The Spare's Second Chance in Apocalypse
Chapter 303: Ch: 302 Abandoned by the System - Part 1

Chapter 303: Ch: 302 Abandoned by the System - Part 1

Ethan’s boots struck the ground with a heavy final step as he, Zara, and Orion crossed the glowing check point.

The shimmer of the boundary vanished behind them, and a system chime rang out.

[ Notice: Challenge Complete. No rewards issued — Participant did not arrive first. ]

The words hung in the air like a slap. Orion groaned. Zara looked disappointed. Ethan said nothing, his jaw tight.

Behind them, Madam Verta let out a dramatic sigh. "Oh, thank goodness," she exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest.

"It’s truly for the best you didn’t arrive first, Ethan. My instincts were screaming—something bad would’ve happened to you had you crossed that line before anyone else."

The moment the words left her mouth, the atmosphere changed.

Ethan turned his head slowly, eyes narrowed and cold.

"What did you say?"

Madam Verta blinked.

"I—I just said it’s better this way. For your safety. You were in danger, and I—"

"You made sure I came second?"

His voice was flat but deadly.

Madam Verta’s face paled.

"No! That’s not what I meant—I didn’t—"

But Ethan was already moving.

The pressure from his aura exploded, suffocating the air around them.

Madam Verta staggered back, coughing as her knees buckled. Her throat felt like it was being crushed, her limbs refusing to respond.

She gasped for air as Ethan’s presence closed in, the silent rage in his eyes louder than any words he could’ve spoken.

She collapsed to one knee.

"E-Ethan, please—!"

Zara stepped forward, placing a hand gently on Ethan’s arm.

"We don’t have time. If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the next phase."

She said.

Ethan stood still for a moment longer, breathing heavy, before forcing himself to calm down.

With visible effort, he pulled his power back and turned away, not sparing Madam Verta a second glance.

As the trio walked off, Madam Verta coughed hard and wiped her mouth with the back of her trembling hand.

"Ungrateful. No one understands generosity anymore."

She muttered, standing shakily.

Orion, still within earshot, looked over his shoulder and said coldly.

"If you want gratitude, try doing what you’re asked instead of playing puppet-master with other people’s lives."

Madam Verta’s face twisted, a retort forming on her lips—but she swallowed it down.

The crowd was too thick. She wouldn’t risk a scene, not when the tournament hosts were watching.

Later, as the area grew quieter and night settled over the temporary shelters surrounding the competition field, Zara returned.

Madam Verta sat alone on a bench, adjusting the torn hem of her robe. She looked up when she sensed someone approaching.

"Oh, It’s you."

She said flatly.

Zara stopped a few feet away, hands at her sides.

"Do you remember me?"

Madam Verta blinked slowly, then offered a lazy smile.

"Can’t say I do. I meet a lot of nobodies."

Zara gave no reaction and began to turn away. She had expected that response.

But then, Madam Verta’s voice called out softly.

"How are you still alive?"

Zara paused.

"My visions said your thread was cut. Severed. You weren’t supposed to survive for this long. Why are you here? How did you even make it?"

Zara turned back around, her expression unreadable.

"Then maybe your visions are flawed."

Madam Verta frowned.

"They’re never wrong."

Zara stepped closer.

"Then maybe it’s you who’s flawed. Your dependence on them... it’s a weakness. A crutch."

Madam Verta’s eyes narrowed.

"You think I should just throw away the gifts I’ve cultivated over decades?"

"I think that if you keep choosing visions over people, you’ll end up with nothing. No future. No allies. Just static images of possibilities that never come true."

Zara said calmly.

The words hit harder than Madam Verta expected.

Zara’s gaze sharpened.

"You should abandon your faulty foresight, Madam Verta. Before it abandons you."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving the oracle staring after her in silence.

For the first time in a long while, Madam Verta found herself shaken—not by a vision, but by the words of someone she had once dismissed as irrelevant.

She clenched her jaw and looked toward the sky, where the second phase of the tournament would soon begin.

No one trusted her. No one believed her. And yet, she still believed in her own purpose.

But doubt...

For the first time, it crept in.

