4

The cafeteria was huge, dull and dark. About 50 chairs or so were lined around the room with only a ceiling fan for ventilation. Considering that there were no lightbulbs or air conditioning, you could more or less guess that electricity was a major problem here.

The cafeteria was already filled to the brim by the time you and Avery had reached and you could see that all the chairs were already occupied. You sigh in frustration, running a hand over your face.

Something sharp suddenly poked you in your palm and a warm liquid streamed down your cheek. Your mind suddenly drifted back to the shard of glass that had pierced your face earlier . "Oh shit!" You cursed.

Avery, who was beside you stared in concern, "What's wrong?"

When he saw your bleeding face, his eyes widened in shock, "What the..."

"It's glass, please help me pick it out!" You say to him, reaching your hand to try removing the glass from your face.

"Wait, let me help" He replies and you nod. He reaches out, and with one swift and unexpected motion, pulled out the shard of glass from your face. You gasp from the shock.

"It's alright. It's out now" He hands you the glass, and you examine it. It was a small shard and it looked incapable of causing any serious injuries, so you breathed a sigh of relief. The warm blood still continued to trickle down your face, and Avery had to tear a piece of his clothes to wrap them around your face.

"This will hold it for a while" He says and you nod.

"Thanks"

"No problem"

The both of you advance forward into the cafeteria, before settling on an empty spot at a far corner. It seemed okay for now.

Just as you settled in, a voice called out. But this time, it was not the detached, robotic voice you were all familiar with. It was a more humane voice.

"Listen up guys" It called out. All your attention were quickly drawn towards the man that had spoken. An unfamiliar man, with long braided hair, a broad chest, and a relatively large stature, stood at a large podium before everyone in the room. He stared at you all with a chilling gaze that made you notice his off eyes a little more than you had wanted. His left eye was a strange shade of grey, more icy than grey and considering that his right eye was black, it made him look... Almost inhuman.

"Y'all must be asking what da fudge is going on, and it's normal, it's okay... All ya questions will be answered today once the General comes in, and I want each and every one of y'all to be in your best behaviour, understood?" His gruff voice reverberated through the room, and you along with the others found yourself subconsciously nodding.

"Good! I am Major Ice-eye, and each time I address you, I want to be addressed back in similar terms, is this understood?"

"Yes Major!" A chorus of words rang throughout the entirety of the cafeteria, almost damaging your ears if you were to exaggerate.

"Excellent! Excellent!" A round of stiff and loud claps filled the room before Major Ice-eye could say another word. Instinctively, your gazes shot towards the newcomer. A tall guy about the same age as you, with pleasant features and shoulder length hair slowly walked into the room. Staring intently at him gave you the impression that you had seen him somewhere before.

"General!" Major Ice-eye was quick on his knees to greet the General. You look on, surprised that such a young guy, no less than 20 was actually a General. Just as you along with the others continued to stare, the Major gave you all a side-eye when he noticed that you weren't on your knees greeting.

Understanding the assignment, you all fell down on your knees with a loud thud. The General smiled.

"Good, I like this! All stand!" He called out. In response, you were all on your feet again.

"I am General Scott, overseer of this operation. As you all know, you are now participants in a simulated environment designed to test your survival skills, strategic thinking, and teamwork."

You exchanged nervous glances with Avery, both your faces pale.

"This simulation will last for 365 days, and your objective is simple: be the last man standing. The arena is approximately miles, infested with hostile entities – commonly referred to as 'zombies.'"

"The entirety of this simulation is very easy. Each participant starts with basic supplies: food, water, first-aid kit, and a standard-issue firearm which will all be given to yo once the major registration has ended. Your databots, which are those little bots in your mind that informs you of stats changes and other things shall be the overmimds, overlooking the entire simulation. Anyone who tries anything stupid will immediately be eliminated "

A murmur immediately spread throughout the room.

