Liam really hoped that he was in a dreamland. He tried hard to convince himself that he was dreaming, but the cries of humans around him, the sight of bleeding wounds, dirtied bodies and the smell of sweats poked him till he accepted - this is reality.
'Urrrghh'.... Liam jerked to the side and vomited his stomach contents. Still suffering from the shock, he slowly raised his head to see different eyes staring, directed towards him.
'What? You're bleeding and I'm vomiting... We're literally both expelling something from our body.'
Looking away, Liam spat and rose up slowly. He dusted himself and tried to get his bearings.
'Okay, this place is where? in the middle of nowhere. No building, no structure.... no colour?'
'Just a vast white space and panic-stricken humans'.
Liam looked around like he was looking for something, someone maybe. 'Rita!'.
"Rita..."
Liam called, looking around and searching a set of grouped individuals. But he couldn't find her.
Giving up, Liam sat down and opened his bag, took off his jacket, folded it and put it inside his bag. Ignoring the sudden murmuring and rowdiness of the people around him, his face lit up when he discovered that his doughnut box was in his bag.
Hurriedly opening his box, He grabbed a doughnut to bite -
A robotic voice sounded like it came from all directions.
"THIS IS THE SAFEZONE."
"Welcome, participants."
It wasn't the Astral's eerie, godlike tone. This one was mechanical, cold—a pre-recorded message. A holographic screen flickered to life in the center of the room, displaying a sleek, silver emblem: a triangle with an eye at its center.
"You have been selected for the Ascension System," the voice continued. "This is a trial by fire. Those who survive will evolve. Those who fail will perish."
Liam's jaw clenched. Evolve? Perish?
"What sort of twisted game was this?".
The screen shifted, displaying a list of rules:
ASCENSION SYSTEM RULES
1. Earn EXP: by completing tasks, defeating enemies, and surviving.
2. Gain Ascension Points (AP): to enhance abilities, unlock skills, and ascend to higher tiers of power.
3. Awaken your Class: by surviving the Tutorial Phase.
4. Fail, and you will be terminated.
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"Terminated?" someone whispered.
Liam shifted.... He didn't like the sound of that.
"Can we know what's happening?"
The robotic voice continued, unfazed. "Your first task begins now. You will be divided into groups and sent into a simulated urban zone. Your objective: scavenge supplies and survive for one hour. Monsters will be present. If you die in the simulation, you die in reality."
A collective gasp.
"No second chances"
The floor shimmered, and before Liam could react, the white room dissolved—
THE URBAN SIMULATION
Liam hit solid ground as a new surface reformed beneath his feet.
"Ouch!"
The sterile white was gone, replaced by a ruined cityscape—eerily similar to the one they'd just escaped. Crumbling buildings. Shattered streets. The distant echo of inhuman screeches.
'Not real. It's a simulation'.
But it felt real. The acrid scent of smoke. The grit of debris under his shoes. The cold sweat on his neck.
A notification popped into his vision:
[TASK INITIATED: Scavenge & Survive]
- Time Remaining: 60:00
- Group Members: 4/4
Liam turned. Three others had appeared with him.
Surprisingly, Rita, his favourite doughnut seller, still shaking but gripping a broken pipe like a weapon.
Marcus, a broad-shouldered construction worker with a scowl and a bloody knuckle. And Priya, a nurse with a makeshift bandage around her forearm, her dark eyes sharp with focus.
"Great. We're the what??? squad. Simulated or Suicide squad" Marcus grunted.
Priya ignored him, scanning the area. "We need weapons. Supplies. And we do not split up."
Liam only nodded. Familiar with only Rita, but He'd played enough horror games to know how that ended.
They introduced themselves to each other and said something relevant about themselves and their current situation. Liam only told them his name.
Standing up, "Can we get ready and start moving. We have just 60minutes". Liam said.
The streets were a death trap—monsters lurked in every broken storefront, every collapsed subway entrance. But they moved forward with the amateurish prowess of a mundane yet cooperative human.
Marcus turned out to be terrifyingly strong, smashing a monster's skull with a steel beam. Priya was quick, precise, using her medical knowledge to target weak spots of monsters and stopped her teammates bleeding or treating mild injuries. Rita, despite her panic, had a sharp eye, spotting supplies in the rubble.
And Liam?
He was the brain of the team.
He strategized.
"Up there!" He pointed to a fire escape. They climbed, barely avoiding a pack of creatures below. From the roof, they had a vantage point—and a plan.
"Loot the pharmacy first," Priya said. "Med supplies are priority."
They moved fast.
By the time the counter in Liam's vision hit [00:05:00], they had:
- A backpack full of bandages, painkillers, and antibiotics
- A kitchen knife held by Rita.
- A crowbar resting on Marcus shoulder.
- A fire axe in Liam's left arm.
And then—
[WARNING: MONSTER APPROACHING]
The ground trembled.
From the wreckage of a collapsed bank, something massive emerged.
Ten feet tall. Armored plates. A single, cyclopean eye burning with malice.
Marcus paled. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
The Monster roared and lunged.
"We're going to die!...." Rita screamed.
"Death? No.... Survive!" Liam snapped into motion.