The sound of applause echoed across the sky after Lucian's grand entrance, reaching every corner of the world. The most unsettling part? No one was clapping, and that is enough to sent chills down everyone's spine.
As Juho is still trying to process what just happened, a blank blue screen suddenly appeared right in front of his face. His eyes widened, and he looked around at the people nearby, wondering if they were seeing it too.
"Hey, you see that?" he asked a man wearing a mask not far from him. The man, surprised that Juho had spoken to him, quickly nodded with a serious expression.
"Yeah, I saw it. I think everyone did, just by looking at their faces," the masked man replied.
Lucian, with an expression of twisted satisfaction, watched the reactions of the humans below. Their confused and frightened faces amused him every time, he could barely contain his amusement.
"Enough with the chitchat and listen carefully. That is, if you don't want to die..." He paused dramatically before continuing, "I will present the first trial—the question of life and death, witnessed by our dear audience from outer space!"
Juho and the masked man beside him exchanged frowns, speechless by this seemingly unbelievable nonsense before them.
Just as Lucian finished speaking, the screen in front of Han Juho flickered like a broken TV, and a strange wave moved across its surface. The emptiness was replaced by a message, then another, almost like a live chat-but there was something about it that felt weirdly off.
[System Message]:
"Welcome to the trial, the players of planet Earth. The ordeal will commence shortly."
The words appear in the air. Juho's eyes darted up and down, his brain scrambling to make sense of the system message in front of him.
"Trials? Players?" he muttered under his breath, the words feeling foreign on his tongue. His thoughts feel heavy, unable to keep up with the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Then came a chaotic chat, clearly from the audience that Lucian refered to, flashing across the screen:
[Your.distant.brother]: "... Huh? Why's everyone around here so tiny? Have I joined the land of the mini-humans by mistake?"
➥[LucidLunatic]: "Nope, that's just your ego making you feel taller than you are."
[♡TheEsteemedAdmirer♡]: "Wait, wait, wait-hold up, is this a brand-new survival program? And the host here is our Lucian?! Where do I sign up???"
[Hail_the_king57]: "Just hoping I don't get bored out of my mind... Is there anyone interesting here?"
Juho blinked, his eyes twitched the longer he read their comments. He held back a groan, realizing he'd somehow landed in... what, exactly? Some twisted game set up by Lucian himself? Or a system straight out of some fantasy manhwa?
He shook his head and sighed. Next thing he knew, he'd be seeing power levels flashing above people's heads or some ridiculous HP bar. "Great," he muttered under his breath, "as if my life wasn't complicated enough." A little chuckle came out of his mouth as he thought about how ridiculous all of this seemed.
But seriously, this wasn't how he remembered reading. In Villain Overkill, there was just Lucian, orchestrating chaos with that eerily beautiful voice of his. And... someone else, maybe lurking in the background. No system, no this thing similar to live chat, just Lucian and his hauntingly twisted game. So why was he getting system vibes now?
Juho sighed, eyeing the empty air around him. "If I start hearing level-up sounds, I'm out."
. . .
"What's wrong, my dear player?" A familiar voice whispered right beside his ear, and he immediately noticed that the noise around him momentarily faded as the person spoke.
He turned to look up and was startled to see Lucian, who had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Lucian's smile grew, as if nothing serious was happening.
Lucian spoke again, adding to what he said before. "I see you have a lot on your mind, huh?" He chuckled lightly, a sound that sent shivers of both fear and embarrassment through Juho. "Don't worry about trivialities, and just keep those beautiful eyes on me. Watch closely. Everyone here is excited, just like you. Isn't that true?"
Juho swallowed hard, trying to shake off the mix of fascination and dread within him. Excited? Sure, if by excited it means terrified out of their minds. Unless he meant... Wait, were those strange game usernames written across the screen?
At the far right of the screen, it reads. "Player_ke9QSgPF", Juho blinked, the weight of the name sinking in, leaving a strange tension in his chest. Player again? He didn't like where this was going.
But before he could even process what was happening, the screen flickered and changed again.
[System Message]:
"Warning : The trials will soon begin. All players advised to pay close attention to what will be displayed on the system."
Those messages appeared again. So the trials were about to start? Juho's heart pounded as he tried to calm down. 'It's starting now?' He thought, panic began to set in. But Lucian had said this would involve a question—so why did it feel like something far worse was coming?
"...?!"
The screen flickered again, and a line of text appeared.
______________________________
[QUESTION] [Trials 1.0]
>|| "What's 1 + 1?"
Rewards: Honor (scaled by speed and accuracy of response)
Penalty: Death
Remaining time: 59 minutes 55 seconds
______________________________
The question seemed simple at first glance. But the more Juho thinks about it, the more he thinks that something about it feels... off. As he stared, the possible answer appeared in his mind, could it really just be "2" or was there something else?
