Then, one by one, everyone begins to pick up their cards, staring at them curiously.
"Why are these cards black, with small white dots scattered across them like stars in the night sky. " A girl with short brown hair murmured, her brow furrowed in question, as she flipped back and front.
Nearby, "Hey…. I'm Josh," a man said with a crisp white shirt, raising his hand slightly as he walked towards her.
Her eyes narrowed in doubt, checking behind her. "Me? Are you talking to me?" she asked, pointing at herself.
He nodded his head in agreement. "Yep."
"Oh! Okay... myself, Kendell." She introduced herself with a gentle smile as she extended her hand casually towards him.
"I was completely blank…." Josh started to clarify his doubt, but someone with a loud, energetic voice interrupted their conversation behind them.
"What is this?" one person mutters, flipping their card back and forth.
"I have watched in movies. Maybe... It's an entry card?" The red-haired girl with bobbed styled interjected with a cool smirk on her face.
"You have a strong induction and guts..." a black shirt with a crew cut, teasing her back with loud laughter with clapping his hands.
"Entry card? " Kendell inquired with some hesitation in her voice, but her gaze was fixed on the black card in her hand. "I've never seen anything like this."
"Oh! another couple here," another murmured as they stood near the Kendell.
"I am Alice," she introduced herself with a calm voice, noticing Henry's cringeworthy jokes.
"This is Henry, Zade, Kim Hyun-Joong, Ryan, Danny, and Anna," Alice pointed out their friends, gesturing to each in turn.
"Nice to meet you all…" Kendell and Josh welcomed them back with a gentle smile.
"Give it to me... You fucking old ass!" a younger man, tall with Fade styled cutting, a Scorpio tattoo and tough loud harsh voice interrupted the Chaotic conversation.
The young man stood over an old man slumped against a tree, his voice cut through the stillness like a blade. "Hand it over! I know you had that!"
The old man's wrinkled, dark, spotted hands trembled in fear of the young man's threat as he clutched a small lighter close to his chest. "No... It's all I have," he murmured, his voice weak and low, struggling to breathe, his eyes wide with fear.
"You think I care?" the younger man barked as split his saliva on the ground. He is grabbing the old man's collar and yanking him forward with his one hand of power. "I need it. Now!"
He wrenched the lighter from the old man's grip, shoving him back against the tree.
The old man let out a pained gasp in pain, a tear welled up, and he watched his blood on his strained hand and marks the tears mingled within a wound, and he weakly resisted the pain of wounds.
The younger man flicked the lighter, watching the small flame dance in the dark forest. A smug grin appeared across his face. "If you had done this earlier, none of this would've happened." He loosened his grip. Watching the old man's blood stain on his hand, with a disgusted look, he shook his hand "Shit! I'm so sick of old people like you… useless shit!"
He roared, his voice echoed throughout the entire place, and he left the old man abandoned without any apologies, no regret on his face.
Nearby, Danny and the group watched the entire scene, their anger boiling to the surface. Henry clenched his fists hard, and his jaw tightened as he stepped forward to teach him a lesson. "This jerk needs to be stopped," he roared, taking another step to deal with him.
"He just beat up an old man for a lighter! He deserves a punch in the face." Zade murmured behind him.
"Don't," Kendell whispered, pulling Henry's hand to stop. Her eyes were wide with caution. "He's already acting like a Psycho. We have no idea what's going on here. We need to figure out first," she explained the current situation. "We can deal with him later, once we get out of here."
Henry nodded in agreement, but his gaze was still fixed on his movements.
Suddenly, an AI voice crackled back to life, startling everyone. "Welcome to the Earth Sign Game, gamers. "AI paused for a second. "Now, registration has closed. Thank you for your cooperation," the voice shouted as it went blank.
All people froze in confusion from where the voice came from, and murmurs spread over them, their eyes darting around the dark forest and shifting to all directions. The voice was calm, almost playful, yet carried an unsettling edge.
"Your task will begin in 12 hours. Gamers, you may now scratch your cards. Rules: do not exchange your cards." The voice announced, the statement was clear and determined.
