Many awoke to the sound of deep hurling and hushed sobbing, quiet mutters and sharp curses. One boy starts to sit up with the help of his bruised hands, pushing him up as best he could with a small pained grunt. He looks around, dazed for a moment before his eyes snap open wider than saucers. He bolts up to his feet, his body too filled with alert that the bruises and strains he felt were nothing but mere stings. "Wha--No. No, no. No, this can't be happening." He repeats to himself, his brows pin together in worry, his face in disbelief.

The small area of grassy terrain was occupied by groups of teenagers either on the ground still stirring awake or talking amongst themselves about the predicament they were in. "August." Spoke a voice from behind the frazzled boy. He turns; his shoulders relax in relief, but not enough to remove the fear still crawling down his back. "Grey, what... What the hell happened yesterday?" He says softly, his words were slow and desperately trying to cling to the tone of restrained calmness, it wasn't working as his voice cracked in the last bit. Before he could receive his answer, he gasped at the sight of his best friend's unusual get-up.

Grey, from yesterday, had worn the school's uniform which was the white button up short-sleeve with a dark brown ribbon strapping the front just under the collar of the shirt. She 'was' wearing the ankle-long coffee colored skirt with 2 inched leather heels, all uniform coded from the school of Prestige High.

But now, she wore something worth calling to the medieval era back for. It seemed to be a mix of a modern design and an old armor uniform. Heavy metal plates covered her body like it was practically forged in her size. The armor clung to her frame from the sharp gorget to the rerebraces and vambraces, breast plate, gauntlets and even paddings on the sides of her hips. Leather cloth shone as her pants, the cloth seeming to look expensive yet durable from his perspective. Tall brown strap on boots with buckles holding onto them in place just below her knee were dusted by the terrain’s dirt on the front of the shoes. Though, this wasn’t what surprised him.

Unlike what he had witnessed yesterday, she now had a large belt with two scabbards on each side of her hips, long swords which he can assume from his wide knowledge of old aged weaponry, is a kind of broad sword. Two of these hung onto strapped buckles by the sides of her belt, one armored hand rested on the right’s hilt with a clunk as she pumps her breast forward in hopes to seem more confident. “We’ll talk about what happened later… and the armor. For now, I need you to help me round in the rest of the people for an announcement.”

Augustus was already confused, so he decided to not press on questions yet and replied with a short nod and pursed lips. She nods back in reply as thanks, she gave a weak smile to assure him that everything was going to be alright. He smiled back, waiting for her to turn her back before dropping it slowly, his faith in his own life at the hands of this world he’s now in brings only an unsettling feeling in his gut.

In a circle hastily crowded together by the down-ridden students, they squat together. Holding each other in protective hugs and groups with the only solace of safety being the hill they had decided to rest atop for the night. Now, the sun has just rose from its sleep, painting the area in a hue of early baby blue and orange. It would’ve been a breath-taking sight from where they were if it weren’t for the situation.

The quiet scenery of the hill garners a few oak trees and dry leaves scattered across the area, the group had huddled just beneath the tree for comfort. While in chatter, the group sees four of their fellow classmates step from behind the tree, all four in glimmering armor. If it weren’t for the dire situation, they would’ve looked like they came from a costume party. But no, the armor before them looked as real as their situation. The shining glint of the wear gleamed dominance along with the heavy weaponry by their sides, belts and backs.

The first to step out was Grey Bellarosa, their fellow sports junkie and game nerd. Her usual carefree expression now morphed into a colder and more solid face. Her face was still bruised from the fight that took place yesterday. Second in line came Rio Archwood, the awkward boy with a knack for art and music. Despite his shy and fragile attitude, his face held a burden that the remaining students were yet willing to comprehend. Third was Joshua Harrison, a stout bearded student who carries himself poorly in fashion despite his riches back home, but as he carries the heavy axe and war hammers by his side, no one dares complain about his lack of decency for wear from now on. Lastly was Noah O. River, their somewhat prideful foreign friend from Korea. It could be his race, or just his personality, but with him, everything just magically seems to go his way. His pride and attitude could only get him so far in class.

All don what seemed to be heavy armor of this world’s best material, just from the intricate design they could tell… Or perhaps it was not? Honestly, they were basically shooting random guesses in the dark.

“I um—“Grey spoke up first as she called for their attention with a raise of her hand, “—I hope you guys had at least a decent amount of sleep. It must be hard considering our predicament right now.” She says, her brows furrow in worry at them as her raised hand now lowers back to her side.

She clears her throat; her steely grey eyes dart from student to student, “If you guys remember… Yesterday, we’ve lost… half of the class. From 42 students…” She gestures to the survivors in grim. “…Down to 28, including me, Rio, Josh and Noah.”

