When I regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was emptiness.

  I was floating in the middle of a bottomless abyss. It was a strange sensation, as if the weight of my memories, desires, and very existence was dissolving into the darkness.

  Huh? How long have I been here?

  I closed my eyes, resigning myself to my cruel fate.

  If this eternal shadow was the end the observer had chosen for me, I would accept it and fade away with dignity.

  However, just as I began to believe there was no hope, the scenery shifted once again. I was now lying in those snow-covered gardens I only ever saw in my dreams, as if something—or someone—external was imposing its will, dragging me from one place to another without asking.

  So… here I was again.

  This scene could only mean one of two things.

  Either I was in a deep dream, or worse, I had died during the blackout at the student interviews.

  I decided not to dwell on it.

  Questioning my existence at this moment only tightened the sharp pressure in my chest, so I chose to stand and walk along the garden path.

  As I moved forward, I felt the crunch of snow beneath my feet—a sound that, under other circumstances, I might have found comforting. But here, it only amplified the loneliness of this place.

  It wasn’t long before I arrived at a small wooden bridge leading into the heart of the forest.

  Crossing the bridge, I saw a two-story cabin nestled beneath an ancient tree. Both the cabin and the tree were blanketed in snow, as though time itself had frozen them.

  “That cabin…” I murmured, feeling an inexplicable urge to approach.

  I didn’t remember ever seeing this place before, but a deep sense of nostalgia washed over me once again. It was unsettling, as if some part of me had been here long ago, preserved in a forgotten corner of my memories.

  When I opened the door, tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.

  The warmth inside enveloped me instantly, but it felt almost too real to be just a dream.

  The cabin was filled with photographs on the walls, old furniture, and a small flame flickering in the fireplace.

  I moved from room to room, examining every detail.

  In every photo on the walls… I was there. But I wasn’t alone; in most of them, a woman was embracing me with a tender smile.

  My heart raced.

  Who… is she?

  I felt like I knew her from somewhere, but my mind couldn’t provide any clear answer about her identity. Fragmented memories flickered through my mind, but none of them explained her. It was as though the answer was right at my fingertips… and yet utterly unreachable.

  Part of me understood that this moment, this scene, was important. But my mind remained an empty puzzle.

  With every step I took inside the cabin, a sharp pain began to throb in my head.

  It was as if my own brain was struggling to recover the memories buried in my mind, trying to fill the gaps that seemed to devour every corner of my consciousness.

  My body moved almost automatically, as if in a trance.

  There was something behind this… some invisible force pushing me forward, guiding me through those halls. Suddenly, I stopped in front of a door I had never seen before.

  It was adorned with countless stars.

  I reached for the handle, but as I did, a sharp pain stabbed through my head. My mind tried to protect me, warning me to step back before uncovering what lay inside.

  Stop! Get away! You don’t need to see this!

  A voice inside me shouted incessantly, begging me to leave the cabin before it was too late. But my body ignored the warnings.

  My trembling hand pushed the door open and flicked the light switch, revealing a chilling sight.

  It was a completely white room, but unlike the rest of the cabin, the walls were covered in crimson marks—chaotic, erratic strokes, as though someone had used their own blood to draw them.

  I swallowed hard.

  The worst part was that the marks resembled the desperate scribbles of someone who had been trapped for far too long.

  The word help was scrawled repeatedly on the walls.

  There were also words in an unfamiliar language, symbols that seemed to invoke something beyond my comprehension.

  Suddenly, the ground began to quake, and my world spun as I recognized something in those strange marks—something that left me frozen and pale.

  That handwriting…

  I collapsed to the floor as I realized it was my own.

  “That’s… my handwriting,” I whispered, feeling the very essence of my soul slip through my fingers as my body trembled. “Did I… do this?”

  In that moment, the ground shook violently again, and shadowy arms slithered through the door at an unnerving speed, pulling me out of the cabin.

  I struggled to resist, but it was futile.

  The shadowy arms dragged me with terrifying force, as if I were nothing more than a puppet in their grip.

