2 Real-life Survival Game
Han Si-Woo held his head with both of his hands trying to get rid of the sharp and heavy pain. Once the pain finally faded, he opened his eyes and slowly regained his vision. In front of him was a cold-looking wall covered in mould, he immediately backed away from it in disgust. His breathing became heavier and heavier as he observed his surroundings. He didn't know how he ended up in such a dark and cold place. He was supposed to be on his way home from school.
Suddenly, he saw a bright light emitting from the ground close to where he stood. He picked it up and recognised it as his phone. On the screen, there was a simplified cat avatar waving its paw. Han Si-Woo didn't think much about it and wanted to return to the home screen so he could check his whereabouts. However, no matter how much he tried, the screen wouldn't change and the cat continued to wave. The phone refused to even turn off. Then, he saw the cat stopped waving and a black block of a message with white text popping up from its mouth.
"What the—?"
[Hello, selected player, <<Han Si-Woo>>. Welcome to Door of the Abyss. The introduction will soon start but before that, please check the guide. This is not a scam. This is not a scam. This is not a scam.
Press 'Next' to continue.]
On the corner of the block, there was a small white arrow beside 'Next' moving slightly back and forth. Although Han Si-Woo was confused, he tapped on it to continue. A new message popped up saying:
[The Guide of Abyss will give you general information about the game itself and the important factors. Make sure to read it, for your own sake. It is important unless you want to discard your life like it is nothing.
Press 'Next' to continue.]
Han Si-Woo furrowed his eyebrows at the message. There was something eerie about it. Nonetheless, he tapped to continue. This time, the screen turned black before a bold text appeared spelling out "Guide of Abyss". Seeing that nothing happened afterwards, he tried to tap on the screen again. It led him to a table of content. It was a list with different types of titles, and just from reading them, he knew they were guidelines. He tapped on the first title, [Introduction to Door of the Abyss].
This was a real-life game called [Door of the Abyss], it was a survival type of game. It was taken place in a completely different dimension from Earth. The game is completed once the scenes had been cleared, which could only be done by selected players. Selected players were originally from Earth and for them to go back to their world, they have to survive and complete the game. If their lives forfeited, they would forever remain dead, never to return to Earth.
This was something anyone would find it hard to believe, and Han Si Woo was no different. But something told him to continue reading, and so he did. The next part stated that the most important factor was the phone owned by the selected player. At first, he was bewildered over what the purpose of a phone could be but the more he read, the colder his back felt.
A phone could be said to be the heart of the selected player, which was important to keep it safe and protected. That was where their profile exists and other things; if it landed at the hands of another player, there was no way to know what they would do with it.
Unfortunately, Han Si-Woo wasn't able to read further when the cat avatar appeared and grabbed at the bottom corners and somehow tossed the display of the guide out from the screen. Afterwards, it dusted off its paws before it opened its mouth again. Like before, a message popped up.
[Look at the time, look at the time. It is nearly time for the introduction to start. Everyone who failed to finish reading the guide need to not worry. You can play around your phone on your own to find out more of the features and function. But for now, the time has come…
Press 'Next' to continue.]
"Time for introduction to start? What does that mean?"
Han Si-Woo tapped to continue and another message popped up. It was different from the previous ones.
[Stage 0: The Introduction.
Mission: Escape and Enter the Hall of Beginning Through the White Gateway.
Time Limit: 10 hours.
Reward: 1, 000 Abyss Points.
Failure: Death.
Caution: Be careful of the running maniacs thirsty for blood!
Tips: There are 100 selected players present. Form groups to acquire a higher survival rate.
Press 'End' to close the message.]
After he read the message, his eyes widened in disbelief and slight fear began to well inside of him. Once he closed the message, a timer was displayed on the screen, counting down.
[09:59:22]
From the content of the message, he knew that it was a countdown. If everything that happened to him was real then he had no choice but to complete the mission. Suddenly something dawned upon him. He remembered! Before he found himself here, he was on his way home from school but before he could reach home, something appeared on his phone as he changed songs. If he remembered it right, it was the same cat avatar from earlier. Its paws came out of the screen and grabbed his throat before pulling him inside of his phone.
The thought of something coming out of a screen sent shivers down his spine. He couldn't believe his eyes but seeing his current situation, he could only swallow his doubt and accept it.
Taking deep breaths, Han Si-Woo looked around to see the only exit of the room. It was a rusty metallic door, covered with mould like the walls. Fortunately, he still had his school bag with him.
He turned on his screen to check the timer.
[09:53:45]
"I better move now…" He mumbled.
If this was real, he couldn't afford to waste more time. He didn't know what would await him on the other side of the door. Moreover, he had to also find the so-called White Gateway since he had no idea where it could be. The message didn't cover much, which frustrated him. What was 'the Hall of Beginning'? What were 'Abyss Points'? He had so many questions that were not answered.
Han Si-Woo took out a packet of tissues and grabbed a tissue to cover the handle of the door. When he opened the heavy door, he heard a shriek. Since he could hear it, it couldn't be too far away from him. After taking a few steps, he stopped in his tracks.
'What if this is a trap?' he couldn't help but wonder. He was now in a hallway, there weren't any rooms other than the one he came out of and there were also no windows. It only had two ends, one on the right side and one on the left side. The appearance was the same as the room, dark, filthy and moulded.
Another scream soon fell in his ears. This time it sounded like it belonged to a man. Han Si-Woo wasn't optimistic about the situation, those people who screamed were most likely dead already. Yet, he couldn't ignore it. He opened his school bag to look for anything that could be used as a weapon or protection. Even if he wanted to save people, it would be useless without a weapon. He rummaged his bag and all he could find that was somewhat useful were a ruler, pens, a calculator, a bottle, and a thick hardcover math book.
He stared at the supplies in silence. After a brief moment, he ended up holding the math book and the ruler with each of his hands. He was ready to smack any threats with his hateful math book and stab them with his 30 centimetres ruler.
Han Si-Woo decided to go to the left side as he was never right when it came to guesses. As he walked forward, he could see a corner leading to another passage. When he turned around the corner, he saw a shadow through the broken windows. He stealthily tiptoed to the wide-open door.
"N..No! Please, let me go! I beg you! I just want to go home… Please don't kill me..."
The voice belonged to a young female, she began to sob quietly in fear of annoying the perpetrator in front of her if she was too loud.
The perpetrator was a well-built man with a bald head with a scar running across it. His smile was frightening and it only got worse as it extends. He lifted his axe, ready to strike another victim. The young female saw this and knew it was over for her. She shut her eyes hard and covered her head with her arms, her whole body shook. The pain she waited for never came, instead, she heard strange, heavy noises.