Continuing with a heavy heart, Grey had already noticed the lines of red and circles, swollen eyelids trying to keep open as they listened. “As such, while you all were sleeping from last night, we had to figure out what the hell is happening. We dug info, found some shit and we’re here to tell you about it. We just hope you’re mentally ready for this.” She warns before Noah from the other side pulled out a scroll from thin air, landing on the palm of his hand before he handed it to her.

After a muttered thanks, she began to read.

“Dear players of Everoe, a pleasant greeting to those who shall be joining our experience of a lifetime.

I am known as the GM of this world, the Game Master of all the things that happen in Everoe. Supposedly, your new God. I have decided to bring ten thousand people into my creation in hopes of truly remaking the idea of what this game is truly about.

The Tales of Everoe have three things that it’s known for. A broad experience of the new fantasy world, The endless possibilities to your hard work and a thrilling feeling of surviving the next day.

My goal in this world is to thrill the senses of my players, to erase their sad façade back at their old world and to create a new and bright future here in Everoe, Thus, why I made this game almost impossible to escape to the real world.

However, if you truly do wish to go back to your mundane lifestyle then I have only one request if you will.

Earn the title of Grandmaster and forfeit your life to ascend into the heavens, let your soul purify in whole as it scatters across the different dimensions of the universes’ plane.

Do so and you shall be free.

Thank you for participating and I wish you all the luck that Evecka can bestow.

Signed, William P. Cousfold.”

As the announcement ends and the scroll was slowly pulled down for Grey to see their reactions, the small crowd had a mix of confusion, worry, anger and gloom etched on their faces.

Noah spoke up next to Grey, tilting his head down as his eyes looked forward to them. “Guys?” Like stone hitting against a glass pane, their dazed expression, as they stared at Grey, shatters. Their faces morph into a general shock for a moment before their mouths start to sputter complaints.

August trembles in the back, his hands shook as he starts to shoot up from his place, fists now tightened at his side. “We can’t leave? What kind of bullshit is that!?”

“Yeah, why should we even do this stupid game?”

“’Cause we have no other choice!” Grey shot back, the scroll by her right hand now hovers above her palm and disappears into a blue colored ball of light before zipping away in thin air.

“We… have no other choice. We’re stuck here and there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it, alright?” She repeats before solemnly looking down to her feet.

The air grows slightly colder at her statement, the truth sounding so exotic to each of their ears. “Bullshit. Bullshit is what this is—“ Another voice growls as he stands up. The ever so bad-ass ruffian, Robin, is now trembling in either fear or anger, his face was sweaty and his face was turning crimson. “That shit for brains is telling us to reach Grandmaster? I’m guessing from that rank that it’s some impossible thing to aquire, yeah?” He asks, nodding to Grey with a look that says ‘Am I right?’

Grey purses her lips then lets out a miniscule sigh. “Yes, but not unless you guys try to get it.”

“If that guy is telling us to live here and actually get this title shit to leave, then fuck this! If that means we’re gonna have to fight that headless nightmare that killed half our class then I’d rather not!”

“HEY!” Grey raised her voice to Robin, her teeth were clenched as her eyes were wide in fury, veins started to line on her throat as she gripped the handle of her sword, unmoving. “You think WE had a choice? You think WE knew that this would happen? NO! We didn’t! You think we could’ve saved the others in time? NO. We couldn’t—“

“Grey, shut up!” Yelled another male voice, but this was someone in their class that no one dared to speak against. Orlando stands with a frustrated look, his clean-cut hair now tossed around in a bit of an oily look as he clenches his jaw with squinted eyes. “What’s done is done. We’re here, they’re dead. Everyone just… just move on! We can’t waste any more time so just tell us what we need to do to get that… Grandmaster title or whatever.” He looks to everybody with a pointed finger as he spoke, his familiar prissy tone actually gave more emphasis to his words as it rings true to reality. Like a giant slap against the crowd, they grit their teeth and stay quiet. Robin and Augustus exchange pained glances before sitting back down on the cold grass.

Grey, unsure if Orlando’s way of leading them on was right, hesitated. She looks to Rio and Josh to her right as they both give her a look to just move on. She clears her throat and looks back to them with knitted brows.

“Well, alright… Um—“ She gestures to what she’s wearing along with the other three standing next to her, “As you all can see, me and the other guys here have some armor on and from the little knowledge we have about this world, we’ve actually played this game before.” Josh then puts a hand up to explain after Grey.

“But we had no idea that this was going to happen. The thing is, we’ve already finished getting the title of Grandmaster… It’s a online game. We’ve been teleported to the land of Everoe and we’re what this world calls the Gladiators.” Josh puts a finger to the tip of his nose as he rubs it by habit, “The four of us can leave now if we wanted to.”

