With the timer ticking down from 10 seconds, the massive screen above flickered ominously. The air was thick with tension, the crowd of millions of people silent except for the occasional murmured confusion.
"Uh, Suzaki… what could this possibly mean?" Carter's voice was shaky, his usual playful energy completely gone.
I swallowed hard. "I have no idea."
Just then, the screen cracked before a figure appeared.
A man dressed in all black, a long flowing coat draping his figure, stood on the screen. His face was completely hidden behind an eerie black mask, his presence made even more unsettling by the black top hat he wore.
Then, in a calm yet chilling voice, the Mysterious Person spoke.
"Congratulations."
The word rang out, but what he said next sent a freezing tide of horror sweeping through the crowd.
"You have passed the first game… and at least 500 million people have died."
The crowd went wild.
Shrieks, gasps, terrified whispers—shock hung in the air like a suffocating fog.
"500 million?!" someone burst out in disbelief.
People looked at each other in horror, some dropping to their knees, others shaking their heads in incredulity.
The Mysterious Figure was impassive.
"You have been wondering," he continued, his voice calm and detached, "Why are you here? Why would a stranger be compelled to assault you? Why were you drawn into this?"
The screen flickered to life, showing grainy, black-and-white footage—images of humans being hunted, butchered by the same humans they had trusted.
His voice did not waver. "It's simple. You are weak."
His words sliced through the din like a knife.
"Humans… a species drowning in its own weakness."
He moved forward on the screen, as if looking down on all of us.
You've built a world where the powerful are restrained, where the unworthy are propelled forward, where mediocrity thrives and real strength dies. You talk of kindness, of compassion, of equality—yet your textbooks are written in war, blood, and conquest. You claim you value life, yet all you do is waste it."
The screen shifted again, and in bold red letters, "100 GAMES" seared on it.
"This will end.
My stomach churned.
"The world doesn't require additional individuals," the Mysterious Figure stated. "It requires stronger individuals. Individuals who can endure. Individuals who can fight. Individuals who will rise, however many times they are defeated."
His voice grew sharper.
"And thus, I present to you— RESONANCE."
There was a heavy silence.
"One hundred trials. One hundred conflicts that will separate the strong from the weak."
His voice was nearly mocking now.
"You can fight alone. Form guilds. Forge alliances. Betray those closest to you. I do not care. In the end, only those who prove themselves to be strong will have the right to exist in this world."
Wails erupted from the crowd.
"This is insane!" I muttered, eyes wide with disbelief.
Some had already started shaking their heads, rejecting this lunacy.
A man in the crowd stepped forward, fists tightened.
"You can't force us to do this! This is inhuman!"
A woman's voice, a second one, shouted in outrage.
"You're playing god! People have lives, families—this isn't a game!"
A third voice, trembling with fear, shouted out the single question that was left in all our minds.
"And if we refuse?! What then?!"
The Mysterious Person laughed.
It was not loud. But it was enough to silence the entire crowd.
His head tilted slightly. His posture shifted, as though he was… amused.
"Ah, yes. The choice."
The air grew still.
"It is simple: Compete… or face the penalty."
The screen flashed again—a black abyss, a bottomless pit where dark silhouettes of humans fell silently.
"Those who refuse to compete will be penalized."
Someone choked back a sob.
"Those who lose will be cast out—into the abyss, from which there is no return."
A death penalty.
Seven and a half billion people. From the United States, China, Japan, Africa… from every corner of this world. You each have been chosen to participate in these Games."
"You will each receive a random weapon that suits you— that will be with you until the end because it will be your only lifeline."
"But if you are truly blessed… you may stir something more. A power beyond human limitations, beyond mere strength. A force known as 'Veyln'—the gift of the unbreakable. Those who unleash Veyln will be legends in these trials, feared and respected alike."
*(The screen changes again, revealing a massive tower that scrapes the heavens. There are smaller towers beside it, hundreds of millions of them, scattered on a darkened world map.)
"Listen up. You will not be fighting on familiar ground. You will be rehoused—again—with a few hundred survivors in every tower. Each of these towers is a battleground, and a fortress. Here is where you will be tried."
"Hundreds of millions of towers. Hundreds of millions of battles. The strong shall remain solitary."
(The crowd erupts into chaos. Some scream in despair, others in defiance. Pandemonium racks the world, but the Mysterious Figure remains impassive, their cold eyes raking over the crowd.)
"You have one day remaining. Enter a room within the towers. Sleep well—if you can."
"Because when the sun rises, the 2nd game begins. And from then on… there will be no mercy."
And one more thing we will create a ranking system for the towers depending on how well you do in the next 3 games you will be transported into a better tower with better players but if you stay in the same tower longer than 6 games you will be eliminated.
That is all let the game begin.
(The screen blinks "Game 2: In 24 Hours." The Mysterious Figure vanishes. The world erupts into chaos.)