South Grant didn’t need to go backstage to remove makeup, nor did she need to change her clothes. After returning the guitar to the band members, she turned to leave.

Just when Chester Lynch announced the next program and asked the first-year girls to come on stage, there were screams from backstage, followed by billowing smoke.

Chester Lynch, standing on the stage, was stunned. Then he realized what was happening behind him.

Parents and teachers seated in the guest seats, along with all the students in the auditorium, watched as smoke rose behind and chaos unfolded, feeling their minds go blank.

Chester Lynch’s first reaction was that the backstage was on fire. At this moment, the students and staff in the back were all scuttling about trying to escape the scene, and the students seated below were screaming in panic, afraid that the fire would spread to the front.

The principal suddenly stood up from his seat, pushing aside the teachers in front of him, and rushed toward the stage, shouting as he ran:

"Quick, open the fire hydrants!!!"

Chester Lynch snapped back to his senses, threw the microphone aside, and turned to dash towards the backstage. The sound of the microphone hitting the ground echoed throughout the auditorium.

No one expected the fire to spread so quickly. The curtain on the stage was affected by the fire at the back, and in an instant, it flared up high.

By this time, possibly the power supply was burned, plunging the entire hall into darkness.

With the lights out, the scene turned even more chaotic, especially in the audience where even a stampede occurred.

This large auditorium could hold a full 3,000 people, and such a vast space was engulfed in darkness, with only the flames and smoke on the stage providing light.

South Grant had not yet reached her position when she was stopped by this sudden incident.

Students in the auditorium were running around in panic, and South Grant stood still, being pushed around by the crowd.

Nathan Foster, who was in the corner at that time, clearly saw the situation on scene, and he could also see South Grant being jostled not far from the stage.

He strode over to South Grant.

But South Grant was looking towards the stage at that moment. Chester Lynch had dashed backstage, where the fire was raging the most.

There were props and costumes, and some girls preparing for a dance. Then South Grant remembered that Wendy Lynch was also backstage, and Chester was rushing in to save people.

But with such a big fire, rushing in without the fire hydrants opened was undoubtedly courting death.

At this time, the PE teacher turned on the fire hydrants, but for some reason, the school’s fire system wasn’t working. The PE teacher shouted: 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Principal, call the fire department!"

The scene was in chaos, and the principal was sweating profusely as he had already reached the stage.

Without thinking, the principal dashed into the backstage, and South Grant watched as neither Chester Lynch nor the principal came back out.

As the fire grew larger and smoke thicker, South Grant’s heart was wrenched with anxiety. She couldn’t just stand by and watch the tragedy unfold.

As she raised her arm to leap onto the stage, Nathan Foster reached her side at that moment.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down from the stage.

South Grant turned around to see Nathan Foster’s grim face directly above her.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Her voice was as cold as frost in the dead of winter.

In the instant South Grant saw Nathan Foster, her thoughts didn’t go to why he was here, but to saving people.

She turned around, grabbed Nathan Foster’s hand, and said:

"We must save people, many students are trapped backstage."