My groggy eyes opened, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. A sharp, earthy smell assaulted my nose. I rubbed my eyes, then blew my nose with a loud, embarrassing Hhhhnnnnkkk!! I scrubbed at it, face twisted in disgust.

  So uncomfortable.

  I rolled onto my side. The feeling didn't fade. I shifted. Again. Failed.

  Fine. I'm awake. Sheesh!

  With a sigh, I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up, sitting on the cold ground. One hand braced behind me while the other pressed into my lower back. I leaned forward slightly, then straightened inch by inch.

  Crack. Crack.

  "Oui… that's more like it… Those cracks are the sounds of aging. What have I done with my life?" I sniffled like a defeated grandma.

  One last stretch.

  Pop.

  Perfect.

  Satisfied, I wiggled and hummed a small tune, like I'd just won a bet against the principal after getting caught doodling on her office door. I laid back down and tried to stretch my legs.

  They didn't move.

  ... This can't be good.

  I looked down, and my eyes widened.

  Red, electric shackles buzzed around my ankles, faint arcs of energy snapping against my skin. My breath stalled.

  "What the… What is this?"

  For some unknown reason, I touched the shackle.

  BZZZZZT!

  "OUI—!" I yelped, jerking back. "That hurts! Who put these dumb things on me?! At least give me old-fashioned irons so I can pick them..."

  I stopped.

  The knife.

  I searched the ground. Nothing.

  Great. I smuggled that thing for nothing.

  "Hello," a soft, sugary voice rang out behind me.

  I turned.

  A girl with short brown hair beamed at me, her cheer so bright it felt wrong in this place.

  "You're awake! You sure are a sleepyhead." She giggled, covering her mouth with both hands.

  She leaned in. Too close. Our noses almost touched. "I'm Rona. What's your name?"

  I glanced around. No cannibals in sight. Only kids trembling in fear, curled into themselves like they'd forgotten how to hope.

  Wait… I don't remember seeing any of them before. What happened while I was out? They couldn't… have eaten each other, right?

  A chill crawled up my spine, my skin prickling as if something had brushed past me. My body shuddered, goosebumps blooming in its wake.

  "Erm… Hello?" Rona waved her hands in front of me.

  My focus snapped back at her only to see her big round eyes staring right back at me. The reflection of myself was so clear in her eyes, my heart jotted a second. I immediately grabbed her shoulder and pushed her away.

  Social distancing, gal.

  "Huh? Oh, sorry. Zoned out for a sec. I'm Llyne. Nice to meet ya, Rona. Uh… do you know why we're shackled like prisoners?"

  Her nose flared, air puffed out like rocker propelling off the ground.

  Nothing foreign came out, I hope.

  Her chin tilted a few degree upwards. "You probably don't remember since you were out cold the whole time. Even when that brute man threw you down like a sack of potatoes, you didn't budge!"

  "Haha… Embarrassing." I scratched the back of my head. Heat steadily climbing up from my chest.

  "They're preparing us for a battle." Rona said, nodding seriously.

  "They? Battle?" I blinked.

  "Mhmm!" Rona's eye glittered. "A bunch of scary men came in, jabbed us with something weird, and then these zap-zap thingies appeared around our ankles. Mysterious, no?"

  She grabbed at her shackles with both hands.

  My hands outstretched to stop her. "Wait—!"

  ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

  Little tiny red sparks flew and crackled like firework. Softly landed on the ground and faded like it was never there. As if everything was an illusion.

  Rona recoiled with a giggle. "It's like a massager... with a bit of zing! Wanna try?" She laughed the way children do when they don't know they're supposed to cry.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  My head instantly moved back before my mind could process anything. Can't blame me. I'm sitting with a lunatic who might their lunacy certificate soon. "No thanks. I've never met anyone as crazy as you."

  "Thanks~!" Her cheer came too fast, too bright, as if fear hadn't learned how to reach her yet. Then her gaze drifted slow, creepily to where my ankles are. My body flinched in response and I turned my body before I could response. Rona's shot up to meet mine. I pressed my index finger on her nose, her eyes moved to where my finger is. My voice dipped low. "No."