“But, we talked about it and we won’t.” Grey added with a reassuring nod to the crowd as she noticed they were at the brink of spouting pleas to not leave them to their doom. “We’re not going to let you guys die like this. Not like how the others did.” She shakes her head at the horrible memory, it was still fresh in her mind. The real smell of blood and the real sound of dying screams. They were all still so vivid. Grey shudders for a moment before speaking again, “Since us four have more knowledge about this world than you guys do, we’re going to go about this approach in a more… helpful way. Like cheats for newbies in a game.”

Rio adds, “But we need to make sure that you guys are fully-on board with actually fighting. Like using swords, guns, bows, and—“

“There are guns in this?” Called a surprised voice.

“Yeah, but—“ Rio shakes his head, “You’ll see a ton more crazy stuff later on. But, again… Are you all willing to do this?”

Staring at the crowd, Rio waits for any sort of response. They only look to him then exchange slow glances at each other with short whispers, shaking their head and giving very audible whimpers.

Nick, one of the more scrawny people in the back raises a hand up, pushing slightly broken glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I mean, as what Grey said, It’s not like we have any choice left. So, If you need us to do it, we’ll do it to get out of here.”

“No complaints, alright?” Orlando speaks again in his commanding voice, even Grey’s back straightens at his tone. The crowd pauses for a moment before nodding, sighing and giving small sounds of agreement.

Augustus looks down to his muddied school shoes before he was nudged by someone from his side. He turns left, brows furrowing at whoever needed to talk to him right now. “You okay?” Asked Charlotte, the short-haired aficionado of talents. Her usual porcelain white skin is now ruddied and dirtied from their sleep. Augustus gave her an unamused look, “In this situation? How could anyone…” He states matter-of-factly.

Charlotte’s eyes wander down to the grass before pulling up her legs up to her chest, burying her chin inbetween her chest and knees. “Yeah… Yeah, I know. It’s just… This is just too surreal. You know?” She shifts her gaze softly to him, her eyes a bit swollen from the uncontrollable water works she displayed yesterday.

Augustus figured she cried herself to sleep.

“I know. But, if this is what it takes to go back home. Fuck logic, throw it out the god damn window. I’m going to do everything it takes to go back home in one piece.” At Augustus’ words, Charlotte gives a solemn smile, nodding her head.

“At least you’re doing better than Arthur.” She lightly jerks her head to her right, Augustus leans down and peers behind Charlotte to see Arthur rubbing his hands, sitting in a hunched position with his knees up to his forehead. His face ducked and covered as his fingers intertwine with each other, as if warming his shivering hands. Augustus couldn’t help but feel pity before leaning back, crossing his arms. “At least he isn’t screaming bloody murder and running away or anything. Let’s just hope for the best.”

At his statement, the crowd’s whispers and erratic mutters come to a halt as Grey coughs loudly, her metal armor shook as she shifts in place, gaining the attention of the crowd. “While you all were sleeping here… on the ground.” She sheepishly points to the dirtied terrain just below their feet, “The four of us have found out how to use the system in this game, which follows the same mechanic as the online game.” She holds her hand out in front of her with her fingers spread out. A blue zap of blue light sparks in front of her and out of thin air popped another scroll, similar to the other one presented by Noah. Though, this one seemed bigger. The end caps were a vibrant gold with a polished sheen to it. With a small thin red ribbon tightly securing the scroll, it hovered in front of her palm before she snatched it.

“We’ve also decided to take it upon ourselves to not rely on the NPC’s here. We-”

A hand shoots up, Caine’s head peers through the back as he interrupts. “Sorry, what’s an NPC?”

“Why am I not surprised you don’t know that?” Muttered Elijah from his side, giving a snarky scoff before shifting in his place next to him.

Caine shoots him a narrowed look, annoyed. Grey was about to answer before Elijah answered for her. “Non-playable character. Which means they aren’t real people here, I’m guessing.” Elijah turns to Grey with a cocked brow, “Right? ‘Cause if what he said was true, that Will GM guy. Then we’re one of the ten thousand people pulled into this place. We’re considered as uh…” He shrugs for a moment, taking a blind guess. “…PC’s. Playable characters…?”

Grey nods her head in confirmation, “Yeah, that’s right. NPC’s are usually the ones telling new players what to do and how to do it. But because of the long tutorial process we four have done before, we’ve figured to teach you the basics in the only possible way you all could learn it ‘safely’.” She then shakes the scroll in hand with her right, gesturing to it with her other hand. “This was what we managed to accomplish, among many other things, from last night.”

While Grey says this, Caine couldn’t help but notice her eyes. Her dark grey irises were smaller than usual; the sides of her eyes were a faint red. ‘She didn’t sleep.’ He thought, also taking into account the other three guys’ short yawns and subtle shaking of their heads.

“With me, Rio, Josh and Noah’s combined money, we assure you that you won’t sleep on the ground anymore. We just needed a temporary space to sleep in since we needed to let you all sleep first.” Eyeing the scroll, she continues softly. “Now, we were able to buy our very own guild house, our guild’s name respectfully being Prestige.”

