Voice: The game starts in: 368 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes;

  The water was cold, clinging to his skin like a second layer, soaking through his disheveled school uniform. Saito Yū’s slender frame seemed even smaller beneath the fabric, the sharp angles of his shoulders and collarbone visible

  through the damp cloth. His dark, unkempt hair fell messily over his face, strands clinging to his pale skin. Beneath the shadow of his bangs, his eyes—sunken and rimmed with exhaustion—stared blankly at the knife in his trembling hand. They were a deep brown, once warm but now dulled by years of silent suffering.

  The faint light of the bathroom lamp reflected off his glasses, slightly crooked from a fall he’d taken earlier that day. His lips, chapped and pale, quivered as he muttered something under his breath, his voice barely audible over the persistent drip of the faucet.

  Saito Yū: “Shut up…” he muttered in a low voice.

  Voice: Time to receive your card: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes;

  Saito Yū: “Please… shut up…” he muttered again in a low voice.

  In a bathtub filled with cold water, Saito Yū lay motionless, his school uniform clinging to his frail frame. A knife rested loosely in his trembling hand, his eyes shut tight as though to block out the world. He couldn’t understand why that voice—cold and mechanical—kept repeating itself every hour, counting down to the time he would receive his card. The words echoed in his mind, relentless and maddening.

  “I’m losing my mind…” he thought, the words barely forming through the haze of exhaustion.

  Today, he believed, might be the end of it all. The torment, the loneliness, the suffocating weight of existence—it would finally stop. He had almost made up his mind. The knife in his hand seemed heavy, both a burden and a release. But even now, as the tears mingled with the water around him, Saito Yū found himself paralyzed.

  He was too much of a coward to end it.

  Voice: Time to receive your card: 10…

  Voice: 9…

  Voice: 8…

  Saito Yū: “Shut uuuuup!!!” His voice shook, and tears mixed in.

  Voice: 7…

  Voice: 6…

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Voice: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…: Congratulations, you are the chosen one.

  Saito Yū: “What’s happening?” he asked, confused and terrified, wiping his tear- streaked sleeve. He looked ahead, and something was glowing in the dark room. He didn’t even understand what it was. He reached out, feeling something solid in his hand. He froze when he picked it up; the light disappeared. He looked at the card:

  Status:

  Name: Saito Yū Age: 19 Gender: Male Class: ???

  Rank: F

  Abilities: ???

  Stats:

  Strength: 12

  Speed: 22

  Intelligence: 77

  Endurance: 09

  Charisma: 03

  Luck: 27

  Saito Yū stared at the card in his trembling hands, his mind still fogged by disbelief. His heart raced as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. His vision blurred from the tears, but he could still make out the glowing text in front of him.

  Saito Yū: “What… what is this?” His voice cracked, barely above a whisper, as if

  speaking too loud would break the fragile reality he was clinging to.

  The room was eerily silent, save for the faint hum of the glowing light. Everything around him seemed unreal, like a dream he couldn’t wake up from. His hand shook as he raised the card up to examine it more closely. The ?? next to his class taunted him with its mystery. What kind of system was this? What did it mean?

  Suddenly, the voice from earlier spoke again, interrupting his spiraling thoughts. It was cold, mechanical, and yet somehow seemed to seep into his very bones.

  Voice: “Congratulations, Saito Yū. You have been chosen. Prepare to enter your

  portal.”

  Saito Yū: “Portal?” His voice was barely audible as the word echoed in his mind. “What do you mean, portal?”

  Before he could react, the air around him began to shimmer, and the room seemed to warp. He blinked, trying to focus, but the light began to grow brighter, forcing him to squint.

  The water around him started to shift, rippling as if reacting to the change. The faint glow became blinding, and he felt a strange pull, like something was dragging him forward. His body felt weightless as if he were being lifted off the ground.

  Saito Yū: “No! No, no, no! What’s happening?!”

  The glowing light enveloped him, and for a split second, everything went dark. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move—nothing but an endless, suffocating void. And then—snap—the world around him shifted again. He gasped, finding himself in a completely different place.

  It wasn’t his bathroom. It wasn’t his room. It was a vast, open arena, reminiscent of the grand coliseums of ancient Rome. The stone walls were weathered and cracked, towering high above him, while rows of crumbling seats lined the outer edges, long abandoned by the crowds that once filled them. The ground beneath him was solid but covered in loose sand, stained by the remnants of countless battles. It had the heavy, oppressive feel of a place steeped in history—of triumph and tragedy. In front of him stood a massive stone archway, an ancient portal carved into the walls, its edges lined with worn symbols and runes. It pulsed with an eerie, unsettling light, as though it were alive, beckoning him toward an unknown fate.

  Saito Yū: “Where am I? What is this place?”

  The voice returned, but this time, it was clearer, almost… welcoming.

  Voice: “You have entered your first portal. Complete the trial to begin your journey. You have 24 hours to prepare.”

  Saito Yū felt a cold chill run down his spine. The countdown from before—the countdown to the card—now seemed to be part of something far more dangerous.

  Saito Yū: “Trial? What trial? I don’t even know what’s going on…”

  His heart raced as he looked around, searching for an exit, but there was nothing. He was alone. Completely alone in a place that didn’t make sense. His eyes fell to the card again, his mind racing.

  Saito Yū: “I need to… I need to think.” He squeezed the card in his hand, the

  strange light reflecting off its surface. The ?? under “Class” still remained.

  The voice spoke once more, with a finality that made him feel even smaller than before.

  Voice: “You have no class. You must find one through your journey. But first…

  survive the trial.”