  A freezing shock hit me as I was pulled through the cabin’s front door. Before the shadows consumed me entirely, I caught sight of the ghostly woman watching me from the edge of the lake.

  “Tell me, what is all this?!” I shouted desperately, trying to wrench some kind of answer from her unseen lips. “Who are you?!”

  She didn’t reply. She only watched me—or at least I thought she did.

  I couldn’t see her face, but her presence was unmistakable. She radiated a golden aura with hints of pink. Something deep within me screamed that I knew her, but no matter how hard I tried, I found no answer.

  The woman extended her arms toward me.

  “Even if you don’t remember me now… you will, soon,” she said softly, her voice like the whisper of an angel.

  I tried to reach her, stretching my hands toward her in complete desperation, clinging to that final shred of hope.

  For a moment, I thought I could make it—that maybe I could uncover something about her identity—but the shadowy arms held me back at the last second.

  In that instant, I was dragged into the depths of the great lake.

  The cold engulfed me once more, and I felt the darkness dragging me back into the abyss. And I…

  Why am I crying again…?

  ◇◆◇

  It wasn’t long before I regained consciousness for the second time.

  The first thing I felt was a tingling sensation throughout my body, as though I had just woken up from an extraordinarily long journey.

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  Had I been asleep for that long?

  My vision was blurry.

  It felt as if a thin veil covered my face, blocking my contact with the outside world.

  Who could have put this on me?

  Clumsily, I moved my hand to remove the fabric, and at that moment, a familiar voice reached my ears.

  “Anth... I thought you’d never wake up…”

  The voice sounded desolate, as if the person speaking was holding back tears. I blinked a few times, and gradually, the figure of the person embracing me came into focus.

  In front of me stood my brother.

  Mikogami Minoru.

  His reddish eyes were swollen and damp, as though he had been crying for hours. His usually neat gray hair was disheveled and messy.

  “Minoru…? Is that you…?” I murmured weakly. “W-Where are we…?”

  My brother offered a faint smile, trying to maintain his composure. Tears still lingered in his eyes, but he wiped them away with his hand, attempting to appear strong.

  “Of course, it’s me, sleepyhead,” he said, shifting his gaze toward our surroundings as if searching for an answer to my question. “To be honest, I have no idea…”

  He turned back to me and extended his hand to help me up. However, as I tried to stand, my legs wobbled, nearly giving out beneath me.

  It was then I noticed we weren’t alone.

  Next to my brother stood two foreign-looking boys. Both of them observed us in complete silence. They seemed as confused as we were, searching for answers to this bizarre situation.

  Looking closely, the place was unrecognizable.

  Debris covered the ground, and the remains of destroyed buildings surrounded us as though this was a city ravaged by war.

  There were no signs of life. Not a single soul in sight.

  I looked at Minoru, silently asking him who these people were, but he turned his attention toward them.

  “As I mentioned, my name is Mikogami Minoru, but you can call me Minoru,” he said, placing his hand on my head. “This is my brother, Anthou. We’re Japanese. From Rikubetsu, Hokkaido. We were waiting for a meeting with équox Academy before ending up here.”

  The two boys slumped onto the old tires scattered around us, as if they needed a moment to process the strange situation we were in.

  Finally, the taller one was the first to speak.

  “Russian student, Sasha Zaitsev,” he said in a deep voice. “I was heading to my interview with Miroska High before waking up in this hell…”

  I studied him carefully.

  Sasha had long, dark navy-blue hair that fell to his shoulders and piercing purple eyes that seemed to look right through you.

  His demeanor was calm, almost intimidating. He seemed like the type who could maintain his composure even in the most extreme situations.

  Sasha was serious. Perhaps too serious for what was happening.

  Though his attitude intrigued me, I couldn’t dwell on it for now.

  The other boy, who seemed more laid-back, leaned forward.

  “So, two Japanese guys and someone who looks Russian?” he commented with a half-smile, almost mocking. “Interesting combination.”

  He crossed his arms, his relaxed attitude sharply contrasting with the situation.