“A guild?” Asked another which followed an answer. “Like an organization or a group of people under one name.”

Noah and Rio nod their head as they turn to Grey to continue, “We have to stick to the name of Prestige. You know, to not forget about… them.” The crowd picks up on what she was saying, they immediately feel guilt as they were about to complain about the name dedicated to their kiss-ass of a school.

“But either way, we bought our own place for you guys to stay.” She pulls the red ribbon from the scroll, the fairly tanned parchment unravels and shows a neat looking appellation on the top that reads out, ‘GUILD OWNED’. “Also, we’ve received word from different schools across Everoe, the other players that we’ve contacted have responded to us via… erm, scroll.” Grey waves her hand dismissively, “And uh, we’ve all decided to have me and the three other guys here to be the guild’s commanding officers and teachers for you guys, since we’ll be implementing a school-like teaching system. So from now on, despite our ages, you’ll have to address us as Commanders. Like, Commander Grey—Guh, that sounds weird.”

Grey knows for a fact that her classmates aren’t that very tight-knit. They weren’t all buddy-buddy with each other unless they needed to group up for a grade. Sure there were times where they’d stay late in the classroom after dismissal, talking about anything that could’ve filled the silence in the room, in between the tapping of aggressive tweets and millennial gaming apps. The thing with their class was that they were mostly independent, they never seem to find the same wavelength as the other, maybe one is too busy climbing the social ladder while the other is trying to put their shit together.

To be honest, Grey was having a difficult time trying to mesh all this info up for her classmates, these strangers that were bound to be acquaintances for their whole high school year. Then this shit happened and now they needed to lean on each other for more than just emotional support. Grey narrows her gaze to the crowd, spotting Augustus’ recoil at the thought of having the shitty system they had in school. She raises a hand before they could say anything. “Listen, I know this isn’t the greatest idea. But it’s the only thing we avid players thought up of to ensure you guys wouldn’t be in any real danger… yet. I quote, ‘yet’.” She repeats, air quoting the last bit before zapping away the scroll once more, her hand now empty.

Noah nods in agreement, “But we’ll be teaching in a more interactive way. Don’t worry, it won’t be as boring as it was back at school.”

“Yeah,” Josh follows, clutching onto his dark beard. “We promise.”

Grey turns to Josh, giving a faint smile midst the down-ridden feeling she’s had for the whole night. She turns back to her solemn audience, “Well,” with a clap of her leather gloved hands, the metal clinks against her forearms as she gestures for them to stand up. “We all need to get moving to our new home. We have a lot to discuss and it’s—“ She tilts her head up, “… Yeah, it’s still pretty early. So we only have a few things to do today then you guys can rest up for the next two days.”

Grey walks to the side, ushering them down the hill and to a light trail leading out to two directions. She looks behind her, waiting for the throng to follow before giving a sharp whistle.

Again, out of thin air, a gust of wind circles behind Grey as a faint white hue flashed brightly then dimmed. A loud thundering clap of horse hooves struck the ground as what seemed to be a horse appeared, its body engulfed in an array of black flames trailing its crest down to its dock, also taking the place of where its mane should be. It whipped its tail anxiously, clopping it’s hooves with a whine as it almost looks excited to be let out. This horse was exotic to say the least. Not only was it literally covered in flames, but it looked like it’s skin was replaced by armor. Grey turns in high pride to her classmates, a small smile makes its way to her face as she pats her steed’s cold crest, it nickers happily at her touch. “A Black Flamemare. It’s completely plated in armor, it’s mane and hooves are practically fire. But it’s safe for the rider of course.” She scoffs, “This is actually my first time calling her out like that, she’s so cool-looking like this.” She basks at her pet as it leans in to nuzzle its snout under her arm.

Grey gives a short chuckle before patting her nose and points to Noah, “Noah! Get the Truck!”

“Truck?” Robin says in a small whisper, still shocked from the ever so mystical horse in front of them. He turns just in time to see Noah give his own whistle, a bit louder than Grey’s before there was silence. The crowd waits in anticipation as a loud SLAM shakes the ground for a moment, a large food truck struck the ground with its four neatly wooden carved wheels, festival like flag banners were swinging under it’s roof, as small lanterns lit the front and the back, swaying on the hooks of the roof. It looked more like an eco-friendly carriage than a food truck. “It can hold up to five people.” Noah says, walking over to the front to the coach box. “First five in our class, alphabetically. So we can take note of it on the way.”

Grey nods and hops on her own steed, “I can carry one more person. Josh can take another two. Rio, stay here and watch the remaining.”

Rio nods from a far, giving a thumbs up with his metal plated fingers. Grey turns to the crowd, “Four trips back and forth, it won’t take long.” She pulls out a feather, “Alright, everyone. Hop on.”