The First Trial

Asher had observed all the theories people across the world came up with. The voice left information but not enough to really tell us what was going on. First off, it had said that there were absent "gods". This could be interpreted that we had not just one god, but multiple and that they disapeared. Not only that, but there is now a "selection" that is taking place. It can be inferred that the selection could be to create new gods, find the old gods, or maybe something that we can't even comprehend.

Asher was so deep in thought that he had just noticed the sun was setting. Getting up, he walked back into his apartment. Looking for his room he saw barricaded doors, smashed light bulbs, and salvaged vending machines.

Asher was tired, tired of not just this whole "selection" thing but also other people. During the countdown, not even a single friend of his picked up or answered even a single one of his calls or tried to contact him. Was he that unimportant that they wouldn't even reach out to him even when the world was coming to an end?

"Tsk, fake friends."

He always knew that he was just an ordinary person and in the grand scheme of things, people would prioritize lovers and family. He understood that people had a list of things they wanted to do before this counter stopped but it hurt. It was almost as if he was forgotten by the world. Asher didn't have any parents to console him or even talk to him. He was alone.

Grabing the keys out of his pocket, he opened his door leading to his small cramped apartment room and shut the door behind him. He gazed over his bed and saw his little number of supplies he had managed to scavenge from the cleared out stores back on the first day.

Asher grabed an apple and sat down on his bed eating what little he had to fill his empty stomach. Bored, Asher pulled up his "status screen". What was really interesting were two phrases used by the mysterious voice. First off, it gave people status screens which is weird because there is no status that can be looked at with his floating panel.

<Does it change function once the timer runs out?>

Asher thought deep and hard. Why would we need a status screen? If the voice was omnipotent, it could just make a new god. Since it didn't, it might mean that the voice is not all powerful. If it was all powerful and all knowing, a selection wouldn't be needed.

Asher took another bite of his apple, the sweet taste masking his hunger little by little.

<Well, there was that other sentence too.>

It said "contenstants: humans". Did that mean that my competition was every other person on the planet? How was he supposed to beat everyone in the world at this damn selection. He might have been okay at deductive thinking and problem solving but people across the world specialize in many different fields. How was he superior to any of them.

The answer was quite simple really. He wasn't superior, he was average. It kind of hurt to degrade himself like that but he had to be realistic. His chance at this selection were quite low. What happens if I fail? Do I die?

Asher was long tired of these questions, they didn't help his slowly crumbling mental state. No matter what Asher thought, the damn panel was a death timer. It wasn't affected by his quiet suffering.

-------

The next day passed in a blur. Firstly, Asher had run out of food, and was now going to enter the "selection" hungry and thirsty. Asher had nothing to do the past days so whenever he couldn't sleep, he went outside and walked until he was too tired to let his disturbed thoughts keep him awake. 

Now though, none of it mattered, the timer was reaching the end. Asher had no idea what was going to happen but he had spent the last few days mentaly preparing himself for anything.

Walking around a crumbling building down his street, he pulled up his status panel.

-- 0 days, 0 hours, 3 minutes, and 02 seconds--

--Prepare yourself candidate Asher--

Each second felt like it halved his remaining life span. Was this it? Was this how he was going to live? Deep down, Asher knew that he wouldn't just give up, left to be forgotten by the world. He wanted to survive, to thrive and live in this new world. That was when he made a promise to himself to survive. To reach the end, to be the last one standing.

<That was so cringe.>

Asher was being quite childish right now but he could be a little loose with his thoughts. It was the end of the world right?

And just like that, the timer reached zero.

-------

Suddenly everything turned black and he couldn't see. No wait maybe he could. Asher thought that in this sea of darkness, a small white light was shining in front of him. It took him a second to realize what he was looking at was himself. This tiny white light was him. Now that he looked around in the dark space, he saw countless other little white dots. Asher and the other orbs of light were floating above a dark plain like a sheet of paper. Were those all other people?

Asher didn't have long to ponder about his new found situation because the voice spoke again.

--Comencing--

--Welcome to the first trial--

<First trial? Are there multiple trials? If so what is the first one?>

Asher then felt a slight tremor pass though his existence. Although he prepared himself for all kinds of weird scenarios, the reality of it all still dazed him.

--All contestants will be transported--

--Await transportation--

--Transportation comencing--

<T-transportation? >

It happened so fast that Asher couldn't react, he felt himself turning inside out. Suprisingly it didn't hurt. It felt like his past and future became flipped. It felt like something deep in his soul that was locked onto something like an anchor changed. It felt like that anchor was being removed or relocated. He never noticed it before but now that it was gone, he felt an indescribable sense of freedom. It was different from mundane and earthly freedom. It was much more fundamental than that. He felt like his soul was being released from some unseen binding force he had his entire life.

Then he was himself again. He looked down and he had arms and legs. He was back in his body but where was he? he looked around the suroundings but only saw blinding light. After a few seconds he could feel himself being slowly pulled by some unseen force towards the light.

<Wha- >

Then instantaneously, he shot forward. He felt dizzy and nauseous but he couldn't do anything. Asher was powerless to the strange force on both his mind and body. He could feel his mind sliping away and as his world slowly turned dark he could hear the voice whisper into his ear.

--Sending contestant Asher to sub dimension "Endless Night"--