The repeated beeping of machines echoed through Jamie’s head as he slowly stirred awake.
His vision blurred, his body throbbed with pain, and a faint wave of nausea twisted in his stomach.
For a boy of just seventeen, the sensation was crushing—too heavy, too overwhelming, too real.
Gradually, his vision cleared, revealing a spotless white ceiling.
"Am I at the hospital?" he thought, glancing at the white blanket covering him.
"How did I get here?" he puzzled.
The last thing he rembered was throwing himself forward to push a pregnant woman out of the way of a speeding delivery truck.
"Oh... so it hit . That explains the pain," he reasoned.
But then confusion struck. "Why am I alive then?"
His chest tightened. He needed answers—quick.
With the help of his pillow, and despite the sharp pain running through his neck, he turned his head to the right.
What he saw made his heart race, the shock stabbing his chest with fresh pain.
Next to him were hundreds upon hundreds of people, all lying on tal beds.
"What in the hell..." he thought.
The room seed endless, without windows, its cream-white walls as spotless as the ceiling above.
Next to each person stood a black beeping machine, a single wire connecting into their left arms.
"They must be alive... what else would those machines be for?" he convinced himself.
As he stared at the unnerving sight, so of the people began to wake up.
The first was a striking man just one bed away, his long dark hair shimring faintly as the overhead lights reflected on it.
The second was a woman with fiery red hair. As soon as she fully awoke, she instinctively turned her head to the side and vomited. The drops splattering onto the ground echoed through the vast building.
The third was a beautiful, white-haired girl right beside him. Her dimples softened her innocent face, and even in sleep she had never lost her composure.
Within minutes, more people began waking up—those on his left as well. So burst into tears, others vomited, while many simply lay there staring blankly at the ceiling.
No one moved from their beds—not because they didn’t want to, but because their bodies were overwheld by an indescribable pain.
Cries soon flooded the strange room both won and n.
Then suddenly—
"Shut up!!"
A deep shout echoed through the endless chamber, its owner unseen.
Instant silence followed.
"Woah... thats scary ," Junior thought.
Everyone was shocked. Soone had managed to muster the strength to yell. Heads turned in all directions, searching for the source, but no one could identify the man.
Then—
[Attention, humans.]
The chanical sound of a voice filled the air.
[Welco to Midgard, a realm between life and death.]
[All 300 players accounted for!]
[Evaluation successful!]
Suddenly, glowing doors appeared at the foot of every bed.
[Proceed to the doors for your first orientation.]
Everyone felt strength return to their bodies. Slowly, they stood up, revealing identical blue hospital pajamas. Disconnecting the wires from their arms, they stepped through their doors and into a massive urban hall. The walls were transparent, displaying the strange urban new world that awaited them.
At the center stood an indoor fountain surrounded by rows of waiting chairs.
Then, sothing strange happened.
Above everyone’s head floated a faint silver symbol. But a handful of people—had only a spinning, loading-like symbol instead.
Panic began to spread until the chanical voice returned.
[Do not be afraid. The symbols represent the manner of your death and your rank. They are harmless.]
Calm was restored as murmurs rippled through the hall. Groups began forming based on the similarity of their symbols.
"I was a Commander for the United States governnt!" a loud, familiar voice boasted.
Nods followed, the crowd drinking in his every word.
It was the sa man whose terrifying shout had silenced the room. A gun symbol floated above his head.
"I died protecting the president when terrorists attacked the White House!" he continued, his charismatic voice booming.
"Took a lot of them with ... don’t know why they aren’t here. Guess they weren’t as special as they thought—even with their so-called gods!" he mocked, his group laughing at his words.
Already, he seed to be claiming leadership, his strategist’s tone pulling others in.
Across the hall, Jamie stood alone, staring at his reflection in the transparent walls, his brow furrowed.
"What in the hell..." he muttered, shocked to see the loading symbol above his head.
"It can’t be sothing bad," he reassured himself.
His eyes drifted to the long-haired man sitting near the fountain. He, too, bore the loading symbol. The man looked to be in his early twenties—tall, muscular, yet lean.
The girls were already whispering about him, their eyes drawn to his striking figure. The boys noticed too, though with envy.
"Wanna join us?"
A voice pulled him to his right.
It was an older boy with neatly combed hair and glasses, standing beside a spiky blue-haired youth.
Jamie blinked, realizing they had the sa symbols.
"No problem!" he said, joining them.
"My na’s Alexander. This is Bray."
"Am Jamie," he introduced himself.
"Any idea why we’ve got these weird loading symbols?" Bray asked, his hands buried in his pockets.
"No. I’m clueless too," Jamie admitted.
"Shit."
"We’ll find out sooner or later," Alexander interjected calmly.
"For now, what we should worry about is the special attention we’re getting."
"Special attention?" Jamie repeated, glancing around the hall.
Sure enough, dozens of eyes were locked on them. A cold, unnerving chill filled the air.
"Who can bla them?" Alexander said with a faint smile.
"People always act like this when they see sothing they don’t understand."
Suddenly—
"Hello, everyone!"
A hologram flickered to life. A man in a red robe appeared, his voice both silly and informative.
"My na is Caster,and i welco you to the first orientation!" he announced.
[Q. RINGS, ACTIVATE.]
In an instant, golden rings appeared on everyone’s middle fingers.
Gasps and chatter erupted.
"These rings are the key to a feature crucial for your survival," Caster explained. "Press them to activate—or deactivate."
A chorus of beeps followed as glowing dialogue boxes appeared before everyone’s eyes.
"Whoa..."
"Unbelievable..."
"Cool..."
Excited murmurs filled the hall.
"All of you will participate in different gas," the hologram continued. "Win, and you move to the next stage!"
"So... this world is like a video ga?" Bray asked aloud.
"Sothing like that," the figure replied. But then his voice grew lower, graver. "Be warned—if you think of it like a ga, you won’t survive long."
The air grew heavy with his warning.
"After winning a total of ten gas," he went on, "you will face the ultimate choice.
Reincarnate as a hero in another world, with the skills and power you’ve gained here—
Or... return to your living body. Without the skills earned here."
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