As the trio chatted on the video call, Kass suddenly asked,
"So, did you guys think of your aliases yet?"
Rosa raised a brow. "Alias?"
"Yeah," Kass replied. "After you accept that invitation to Ludus-whatever, the system asks you to pick one. Like a nickname. I already decided—I'm going with Rocky."
Kay sighed. "You're seriously gonna use your gaming ID as your alias, Kass?"
Kass shrugged. "You got any better idea? I bet you're gonna do the same, aren't you?"
Kay shut up. Because, yeah. He was absolutely going to do that too.
But hey, didn't mean he couldn't judge someone else for it.
Rosa went quiet.
Kass closed his eyes like he was meditating. Then suddenly snapped them open and cursed.
"Son of a b*tch."
Rosa immediately glared at him. "You f*cking sh*t—I told you to stop cursing!"
"Sorry, sorry, Sis," Kass muttered.
Kay thought, Telling someone not to curse while dropping curses yourself is kind of like scolding someone for smoking while puffing a cigarette.
Not that he said that out loud.
"So?" Kay asked. "What happened?"
Kass groaned. "Someone already took the name Rocky. I even tried RockyBalboa. That's gone too. What the hell, did Sylvester Stallone join the game himself?"
* * *
While Kay was still up on the terrace discussing nicknames, down in the gym, Liam—the bald trainer—clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Alright, folks—heads up. With all this weird cr*p goin' on, we're closing up for today. I don't know who's planning to hit yes on that invite, but I'm not about to risk someone passing out mid-set. So pack it in."
Scott, one of the freshers—who had looked up Ludus Genesis earlier—raised a hand.
"Wait, bro, you're not accepting it?"
Liam gave a dry laugh, rolled his shoulders, and flexed lightly.
"Of course I'm accepting. Man's gotta step up." He flashed his biceps. "Be a crime to let these go to waste."
Then his tone turned firm again.
"But that's beside the point. Everyone clear out. If the world doesn't end, gym's open again this evening."
Hearing that, Alice turned to Bryan and Claire.
"Guess I'll be heading to my room, then."
Claire grinned playfully.
"Oh, since your prince in shining armor already left, no reason to hang around with us, huh?"
Alice shot her a wink.
"See you girls. By the way, I'm going with the alias KayAl."
She left through the door like she was in a rush.
Claire muttered, "So we're calling her KayAl now?"
She whispered dramatically, "Kay—Al, noo…"
Then snorted. "God, I sound like Wonder Woman trying to stop a pissed-off Superman. Could've been worse though. Imagine if Kay's name was Anakin—she'd be stuck with An*l as her alias."
Bryan couldn't help but chuckle.
As Bryan and Claire were getting ready to leave, they heard some commotion near the women's locker room. Two girls were deep in conversation, their tone heated—like a political debate in fast-forward. Nearby stood Sheila, watching with crossed arms. She had already turned off her stream, probably after most viewers bailed when it became clear the system message wasn't just some elaborate prank.
They made their way over.
As Claire neared them, she got a better look. One of the girls was speaking fluent Japanese. She recognized the other—Emily, a second-year from another department, with soft brown hair and a sharp, lively expression. The Japanese girl had delicate features, her black hair tied back in a loose bun. She wore a white tracksuit, while Emily was still in gym clothes.
"Umaku ikanai ne. Betsu no nikkunēmu sagasanakya," the Japanese girl said to Emily.
Emily replied, "Well, we were only experimenting if it will work."
Claire raised a brow. "What's going on?"
Emily glanced over and waved. "Oh, Claire! We were just experimenting with that system thing—y'know, the message we all got."
Claire tilted her head. "And?"
Emily gestured toward the girl beside her. "So, turns out Aiko got hers in Japanese."
Aiko—the Japanese girl—looked a bit startled but nodded. "Yeah. I can speak English fine, but I'm more comfortable reading Japanese. And when the system message popped up, it was just... already in Japanese. It said things like 'Yōkoso' and 'Nokori jikan: 00 : 59 : 44.' I guess the system is adjusting based on language preference?"
