When Yuta woke from his nightmare, he didn't scream.
> He smiled.
His lips parted in strange relief as he whispered to himself, "I found it..."
That dream—in which he was transformed into a small mouse running through a dark maze while bullets pursued him from all sides—wasn't just a nightmare. It was a revelation.
A perfect reflection of his life in the netherworld.
The world had long since been divided into two layers, or as they called them, two dimensions after the Great Cataclysm—the Upper Dimension, a paradise of fresh air and sunshine, and the Lower Dimension, a crumbling hellscape of rust, smoke, and endless hunger.
Yuta was born in the basement. His family barely survived by tanning old scraps of leather. Yet, even in that suffocating darkness, he dreamed—dreaming of grass, rain, and stars he had never seen before.
He was kind, determined, and hopeful—a dangerous combination downstairs.
Every evening, he sat with Nina, the girl he loved, on the creaky stairs leading to the gates upstairs.
They talked about their impossible dreams.
For Nina, it was simple—she wanted to walk barefoot on natural grass, to feel the wind without metallic dust.
For Yuta, it was to eat real meat, just once in his life.
But one night, Yuta suddenly stood up, his eyes shining with excitement.
"I'll do it, Nina," he said. "I'll go upstairs, no matter what. And when I do... I'll take you with me. You'll swim in the rivers, you'll see the sunlight—I swear!"
He looked up, his voice trembling with conviction.
Nina smiled softly. "I believe you, Yuta. We'll make it... together." The next morning, Yuta disappeared.
No one knew where he went—not his family, not Nina.
Only silence remained, and the faint echo of his promise.
Years passed. Eleven long, hard years.
When Yuta returned, the boy who had once dreamed of sunshine was gone.
In his place stood a scarred man with[ thick white hair ]and [a missing eye]—a ghost of his former self. He had led rebellions, lost friends, and survived torture that would have broken anyone else. The name Yuta had died somewhere along the way... and another had taken its place.
But his dream—his promise—still burned.
He returned to find Nina, but the old neighborhood was deserted.
"She joined the game," his elderly neighbor told him quietly. "She said it was the only way to get upstairs."
The game.
That cursed system built for "hope," where desperate people bet their lives for the illusion of ascension.
Yuta didn't hesitate. He signed in under a pseudonym and was led into a small, foggy room. The administrator smiled coldly.
"Good luck, contestant."
A wheezing gas wafted through the room. Darkness enveloped him.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a vast hall the size of a stadium, surrounded by 10,000 people, all dressed in white.
A voice thundered from above:
> "Welcome, players. You have chosen to gamble for your dreams—and your lives. Only one of you will make it to the top floor."
The crowd erupted in protest. "Only one?!" "This is insane!"
But the voice continued, calm and resolute.
[The System....]
[Each of you starts with 10 points. ]
[If you reach 1,000, you advance.]
[If you fail... you fail.]
A faint tinkling sound echoed from the wristbands they each wore—the mark of their destiny.
Yuta looked around desperately, searching every face for Nina.
Nothing.
"Follow your squad's signal," the voice commanded.
"The first game begins now."
The glowing arrow on Yuta's wrist led him into a small room where eight others waited in silence.
Three of them were already seated around a strange table in the center.
A crackling sound echoed overhead.
[Welcome to the Points Game.]
[ Remember our motto is simple—everyone has a chance.]
The voice emanated from hidden speakers,quiet at first, but it seeped into the players' chests like a cold dagger.
"My name is Haruto, but you may call me The Master."
Suddenly,the overhead lights flicked on, revealing a vast hall with grey metallic walls. In its center stood a long table surrounded by eight meticulously arranged seats. On the table, in front of each seat, lay a white paper with a number, alongside a black pen and a strangely designed metallic bracelet.
The Master smiled, as if he could see them despite his absence:
"The choice was yours.You chose to play individually, which means you will find only yourselves here. The rules are simple:
· Sit in your randomly assigned seats to discover your number.
· Place the bracelets on your wrists; they are an essential part of the game.
· In front of each of you, write only the first and last letter of your name.
· After that, in order, each player will attempt to guess the name of the person next to them.
The laws are strict:
· If someone successfully discovers the name of the next person, that person loses ten points.
· If they guess incorrectly, the guesser loses three points.
· Each person starts with ten points; protect them.
· You have thirty seconds to guess the name; otherwise, you will lose all your points.
A heavy silence prevailed for a few seconds, before one player's trembling voice cut through:
"And what if…we win?"
_The Master let out a short, cold laugh:
"You will gain ten points."
_Then another player interjected hesitantly:
"And if one of us loses?"
Here, the Master's voice softened before he said, with an unseen but heard smile:
[You will discover that for yourselves.]