The sun rose from the east, illuminating the world with warm golden light. The people below were rushing to their work.
The roads were packed with cars as people rushed to work; the billboards on the sides flashed with ads.
"Does your toothpaste have pepper?" A new ad appeared on one billboard with a beautiful young woman holding a toothpaste in her hand.
A little girl walking beside her young mother glanced at the ad and asked with her sweet voice, "Mom, does toothpaste even have pepper?"
"Which idiot told you that?" Her mom hissed, lowering her head. The kid pointed toward the billboard. The woman held her forehead. "So pepper now—in future, bitter gourd?..." She mocked. "Even Lysol?" The girl glanced at the billboard again.
She shook her head. "You shouldn’t..." Her pupils shrank. She paused as she found someone standing in mid-air... Yup! Mid-air.
"So handsome..." The girl grinned. She raised her small hands and pointed toward the figure. The adults instinctively looked up. Conversations stopped one after another as heads turned toward the sky. Her words attracted everyone’s attention as they all glanced toward the sky. The figure glanced down at them.
He was a handsome young man in his early twenties, his black hair neatly trimmed, the sides kept short while the top was left longer and combed back with a clean side part. He was clad in a shining yellow long coat, under which was a dark blue shirt and grey pants, along with black shoes. He was refined and gentle, a man in formal office wear. His temperament was like someone high and mature. He had a faint smile as he looked down at the people below.
He snapped his fingers. BOOOOM! A loud sound of explosion echoed through the entire planet. On the other side of the planet, sleeping people jolted awake. Cars stopped in the middle of the roads. People froze in the offices, homes, restaurants, and streets.
"What’s going on?" A man woke up, turning on the switch. He picked up his smartphone to check the news. The moment he picked it up, he almost threw it as his phone screen buzzed with lines of black. The same handsome young man’s face suddenly filled the screen. The man threw the phone aside. "Did hackers get to this level?" He rushed out of his bedroom, got to his living room, and paused as he found the same man on his television, which his wife was watching. His wife stared at the television, then slowly turned toward him.
"This..." The people froze, rubbing their eyes in disbelief as they glanced at him in the sky.
"Did the government create a superhero serum?" A nerd asked, pushing his specs up his nose.
A fat guy next to him sneered, "Serum? Looks like you read too many comics."
"Then is he an alien?" Someone raised her voice, glaring at the fat man.
As they began clamoring, a young man rushed forward and yelled, "Hey! Who are you?"
The man in the sky nodded to himself. "Good, now everyone has woken up." Zzz! The billboards and all streaming devices flickered in and out with black and white lines, attracting everyone’s eyes.
The billboards on the road and everywhere switched to the man’s figure floating in the air. The man adjusted his collar, straightened his cuffs, and coughed to clear his voice. Then he grinned. "Now, humans..." He paused, his smile widening. "You have been selected." He clapped. Clap! Clap!
"All nine billion people," he added, with a hint of craziness.
"Huh?" People tilted their heads. While everyone was shocked and doubtful, seven humans gritted their teeth watching the figure on their phones, televisions, or billboards.
"Game Master." They shouted, crimson murderous intent glowing in their eyes. "This life, I’ll make sure to kill you." Their bodies trembled despite their hatred. Their hands trembled as they stared at the Game Master.
"Here you go," The Game Master waved his fingers.
[ Ding! You have been selected! ]
[ Ding! Apocalypse Game welcomes you!]
A luminous status screen appeared in everyone’s vision, ranging from newborns to old people close to death.
People looked around, some reaching toward the screen to check if they could touch it.
"What’s this?" A young man lying on a bed muttered, raising his thin, shaky arm.
"This is a medical miracle. A coma patient woke up." An old doctor’s mouth hung open, his eyes widening as he glanced at the glowing panel in front of him and the young man who had opened his eyes from his ten-year coma.
"Doctor." Nurses and others rushed toward him. "Room 142, 145, 151..." Their voice began uneven as they uttered, "They are resounding... Cancer patients."
"Cancer, last stage, coma..." The doctor held his forehead, then turned toward the panel. "Everyone woke up... This thing is real." Nurses rushed between rooms while doctors crowded, glaring at each other’s faces.
The Game Master announced, "Now, to maintain order and fairness, I’m changing all time zones to one." He snapped his fingers as crimson light burst out from his body and rushed out, covering the entire planet.
A young man who was watching the Game Master through his phone stood up in shock. He glanced around. "How?" His room was filled with morning sunlight, illuminating the entire room. He glared at his clock, which was showing 11:00 PM. "How?"
Crack! Crack!
His body shook as loud rumblings echoed from the ground, and thud!he fell onto his bed. Buildings groaned. The Game Master’s voice announced, "And to make things interesting, your planet will be expanded a hundredfold."
Entire continents trembled as mountains, forests, and oceans stretched into impossible distances.
Clap! The Game Master clapped his hands and glared at people who had fallen due to ground tremors. "Now, I don’t like to waste time." He waved his hand; everyone who had fallen down was lifted up by a gentle force, making everyone stand up. He pointed toward the girl who had called him handsome. "Kid, want to play a game?"
"What?..." Before the girl could ask, her mom pulled her back. "She won’t..." She hissed at the Game Master.
"I didn’t ask for your opinion," the Game Master said softly.
The young woman felt a chill as huge pressure appeared on her. Thud! She fell to her knees as people around her moved back in fright. "What’s wrong, Mom?" The kid shook her mom’s shoulder, as the latter seemed unresponsive, with her eyes dim.
"Oops!" The Game Master clicked his tongue. "Too much force." He folded his hands behind his back. "Don’t worry, kid, she’ll be fine after a few hours." He gave the kid a kind smile.
Click!
The Game Master’s ears twitched as he turned toward an old policeman, who pointed his gun at him. "I have this gun fully loaded." He screamed, "I don’t care what bullshit or what serum government experiment this is." The people nodded at the policeman. "Shoot him."
"He thinks this is a novel."
People who had frozen in fright finally regained confidence and courage. They picked up weapons, rocks, anything they could, and a few who had guns loaded them right away and took aim.
A bald gang member who had been hiding pulled out a machine gun, loaded it, and took aim. People were frightened by him. "A thug!"
"Don’t yell," the thug roared. "First, let’s take down this floating guy."
People sighed as even the police nodded. "Don’t worry, we’ll take him down after this guy." They pointed at the Game Master.
More people stepped forward, raising whatever weapons they had found.
The Game Master just sneered. "Go ahead, prepare. I’ll give you all one chance."
The seven people who were watching through screens screamed, "No, you don’t stand a chance against him."
"Don’t throw away your lives!" Their voices carried desperation instead of anger. The seven clenched their fists, turning red as they watched the people below raise their weapons.
They stared helplessly at the screen.
"Now go ahead." The Game Master waved his hand, "Show me what you can do."