[Are you bored, angry, or depressed? Are you dissatisfied with the person you’ve become and with the things you have achieved? Would you like to change yourself but are pressed by time?

Then, join the Species Tournament and turn it all around! Our company will give you all the time and resources you need to become the very best creature you can be.

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It’s truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it’s completely free!

To sign up, click the accept button below.]

[Accept] [Deny]

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This was the message Alric Klein saw one evening when he slumped on his bed. It appeared the second he tried closing his eyes as if it were imprinted on his retina.

‘Am I already dreaming?’ the boy wondered while blinking. He had a particularly exhausting day, so it wouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Not only did Alric go through three brutal exams, but the love of his life, Ana, had dumped him out of the blue.

“You haven’t called in a week, a-hole,” she complained when he asked for an explanation. “I’m sick of being second to your studies, to your chess club; heck, you spend more time with your cat than with me!”

“Waffles is going through a rough patch right now. He’s just hit puberty, and…”

“I don’t care!” Ana interrupted. “It’s over, Klein. Go date your cat.”

It was morning when these words were exchanged. As a result, Alric couldn’t focus on his exams and even made a blunder on one of them.

“My streak is over,” he mumbled all the way home while imagining the B that would inevitably be added to his record. How could he show his face in class tomorrow after such an abysmal performance?

Fortunately, by some twist of fate, it now looked like his presence may no longer be needed. The more he read the unusual message, the more he started thinking it was real.

It could’ve been possible that someone was playing a prank on him. However, Alric’s grades were perfect in both biology and chemistry, and not even he could figure out how it was done.

‘How do I press the button though?’ As he moved his attention from [Accept] to [Deny], the already bolded font became even thicker. The text’s blue color had also turned into a shade of green.

‘Quite the complicated prank,’ he thought incredulously. It was more likely that a microchip had been implanted inside his brain, but when? He hadn’t been abducted in the past few weeks, and his parents would surely not have betrayed him like this.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ Alric shook his head along with the flurry of dark thoughts that started taking root. ‘Do I accept or deny?’

He could deal with the rest later. For now, the boy re-read the message. After doing so three times, he rewrote it on paper and started analyzing every sentence. Eventually, he pulled out a separate sheet, drew a line down the middle and wrote ‘pros’ and ‘cons.’

[Pros: Endless time and resources.]

His family was not particularly rich, so this appealed to him greatly. He wouldn’t have to get a loan for college anymore, and he could perfect his skills in chess.

[Cons: Possibly get kidnapped by the government]

‘It does say they’re not responsible for injuries and memory loss.’ Alric knew the fine print was the most important part of any advertisement, the part its maker wanted him to skip. ‘Are they testing drugs?’ he considered. Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing for sure.

After studying the paper and his list for what seemed like hours, the youth wrote one final question at the very bottom: ‘Am I willing to risk it all for what could be a life changing experience?’

Normally, Alric would have answered no. He was a slow and steady kind of guy. However, on this particular day, when a broken record and a single’s life were just around the corner, the teen was feeling rather adventurous.

‘Tomorrow’s going to suck anyway,’ he thought while looking at a half ripped poster of last year’s chess regionals. Though slightly nervous and somewhat unsure, Alric closed his eyes and moved his attention towards the first button.

“Accept,” he spoke while squinting. Immediately, the message exploded into light. The boy blinked in pain until all the words dissapeared. However, along with them, so did everything else.

..........................................................................

Looking around, Alric could no longer see his room. The bed he was sitting on was now a solid concrete floor. His furniture was gone, and the wooden door, which previously led to the hallway, had turned into a metal one with tiny bars near the top.

““I really have been kidnapped by the government,”” he and someone else mumbled in unison. Startled to learn he was no longer alone, Alric turned around.

Opposite him was another prison door, and in front of it, an eerily familiar boy. Though he was almost six feet tall, he wore pink pajamas with a panda bear on the blouse. The youth had an average build, yet he slouched while adjusting his thick spectacles.

Out of surprise and disbelief, Alric did the same. Both teens cleaned their glasses, then took out a band and tied their hair into a small ponytail. Afterwards, they shook their heads, took a deep breath in, and talked at the same time.

““Are you a mirror? Who are you? Stop talking. What the hell?””

Feeling like speaking to a mime, both Alrics covered their mouths. Then, one of them slowly raised a hand and started waving it. The other was about to do the same, but seeing his doppelganger’s movements, he changed course and showed a victory sign instead.

“”You’re real? Damn! Let’s just…””

They both stopped talking to avoid confusion. Finally, one Alric lifted a finger.

“You’re me.”

For once, the other didn’t talk over him.

“Yes… More like you’re me, or like me; something like that.”

“Are you a clone?” asked one of the Alrics.

“You’re a clone,” the other countered immediately.

Since talking only made them more nervous, both Alrics got up and started circling each other. After a full rotation around the room, they figured out two things:

They weren’t speaking to a mirror. There was a thick red circle drawn on the ground in their otherwise empty prison cell.

That second point was slightly worrisome. Neither Alric knew what would happen if they left the circle, and neither one was willing to find out.

“What’s your age?”

“17. Favorite color?”

“Red…”

The boys went back and forth trying to probe for differences. They started with general questions which became progressively more personal to the point of getting uncomfortable.

“How do you start a Queen’s Gambit?”

“D4, d5, c4. What did you buy for Ana’s birthday last year?”

“A cat; but then, she said she was a dog person. So, I kept the cat and bought her waffles. What is your greatest failure in life?”

“Ugh,” the other Alric squirmed in discomfort. “Those damn regionals!” he yelled towards the ceiling to vent his frustration.

Unbeknownst to him, at the exact same time, the circle shrunk by around five centimeters. The boy who asked the question noticed this and immediately got on all fours.

“What are you doing?” asked Alric one.

“Measuring. Ask me something again.”

Alric two was using the length of his arms to check the circle’s width.

“What’s your future career going to be?”

“Lawyer,” said number two while barely paying attention. Then, he realized something and looked up. “Lawyer!! And world chess champion!!” The second Alric shouted at the top of his lungs and then measured the circle once more.

“Nothing,” he mumbled before letting out a sigh.

“Why the hell did you do that for?” asked Alric one. “Surely, you’re the clone. I would never shout like a maniac for no reason…”

While he spoke, the red circle shrunk once more. It was now close enough to their feet that they had to step forward.

After observing his counterpart’s reaction, Alric one began to panic. “This is the second time this happened, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s like a…”

“”Sumo match,”” They both stated at the same time as if it was somehow obvious. In fact, Alric had never seen a sumo fight in his life. All he knew was that it involved a circle and two large guys trying to push each other out.

He hadn’t heard of the ring becoming progressively smaller, but given the current situation, it was all he could think of.

“One ring, two men,” stated one of the boys before taking on an awkward boxing pose.

“No choice, I guess. Bring it.”

In the increasingly small circle, the two Alrics were finally facing off. One mimicked a boxer and the other tried a drunken fist. Unfortunately, another thing they had in common was how equally terrible they were at fighting.

When the circle shrunk once more, the contestants were forced to engage. The tournament’s preliminary round had awkwardly begun.