The news channels were frantic. "People are vanishing into thin air across the city!" Social media was ablaze with shaky videos, empty streets, and terrified onlookers. No one understood how or why.
Rami, twenty, sat quietly at the kitchen table, spooning cereal into his mouth. His fourteen-year-old brother chattered beside him about school. Orphaned, Rami had always been his brother's anchor.
And then it happened.
A sudden shiver passed through the room. One second, Rami was sitting normally; the next, the world around him warped. His brother's voice faded. His chair remained empty. His cereal sat untouched. He was alone.
Outside, the city had vanished. Buildings twisted unnaturally. Streets were jagged and barren. The sky glowed crimson, darkness pressing from every corner.
Rami walked forward, heart hammering. Soon, he saw other people—normal-looking humans, terrified, as if pulled from their lives just like him. Yet something was… off. Shadowy, ghostly forms drifted between them, black and semi-transparent, moving independently. They whispered, screamed, and lingered just at the edge of vision. Some hovered over people.
"I… I just arrived here," a man stammered. "Maybe five hours ago."
"I've been here for two days," a woman whispered. "I… I don't know why."
The sky darkened further. A massive black shadow appeared, towering over them. A woman-shaped figure, impossibly tall, blotting out the red sky.
"Everyone is here now. The game begins."
The crowd panicked. Screams erupted. People shoved each other. Questions filled the air: "What is this? Some experiment? A nightmare?!"
The shadow vanished, leaving the sky a deep, burning crimson.
The ground ahead split open, revealing a massive staircase descending into darkness. Hesitation froze some in place. Whispers came from the roaming black shadows: "Go… or be damned…"
One man refused. Ghostly black flames engulfed him, his screams echoing endlessly. Others stumbled, tripped, pushed but instinct drove them downward.
Rami followed cautiously, eyes darting to the ghostly black forms that wandered among the humans, some whispering unintelligible words, others screaming silently. Their presence was subtle, terrifying a reminder that the world itself was alive with judgment and horror.
At last, the stairs ended. Before them lay a vast underground arena, enormous and terrifying, bathed in crimson-black light. Humans gathered from every direction, confused and afraid, while ghostly shadows moved between them, twisting, screaming, observing.
A massive gate creaked open, revealing jagged cliffs, pits, shadowed corridors, and distant screams. Murmurs spread: "Is this a game? An experiment? How do we survive?!"
No answer came.
Shadows whispered all around: "The game begins. Survive… or be damned."
Rami's chest tightened. The realization hit him he was trapped. This was only the beginning.