Claire blinked. "Wait, so the message auto-translates? You think some kind of AI is behind all this? And what were you experimenting with?"
Emily shrugged. "No clue. We were just testing if we could use the same nickname in different languages."
Aiko let out an awkward laugh. "It's kind of weird, actually. Emily picked the name 'Nami' earlier and got it without a problem. But when I tried the same thing just now, I didn't type anything in—I just focused on the alias column and pictured 'Nami' in Japanese, like in katakana. The system even asked if I wanted to set it as my alias, warning me it couldn't be changed.
But when I confirmed it, it rejected me, saying—'Name already taken.' So I guess it doesn't matter what language or script you use. If someone's got it, it's gone."
Bryan's expression turned serious. "I guess this isn't a prank anymore. If whatever sent that message into everyone's head is this advanced…" She glanced at Claire. "Are you sure we should really accept that invitation?"
Claire looked back at her. "I don't know, Bryan. You do what you want—but I'm accepting. Besides, our little lovebird already made up her mind. She even made a nickname out of her and her prince's names. So yeah, we're both in. Up to you."
Bryan sighed. "Hell, fine. Let's just get this over with. I better pick a nickname now before I get stuck with something like 'MuscleMommy' because all the good ones are taken."
"Holy sh*t!"
The sudden outburst came from the fifth girl in their group—Sheila, the pink-haired TikToker.
"What are you cursing for now, Sheila?" Emily asked, clearly annoyed.
Sheila held up her phone. A tweet was displayed on the screen. "The American government just issued a warning. It says anyone who accepts the sudden invitation in their mind will be considered a threat to national security... and might even get deported."
Claire chuckled. "Pfft. Is there even anyone still in America after the last round of deportations?"
Sheila shook her head. "Other countries are saying the same thing. Apparently, the government isn't behind this and suspects some external force is trying to control us. They're claiming that accepting the invite counts as betrayal."
Claire scoffed. "Yeah, right. They just want people to fall in line while they secretly accept it themselves. Either way, I'm going in."
She turned to Bryan. "Come on. Let's hit the smoothie bar across from the gym."
Bryan gave her a sideways look. "Honestly, it's a waste of time for you to even go to the gym. You work out for like an hour, then chug down enough sugar to last a week. What's the point?"
Claire smirked. "I go to see the hotties sweat, girl. If Alice wasn't already making a move on Kay, I would've pinned that man down years ago."
Bryan snorted. "Yeah, right. The only thing getting pinned is you, face-first on the floor."
Claire grimaced. "Ugh, that guy and his whole family are wasting some damn good genes."
With that, the two of them walked out of the gym.
* * *
Back on the terrace, Kass droned on, "Sooo—no spaces allowed, no special characters, max 16 characters, case insensitive… What the f*ck? This is even stricter than Roblox."
Kay shrugged. "You could go for Rocky1, then."
Kass made a face. "Ugh, I hate names like that. What's it even supposed to mean? Like I'm some knockoff of the real Rocky? Might as well go with 'RealRocky' then."
He closed his eyes, focused—and opened them again. "F*ck. That's taken too."
Kay sighed. He didn't want to waste more time or risk losing his ID. He closed his eyes and focused—whatever this process was.
— ✦ —
[ Welcome to Ludus Genesis ]
[ Do you wish to participate? ]
[ Yes / No ]
— ✦ —
Kay chose Yes with his mind. It was like… focusing. Or intending. Whatever.
— ✦ —
[ OMNIX CODEX welcomes you to a new reality. ]
[ Classification: Candidate ]
[ Choose a Candidate Alias: ]
( Max 16 characters. No spaces or special characters. )
[ ]
— ✦ —
Kay raised a brow. He'd seen the 'Classification: Candidate' earlier but still wasn't sure what it meant. Some kind of test?
Whatever. He shifted his focus to the alias field—the spot where names usually went.
A moment later, the name 'Rykai' appeared.