  In response, she let out a little growl sound that almost couldn't be heard. Her face all scrunched up and her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel with a mouth filled with nuts.

  One weirdo acquired. Great. At least she's tamable now.

  "This isn't a circus, you fool." A sharp male voice pierced the air.

  I turned around to see a boy glaring at us. He had thick black hair, piercing blue eyes behind thick glasses, and enough attitude to start a war.

  Aish... There's always one of those huh? Someone who thinks they're pragmatic but is actually just pessimistic to the core of their blackened heart.

  "They force kids like us to fight," he said. "Each other. And the monsters they breed."

  My throat tightened. My mind sprouting all sort of nonsense that Ma would definitely not approve. Monster? Bred?

  My brain started overheating from nonsense thoughts. Turning this into a manga plot. Hero. World-saving. Wish-granting.

  "So…" I grabbed the boy's shoulders and squeezed. "If we survive, we make a wish to go home?"

  He slapped my hands away.

  "This isn't a story," he said flatly. "If you're lucky, a Master picks you. If not, you become food."

  Ten Masters? Masters? Wait. So I'm still in the real world?

  I bonked my head. "Ok. That's enough manga for one lifetime."

  Rona's lips all stuck out like a fish, said, "I don't want to be food."

  "Same," I muttered. "But how do you know all this?"

  Could he be... Ah! Stop functioning for a while, brain!

  "One of the guards said it straight out. Not that I expect you two to have heard it. Sleeping beast here was snoring, and the loony behind you was daydreaming."

  Sharp tongue. But he's got a soft core. A classic tsundere.

  I giggled. Rona too even though I have no idea why. Not that one needs to know what a crazy person thinks.

  "What are you laughing at?" The boy grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer.

  I looked away for a second and rolled my eyes. What was wrong with people and personal space? I hate heat, sweat and smells. Humans checked every box. That was exactly why social distancing existed.

  I looked back and activate my max level acting skill. My hands clutched close to my chest, shaking like a leaf. My voice stuttered a bit. "N-Nothing! I'm Llyne, by the way. You?"

  He paused, stared at me for a while, like he was analyzing me. Analyzing what? Not like I care. He sighed, then let go. "Isaac. And just because we know each other's names doesn't make us friends. Got it?"

  Hands raised and bumped my head, salute. "Got it."

  I looked around. Dozens of kids were shackled just like me. "How many of us are here?"

  He narrowed his eyes at me. Why is still she talking to me?

  I stared back at him, eyes glued to his face, waiting for his response.

  Gritting his teeth, a vein at the side of his head, popped up. "Hundred." His hands beginning to from into a fist. "Heard the guards counting."

  I butt walked myself back a few steps. "That's… a lot."

  "You done? Stop clinging to me." Isaac turned away before I could say more.

  Boy, what a hassle this is.

  Suddenly, the stone on the ground, vibrated, hopping on the ground. As seconds dragged, the vibration got greater, the floor beneath us trembled.

  The tunnel, we were in, began to rise like an elevator. Screams broke out around us as the tunnel ascended.

  "What the hell is this?!" I shouted.

  "WAAAHHHHH!" We all screamed and shielded our head with our arms. The pressure gradually crushed us until...

  Thud.

  The lift stopped. We slowly put down our arms. Peeking a bit and saw a translucent white barrier ahead.

  The brutes near the barrier, barked at us, "Move it, you lambs! We don't have all day!"

  One by one, they shoved the kids through the barrier.

  I hesitated, poking Isaac. "Hey, what is that?"

  "Go through it and you'll find out," he muttered and moved forward.

  When my turn came, I poked the barrier. It was cold and slimy.

  Eww... Would I merge into this thing? I still want my life. No thank you.

  I turned to the brute and flashed a nervous smile. "Is this safe? Have you tried it?"