’What the hell? What do I have to be afraid of? I should not be paying attention to anything this girl tells me.’

And yet, despite knowing all this, Zara’s words still hit Madam Verta hard.

Madam Verta stood frozen, Zara’s words still echoing through her mind long after the girl had vanished into the shadows.

"Try doing what you’re asked instead of making decisions on your own.""Abandon your faulty foresight before it abandons you."

Verta gritted her teeth. Her knees buckled slightly beneath her, but she caught herself before collapsing.

Her breaths came out uneven, but she steadied them. Slowly. Deliberately. She could not—would not—let herself unravel.

"They’re just words. Just noise. They don’t know what I’ve seen."

She whispered to herself.

But even as she said it, something inside her felt... uncertain.

With a shaky hand, she opened her interface.

[SYSTEM: Online. Status: Stable.]

Her eyes softened.

"You’re still here. At least you haven’t turned on me."

She muttered.

She straightened her back and pressed her fingers to her temples.

"The system is all I need. The system and my foresight. That’s how I’ve survived this long." She paused. "And that’s how I’ll keep surviving. I swear it."

The next day arrived with blood in the wind and tension in the air.

Contestants gathered around the arena as the second round of the tournament was called to begin.

All eyes were focused on the giant silver platform floating in the center of the battlefield.

Madam Verta’s heart beat faster when her name was called.

[SYSTEM: Task: Engage in battle. Victory not required. Survival is. Fortify all parameters or prepare to die.]

A chill ran down her spine.

"So even you are warning me now. Fine."

She muttered.

When she stepped onto the platform, she activated every defensive ability she had, doubling her armor, redirecting energy flow, shielding her pressure points.

She even consumed one of her precious soul tokens, something she had saved for a death encounter. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

Luke Roth stood across from her on the other side of the platform, arms folded, his calm face unreadable.

"I forfeit. This match is not for me."

Madam Verta said clearly, voice steady.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"You’re sure?"

"I am. I know what I’m doing."

She said.

Luke sighed.

"That’s too bad."

And then everything shattered.

The pressure hit her like a mountain collapsing on her chest.

It slammed into her body with such intensity that she crumpled instantly, her knees slamming into the platform.

Her systems screamed in error, and her vision flickered red.

[SYSTEM: ...Error.

SYSTEM: Connection lost.

SYSTEM: Your privileges have been revoked.]

"No—no, what are you doing?!"

Madam Verta gasped, trying to summon her foresight, her aura, anything—but there was nothing. Silence. Emptiness.

Luke’s voice rang out, cold and final.

"You broke the rules. There was never an option to forfeit."

"You’re lying! You can’t do this to me! I’ll die without my system—my powers—they’re the only reason I’m still alive!"

She shrieked.

Luke’s eyes narrowed.

"Then perhaps you should’ve thought of that before you defied the system’s will."

"This isn’t defiance! This is strategy! "I saw the right future—I saw what would happen if I participated. This was the correct decision!"

She yelled.

Luke tilted his head.

"You think you know the future, but you’ve never seen the true future. You’ve only been playing with illusions your system fed you."

Madam Verta froze.

"That’s not true. My visions have always been accurate. Always."

Luke stepped forward, and the platform glowed faintly beneath him, feeding him strength.

"Your foresight is a borrowed tool, not a truth. You trusted it more than your own instincts. And now it’s been stripped from you—not because you saw wrongly, but because you refused to act."

Verta gasped for breath, her body twitching with each second her power remained suppressed.

"Please. I did what I thought was right. I just... I didn’t want to die."

She croaked, her voice raw.

Luke’s face didn’t shift.

"You feared the wrong thing. You feared a possibility... but forgot to fear certainty."

And then, with a gesture, he dismissed her.

The pressure vanished, but the silence that followed was worse. The audience stared, watching the once-proud oracle reduced to a trembling shell.

Madam Verta stood, barely.

Her system didn’t return.

Her power didn’t spark.

She was alone now.

Stripped.

Broken.

She stepped down from the platform without a word, her robes dragging behind her like a shroud. No one spoke to her. No one looked at her with kindness.

And for the first time in her life, Madam Verta had no answers—only a terrifying question.

’What now?’

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