A flicker.
It passed like a shimmer of heat across Vyuzka's eyes. At first, he thought he imagined it.
Then the window appeared.
It hovered in the air, faint and translucent. Unlike the ones appearing across the room—panicked gasps, muttering, students backing away from their own status screens—this one didn't look... normal.
It didn't list numbers or flashy symbols. No glowing bars. No cheerful chime.
Just a handful of words etched in cold, clean text:
[Candidate Zero
Status: Observed]
And then, it vanished.
Vyuzka didn't react. He sat still, eyes unfocused as the world around him broke down in confusion. A girl two rows ahead screamed. Someone cursed. The teacher backed away from the projector, stumbling into the whiteboard.
That's when the voice returned.
No speakers. No echoes. It simply was, like it had always been part of the world.
["First Trial: Commencing."]
In the blink of an eye, the classroom warped.
The desks, the walls, the windows—all peeled away like paper swept up by a storm. A deafening rush of wind, a pressure in the skull, and then—
Silence.
Cold.
Vyuzka opened his eyes.
They were no longer in school.
The room—if it could even be called that—was circular and massive, built from polished obsidian stone. A dim violet light radiated from an unseen source above, casting long shadows over the group of stunned students huddled together.
In front of them, a pedestal rose from the ground. And then the voice—now louder, closer—spoke again.
["Trial One: Cull the Herd."
"You will survive for ten minutes. Only the strong will remain."
"Creatures will be deployed. Use your surroundings. Use your gifts."
"Entertainment begins with elimination."]
A deep rumble shook the floor. Somewhere in the shadows, something growled.
Vyuzka narrowed his eyes.
So this is how it starts.
| 3...
| 2...
| 1...
The doors cracked open.
---