  The man leaned down, sneering, revealing his rows of rotten teeth. "If you don't start walking, nothing will be safe for you."

  I gulped, whimpered. "Here goes nothing."

  I held my breath and walked through.

  The barrier rippled as I stepped through.

  Bloop.

  I gagged. "That was freaky." I shook the goo off me. The shackles were gone.

  I stomped once. "Freedom... oui?" Then I looked down.

  We were standing on a massive floating box, suspended in open air.

  "It's… wide," Rona whispered.

  Isaac pointed. "Look."

  I did.

  The stadium swallowed the horizon. Rows upon rows of shadowed figures stretched endlessly, giant screens looming overhead, projecting our every move.

  For one heartbeat.

  Silence.

  Then the crowd erupted.

  "KILL! KILL! KILL!"

  The atmosphere vibrated with bloodlust.

  "Wow… it's loud," Rona whispered, eyes sparkling. "My heart might stop."

  "I wish it did," Isaac muttered.

  I smacked him on his back. "She may be nuts, but that's no excuse to be rude."

  "I wonder if there's a button that turns this box off," Rona mused, wandering.

  I choked on my own saliva, whacking my chest and yelled, "No! That's what's keeping us in the air!"

  "Let's just kill her," Isaac deadpanned.

  We chased her down before she broke something. Holding her in place, Isaac trembled like a ticking time bomb.

  "We really can't kill her?" he whispered.

  Rona, meanwhile, stared at the big screens. "They're… watching us?" She hugged herself, suddenly quieter. "That's embarrassing." Her smile faltered for just a second, like she was copying happiness from memory and had forgotten the next step.

  What is Rona thinking now?

  Isaac scowled like a default expression. "Did you understand anything she just said?"

  "She acts like a five-year-old, but she looks our age… Maybe her brain hasn't caught up yet," I replied, watching Rona hum a nursery rhyme. The tune was childish, comforting, like something learned before the world taught her better.

  Isaac looked up and scanned the surrounding. "I've got a bad feeling this isn't their first rodeo."

  "Yeah…"

  Isaac crossed his arms, glaring in no particular direction. "This is mass kidnapping. Why wasn't it on the news?"

  Rona chimed in, "Maybe they replaced us with robots! That happens in movies!"

  "Possible. But someone would notice the difference," I said, scratching my head.

  Isaac's eyes narrowed. "They probably kill anyone who gets too close to the truth."

  "Right! Right!" Rona nodded.

  "Oui…"

  Isaac nudged me. "Look. Up there."

  My gaze followed his.

  Ten shadowy figures sat in elevated thrones. Each one radiating an otherworldly aura. Their eyes bore into us like hunters studying prey.

  "I think they're the ten Masters," Isaac whispered.

  "They look like weirdos," Rona giggled.

  "No one is weirder than you," Isaac growled.

  I pointed toward the Masters' seats. "I've seen three of them before. That one with the gentle smile and a katana, that's Master Khun. The woman with the whip and that permanent scowl? Master Asha. And the loud, gun-slinging maniac? That's Master Jay."

  Isaac's eyes widened, his expression tightening. "Three Masters came after you?"

  Memories of their faces rushed in. My breath hitched. "It wasn't just me." My voice dropped as I clenched my fist. "My family. They... They..." The words refused to come. They felt like jagged glass in my throat.

  I-I... why isn't my voice coming out?

  My shoulders drooped, the weight of the stadium; the noise, the masters, the death, finally broke through my acting. Isaac stood beside me, silent. He didn't say it would be okay. He didn't offer a platitude. He just placed his hand gently on my back. The warmth was the only real thing in this nightmare.

  My vision blurred, and for the first time, I didn't try to blink the tears away.

  The “Killing Game” arc officially begins here.

  This chapter transitions from survival horror to structured death game. Introducing the scale and power hierarchy under the ten Masters.

  Expect the next few chapters to focus on group dynamics, strategies, and moral testing.

  Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback fuels the next draft.