1 A Mysterious Dome Appeared

Pain, suffering, and inequality. All terms can be associated with the detrimental world that human beings have built. A species that boast about their intelligence yet is too foolish to realize their arrogance.

The beginning of the fall of life can only be blamed on such incompetence. Yes, it is the very reason human beings now struggle to survive.

There's a saying that one must reap whatever they had sown. And in the case of the humans, they shall surely reap death.

~~

A blue pillar shone down onto the grassy fields. There, Zuko could be seen amongst the shining light. He had finally realized, there is no way to escape death...

Zuko's eyes flung wide open. He realized that it was only a dream. The painful reality was that he could not escape death.

Before he left his family's tent, he normally brushed his teeth with a small piece of coal and rinsed his mouth with water from a coconut bowl. Today was different, as he woke up, looked around, and didn't see anyone inside sleeping.

Zuko was a short teenage boy with an average body type. He had pale green eyes, black hair tied into a small bun, and a neat little scar above his right cheek. His demeanor screamed adventurer but he was actually quite lazy.

He slipped on his sandals made from straw and took a deep breath before he stepped outside the tent. His body trembled as he took the first step.

"How is it still dark out?!"

Zuko was confused and afraid, a gut feeling telling him something was wrong. He took another step and saw a little light that emitted from a torch at the top of the hill. There, he saw everyone gathered at the top of the hill and walked towards them.

"Mom... Dad... What's going on?"

Seeing how everyone was postured, Zuko knew something was off as he walked closer towards them.

"You're finally awake Zuko," his father said. A man of many talents, his dark onyx eyes displayed a strong sense of dominance. This was complemented by his tall height and bald head where not a single strand of hair dared to stand. His figure wasn't sculpted to a God's expert crafting but he was still quite fit despite his age.

He was a strong-willed man that always had a plan for any situation that came his way. In some ways, his strategic skills could be compared to a high-ranking soldier of an experienced military army.

Unlike any other day, nights would have cooler temperatures but tonight was different. The weather was hotter than usual as if the sun was up.

"Look up, and tell me what you see Zuko."

Zuko gasped as he looked up and immediately realized the sky was fake.

"Dad! Did you see that?"

"See what Zuko?"

His eyes widened in shock and he froze like a block of ice, stupefied by what he witnessed. It was unthinkable that what he was seeing was real.

The sky was covered in black lines like the glitched gaming screen of an old Playstation 2 console for a brief moment.

"It's almost like the sky is fake... Look there!"

"This is not the time for jokes Zu--"

Before Zuko's father could finish his sentence, the dome had projected a hologram of someone in a hazmat suit and a mask.

"ATTENTION!" Exclaimed the unknown figure.

Everyone in fear from all the surprises in one day started to get frustrated, some didn't care to listen and some were shouting ignorantly.

"What the hell?!" Shouted one man.

"Why are we trapped under this thing? We have a right to our freedom!" A group of people shouted.

They kept carrying on and spewed out a bunch of words towards the hologram. Zuko's father silenced everyone, even though he was also in fear, he was curious on finding out why a hologram was being projected from this mysterious dome. There had to be a reason for this madness.

"Welcome to the dome of Dread Tales!" Continued the unknown figure. "You are all put inside this dome as experiments. Why trap us inside a dome you may ask? That's simple, we're limiting your resources and controlling the distance that each one of you can travel. You are no longer free people! Only those who survive will get the answers as to why they're here."

"What's the meaning of this?!" Continued people from the crowd.

The unknown figure continued, "As I'm sure all of you have realized, there is currently no way to escape the dome of Dread Tales. If you wish to leave then survive. Now, how does one survive this you may ask? Please turn your attention to the screen that will appear momentarily. It will provide you with the necessary information!"

"What have we done to deserve this?! Please, let us free."

The crowd continued to contradict the hologram claims. However, there is no way to escape; therefore, they're forced to face reality. Shortly after, a large screen appeared as the unknown figure stated. It held important details that were needed to understand how to survive Dread Tales. Zuko quickly turned his eyes to the screen.

According to the information provided, there were a total of exactly 400 people. To survive, each person needed to complete daily and weekly quests to increase their stats to survive a total of 15 waves that would be brought upon them every 10 days. The waves will also determine who will be awakeners and non-awakeners.

Furthermore, there will be 4 villages in different areas which required all 400 people to split into groups of 100 to occupy each village that will also be assigned a name and a supply crate once they arrive.

Zuko hissed upon reading the information that was provided on the screen. The majority of the instructions were normal but splitting everyone up into groups is just ridiculous. How are we supposed to adjust to others' workloads when we will now have fewer people here.

Fear quickly washed over everyone who read the rules of survival. There was no way things would end well.