One moment, Ian and Leia were walking out of their university library, arguing over where to grab lunch. The next moment, the blue sky cracked open, making almost everyone look up simultaneously.
A deafening roar came from the sky that rattled the very bones in Ian's chest, making him feel a subconscious fear like never before.
The sky suddenly became so bright that he closed his eyes while grabbing into Leia's hand. When Ian opened his eyes, he noticed that the surroundings had completely changed.
No familiar scenery could be found around him. Even the air felt different, as if he was summoned into an entirely different world.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone. He was still holding Leia's hand. It made him certain that he hadn't just started hallucinating.
Only after making sure that Leia looked fine, did he start observing his surroundings.
Tens of thousands of people were present around him, clearly filled with confusion.
They appeared to be from all walks of life. At least looking by their attire, there were businessmen, students, athletes, chefs and many more.
Even a few children could be seen. Most of them were already crying, while others had started fighting with each other, asking where they were.
Only a few of them were able to stay calm in this strange situation.
"Ian?" Leia asked with a trembling voice, her face as pale as a ghost.
Ian turned around, finding her clutching the straps of her backpack with her other hand. Her wide eyes were shifting across the landscape.
"I'm here," Ian said immediately, stepping in front of her on pure instinct. He grabbed her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm right here. Don't let go of me."
"Where are we? Was it a bomb? A terror attack? Are we dead?"
She was hyperventilating, her perfectly put-together facade crumbling in seconds.
"I don't know," Ian was also frightened, but he managed to maintain a calm exterior. "But we need to stay low. Just keep breathing, Leia. I've got you."
A sudden chime echoed across the endless plain, silencing the thousands of panicked voices in an instant.
A massive, glowing blue screen materialized in the crimson sky.
[Welcome, Earthlings, to the Tutorial]
[As of this moment, your homeworld has been reduced to dust. You are the last remnants of a dead planet, randomly selected]
[Prove your worth. Conquer the Tutorial, and you may earn the right to a new home]
[Commencing Initial Cleansing: Wave 1]
Before anyone could even process the words, the ground beneath them began to violently tremble.
A strange sound came from the distance which sounded like the roar of a wild beast. The sound was followed by the heavy thud of massive hooves.
Out of the smoke rushed a creature.
It was a boar, but only in the loosest sense of the word. It was the size of a dump truck, covered in wire-like fur that dripped with a foul-smelling black sludge.
Its eyes looked blood red, and protruding from its lower jaw were two bone-white tusks, each the size of a broadsword.
The crowd erupted into hysteria. When they heard the strange system voice talking about tutorials and survival, they hadn't expected something like this.
Most of them were from ordinary paths of life on earth. They had never even hunted a wild animal.
The only time they had even used something that could be called a weapon, was a knife while cutting salad or vegetables.
Even if they wanted to start using weapons now, what could they even do? There weren't even weapons nearby.
At best, they could find a few thick logs.
"You bastard, what are you? You summoned us here and left us to fight? Can't you at least give us a weapon? How are we supposed to fight that monster?" Someone yelled at the sky.
"You have no idea who I am! My father works for the government! You better return me! Or he will send someone to find me! Whoever is pulling this trick, won't escape!"
Quite a few people were screaming at the sky while trying to run.
"These fools... Do they think screaming at the sky will do anything? If this force is strong enough to summon us here, will it be scared of a watch party from earth? Didn't they hear that earth has already been destroyed?"
"Tch, do you believe those words? Do you think earth can be destroyed that easily? It was definitely a lie!"
"Exactly! This is no godly force! Someone probably used some smoke grenade to knock us out, and then brought us to this strange island while we were unconscious! It's only a matter of time before our family tracks us!"
Many people refused to believe that earth was destroyed. Or rather, almost everyone doubted such claims. Still, a few of them decided to play by the rules.
A few clever people had already run away farther than everyone else.
"I don't need to run faster than the beast. I only need to run faster than everyone else. I'm sure it won't kill all of us! As they said, it was a test for culling incompetent ones. What would be the point of everyone being killed?"
"There must be a certain number of people that will be killed by that beast before it leaves. We just have to survive until then!"
Quite a few people had guessed that pattern from the small information that they were given, and without hesitation, chose to run.
After all, they couldn't fight the beast. So probably, the only thing that could be tested at this point was their presence of mind and speed.
Slowly, the other people also came to their senses. People scattered, trampling each other in a blind panic to get away.
Unfortunately, there were also a few that didn't run. Or rather, they couldn't run. They were simply frozen in fear.
Leia was also one of them, her legs refusing to move.
Ian turned to pull her away, but she was completely paralyzed. Her eyes were locked onto the monstrous beast, her mouth open yet she didn't even manage to let out a scream.
The sheer terror of the situation had short-circuited her brain.
The demonic boar dug its hooves into the stone, lowering its massive head. It locked its burning red eyes directly onto the frozen girl in front of it.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It charged forward.
The ground shook with every step the beast took.
The distance between the monster and Leia vanished in the blink of an eye. There was no time to pull her back. There was no time to run. There was barely even time to think.