Koby blinked his eyes open, his vision swimming into focus as he stared up at a blank white ceiling. He sighed, a heavy sound that seemed to get lost in the sterile emptiness around him. Groaning from a slight, dull headache, he pushed himself up to stand in the middle of the vast, featureless white room. All around him were his coursemates—the same students who'd been waiting for a lecture just moments ago, or what felt like moments ago. Kai stood to his right, James to his left. They looked dazed but unharmed, and a wave of quiet relief washed through him. At least they were okay. For now.
But the room itself was all wrong. No doors, no windows, no visible corners—just endless, seamless white. Already, a low murmur of panic had begun to ripple through the crowd.
What's going on here? someone whispered.
"Help, anybody?!" another cried out, voice cracking with rising fear.
The slight mutterings soon turned to full-blown hysteria. People started rushing along the walls, pushing against them, searching for seams, handles, anything that might mean escape. But there was none to be found. The white was absolute, disorienting, like being trapped inside a lightbulb.
Suddenly, a brilliant, blinding light emanated from the space just above the students' heads. It grew until it formed a shimmering portal, and from it descended a human-like figure with no face—just smooth, featureless skin where eyes, nose, and mouth should have been. But across its blank expanse stretched a wide, grotesque smile, lined from cheek to cheek, revealing rows of jagged, sharp teeth. The aura it emanated was dense, cold, and terrifying—a pressure that made the air feel thin.
"Hello, bugs of the universe," it spoke, its voice echoing as if from everywhere at once. "You have all died."
Died?
Koby's breath hitched. He looked down at his own hands, turning them over. They looked real, felt real. Was this what death really felt like? Detached, surreal, waiting in a blank room for judgment?
"Some of you might be confused," the creature continued, its smile unwavering. "But I don't really care."
It paused, letting the coldness of its words sink in.
"What is happening is important. You have all been chosen among many others to show the Supreme Beings just how worthy you are of your souls."
Another pause, this one heavier, allowing the sheer weight of the statement to press down on the room.
"Let the trials begin."
Its final words were accompanied by a low, cynical laughter that seemed to vibrate through the floor and up everyone's spines.
"What do you mean by all this?" Norman, one of the more outspoken students, stepped forward, his voice shaky but defiant.
Koby mentally facepalmed. The world had just ended—or at least, their lives had—and here was Norman trying to be the representative. Some people just couldn't let go of their old personalities, even now.
The creature ignored Norman entirely, as if he hadn't spoken at all.
"Trial One: survive five hours in the White Room."
Survival. Koby's mind raced, trying to process. This wasn't a test of knowledge or skill—it was raw, brutal survival. And the creature was not messing around.
Quickly, Koby scanned the room, trying to understand their situation. Everyone else looked just as lost, so there wasn't any lead there. The next best thing was to wait, observe. He positioned himself slightly away from the walls, motioning for Kai and James to do the same.
After what felt like a minute, he noticed a change. The sides of the room began to glow—a faint, pulsing red. Instinct screamed in his head.
"Everyone, get down!" he yelled, dropping flat to the floor.
In a flash, a razor-thin red laser shot from the wall, slicing horizontally across the room at waist height. Those still standing within its range didn't even have time to scream. Bodies were dismembered instantly—torsos split, limbs severed, heads rolling. The clean, metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Fear seized the room, thick and suffocating. The first scream pierced the silence—a girl staring at her friend's severed head, eyes still wide with surprise. Panic erupted in full force. People scrambled, pushing and clawing at the walls, desperate for an exit that didn't exist.
Then, glowing softly in the air before each of them, a translucent window appeared:
Ninety-eight students remaining.
Four hours and fifty-eight minutes left.
Koby let out a low, hollow chuckle. In under two minutes, thirty-seven students had died. This was definitely not a joke.
He felt a tug at his leg and looked down to see Kai beside him, pale but alert.
"Didn't get your head sliced off, right?" Kai muttered.
"Should be asking you that very question," Koby replied, the smirk on his face fading fast.
They glanced over as James crawled toward them, a few others following his lead, moving carefully to the center of the room, afraid to stand.
"Everyone okay?" James asked, his voice steady but tight.
Koby and Kai raised thumbs up, though none of them felt okay.
