Chapter 2

Just then, another person stepped out of the crowd.

She was a slender young woman.

She looked up at the glowing screen, her gaze unsteady.

Then she closed her eyes.

"I choose... A."

She hadn't eaten in three days either.

She had no other choice.

As a student at one of the country's top universities, she understood what a hundred million red cockroaches meant.

If she wanted to live, she had to gamble on option A.

Shane did not look up.

He said evenly, "The first person to risk an unknown option gets an exemption. The second still has to turn over their share."

The slender woman said nothing and gave no sign that she cared.

Three bags of bread...

Even if she handed over one bag, she would still have two, and that would be enough to keep her alive.

A countdown appeared on the glowing screen.

10.

9.

8.

Soon, two more men steeled themselves and hurried over to Warren’s side.

They said, "I choose... B."

A man in his forties scratched his head and stepped behind Leroy.

"I choose... A."

After that, no one else moved.

Most survivors waited for [Choices] with very little danger. Whenever an obviously safe [Choice] appeared, more than a hundred survivors would rush forward at once.

Only a few were willing to choose a risky one.

Then, Warren called out to Shane, "Captain Sutter, if I survive, do I get to keep all my supplies too? I was the first to choose B!"

Shane replied calmly, "If you survive... yes."

There was one thing Shane did not say.

And that was he was certain Warren would die.

Just then, the countdown hit zero.

A blinding flash swept across the open space. Everyone who made a choice vanished as the glowing screen transported them into a separate space to face their [Choice]!

Leroy's vision went dark.

In the next instant, he appeared inside a biological laboratory bathed in blue light.

Frosted glass surrounded him, hiding whatever lay beyond it.

Directly ahead of him stood a brown-red cockroach, only about 1.2 inches long.

"So, this is Biological Laboratory No. 32 on Planet Costen?"

Leroy looked at the cockroach, a flicker of excitement in his eyes.

It was just as he expected!

Everything matched the information from his analysis!

With his analysis ability, every [Choice] in the world could become a treasure trove for him!

They would no longer be dangerous!

Leroy stepped forward and crushed the cockroach beneath his foot.

Its body burst!

Splat!

This special type of apocalypse red cockroach was even weaker than an ordinary one. It could not even fly, and it was helpless against him.

Leroy did not waste the corpse. He picked it up and slipped it into his pocket.

In the apocalypse, everything had value.

If he ever ran out of food and faced starvation, even a cockroach could provide protein.

[Challenge complete.]

Three bags of cream-filled bread appeared in front of Leroy.

He snatched them up.

Excellent!

...

At the same time, inside another sealed, dark room, Warren appeared.

His eyes widened, and his face turned pale!

He looked up.

An endless sea of red cockroaches filled the space ahead of him.

Their wings vibrated as they stared straight at him.

Red cockroaches swarmed in every direction! He couldn’t see an end to them!

Everywhere he looked, there were more red cockroaches.

Even the walls and the ceiling were covered in them too!

Their bodies were packed together so tightly that they looked like one enormous black monster.

The next second, the cockroaches surged toward him!

They swallowed the last clear space around him.

There was not an inch of space left in the entire room, only endless red cockroaches.

Warren ran with all his strength and flailed his arms wildly, desperate to break free of the swarm.

His fingers hit the cold wall. Only then did he realize the room was already packed with a hundred million red cockroaches!

The red cockroaches swarmed over Warren, bit into his flesh, and flooded into his nose and ears with their bodies. When the pain made him scream, they poured into his mouth...

Warren lost his mind and rolled across the floor.

He tried to crush every cockroach beneath him.

However, there were a hundred million of them!

As he rolled, he felt his body rise higher and higher.

So many cockroaches died beneath him that their bodies lifted him off the floor.

Warren fell into despair.

He knew that there was no saving him.

His fate was sealed the moment he chose the red cockroaches.

The others who chose option B met the same fate.

...

Warren's ordeal appeared on the glowing screen for everyone to see.

Each time a [Choice] took place, the screen selected one or more survivors from each option and broadcast their challenges.

This time, it selected Leroy and Warren.

Leroy's easy victory stood in stark contrast to Warren's fate!

The survivors shuddered.

Goosebumps rose all over their bodies.

There was no doubt that Warren was dead and his death was agonizing!

"Oh my God. A hundred million red cockroaches are that terrifying?"

"There wasn't an inch of space left in that room. How could anyone survive?"

"Maybe a Beyonder with an ability that could attack the whole room would stand a chance."

"Thank goodness I held back... I nearly chose B too..."

"Who knew the people who chose A would be so lucky? That mutated cockroach was completely harmless!"

"I'm jealous... Three whole bags of bread..."

Just then, the glowing screen flashed again.

Everyone who entered a [Choice] returned.

On the left stood Leroy, the slender woman, and the man in his forties.

On the right lay five bodies, or rather five skeletons.

The red cockroaches ate every scrap of flesh from their bones.

The slender woman and the older man looked overjoyed.

They gripped their bags of bread so tightly that their eyes turned red.

They had made the right bet!

From the crowd, a cocky young thug with a sleeve tattoo and bleached blond hair swaggered over.

He looked down his nose at them and scoffed. "You got lucky. Hand it over!"

He was another Beyonder on the survival team.

He meant their required share of the supplies.

The slender woman and the older man were reluctant, but each handed over one bag of bread.

Those were the survival team's rules.

Then, the blond thug turned to Leroy, an amused smile curling his lips.

"What about you?"

Leroy said nothing.

He glanced at Shane.

The blond thug frowned, irritation flashing in his eyes.

He was about to curse at Leroy when Shane said evenly, "Blondie, don't break my rules."

Blondie frowned at the sound of Shane's voice.

But in the end, he kept his anger in check.

A cold smile touched his lips as he gave Leroy a long, pointed look.

He was about to leave when Leroy picked up a bag of bread and held it out to him.

His voice was calm and flat.

"I'm giving you this because I want to. It has nothing to do with the rules."

Blondie grinned.

He patted Leroy on the shoulder.

“Ha, you know how things work. I’ll take the bread. If you ever need anything, just mention my name. That’ll do the trick!”

With that, Blondie snatched the bread from Leroy's hand and swaggered off, smug as could be.

Leroy's show of respect had pleased him!

Leroy watched Blondie walk away without a word, his face betraying nothing.