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Geon slouched against the wall of his school’s empty hallway, eyes glued to his phone. He scrolled through news headlines with an uneasy frown. The world was spiraling, and he couldn’t seem to look away.
“Protests in 27 cities as tensions rise.”
“Global summit fails; leaders in disarray.”
“Is humanity doomed?”
He snorted. Doomed? Probably. But not from the things they’re worried about.
“Hey, Geon, you coming to practice?”
He glanced up. Will, his best friend and team captain, was leaning in the doorway, basketball spinning lazily on his finger.
“Nah,” Geon muttered, locking his screen. “Not today.”
Will frowned. “You’ve been weird all week. What’s up with you?”
Geon hesitated, then shrugged. “Just... feels like something’s coming, you know?”
Will laughed. “Dude, you sound like one of those conspiracy nuts. Chill out. The world’s not ending.”
The words barely left his mouth when it happened.
Tooo-too-too-toooom!
The sound hit like a tidal wave. It wasn’t just loud—it was everywhere. Geon clutched his ears, eyes wide as the hallway filled with a blinding light. He staggered, struggling to breathe as the floor seemed to tilt beneath him.
“What the hell is that?!” Will shouted, his voice barely audible over the unrelenting blare.
Geon opened his mouth to reply, but no words came. The sound wasn’t just external—it was inside him, vibrating through his bones, his soul.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.
The silence was deafening.
Geon stumbled forward, catching himself on the wall. He looked at Will, who was staring at the ceiling, face pale.
“What...” Will whispered, his voice trembling. “What was that?”
Before Geon could answer, a voice—cold and mechanical—rang out, clear and unyielding.
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Attention: All humans.</td>
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">The Last Judgement has begun.</td>
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“What the...” Geon whispered, his heart pounding.
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Your actions will now determine your survival. Choose wisely.</td>
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The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The hallway lights flickered, plunging them into shadows. Geon’s phone buzzed in his pocket, but when he pulled it out, the screen wasn’t displaying any app he recognized. Instead, glowing text scrolled across the screen.
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<td style="width: 100%">
This is not a test.
Prepare for reckoning.
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He turned to Will, but his friend wasn’t looking at him anymore. Will was staring out the window, his expression frozen in shock.
Geon followed his gaze—and felt his stomach drop.
The sky had turned blood red.
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Geon spent the rest of that day in a daze. The news channels were flooded with the same eerie message, repeated over and over. Scientists scrambled to explain the phenomena, religious leaders declared it the end times, and governments urged calm. But calm was nowhere to be found.
People rioted, prayed, or froze in fear. Geon, meanwhile, refused to buy into the hysteria.
This isn’t divine judgment. This is... something else.
And yet, as the days passed, even he couldn’t deny the growing unease. The trumpets had shaken the very fabric of the world. People changed—friends, neighbors, strangers. Everyone seemed caught in a feverish desperation to atone, to prepare for the end.
Geon clung to his mission. He spent his days helping where he could, volunteering, organizing food drives, and comforting those around him. It was all he could do to drown out the gnawing sense of wrongness that threatened to consume him.
Then, on the seventh day, everything changed again.
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">7-day cooldown period ended.</td>
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Starting 2nd Earth Culling Game...</td>
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The voice—calm, mechanical, and cruel—sent chills down Geon’s spine. He stared at his phone as new text appeared, glowing with an ominous light.
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<td style="width: 100%">
You have been selected.
Starting class selection...
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“What?” he breathed, his hands trembling. Around him, the world seemed to hold its breath. He wasn’t alone—people on the street clutched their own devices, faces contorted in terror and confusion.
The screen flickered.
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Class selected: Demon.</td>
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Geon’s stomach dropped. His breath came in shallow gasps as the text faded, replaced by a final message.
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<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Good luck! Last one standing wins.</td>
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The ground beneath him rumbled, and the world exploded into chaos.
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