This is insane. How could all of this happen? And… why am I here?
The massive black sphere rumbled again. Its voice was like a vibration boring straight into my skull, forcing everyone to fall silent and hold their breath.
{It seems… you have all decided to become Awakeners.}{Congratulations.}
{As a sign of goodwill, we will be giving you… a tutorial.}
Someone raised their hand, voice trembling. It was just like the start of a story I knew.
"You mean… we're not awakened yet?"
{Correct.}
{However, you will now compete to awaken the power hidden within you.}
{Each of you has a different requirement, and you must seize the opportunity to fulfill it.}
"What's the general requirement?" someone else asked.
{The creatures in your world are weak to one thing… emotion.}
{Rely too much on it, and your awakening will be hindered.} {Therefore, we have prepared a tutorial… where you must erase that emotion.}
Silence tightened around us. The words sounded like a death threat wrapped in a polite smile.
{Each of you will receive two cards, one red, one blue. Here is your tutorial mission.}
A translucent screen appeared before us.
[Tutorial Quest][Red and Blue]
Eliminate the color opposite to yours, and the tutorial will end.
[Rules]
1. Eliminate the color opposite to yours.
2. Any method is allowed.
3. You are not allowed to eliminate more than one color.
4. If you eliminate the wrong target, you fail… and will be erased.
Climbers will be transferred once they succeed.
[Reward: 100 Points, Random Awakened Card]
After that, the massive black sphere vanished… leaving us in a suffocating silence.
My eyes scanned the faces around me. Some clutched their cards tightly, others darted glances around with wild eyes.
Eliminate… the meaning was clear. But no one dared admit that it meant killing another human being.
My chest felt heavy. In the novel Survive in Tower of Madness, this mission was only a mental challenge, not a bloodbath. But here… this was real.
If our numbers were even, then each person would have to take one life. And if that was true… then the first to die...
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
The scream shattered the stillness. Every head turned.
In the middle of the crowd, someone collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his chest. His body trembled briefly before a light from the sky swallowed his killer. In an instant, both of them were gone.
Only a pile of gray dust remained on the ground.
"What happened?!" I asked, my heart pounding.
"He… as soon as we got our cards, he attacked the first person he saw. Didn't care who it was."
I bit my lip. That was insane. If he picked the wrong target, he would have died too. But… he was right. He must have known who held the matching color.
"Everyone, don't panic!"
A new voice rang out over the crowd. A man with neatly combed brown hair and glasses stood at the front, calm as still water. His smile was… far too composed for a situation like this.
"I know you're confused. So am I. But with two people already dead, we need to think logically. My name is Hanston. And I want you all to know, we don't have to kill."
People started paying attention to him. He knew how to control his tone, how to sprinkle just enough hope into his words.
"We are human. We've survived every disaster since the dawn of time. If we work together, we can make it through this."
Murmurs of agreement spread through the crowd. Fear was slowly being replaced with belief.
But I just looked at him with disgust.
In the novel, Hanston was the first poison in this group. His smile was just a mask. His words… bait for a trap.
He stepped aside, heading toward the dark forest.
"Look around you. This forest? Our ancestors built civilization from nothing. We can too." He raised his hand high. "Who's with me?"
Cheers erupted even louder this time.
But to me, it sounded like the applause of people walking off a cliff… with smiles on their faces.