The day started as usual. It was Monday, and that meant one thing for Louis—he had to go to university!

His alarm clock blasted not-so-sweet melodies into his ear and brutally dragged him out of his much-needed slumber. The tough mattress, which had been hard even in the evening, felt like a bubble bed, and the lovely, cool blanket that covered him refused to release him. His hand slowly emerged from beneath the blanket and reached toward the alarm clock with one clear goal: turning off the noise. His head was buzzing from the party last night, and his body felt like it had been shaken.

"Shit, my head hurts," Louis muttered from under the blanket. His dark, messy hair emerged, looking greasy and filthy, and his eyes were dead and decorated with dark circles.

Given that he had encountered this kind of problem many times before, he knew what he had to do. It started with a refreshing cold shower, followed by a strong black coffee. Time was tight; the clock already showed 8:15 a.m., which meant he couldn’t afford to waste any time. And so, Louis began his typical Monday morning.

Finished in record time, he picked up his bag and headed toward the S-Bahn. It wasn’t far to the university, and owning a car in a big city seemed like a waste of money when the S-Bahn connection was as good as it was in his case. Upon arrival, he searched for a free spot to stand and put his headphones in to drown out the noisy atmosphere of the crowded train. One good thing about it, though, was that it was punctual. Once he reached his station, he grabbed his bag and walked toward the university. His lecture usually started at 9:00 a.m., and it was already 8:45 a.m. Fortunately, the university was right next to the station.

Once he arrived on campus, he was greeted by overly cheerful students who apparently weren’t bothered by the fact that it was Monday. The worst thing for Louis was that these nerds might later become his bosses. Despite attending university, he didn’t have much hope for his future. He hardly invested any time in studying and preferred to meet up with friends. The lazy one usually only passed exams by cheating, which he was fortunately an expert at. It never occurred to him that if he put as much effort into studying as he did into coming up with new ideas for cheating, he wouldn’t be so badly off.

He was lucky that his parents always paid for everything, which saved him a lot of worry. Otherwise, how could he afford his own apartment in Berlin as a 21-year-old student? The only condition was that he passed his exams and always attended. Strangely enough, they always knew immediately when he didn’t. Louis suspected that his father had either planted a mole next to him or was simply giving his professor a little pocket money. But that was fine.

With the music still in his ears, and almost outside the lecture hall, he winced as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a blonde-haired man whose eyes resembled his own. Evidently, he hadn’t had the best night's sleep either.

“Yo, Lou, you look like shit,” Max said, his friend with whom he had partied the night before.

"Dude, you scared me," Louis complained, giving Max a dirty look.

"Scared? I called you out several times. It’s your fault if you have the music too loud," Max defended himself, blaming his friend.

Louis took a slow breath and decided to drop the matter. It was his fault after all, and he didn’t feel like arguing forever, especially since he knew he would never admit he was wrong once they started arguing.

“Let's go inside. I don’t want to stand around forever,” Max suggested, removing his arm from Louis’s shoulder and taking the first step into the hall. Louis followed him.

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And so began the boring lecture by the very same old man with his monotonous voice.

Time passed slowly, and the end of his university day came at 2 p.m.

Louis and Max got up and made their way outside. Louis yawned as he stood up. Their eyes looked more or less human again. Now that university was over, the two of them made plans for the rest of the day. A day ending at 2 p.m. meant a short day, and the remaining time was precious!

“Bar, McDonald’s, or training?” Max asked, emphasizing the former.

“Wow, drinking again? Better stop at McDonald’s,” Louis replied without hesitation. He didn’t pay any attention to the training at all.

And so, the next couple of hours were planned. To pick up their food, they had to take the S-Bahn again. The journey was rather unexciting, and the train was as full as usual. Homeless people slept in the corridor, and a local alcoholic gave a dance show. It might be unexplainable to people from the countryside, but that’s Berlin.

Berlin to hell.

Just as they turned a curve, all the lights went out and cell phones lost their batteries. The tunnel, which had been lit only by cell phone lights, was now completely dark. Louis couldn’t even recognize the person across from him. The voices of the passengers grew louder, and panic broke out. A blackout was nothing out of the ordinary, but the fact that all the cell phones had gone out as well was unusual. How was something like this possible?

Unexplainable events usually cause panic, and this situation was no different. Then, Louis felt a collision before he lost consciousness.

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In a large room with white floors, walls, and ceiling, hundreds of people lay unconscious on the floor. Their clothes were torn and covered in blood. Strangely, however, the people had no visible wounds, and the blood seemed to have dried.

Maybe it wasn’t their own, but where did the torn clothes come from? This would probably be the first question asked by someone who saw this scene.

The people’s ages ranged from their late teens to perhaps their late 40s. A human being in his prime. No one too old or too young was lying there.

The silence in a room with so many people was strange, almost frightening. The only sound was the steady rhythm of breathing. Then, the first people began to wake up, slowly and confused. They looked at each other, then around, without trying to communicate. The expected noise of so many people was finally starting to fill the room! It was just too bad that they didn’t speak the same language. An Asian man tried to talk to a Mexican man, but neither of them seemed to have spoken English before. Or perhaps it was the shock? Waking up in a white room without knowing why, surrounded by strangers—such a situation would naturally stand out among the educated.

In the midst of this chaos, surrounded by confused and noisy people, sat a black-haired young man holding his head. He looked confused but composed himself rather quickly. "Where am I? Wasn’t I on the train?" he tried to remember his last moments, but the only thing he could recall was that it suddenly went black.

He turned to the man next to him and spoke, "Do you know where we are?" The man shook his head.

“What’s your name? I’m Louis,” the black-haired man said, trying to start a conversation. The man in front of him could obviously understand him, which opened up a few new possibilities. Not only did he understand him, but he might even be able to communicate with others in his own language if English wasn’t his.

"I'm Spyros. It's strange... There was this car, and then everything went black. And now this? I mean, where are we? And who are all these people ?" Spyros could hardly be stopped.

Did he crash his car? Wait, black? That’s too similar to what happened to me, Louis thought, putting two and two together.

Just as Louis was about to answer, the noise level reached its peak. When he turned around, he saw why. There was a wooden door floating in the air behind him.

Has it been there all the time? he wondered.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a human-like creature emerged, walking through the air as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

The people were shocked and couldn’t believe their eyes. They just stared at him. His body resembled that of an average man, and he was dressed in a suit. The odd thing was his face: he had no hair and only a mouth. His nose, eyes, and ears were completely missing.

"Hello," a raspy voice came from the creature. And then he dropped the bomb: "Congratulations, you're dead."