"I think we are in the future, we must be time travelers...." Kendell murmured about the scenario in a teasing way.
"Stop the creep..." Alice said casually, holding her card and glancing at everyone's expression.
"Scratch...... What the hell…" Ryan whispered, staring at his card and flipping back.
"I have no idea what's really happening here," Anna doubted, her eyes fixed on Henry's face in campfire light.
Danny grabbed Ryan's card from his hand, holding it up to the light of the fire. "Scratch the card? What does that even mean?" he whispered, his voice low and thoughtful.
"Just scratch...." Alice murmured, her voice calm and cool. Her red painted nail started scratching the card surface gently.
Henry's eyes narrowed in doubt. "Symbol of Water," he declared, his voice low and watching Alice, then looking at his card.
Watching his symbol curiosity piqued them. One by one, the group scratched at the surface of their cards quickly, and they showed their card in the beam of fire. It reflected the air, water, land, sky, and fire symbols.
They exchanged confused glances. "What does it mean?" Anna queried
"Symbols?" Zade wondered as he flipped his card and noticed the other group's reactions nearby him.
Even though the tension didn't settle, suddenly, a faint hiss filled the air, and a fog covered the entire place.
"What's that sound?" Kendall asked, her voice trembling as she glanced nervously at the people around her. Everyone is coughing, hardly breathing, and falling over the muddy land.
Zade's eyes narrowed as he realized first. "Gas!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. "Cover your mouth...." Before he could finish, a dizzying wave washed over him. His legs gave out beneath him, his vision tunneling, and a strange scent filled his lungs, and he started to cough.
Around the fire, the group began collapsing one by one, their movements sluggish and uncoordinated.
"It's… anesthesia," Kim Hyun Joong mumbled, his voice slurred while coughing, as his vision blurred beyond recognition of everything in front of him. The forest spun, the firelight fading into absolute darkness.
----
Danny's hazel eyes fluttered slowly, opening to sunlight directly hitting his face. His gaze widened in confusion as it landed on a bunch of people sleeping uncomfortably on the desert sand. "Where the hell are we now?" he wondered. "I thought it was a dream?"
Around him, 49 other people were stirring, some groaning as they woke, others blinking their eyes in warm sunlight that hit directly towards them, and the same confusion etched on their faces. They were in the middle of a vast, arid desert. Every side stretched endlessly in all directions, broken only by a faint shimmer of heat waves rising from the golden sands.
"Where's the tall trees gone?" the young innocent man whispered, rotating and looking at the distant horizon.
"Not again...." a huge-sized, muscular, towering man murmured, his voice deep and scary.
"I need to go home…." A woman screamed, walking on sand, when a heat wave hit her pale skin.
"I am thirsty...." an old man whispered, watching the others.
Before the confusion fully takes over them, with a sharp resonant sound, the 3D animated letters are displayed on a hologram display in front of them. "Welcome to Level 1, gamers. Easy level." The AI voice announced, a voice with no emotion.
A man raised his brows in confusion in the crowd wearing baggy pants. "Level 1? " He muttered, his voice incredulous.
"Huh? Gamers," the short girl questioned, glancing at the remaining crowd.
"I thought it was a dream." A tattooed girl pondered
An old man with a bloodied lip and bruises on his face stood up, dusting sand off his torn clothes. He stood after hearing the noise.
Again, a familiar AI voice rang out, calm and mechanical, breaking the uneasy silence. "Welcome to the Land Game."The group froze, the voice cutting through the desert air like a knife.
Everyone listened and followed the AI voice with sort of confusion.
AI continued. "You are in the Land Arena Game. Your target is to reach the endpoint of this desert circle.
Rules:
- Gamers can start wherever they want.
- Each person is provided with one bottle of water.
- The desert is 1 kilometer wide. Gamers must reach the end within one hour.
Your game starts in two minutes.
If Gamers reach the end endpoint, the Game is clear. " The voice announced, then a digital timer displaying "60:00" appeared, floating in the clear blue sky on every side of the desert, and then the voice disappeared.
"No.... I can't play," a woman requested, looking at the sky, her voice echoed entire place. "I need to go to my home..." she screamed, but no response.