroy currently belonged to a survival team with more than a hundred members.

The [Choices] were the key to humanity's survival.

They appeared at random roads and in the wilderness. Anyone who completed one could receive food, supplies, or even powers beyond human limits.

Sometimes [Choices] could mean certain death.

But if they wanted to live, they had to gamble!

At last, someone could no longer hold back.

"To hell with it! It's just a hundred million cockroaches. I don't believe they can eat me!"

A burly thug with a dragon tattoo across one side of his chest stepped forward and declared harshly.

"I choose B!"

As soon as he spoke, a name appeared beside option B on the screen: Warren Drake.

Once the first person made his choice, the other survivors exchanged glances.

A few finally gave in.

"I... I choose B too."

"Me too!"

"Same here!"

Three more men, desperate with hunger, gritted their teeth and chose B.

The words a hundred million red cockroaches were disgusting enough on their own.

However, they had no other choice!

Without food, they would starve to death!

So what if it was disgusting?

It was better than dying!

Leroy shook his head quietly.

Taking a desperate gamble and walking straight to their death were two different things.

The danger wasn't that they were red cockroaches. It was the staggering number of them: a hundred million.

Any creature became deadly once there were enough of them.

And option B placed them in a sealed room.

There was nowhere to run.

As for fighting back?

No one could kill a hundred million red cockroaches fast enough.

Within seconds, they would swarm over a person's body, block their airway, and crawl into their ears, nostrils, and mouth...

They would die.

And it would be an agonizing death.

Leroy was willing to take his chances with the C-302 apocalypse cockroach.

No one knew anything about that type of cockroach.

It might be powerful, like the flesh-eating ant they encountered before, capable of sucking a person dry in an instant.

Or it might be so weak that even a child could kill it easily.

That was a gamble Leroy could take!

Leroy looked up at the glowing screen and was about to call out his choice when information suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Apocalypse Choice detected. You have three analysis uses available. Use one?]

Leroy froze for a moment.

Then he understood the information that appeared in his mind.

He seemed to have awakened a special ability. Each midnight, he gained three analysis uses, and any he did not spend carried over to the next day.

His ability could analyze anything in the world.

That included [Choices], people, living creatures, and more...

Leroy quietly clenched his fists to hide his excitement.

Did this mean he was a Beyonder now?

Was he considered a support-type Beyonder?

His survival team already had combat-type Beyonders.

So, he knew what they were.

Leroy looked up at the [Choice] and immediately decided to analyze option A.

Now that he could analyze it, he had no reason to gamble with his life!

[Analyzing...]

[Analyzing C-302 apocalypse cockroach...]

[Analysis complete.]

[The C-302 apocalypse cockroach is an experimental organism bred at Biological Laboratory No. 32 on the planet Costen. Adults measure approximately 1.2 inches long. They are not venomous and have no means of attack. They were bred solely as an ingredient for specialized medicines.]

[If you choose this option, your chance of victory is 100%. Your chance of injury is 0%.]

That was incredibly detailed!

Once Leroy read the information, he felt even calmer.

It was a harmless cockroach.

He could kill it without a problem!

Leroy looked up at the glowing screen and spoke calmly.

"I choose A."

Everyone immediately turned to stare at him in astonishment!

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Three survivors were sucked dry by a special type of ant just two days ago, and you still chose another unknown creature?"

"If you're going to take a risk, you'd be better off trying the hundred million red cockroaches. Move fast enough, and they won't get near you!"

"Do you seriously think you're some kind of chosen one? How is this any different from throwing your life away?"

"Well... you've already chosen. Good luck."

Leroy ignored the voices around him.

He stepped out of the crowd and into an open space.

There, he waited for the screen to summon him.

To the right of the open space, Warren and the three other survivors sneered at Leroy.

Their eyes were full of hostility, and they hoped he would die horribly!

They chose a different answer.

Of course they didn't want Leroy to survive!

If he did, wouldn't that mean they were fools?

In the crowd, someone suddenly fixed an appraising gaze on Leroy.

The man wore black-framed glasses. His face was cool and composed, and he carried himself like someone who always had a plan.

He spoke calmly.

"If you survive, the information you bring back will help our survival team. You won't have to turn over your share this time."

It was Shane Sutter, the man in charge of the survival team.

He was also one of the team's few Beyonders!

Shane clearly wanted more survivors to take a chance on unknown options.

Normally, any survivor who lived through a [Choice] had to hand over one-third of their supplies.

That was the survival team's rule.

It was also one reason Shane was willing to take ordinary survivors along.

Leroy glanced at Shane and nodded.

Until he gained a combat ability, he had no intention of challenging the team's rules. If Shane was willing to waive his share this time, all the better.