It was his old gaming ID—basically just his real name scrambled. Rykai had every letter from Kayriz, just rearranged.
He hoped no one had taken it yet.
— ✦ —
[ Do you wish to designate 'Rykai' as your alias? ]
[ Yes / No ]
— ✦ —
Kay chose Yes.
— ✦ —
[ The alias 'Rykai' has been designated. It cannot be changed until Phase 1 is over. ]
[ Please wait for the countdown to end.]
— ✦ —
"Hoo…" He let out a breath. Thankfully, it was still available. Not everyone was going to jump on an invitation like this—probably just Gen Z types like him and people with nothing to lose. He doubted anyone with kids or a family would accept it, even if they wanted to.
Kay glanced at his phone—the screen split between a complaining Kass and a silent, meditating Rosa.
"So, I'll call you guys if nothing happens after the countdown, then."
Kass looked up. "Bastard, you got your gaming ID?"
Kay smirked. "You should've picked yours earlier."
Kass sighed. "Well, whatever. So, you're going with Rykai, right?"
"Yep."
Kay turned to Rosa. "What about you, sis?"
Rosa opened her eyes, still not quite ready to forgive them for dragging her into this whole mess. She let out a quiet sigh. "I'm done too. I went with the nickname people gave me during my championship."
Kass whistled. "Oh, my princess."
Rosa's glare was sharp enough to cut steel. "Open that mouth again and you're done."
Kass instantly shut up.
"So, ShuraHime, huh? Anyway, I'll see you guys later. See ya."
Kass perked up. "Don't you wanna know my nickname?"
Kay waved him off. "Meh. I'd rather sleep through the countdown than listen to you ramble about it and curse every person who took your other name ideas."
Rosa stood. "Agreed. I'm leaving too."
Both cut the call.
* * *
Out on his balcony, Kass stared at his phone. "Wow… first one to accept the invite, and I'm left behind."
From Kelly's room, Butter was still blaring at full blast.
"Ah, for f*cks sake! Can you lower the damn volume, Kelly?"
The music somehow got louder.
Kass muttered darkly, "One day, I swear… I'm gonna make her listen to one of the worst songs ever made—hell, maybe Baby Shark—on repeat, until she wakes up screaming at the thought of music."
* * *
The sun was shining softly, dawn giving way to day, the darkness retreating under the morning light.
3 minutes still remained on the countdown. Back on the terrace, Kay decided to spend them with music rather than returning to his room.
His earbuds were already in, connected. He tapped play on a classic—Wake Me Up by Avicii.
Leaning against the railing, he closed his eyes.
Time slipped by.
[ Countdown — 00 : 00 : 05 ]
Kay checked the timer in his mind. Just five seconds left.
He opened his eyes slowly.
A flicker of nerves—mostly excitement.
4
He didn't know what had happened to the rest of the world. Couldn't care less.
3
No idea if only humans had received the message—or if every living being had.
2
But even if they had… could they really accept it?
1
What about the kids? The newborns?
Wake Me Up was still playing—
"I didn't know I was lost…"
0
And then the world went silent.
Like time itself had stopped.
Kay was watching the sky from the terrace, birds drifting across the pale morning sky, when it felt like everything… stopped.
He couldn't explain it. One moment the world was moving, alive—the next, light drained from his eyes and everything went black.
It didn't feel like closing his eyes. No—it was deeper than that. Like he'd gone blind.
Then the feeling worsened. He couldn't sense his body—no hands, no breath… not even his own thoughts. He couldn't panic, couldn't freak out, because he couldn't form a single thought.
Was this death? He didn't know—he'd never died before (or did he). Everything simply… slipped into silence.
* * *
And then, just as suddenly, it all came rushing back.
Air filled his lungs. His heart gave a sudden kick. The darkness thinned, giving way to light.
He sucked in a sharp breath, fighting the weight in his head until it cleared enough to move.
He was still sitting—but not on rough concrete. Here, the ground felt… soft. He pushed himself up and turned in place, scanning the space around him.
His confusion only deepened.
"What the f*ck is this?"