  “I’m from the United States,” he continued. “Name’s Raynard O’Neill, but you can call me Ray. I was also heading to an interview, though mine was with the Pinnacle Institute in Pennsylvania.”

  Ray was about my height.

  His spiky orange hair stood out, and his rebellious look was emphasized by his green eyes. He gave off the impression of someone used to tough environments, as if being stranded with us in this desolate city was just another day for him.

  Ray seemed easygoing, but I had a feeling he was not someone to let your guard down around.

  “Well, it seems we were all heading to different interviews,” I said, trying to ease the tension. “And for some inexplicable reason… we ended up here. Now… does anyone have any idea where we are?”

  The two of them remained silent, their faces showing the same lack of answers as Minoru’s.

  None of us had the faintest clue.

  Even though we all wore the same uniform and carried small, nearly imperceptible earpieces, none of us understood why we had them.

  And so, we were bound together by a single question.

  What was this place?

  Each of us had been attending an interview, only to wake up in the middle of a desolate city. At the moment, we stood on an abandoned road surrounded by rubble. It seemed to be part of a main street, with collapsed structures forming an almost surreal landscape.

  There were no signs of life—not even animals. Debris was piled across the road, creating a labyrinth of endless ruins.

  The silence was eerie.

  “This situation feels like something out of a horror movie, doesn’t it?” Ray remarked, almost laughing as he examined the surroundings. His relaxed tone clashed with the grim atmosphere, as if he were trying to lighten the mood.

  Suddenly, Ray kicked an empty can in frustration.

  “Tch… This is such a waste of time. Yesterday, I was covering myself with a ‘Deadly War Z’ poster, and today I wake up in the apocalypse without even getting to see a single zombie. What a rip-off!”

  “Zombies or not, we seem to be the only survivors. Now isn’t the time to joke about the dead,” Sasha replied, standing up and facing Ray with a serious look. “Also, for the record, I don’t look Russian—I’m from Poronaysk, one of the coldest cities in Russia.”

  “Whatever you say, Mr. Russian,” Ray retorted with a bored yawn. “I was just trying to lighten the heavy mood, but sure, you’re right. I’ll stop joking just because zombies freak you out.”

  His words seemed to irritate Sasha even more, though he tried to keep his anger in check.

  “They don’t ‘freak me out,’” Sasha refuted. “I’m just asking you to respect the dead.”

  “Yeah… Right, that’s a good reason to stop. I’m sure the dead will thank you in their next life,” Ray said with a mocking smile, clearly enjoying Sasha’s frustration.

  Even though they had just met, the tension between them was palpable, as if their personalities clashed instantly.

  But their bickering wouldn’t get us anywhere.

  “Alright, stop it,” Minoru interjected, stepping between the two to ease the tension. “First of all, we don’t even know if this is the end of the world. Think about it. There’s debris everywhere, but not a single body. That’s something that really doesn’t make sense.”

  Then, he turned his gaze to Ray.

  “We also haven’t seen any zombies, so let’s not jump to conclusions.”

  Hearing my brother’s reasoning, Sasha exchanged a glance with Ray and yawned, visibly tired. Both sat down, though their expressions made it clear that neither was satisfied.

  Although we lacked evidence, Minoru’s argument was more logical than Ray’s zombie apocalypse theory.

  The chaos seemed to stretch for miles, as though a catastrophe had wiped everything out. Yet, there was no blood, no piles of bodies, no clue as to what had happened to the people who once lived here.

  From the ruined streets, collapsed buildings, and what looked like a devastated mall, it was evident that this city had once been full of life.

  But the strangest thing was the complete absence of corpses.

  It was as if everyone had vanished in an instant, leaving only the ruins behind. For a moment, the idea that we might be the only survivors gripped my chest.

  It was a truth hard to swallow.

  But Minoru didn’t let fear take over. Standing before us with a determined expression, he spoke.

  “How about, instead of arguing, we figure out where we are?” Minoru suggested, pointing down the road with a firm voice. “If we keep moving, maybe we’ll find something.”

