The sound of paper being passed around drifted through the quiet classroom. Each second was announced by the soft tick of the clock's hand. And finally, the bell rang, unleashing a cacophony of students rushing for the door.
The teacher looked at the suddenly empty classroom. Well, almost empty. One boy was still in his seat, his head resting between his arms.
"REN, WAKE UP!" the teacher shouted at the dark-haired boy.
He jolted awake, frantically scanning the now-empty classroom.
"Oh shit—" he said, scrambling to gather his things and stuff them into his bag.
The teacher sighed.
"You need to stop sleeping in class. I know your grades are good enough to pass, but you could do so much better—"
But before he could finish his sentence, the boy had already bolted out of the classroom.
——————
Ren tore through the streets, headphones blasting music into his ears, barely slipping past every obstacle in his way.
Once home, he didn't even bother changing into something more comfortable. He slumped straight down in front of his computer.
"Come on… tell me it's done… Yes! Finally!"
He muttered at the sight of [Download Complete] glowing on his screen. Ren had been dying to play this huge new game all day, and he refused to wait another second. Without a second thought, he pressed the play button.
—————
Hours slipped by. Ren barely blinked, glued to the screen as though the rest of the world had never existed. From outside the house, you could hear him yelling "COME ON!" or "FUCK OFF!" whenever the game provoked him.
His room was rather clean, aside from some trash he hadn't gotten around to throwing out. It also lacked a personal touch: the walls were plain white, with no posters and no pictures. The only things that stood out were his chair, one of those high-quality gaming chairs, his PC, and one lonesome photo of himself resting on the nightstand next to his bed.
Despite having class the next morning, Ren didn't spare a thought for sleep. By the time the clock crept past 4 a.m., with barely any food in his system, he finally leaned back and decided to take a break. He glanced out of his window. It was dark out; barely anyone would be outside at such an hour.
After thinking for a while, he changed into a more comfortable black hoodie and stepped outside.
"Brr… it's cold out here…"
He hesitated on the doorstep, shivering, then steeled himself and started walking in no particular direction. His black hair was tucked messily under his hood, and he squinted as the wind stung his eyes, deepening the already dark circles beneath them.
"I am so dead for class tomorrow..."
He was still debating whether to just skip school when the ground beneath him trembled, just slightly at first, like the earth clearing its throat.
"What the- an earthquake?? Seriously ? Wait, what am I even supposed to do-"
The shaking surged, rising fast, too fast, as if the world itself were breaking apart. Ren staggered, reaching blindly for something, anything, to hold on to, but everything was moving, swaying, roaring.
"WOW-"
A crack split open under his feet. He looked down just in time to see the ground peeling apart, a ravine growing wider and wider. Ren tried to jump back, but the shaking only intensified, waves of motion knocking him off balance. The noise, the sudden screams bursting from the houses, the confusion: it all crashed together, overwhelming.
He managed one last glance at the nearby houses. One after another they were torn apart, spilling their inhabitants into the endless void the ravine had opened.
Finally, there was nothing left for him to hold on to.
And so, he fell.
"CRAP-"
He wanted to scream, but the ravine swallowed his voice, the world collapsing into an expanding maw that dragged more people down with him.
Then everything went dark and quiet.
When Ren woke up, he shot upright, gasping for air and coughing.
"I'm… alive? Okay. I'm alive."
He looked around, confused. He was alone in a completely dark dome. A timer glowed above him, counting down from one hour, and at the far side of the dome sat a small stone tablet.
"Where is this place?"
Still reeling from everything that had just happened, Ren forced himself to his feet and approached the tablet.
"What is this? Is this... stone?"
The moment he stepped close enough, the tablet shot forward and slammed straight into his chest.
"What the- ARGH??!! Damn it..!"
Immense pain flooded through his body as the tablet entered it. Yet somehow there was no wound, no mark, nothing, as if the stone had passed right through him like he was intangible.
After he finally calmed down and examined his body, he started searching for any trace of the tablet. The instant he thought of looking for it, it appeared in front of him.
"What the- What is this thing? And where am I? That's… definitely not normal."
His eyes drifted back up to the timer. Fifty-four minutes left. Whatever happened at zero, he wasn't eager to find out.
"I don't know what this timer means, but it's probably smart to gather as much info as possible before it reaches zero..."
Frustrated and confused, Ren examined the tablet again. Despite everything, it looked ordinary: smooth, polished stone, nothing mystical besides its behavior. Inscriptions were beautifully carved into it:
[Name: Ren Gray]
[Title:]
[Skill:]
[Level of growth: 0]
"This is… just like in a video game. Am I getting reincarnated or something?
Where are the other people, though? I'm sure I saw other people fall too. Well, at least I think so? I know it was pretty late, but some homes broke apart, so some people must have fallen with them..."
For a moment Ren was excited at the thought of being reincarnated like in those novels and anime, but he quickly realized it might not be as good as he'd imagined.
In fiction, reincarnation was often portrayed as an amazing new opportunity, a second chance for the protagonist to become someone important.
But here, it didn't feel half as welcoming as those stories, which was worrying. And that was only if he accepted the reincarnation theory at all, which seemed less and less likely the more he thought about it.
Ren shook his head. He wanted to find out more, but sadly all he could do was study the tablet and wait for the timer to reach zero. And there wasn't much to study.
After over twenty minutes of examining it, all he had discovered was that he could make it appear and disappear on command. No hidden message, no other uses.
"Okay… so what am I supposed to do with this?"
As Ren cursed his luck, his gaze met the timer again. Only thirty minutes remained. After weighing his options, he decided to catch up on his already lacking sleep for the time he had left, hoping to have as much energy as possible if he needed it.
So he lay down on the peculiar black ground, which was weirdly comfortable, and quickly fell asleep.
—————
When Ren woke up, only a few seconds remained before the timer reached zero.
He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he remembered his current situation.
"For fuck's sake… Usually I'm excited to see timers end..."