It was a normal day, the streets buzzing with moving cars. Workers rushed to get to work early, the normal work rush.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for everyone. Everything was as it was any other day, but something occurred. Every phone received one message.
"Dear humans, you have all been selected to participate in a dungeon game. Complete all the levels and you shall return and gain one wish each."
Sender: Unknown
Everyone was glued to their phone. This was a prank, right? Unknown? A dungeon game?
Probably a teen trying to gain fame. It was something they had all seen before. People just glanced at the message and switched off their phone.
They had places to be and didn’t have time for someone’s prank.
Unknown to them, this wasn’t a prank. In an alley hidden in the corner, a man had disappeared. His phone was left behind on the ground.
Nobody had seen him, and nobody had witnessed him disappear suddenly.
On the other side of town, in a mid level apartment on the fourth floor, a young man was busy cooking, unaware of the danger foreshadowing the world.
Kai Zhuang was a first-year culinary student at a second-tier university. Since childhood, he had loved cooking and was especially productive in the cooking club since middle school.
Although his father did not approve, his mother supported his dreams. Kai’s cooking was divine, and one bite would send anyone into heaven.
Currently, Kai was cooking up some delicious Japanese-style ramen and hadn’t noticed the news alert on the television.
As he pulled out the boiled noodles, the scent filled the kitchen. His apartment, in general, always smelled of delicious food, often drawing in his older neighbour next door.
He would often give her some of his food portions as a small gesture. But recently she had become relentless, coming over daily as if he were her personal chef.
He didn’t mind. She was old, and it seemed her family never visited.
Maybe it was loneliness.
Or she was just a hungry old woman.
Either way, it didn’t bother him. Having someone to praise his dishes was nice, although she sometimes criticized them a bit too harshly, but it was okay with him.
A few minutes passed, and he was finally done. As he made his way to his living room, he caught sight of something a news helicopter.
Maybe a big scoop.
But it didn’t concern him. He made his way to the couch and sat down, placing the bowl on the table.
As he looked up, he saw the news headline.
"UNKNOWN MESSAGE CAUSES CITIZENS ALL OVER THE WORLD TO DISAPPEAR."
WHAT.
Was he seeing it right? People disappearing because of a message? Were aliens coming, or was it just another scam to draw in views?
His TV news channel was famous for making up legends and all sorts of things just to get views. Last week it was the spotting of Bigfoot, but it turned out to be just a man with abnormally large feet.
"What a waste," Kai said, switching the channel. As he did, he didn’t see the news anchor disappearing into thin air.
As he lowered his chopsticks into the hot, brewing soup of ramen, he felt its warmth. He scooped up a mouthful and brought it to his mouth.
As he tasted the noodles, he could feel the texture and flavour.
Good as always.
As he ate, he rushed too much and choked.
Before he could do anything, his vision blacked out, and he could see his hand fading away.
What was happening?
Was he dying from eating?
Was food really the death of him?
...
As Kai opened his eyes once more, he found he was lying on something soft yet thick. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the sky.
There was none.
There wasn’t a sky. It looked like a large ceiling overlooking the entire place.
Where was he?
And was he even alive?
He looked around and saw other people in his exact situation. They all seemed to have woken up just like him.
One man got up beside him. It was the news anchor he had seen a while back.
But what exactly was he doing here, and where were they all?
A foreign looking man wearing a thin foil helmet got up abruptly and looked nervously around.
"They have finally done it! Them aliens!" the man shouted, looking around. He looked unstable, but maybe he was right.
"What nonsense are you blubbering about, you old geezer?" another man asked.
"Them aliens, I tell you! They sent the message, and now they done took us!" the man responded, looking around.
"Aliens? But I’m too young and hot to be used for an experiment," a young-looking girl said nearby.
"You might be young, but you ain’t no hottie, little miss," a man wearing a cowboy hat said, looking her up and down.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" the girl asked, offended.
Kai got up slowly, looking around. They appeared to be in a giant forest. Some trees were as tall as skyscrapers.
This place wasn’t Earth or even China.
These people looked to be from all over the world.
Indians, Americans, Japanese, Africans.
People from all over the world had been brought here together.
What message were they talking about? Kai hadn’t even checked his phone before coming here.
His hand reached into his left pocket, and he felt the familiar shape of his phone. He quickly pulled it out before switching it on.
The first thing that popped up was a notification of an email from an unknown sender.
"Dear humans, you have all been selected to participate in a dungeon game. Complete all the levels and you shall return and gain one wish each."
His face drained of all colour.
What did it mean?
And what dungeon game?