  His calm tone drew all our attention to him.

  But just then, something unexpected happened.

  Out of nowhere, a massive airship appeared, soaring above the city and casting a shadow that blanketed everything below.

  Its presence was surreal, as though it belonged to another world.

  We all looked up at the sky, struggling to process what we were seeing, but the airship was only the beginning.

  At that moment, a soft yet commanding female voice echoed through our earpieces, as if the speaker could see us from above.

  “One, two, one, two. Testing, testing,” the woman repeated a couple of times through the intercom. “Can you all hear me? Forget it, that’s not important. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lottie. Make an effort to remember it.”

  The eerie silence was shattered by her words.

  As she spoke, a metallic screech resonated from the airship. A massive screen unfolded from its structure, deploying with a mechanical motion that echoed through the ruins.

  And then, we saw her.

  On the screen appeared a woman whose presence dominated the scene entirely. She stood on a black stage, moving as though she were the star of a theatrical performance.

  There was no need to guess.

  This woman had to be Lottie.

  Her long blonde hair cascaded to her hips, shimmering as if the artificial lights illuminating the screen were made just for her.

  But what truly stood out were her scarlet eyes.

  They were so hypnotic it was nearly impossible to look away, as though they dared us to uncover their secrets.

  Her attire was a refined dark dress perfectly tailored to her figure, accented by a large red bow that draped down her waist, adding even more drama to her imposing presence.

  “The new world government and I… regret treating you so harshly on your way to Pegasus Island,” Lottie said, her voice reverberating throughout the city. “We take no pride in causing discomfort to our new students, so all of you will receive a bonus of points right now.”

  There was something in her words—a mix of gentleness and authority—as if she was used to giving orders that were never to be questioned.

  Every part of her speech seemed calculated to keep us in a constant state of unease.

  And it worked.

  Lottie smiled with a disturbing calmness, as if she were relishing a performance where she was the star, and we were merely the main pieces in her game.

  The moment she finished speaking, our smartphones buzzed simultaneously, synchronized with her voice. Quickly, I checked the messages, and a notification appeared on my screen.

  Five hundred points had been added to my account.

  I looked around.

  Minoru, Sasha, and Ray had received the same message.

  Their expressions showed surprise, but their faces also reflected a deep uncertainty. They were undoubtedly grappling with the same questions as me.

  What were the points?

  Why was Lottie so confident we would accept this?

  My thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Lottie resumed her speech, holding a small dark staff as though about to deliver a lecture.

  “Perhaps you don’t understand the purpose of these points, so I’ll explain,” she said, taking a few steps closer to the screen. “Points are the equivalent of money here on Pegasus Island. And since this will be your home from now on, we’ve taken the liberty of erasing your records from the system. In other words, you are dead to the world.”

  Her words hit like a bucket of cold water.

  Dead to the world...?

  Lottie spoke as if our lives were meaningless compared to whatever she had planned for us.

  I froze.

  The idea of being dead, of every trace of my existence being erased, felt like a nightmare. My mind struggled to process her words, but before I could think clearly, a loud buzzing sound filled the sky.

  Drones.

  Dozens, no, hundreds of drones appeared, swarming through the city like mechanical hives. Then, another screen emerged from the airship, displaying images that took our breath away.

  We weren’t alone.

  Thousands of students were trapped in the same nightmare as us. Each group was captured by the drones’ cameras, their faces displaying confusion and fear.

  The isolation I had felt moments ago was replaced by something worse. An overwhelming sense of helplessness as I watched so many lives ensnared in this twisted game.

  “Well, back to my introduction. Let me show you a little bit about your new home,” Lottie continued, as though she were offering a prime real estate deal. “We are currently on Pegasus Island, a secret island spanning 120,000 square meters. This island was constructed by Centaur over the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere within the Vortex of the Lost.”

  As I listened to her, I could imagine the presence of the celestial observer laughing at me, and at all of us inside this destroyed city.

  why am I so unlucky…?