Suddenly, a rift tore open in the ceiling of the white room. From it rained down a clatter of metal—shields and swords, simple but sturdy, clanging as they hit the floor.
Cautiously, Koby approached the scattered weapons. He picked up a shield, tested its weight, then tossed it to James. Another one went to Kai.
"Pick up shields and swords," Koby called to those closest to him. "Let's try to form a circle—if y'all want to survive."
A few moved hesitantly, following his lead. They formed a small, tight circle, shields held outward, while others remained frozen in shock.
"I don't like this," Kai muttered under his breath, gripping his sword.
"Neither do I," Koby replied, eyes fixed on the walls.
Then, more rifts appeared—this time along the sides of the room. From each poured humanoid creatures, pale and slender, moving with unnatural speed, their eyes blank and hungry.
"Join your shields together and brace yourselves!" Kai shouted. "Maintain the circle at all times, and slash with your swords when they're in range!"
He glanced at Koby, doubt flashing across his face. "How sure are you that this strategy will actually work?"
"It worked in the Vikings series," Koby grinned, though it felt stiff and uncomfortable on his face. "So it should work here."
"We're so going to die," someone behind him whispered.
The guys in the circle closed their shields, sealing the gaps. A small group held their swords ready, though their hands shook. Inside the circle, a few were just whimpering, paralyzed by terror. It infuriated Koby. In here, fear wasn't just weakness—it was a threat to them all.
The first wave hit. The creatures were fragile—one solid hit from a sword took them down—but there were so many. Their weight slammed against the shields, pushing the circle inward. If they breached it, it was game over.
In frustration, Koby yelled over the noise, "If you're not gonna pick up a sword or a shield and fight for your lives, you're as good as dead weight! And any dead weight will be killed by me!"
One of the guys—Gregory—screamed back, "Who do you think you are to tell us what to do?"
In that instant, without hesitation, Koby swung his sword in a sharp, clean arc. It caught Gregory across the neck, a deep gash that silenced him instantly. His body slumped, head rolling into the center of the circle.
The room seemed to freeze.
"I just want to survive like everyone else," Koby said, his voice cold and clear. "One dead weight down. Anyone else?"
Panic flashed through the circle—but it was a different kind of panic. Not just fear of the creatures, but fear of him. And it worked. Those who'd been frozen now scrambled for weapons, joining the shield line, slashing desperately at the pale bodies pushing in.
The waves continued until, finally, the five-hour limit ended. The creatures vanished as suddenly as they'd appeared. For a moment, there was only the sound of heavy breathing, the clatter of dropped weapons, and the metallic smell of blood.
Then, a voice cut through the exhaustion.
"You killed Gregory!!"
It was Clifford, another student, pointing a trembling finger at Gregory's headless body, his eyes blazing with rage. When Koby didn't respond, Clifford lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar.
"Was it necessary to kill him?!"
"Yes, it was," Koby answered, staring nonchalantly into Clifford's angry eyes. "He was asking useless questions and making everyone lose morale."
"And so you just killed him? Was it fun?" Clifford screamed, raising a fist.
Koby moved to raise his sword in defense, but James and a tall, broad-shouldered student named Rory pulled them apart just in time.
"No way are you guys dividing our numbers," Rory said firmly, standing between them. "Koby did what he had to do. Deal with it, Clifford."
James held onto Koby, whose expression hadn't changed.
From where he sat using his sword for support, Kai finally spoke, his eyes alert and weary. "What's done is done. We should be thinking about escaping from here."
On cue, the smiling creature reappeared from a new rift, its faceless gaze sweeping over the shaken survivors.
"Fifty-five individuals left," it announced, its jagged smile widening. "It seems this set has potential."
"What do you want from us?" Kai demanded, voice edged with exhaustion.
"I could never bring myself to explain everything to insects like you," the creature replied, its tone dripping with condescension.
Rory stepped forward. "How do we get out of here?"
"This one asks the right questions," the creature said, tilting its head. "You will all undergo a form of screening to prepare you for what's to come."
"Would you mind cluing us in?" Rory pressed.
"That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it now?" The faceless creature's smile stretched impossibly wider.
Before anyone could say another word, the white room dissolved around them, and everyone vanished into nothingness.