"Your memories prior to entering the simulation are wiped for security purposes and will not be recovered until the simulation has officially ended. Please note that medical support will be provided through designated staffs. That is all for now, additional information shall be given to you through your databots. Now, you have 30 minutes to review the base layouts through your databots, once this 30 minutes has elapsed, I want you all in the conference room, where your major registration shall begin"

"For those wondering, you can assess your databots by simply clicking on the small button on the back of neck" And with a crisp nod, the General turned to leave. Your eyes widened at his last words, You had a button attached to your neck?

The room fell silent after the General's departure, it was as if you were all letting the weight of the new information sink in.

"You heard what he said, get to work!" Major Ice-eye's words however had you all snapping back into reality. You shot Avery a worried glance as you watched him click a small button in the back of his neck. Almost immediately, it seemed as if he had been pulled out from this world. His eyes were staring intently at an invisible object in front of him. Must've been his own databot.

Your eyes glanced throughout the entire hall and you noticed that all the other teens seemed to be in the same condition. Feeling determined but still a bit apprehensive, you reach out for your neck and clicked the small button.

A familiar white light shone through, and you-- being used to this already-- shut your eyes before it could affect it. Once the intensity had dropped, you reopened them.

You seemed to be on a new page... 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐮

You clicked on the green tab and a series of information popped up.

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰?

𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐬»          𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭»

𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬»                            𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲»

𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐀𝐎𝐀»                              𒊹︎︎︎ «𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬»

You clicked on the tab «𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭» and another screen with a new set of information popped up.

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞...

𒊹︎︎︎ 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭

𒊹︎︎︎ 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭

Nodding, you clicked on the tab «𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭» and a full layout of the base shows up in your screen. The base was huge, consisting of the cafeteria, the conference room as it was written, the board room, the training room, planting area, locker rooms, medical facilities, and a separate area for the dorms. Scanning carefully through the map, you noticed that the conference room was only a few turns from the cafeteria. It was quite easy to locate.

You turn off the databot and turned to face Avery. He too had turned off his databot and was staring at you.

"The conference room is not far from here, we should get going" You tell him.

"Okay" He nods.

You both rise, along with several other teenagers around you, and you all made your way towards the next turn.

A short 2 minutes walk has all of you entering a brightly lit room with a tons of chairs like the cafeteria. Air conditioning lines the entirety of the ceiling and a cool breeze sweeps you the moment you enter. This seemed to be the only room with good electricity.

The General along with several other people you knew nothing about were all seated at the large podium in front of the room. When your gaze meets his, he flashes you a smile that felt a little too familiar. You turn your eyes away before anymore could be done.

In no time, the conference room is filled, and once again, the General walks up stage and makes another long speech you didn't listen to. When you saw Avery and the others entire a straight line, you followed them instinctively. The registration had began. The line was long, painful long, and it didn't help that you were far far behind. Avery was up front and you still had to go through a dozen people before you could meet him. You sigh in frustration.

Your stomach suddenly rumbled, and you remembered that you hadn't eaten a thing since that loaf of bread Avery had given you. It was odd that the base hadn't given any of you food to eat, not even a drop of water.

Your mind didn't wander for long as your gaze was fixated on the registration process. It wasn't like any registration you'd seen, all the survivors were being stung on the arm by a weird jellyfish like instrument, a small symbol like this [𖤍] was immediately imprinted on them. The registerer would then clamp a bracelet with the same symbol around their wrist.

You thought nothing of it though, being in a simulation was weird enough. Having a bracelet clamped around your wrist and a weird jellyfish sting you wasn't anything to be worried about.

Half an hour had passed, and it was finally your turn. You stretched out your hand under the command of the registerer and let the jellyfish sting you. It hurt. It felt like a thousand bolts of electricity had just been shot through you. You collapse weakly, but the registerer held you to prevent you from falling. He clamped the bracelet around your hand before whispering, "Room 393" to your ear.

He shoves you away, letting the registration process continue. Just as you fall to the ground, you feel someone grab you.

"Hey! Hey! You okay?" It was Avery's voice.

"I'm fine, just a little weak" You managed to whisper. You see him nod before he carries you over his shoulder.

"Tell me your room number, let me take you there" He says. At this point, you were feeling really dizzy, you found it difficult to even keep your eyes open.

"Room 393" You croak before falling straight into deep sleep.

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