Juho blinked, his mind scrambling to make sense of it. The words lingered on the screen, daring him to respond as a timer began ticking down, adding to the pressure.
Lucian, who had been beside Juho moments ago, had disappeared, but his presence still remained on the edge of Juho's consciousness. It was enough to keep Juho on edge, a reminder that Lucian's watchful eyes were never far, even if unseen.
Around him, the air buzzing with murmurs, frantic whispers and panicked voices. Some argued in low tones, others fidgeted nervously, while a few shouted or ran around, desperate for answers.
A chill ran through him, but an idea appear into his mind, and his eyes darted toward the masked man nearby, who looked equally lost in thought, his gaze fixed on the screen, brows furrowed in concentration. He seemed... confused, maybe even as unsure as Juho was.
Why not discuss it? Juho wondered. His mind came up with a possibility. That's allowed, right? After all, this is a matter of life and death.
Juho approached him directly, getting straight to the point about these trials that he wanted to discuss together. The masked man didn't seem to mind Juho's straightforwardness, though there was an unmistakable weight lingering in his gaze.
"Do you have any idea what is going on here?" Juho asked after a moment of hesitation, trying to ease the awkwardness of not knowing each other yet.
The man turned to Juho, a flicker of tension in his eyes. "No idea," he admitted, his voice low. "But... this question doesn't feel right. It feels like something's off."
Juho's gaze returned to the screen, an uneasy thought forming in his mind. "So... we need to talk about it," he said, almost to himself. If this was a question of life and death, every second counted.
As he and the masked man debated for the possible answer, Juho's mind jumped through numerous possibilities.
"What if the answer is 11... or perhaps a window?" The man mused.
As for Juho, he tapped his forehead repeatedly, eyes closed as he tried to piece together his own theory. "What if it's... something more symbolic?" He said slowly, as if voicing his thoughts would make them clearer. "Like, maybe it represents the beginning of possibilities, suggesting that a simple arithmetic problem can be the first step towards learning math, logic, and beyond that."
The man looked stunned, his mind spinning as he tried to make sense of Juho's deeper and maybe slightly overcomplicated interpretation.
"What you said is... pretty complicated. How did your brain even come up with that theory?" he asked, rubbing his temples in disbelief.
Juho just grinned, giving a casual shrug as if it was no big deal. "I don't really know. We just have to consider all the possibilities, right?"
"But complicated or not," the man continued, narrowing his eyes at the screen, "it feels like a trap. Overthinking it might make us miss the obvious."
As the timer continued to count down, Juho felt the pressure build. With each tick, the air thickened with tension, a reminder of the danger to come.
[29 minutes 21 seconds remaining]
"Half an hour left," he murmured, anxiety creeping into his voice.
[♡TheEsteemedAdmirer♡]: "Oooo they're close to the cut-off time! Wonder who'll figure it out first..."
[LucidLunatic]: "Tick tock... not that any of them would know, of course."
[MyNo000xis]: "Earthlings, lol. They're always this slow, huh?"
Juho stared at the cryptic messages, the chats as unfathomable as hieroglyphics. Others around him wear expressions of confusion or muttered in low voices, looking from one face to the next as if someone, anyone, could explain it all. But no one spoke up. Everyone seemed equally lost.
Juho's mind raced with possible answers, but nothing felt certain. Fear crept into his stomach, even one wrong move could result in disaster.
"We can't just guess," Juho murmured to the masked man, whose name is still unknown, because they still don't have the time to know each other properly in this turmoil, his voice barely above a whisper. "Whatever this means, we need to be sure."
A piercing silence settled around them as the timer loomed over their heads.
[20 minutes 01 seconds]
[20 minutes 00 seconds]
[19 minutes 59 seconds]
The timer's numbers flashed erratically. Then, with a sudden, nauseating jolt, the time dropped-plummeting faster than he could process.
[5 minutes 00 second]
[4 minutes 59 seconds]
[4 minutes 58 seconds]
Juho's heart seized. Panic spread through the sea of people around him, eyes wide, breaths catching in collective horror. How had they lost so much time?
"We're down to four minutes?" someone choked, their voice shaking.
Juho felt a cold sweat trickled down his back. Each tick of the clock now felt like a countdown to disaster. Focus, focus... His hands were clammy, his mind racing. They had no time left for careful planning, they had to act.
All around him, whispers turned into frantic shouts, some people rushing to answer, desperation etched across their face. It was chaos.
From above, Lucian observed the scene with a smirk, clearly savoring every bit of the fear below. "Oh, how delightful. I thought you'd be more efficient at using your time," he taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "But it seems you're intent on savoring every last... second."
•
•
•
To be continued.