Left alone in the corridor in a heap of thought, Rose realized there was something else amiss on the school grounds. She swiftly picked herself up, not feeling the pain she experienced earlier with her wounds already gone.

On her right, she saw the night sky. It had suddenly gotten dark when it was only a little brighter not too long ago. Then the northern gate creaked to a close... Rose has been locked inside.

The building had suddenly changed to an eerie place, with faint whispering in the corners. A mist could be seen all around, as if something was bound to appear at anytime. Rose was shaken, she didn't know what was going on but she knew she needed to leave now lest trouble prevents her from going home. However, she hadn't completed a step when she could hear faint footsteps coming her way. The steps were even, calm and creepy.

What could be inside the school building during its Lockdown?

When school ends for the day, it undergoes Lockdown. It is a security measure to keep intruders at bay, hence no electricity; nothing else functions properly inside. And monsters not around during the day begin to appear, twice as dangerous.

Rose did not want to encounter danger, so she quietly went inside her classroom but it was locked. It wouldn't budge no matter how much strength she used to pull the sliding door.

She turned around and ran to the opposite direction from where the faint steps were coming from. Swiftly, she climbed up the nearby stairs and soon, she found herself in a corridor with barely any light. Deeper along the corridor, the mouth of darkness await its prey. She shivered at the sight.

Going up further would expose her to more darkness, going down, she would encounter the unknown. Her heart drummed in suspense, she needed to decide soon because the faint steps were coming up the stairs not long after.

Sweat begun to trickle down her forehead, her hands wet in perspiration. Her legs brought her towards the upper level, and just as she was about to reach the last step, she heard a deep growl, coming forth from the darkness just beyond the unfathomable nothingness of the current floor.

There was something hidden in the cover of the night. Something dangerous and alarming, the sound was that of a huge entity that had found its prey.

Rose didn't have anymore time to ponder things, she continued to advance to the higher floors and for every floor, she would hear different sounds of unimaginable creatures. Shrieking, buzzing, bellowing, hissing and all sorts of instinctive echoes.

She briefly stopped upon reaching the 6th floor, which was the last floor before the rooftop. She caught her breathe, calmed her nerves and listened carefully once again. Her throat was so parched that it was painful to inhale, her heart continued to drum her anxiousness.

She was not safe yet.

She had no choice but to venture the rooftop. However, it wasn't long before she figured it was locked. With nowhere to advance in sight, she slumped down onto the floor and hoped for tomorrow to come soon.

Just when she was wishing the entity walking in even steps wouldn't come to the roof, she found herself scared silly hearing that same fearful steps coming up the stairs. She was at a dead end with no gadget to fight against.

Yet when she huddled herself in the corner, within the cover of the darkness, a figure loomed over her... She shivered at the touch of hot breathe caressing her skin that covered her head. She had been found.

But nothing else was abound until she lifted her head up to see white texts glaring her eyes.

[Which NPC is this, Psycho? Do you see the name? Is there a bug?]

[Looks like an insignificant NPC if it doesn't have a name.]

[But you saw her run too. Is this a hidden quest?]

[I'm not sure. I can't find anything on the forums. We should just leave, staying in the 7th floor during Lockdown is too dangerous.]

[Oh-okay.]

Rose heard them faintly walking away, their steps always even. Couldn't they see her face? They acted as if she was no longer moving away from the corner, as if they couldn't interact with her at all. Was she right to conclude that she was neither an NPC nor an Online Player?

Their appearance only clarified the fact that she was within MMORPG: Modern Fantasy after all, not merely surrounded by NPCs but Online Players as well. What role could she possibly have?

She didn't move away from the corner right away, she felt it was way safer to stay in the 7th floor just until dawn comes and Lockdown ends. She had nothing to use to fight against the monsters and no skills to speak of. She was merely a musician in her previous life, Ah!

Just when she could catch a breath, a banging sound jolted her heart into panic. The door to the rooftop rattled as more heavy banging slammed against it. There was something powerful behind the door and she wasn't gonna like it at all.

She couldn't run downstairs because the darkness had consumed most areas floors below. Could the dweller in the 7th floor be the [Boss]?!

In her frantic mode, she turned around and run, not bothering what lied ahead as long as she didn't have to face a humongous monster. She didn't have anything at all besides her clothes and shoes!!

[ROOOAR!!!]

Holy white text! There was the sound effects too and the ambiance had changed! Fog swept around her, obstructing her vision from escaping or anywhere else. She had nowhere else to go, only the sounds of the [Boss] drawing nearer her way could be heard. There was the flapping sounds, heavy and wide.

Was she going to die once again? No, she had enough!

[YOU DARE WAKE UP THIS KING. PREPARE TO DIE!!]

[ROAAARR!!]

"Sorry, Ah!! Your highness, please! I want to go to sleep too! I mean, no. Please let me go...!" Rose was in a panic so she hadn't thought of not speaking to the [Boss] knowing she was in a game and it shouldn't have any effect. And just as predicted, a huge claw almost cut Rose's head off.

[YOU DARE... WAKE UP THIS KING!!!]

Obviously, he was very mad at being woken up though she hadn't done anything that could have disrupted his sleep. Rose was small, a 10 years old girl, hence she didn't have to roll over the floor to completely evade another clawing attack. She was a little agile but not enough to outrun the [Boss] hidden in the fog.

[MINIONS!! COME!]

"Eeep!! PLEASE, I'M SO SORRY!!" She desperately exclaimed, as if she was talking to one of her managers who had found out she had snacked on when she shouldn't. Or whenever her daughter found out she didn't sleep very well at night over a certain composition or a book.

More shifting sounds could be heard and she begun to feel very anxious. She became so desperate that she couldn't be bothered anymore. Thinking from there, the [Boss] seemed like a child throwing a tantrum being woken up by nothing, merely lashing to the nearest object it found.

Hence, she desperately begun to sing a lullaby. Yes, a freaking lullaby! She sung like her life depended on it, while evading the smaller mobs and backing away from the shuffling sounds made by the [Boss]. Her voice bounced against the walls and echoed within the fog. The lullaby overpowered the dangerous situation all at once.

"Good night, good night

Little sweetie pieSuch a beautiful dayRest those beautiful eyesGood night, good nightTime to turn off the lightsRest your head on your pillowsDream of this lullaby"

There was a drawling sound before a massive weight slammed itself on the floor, the fog slowly dissipated and the small mobs retracted their claws away from her legs. What was before her was a tiny mechanical eyeball with a pointy tail on its back. Its huge eye that could only be considered its whole body was currently closed and an even breathing resounded all around.

Despite her initial shock, she couldn't help but think 'What was she to do now?'. Dawn was still far and her phone had been lost. With only the [Boss] eyeball in front of her, she briefly thought of murder.

Yes, murder. If she wanted to survive, she needed to kill it!

With no weapons in sight and a too heavy door to the rooftop to lift, she eyed the pointy tail of the [Boss]. She figured the [Boss] was in deep sleep and gently grabbed for the pointy tail, lifted up the closed eyelid and stabbed the pointy tail into its eyes. There strangely was no blood but the eyeball having been killed in one-shot shifted its body into digital form. Blue pixels covered the recently killed innocent eyeball and disappeared in a zap, leaving behind notifications for her to figure out.