Ad Infinitum

"SNAP!"

The Earth froze in place for but a moment, and then as quickly as it stopped, time began to flow once again.

"BOOM!"

"KRAAA!"

"WAAAAA!"

Out of no where cars crashed, planes fell out of the sky. "What's going on?!" Someone shouted in shock. It seemed as though the apocalypse had begun.

"We're getting reports! It seems as though a large number of people have mysteriously disappeared with no trace insight. Estimates gauge that its anywhere from 40-50% of people!"

The news was going crazy with what had happened. Not only was the disappearance of so many people completely absurd, the amount of destruction caused by this abrupt anomaly was already disastrous.

"But really, where did all those people go?"

---------------------------------------

[Mission No.1 Survive]

"What the fuck?" A young man muttered to himself. 'Where am I? Did I fall asleep at my desk again?' He thought trying to figure out what was going on. This young man is Atlas, a 20 year old college dropout.

'Who are all these other people?' Completely unaware of what was going on, Atlas much like the others was trying to regain his bearings. Looking at the interface reflected in his eyes, he read the words.

'Why does this remind me of one of those system novels I read when I was younger?' Atlas gulped clenching at his medium length brown hair. 'Maybe its a dream? But my dreams are never this vivid?' 

In an attempt to confirm his hypothesis Atlas slapped himself, and he slapped himself hard. 

"Argh!" He grunted from the pain, his cheek now red. Fortunately the people around him were equally as bewildered so they paid him no mind. 'Maybe, just maybe this is....real? I might as well try it then.'

"Status."

>>----------------------<<

System Version: Tutorial

Name: Atlas Ironwar

Mission: Survive in the tutorial plane for 24 hours, it is recommended the user finds a weapon and some shelter.

Additional Notes: System usage limited due to current version, please complete the tutorial to upgrade the system.

>>----------------------<<

Looking through the new screen that appeared Atlas felt a headache coming on. 'So this isn't one of those friendly ones, not to mention this place is clearly dangerous why else would I need a weapon?'

Reaching this conclusion Atlas began to look around him. There were approximately 100 people, none looked younger than 16 to 18 years old, and none older than about 70. Additionally there seemed to be more men than women, albeit very slightly.

'Looking at the distribution of people it seems the very young and very old are exempt. Which means if this is following system novel convention, this is either one of those "I died and am now fighting again in the afterlife" or its an apocalypse one.....Haizz this is why I stopped reading those novels, I become so conspiratorial.' Atlas analyzed.

'Okay enough with the stupid theories. Looking at the task and the number of people, clearly we have to work together, and probably there are some beasts around.' His eyes held some worry looking at the forest about 100 meters away.

He had an inkling that they were meant to enter there, but for now he found it more appropriate to wait for a leader to emerge. The fact of the matter was, the leadership position would be a precarious one and Atlas wasn't fit for it.

To put it simply, he had nothing particularly special about him, and he knew in such a situation people were more likely to gravitate towards those kind of people. Those who had deep convictions, or had a certain aura around them.

After a few minutes went by, it seemed as though everyone began to accept the situation. "Hi I am Bud, what's your name?" Feeling a hand on his back Atlas turned around. Greeting him was a young man about his age, with a bit of stubble and shaved black hair.

"Hello, I am Atlas. Sorry if I come off as blunt but is there a reason you're speaking to me?" Atlas replied. Bud merely awkwardly smiled hearing this. "To be honest I am just a bit...I guess creeped out and thought making a friend wouldn't be a bad idea. I mean there isn't even any service here, can you believe it?" He said showing Atlas his phone. 

Hearing this, Atlas' eyes widened slightly before he nodded. 'I didn't even think about my phone since it isn't on me, but doesn't this mean we were transported with whatever was on our person?' Atlas' thoughts began to wander.

"Ahem, to be honest I am a bit worried about this whole thing. Reminds me of a web novel." Bud said trying to reignite the conversation. "Huh? Ya it does. I am surprised there's someone else here who knows about them." Atlas replied, to which Bud smiled.

The two then began to have a brief talk about the situation. Simultaneously the group of 100 began making friends amongst themselves, but unfortunately no clear leader stood up as Atlas had hoped.

Soon an hour went by, and Atlas grew concerned. "We've been stuck here for too long. The mission said 24 hours but we've spent a whole hour here just talking amongst ourselves." Atlas muttered.

"Ya but no one's taking charge, I say at this rate we just enter the forest ourselves. If there are monsters or something in there, the more time we stay here the more they can prepare." Bud suggested, but Atlas wasn't so sure.

His reasoning was that for something that required 100 people, entering as two would be suicide. Not to mention that through this hour long conversation with Bud he realised that the man was getting increasingly more confident, but not in a good way.

"How about we wait another 10 minutes, if no one takes charge we can just suggest entering the forest and go." Bud was quiet after hearing this, but Atlas didn't understand why. In fact Bud looked scared.

"RAGHHHHH!"

A roar echoed from the forest behind Atlas. Turning around his face immediately paled. "Ogres? We're fucked."