In a vast, absolute black space, a soul suddenly appeared.
Slowly, his senses returned. Alok opened his eyes, but his breath hitched. A phantom pain bloomed in his chest—the ghost of a steering wheel crushing his ribs. Memories flickered like broken film: the screech of tires, the smell of burnt rubber, and that final, haunting 3.5 seconds of silence before his heart stopped.
Is this... reincarnation? Alok thought, his mind racing through the fog of trauma. But why is everything so black?
Suddenly, a holographic screen flickered into existence. It didn't just appear; it pulsed with a cold, neon-blue light that cut through the darkness like a heartbeat. As it stabilized, the screen glitched for a micro-second, flashing a red warning: [SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0.01%].
Then, the text cleared:
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED.
THE GODS' GAME HAS BEGUN.
WOULD YOU ACCEPT?
[ ACCEPT ]
[ ACCEPT ]
Alok stared at the glowing text. Was this that famous phenomenon he'd read about? People being summoned to another world? But his stomach twisted. Why is there no 'Deny' option?
He tried to walk forward, to escape the oppressive light of the screen. After only a single step—THUD.
His head slammed into something cold and seamless. An invisible wall. The air itself felt like solid glass. He reached out, his fingers sliding against a surface that wasn't there, yet felt harder than stone. He was trapped in a cage he couldn't even see.
CRACK.
A sharp sound echoed from behind him. He spun around. A brilliant white wall had appeared out of the darkness.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
More walls manifested in every direction. North, South, East, West—the black void was being replaced by a shrinking white box. The walls began to move, closing in with a mechanical hum. Alok felt the air getting thinner, the space becoming a coffin. He screamed, his fingers clawing at the invisible ceiling as the walls came inches from crushing his bones. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end—again.
Then, silence.
He opened his eyes slowly. The walls were gone. He was standing in a massive, open hall filled with sterile, blinding light. Alok wasn't alone. Hundreds of people stood around him, but it wasn't a peaceful crowd. The air was thick with the sound of reality: muffled sobbing, someone nearby hyperventilating, and the desperate, low murmur of a man reciting a prayer in a language Alok didn't recognize.
Am I in Heaven? he wondered, his heart hammering against his "ghost" ribs.
Suddenly, a figure appeared, hovering in the air. He wore a sharp suit as black as the void, paired with polished shoes and a strange, numberless watch. He had flowing white hair and majestic wings—but the "godly" feeling vanished when Alok saw his face.
The man was wearing a predatory, devilish grin. His eyes were two bottomless black holes, devoid of pupils or iris. Looking into them felt like falling into a hungry, infinite vacuum.
"I am the administrator of God Game Module B13. You can simply call me B13," the figure's voice echoed like thunder. "Congratulations, humans. You have all been selected for the God Game—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rewrite your destiny. The rules are quite simple. Survival is the only—"
"Wait! Shut up!"
A woman in expensive office attire stepped forward, her face pale. "I don't care about your project! I have a family! I have a meeting! You can't keep us—"
B13 didn't move. He didn't even look at her.
CRUSH.
In a split second, an invisible, mountain-like weight slammed down. Her knees shattered against the floor with a sickening pop. Her entire body followed, pinned flat to the tiles. She couldn't even scream; the pressure forced the air out of her lungs in a pathetic wheeze.
The crowd erupted—screams of terror broke out, and people scrambled back, tripping over each other.
B13 adjusted his watch, looking bored. "Ah... my apologies. Static in the audio. Now, once more... please do not dare to disturb me this time. I would hate to have to clear the room entirely."
The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating.
"The winner gets the Ultimate Edit," B13 continued, snapping his fingers to reveal a massive holographic "Wish Menu." "You want to be a King? Done. You want a life where your loved ones never died? Just win."
He turned those black-hole eyes toward Alok. "And for those of you who wanted to stay dead... don't worry. If you lose, you'll get exactly what you wanted. Absolute. Eternal. Void."
Alok felt a cold shiver. Undo my past? He thought of the gang that murdered his girlfriend. He thought of his own choice to give up. If he died here, the people who ruined his life won twice. He realized then: he had to win. Not for the Gods. But to rob them of the ending they expected.
"Now, let's begin." B13 grinned.
The hall shattered.
Alok was suddenly strapped into a vibrating metal seat inside a massive cargo plane. Outside the open bay door, the sky was a bruised purple, lit by jagged lightning.
"ROUND ONE: THE RUINED CRADLE," B13's voice boomed over the intercom. "THE FOG STARTS IN TEN MINUTES. HAPPY HUNTING."
The floor panels beneath the seats dissolved.
Alok was vacuumed out into the freezing air. He was falling at terminal velocity, watching hundreds of others panic, their parachutes blooming far too early—becoming sitting ducks for whatever waited below.
Alok gritted his teeth. He watched the altitude meter on his vision. 1000 meters... 800... Most had already deployed. He waited.
500 meters... 400... His tactical mind kicked in, calculating the wind and the landing zone of a shattered skyscraper. He wasn't a pawn. He wasn't a loser.
At the last possible second, he slammed his hand through the holographic [ACCEPT] button.
[PARACHUTE DEPLOYED.]
[HEART RATE: 165 BPM – STATUS: AGGRESSIVE.]
The jerk of the chute nearly snapped his neck, but he steered himself toward a dark rooftop. His "lonely" eyes were gone. As he touched down on the grit and glass of the ruined city, he didn't look like a victim.
He looked like a hunter.
Thanks for reading the first chapter of Battle Royale of Gods!
This is a story about tactical survival and a man who refuses to be a pawn. If you enjoyed the drop into the Ruined Cradle, please Add to Library so you don't miss Chapter 2!
Also, if you have any Power Stones, please toss them my way to help the story grow.