A heavy silence had settled in the hall where Luna and Fred stood, almost palpable in the air thick with misunderstanding. The creature's words seemed to weigh upon everyone present, and Fred could not help but whisper hypotheses, as if to calm his racing mind. "Wait… is this some new technology?" he asked, hesitating. Luna frowned, letting out a slight sigh, her eyes fixed on the screen. "If it were new technology… it would have been on the news," she murmured with a slight tremor in her voice, trying to contain the rising anxiety within her. Fred looked down, embarrassed by the simplicity of his own remark.
The creature, motionless and elegant, spoke in a calm, almost steady voice that contrasted with the surrounding agitation: "The game will begin in four hours… You will be teleported to another location, so prepare yourselves." Immediately, the screen vanished, plunging billions of people into confusion. Televisions turned off simultaneously, and the whispers transformed into an indistinct tumult. In his room, Karl had seen the same thing as everyone else. He gripped his console in his hands, eyes wide. "Huh… a game??" he wondered, his voice lost in the silence of his room.
An hour passed, and the unrest in the cities reached its peak. News reports looped on television, and every household seemed absorbed by this collective spectacle, unable to grasp what had just occurred. All of humanity seemed suspended by this mysterious announcement, questions crowding the minds of those powerless against the unknown. Another hour slipped by while journalists struggled to remain calm to inform the public. One of them, broadcasting live from the Imperial House, began: "Today, we are live from the Imperial House…"
The Emperor spoke shortly after, his measured voice echoing in every living room and street. "My dear citizens, fear nothing. Our heroes have indeed ended the war, and I fear that what you saw two hours ago was nothing but a prank." His words hung in the air for a moment, but the hypotheses remained unconfirmed, leaving the crowd in a mixture of doubt and fragile hope. As he continued his speech, a journalist dared to ask the question on everyone's lips: "And if all this were true, what should we do then?"
Murmurs ran through the crowd; a collective shiver passed through the journalists and spectators. "Yes, it's true… what do we do then?" some repeated, fear and curiosity mingling in every syllable. The Emperor, perched high and surrounded by his guards, scanned the crowd before answering in a firm but nuanced voice: "Then, we simply must prepare." A tense silence followed. The previous question still floated in the air, sharp and cold: "Are you trying to say that we must prepare anyway, in case this scenario is real?"
Even the Emperor seemed overcome by doubt, his features strained by the effort to keep his authority intact. One of his advisors whispered in his ear; after a moment, he withdrew, leaving behind an assembly full of questions and a people caught between fear and perplexity. As the Emperor headed toward his car, a single voice pierced the tumult: "So… this peace was only a facade…" It was not a question, but a realization—a murmur reflecting aloud. In the two hours remaining before the start of the game, everyone rushed through their preparations.
Luna made frantic calls to reach her husband, while Fred did the same with less success. Karl, for his part, was putting a few items into a bag, prepared for the unknown. "If it's a game, I hope it'll be fun," he murmured, half-ironic, half-worried. He took his bag and headed for the hall. Fred, seeing Karl taking the matter seriously—he who was usually a carefree slacker, spending his days playing—remained frozen for a moment. "There's my moronic, useless little brother… You still think you're in your games."
Karl looked at him for a moment, indifferent, and approached slowly. "I feel like..." He broke off as he saw Luna coming out of her office. He went to sit on the sofa, console in hand, eyes fixed on the screen, while Luna watched him intently. "Did I see that wrong?" she whispered, uncertain of what she was witnessing. While some prepared actively and others continued to doubt, the countdown on the great blue panel in the sky appeared: only two minutes remained. Even the skeptics began to waver.
At the Wenger estate, Marcus was already there. Reyna, Karl's younger sister, along with Fred and Charlotte, his older brothers and sister, had all returned from their business at Marcus's command. The one still missing, as always, was Agron, likely abroad. Karl, headphones in his ears, was playing on his phone, which irritated some family members. While they all spoke amongst themselves, the countdown reached the final ten seconds. On television, a journalist tried to convince the public it was only a prank, but the seconds ticked away: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
A heavy, oppressive silence fell. The journalist, attempting to finish his sentence, vanished before even completing his statement. The Wengers remained frozen; only Luna, Marcus, and Karl were taking the situation seriously. Luna, realizing the urgency, rushed to the sofa and grabbed Karl by the arm. At that exact moment, they disappeared. The other members, shocked, met the same fate. They found themselves in an isolated place, resembling dense bushland. Around them, a vast forest stretched as far as the eye could see, while the ground, covered in thin grass, offered almost neutral terrain.
Karl looked around: no member of his family was present, yet there were many people he did not know, though they seemed to recognize him. "It's Karl Wenger." "Are you talking about that good-for-nothing?" As the whispers continued, a silhouette appeared in the sky. It possessed wings and resembled an angel, like those seen in movies and series. Its face remained hidden, but its presence commanded immediate silence. Mouths opened in expressions of incredulity. "It's really an angel." "Of course not, idiot… They just want to play tricks on us, right?" said a man, scanning his surroundings.
A strange calm set in as everyone stared at the man. He turned slowly, and at that moment he heard: "I hate noisy insects." At those words, he exploded, leaving behind pieces of flesh and blood that rolled on the ground. "This shall serve as an example." There were at least a thousand of them, but the silence that followed was stunning. Some covered their mouths, others held their breath, frozen by fear. A calm voice then rose amidst this tension: "Anyway… what is this famous game?" The face of the speaker remained impassive, observing the scene with disconcerting coolness. Glances turned toward him, and what they saw stupefied them: it was Karl Wenger.