Had the cushions of my pillow and bedding ever felt this… comfortable?

Had the air in my musky bedroom smelled so fresh before?

Had the sun ever shone right into both my retinas, even with my eyes closed?

Holding my hand up, blocking the light from above, I was welcomed by an unfamiliar sight. A vast, almost infinitely wide circular hall filled with nothing but bright whiteness filled the expanse as far as my eyes could perceive.

So… This is happening.

I rubbed my eyes, then opened them again. No, the scene was still there. Then I looked at my hands, there were studies resulting in the conclusion that your hands would look weird in your dreams. Nope, still the same hand. Not a dream, then.

My eyes studied the massive, tall structure that pierced the sky above, at heights that my human, basic eyes could not perceive. There were no estimations of things this size, I could only witness and savor it inside of my head. It was like imagining how gargantuan the universe was; you just can’t.

Yet, despite its size, The shadows cast from its body were light. The object itself was white, at least, white was the closest color I knew to describe it, and the way it was erected felt like it was here even before this place was built, or maybe this was how it always had been. An obelisk would be the closest comparison I had; if I had to attach a name to it.

But debating what I should call it bore no meaning.

As my eyes follow the obelisk from the top to bottom, I spotted a large gathering of people laying unconscious below. They weren’t moving much, at least, not when I was looking from this distance, but I knew that they were alive.

I’m not alone; A comforting thought, easing me of a strange tension twisting my gut like a knot; Nobody would be at ease if they faced this situation on their own.

All of them—me included—wore a set of white skin-tight outfit that clung to their skin, showcasing every inch of their curves and silhouettes. If I had a decent body, I would be fine with it, but mine was… well, not that good; My belly had ballooned out over the course of the two years that I left the military, and while I wasn’t obese, I wasn’t anywhere close to being fit either.

Looks wise, I wouldn’t describe myself as someone that others would consider handsome. While yeah, I wasn’t ugly—which I should be thankful about—my looks were somewhere on the average spectrum; my teal eyes and dark hair being my best features, with a good height to boot. I had the nerdy look that could never seem to get away since I was born, no matter what style of hair and outfit I chose to wear.

I sighed. Why am I thinking about those things? Watching the skies and the scenery around me, I sat still and waited. Nothing happened for the next few minutes.

One by one, those who slept found their way into the realm of consciousness. One by one, they either yelled or twist their head around and around as they were in disbelief; Their brains refused to acknowledge the reality of whatever was going on.

From the complete silence, came complete chaos. I sat amid the droves of confused and crestfallen people, praying their way out of this mess. Some believed this was heaven, which was a natural assumption, with how holy the scene was presented.

As for me, I was content with watching. No amount of begging would change anything. So why waste more energy?

The sheer anarchy was stopped when something, and I had no better description for it, appeared right below the obelisk from a bright orb of pure light. The blinding small globe of whiteness distorted, morphing into a humanoid figure; A man, assuming from his lack of chest, wearing a white tuxedo with a fitting white mask on his face. His pale, almost albino skin didn’t do him any favor, as I needed to strain my eyes from the sheer brightness that he displayed.

Silence. Everyone’s eyes snapped straight onto him. The eagle had found its prey. Although, in this case, I wasn’t sure who was the eagle and who was the prey.

His head scanned all around the hall. There were a few things unnatural about how he moved, He looked human, but there were a few odd things about him that I couldn’t define nor describe, like an alien wearing a human suit.

Then when he began speaking, I was more confused than before.

“Hello.” He said, in an androgynous tone. “Thank you for your participation in the White Trials.” The figure bowed, “I… am the Observer. Tasked by the Sanctum to oversee your progress here.”

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“GET US OUT OF HERE!” A brutish guy a few lines beside me roared, flexing his arm like it would change things. “WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE TO US? SEND US BACK!”

His complaints must’ve touched the hearts of others, as they echoed his sentiment with a passionate outrage; It turned so loud that I had to clasp my ears shut to not lose my hearing.

The Observer, a strange name, shook his head from our display of resistance. “Always like this… You lot never changed.” He lifted his arms high, then snapped his finger. Within less than an instant, the first person who lead this protest found himself beside the Observer, turning his head left and right, disoriented.

“You see… I’m never fond of this… barbarism.” He resumed, grabbing the fellow that just appeared on his left. “So, Let this be a warning.”

“WHAT ARE YO-“

It wasn’t obvious from the start, but I could see that it began from the tips of his limbs, then it spread; Multiple parts of his body dispersed, turning into particles of sand-like globules that scattered away with the blowing winds; the life of a despaired man squandered with a single touch.

Ashes. He turned into ashes.

With a single presentation of his power, we indeed, shut the hell up.

The complete silence allowed him to speak further. “Wow, usually, it takes a few more of that before you grow obedient.” He said, scoffing, “Fine by me. Now, let’s get on with our little program, shall we?”

He strutted closer, “Hmm… There are too many of you. I’m not going to measure your aptitude on an individual basis, that is just a waste of everyone’s time… So, how about this?”

Raising his left arm, he pointed at the obelisk. “Touch this structure—you can call it the obelisk, to start your aptitude test. If you pass, then you live, otherwise, you will stop wasting my time. Win, win.” Lowering his raised arm, he continued, “I’ll explain more if you returned alive.”

He observed the quiet crowd once more. “Uh… you also have to finish it in an hour, if you failed that... I don’t have to explain what happens after, right?”

He’d turn us to ashes too, right?

Then, with a clap of his hands, he ended his speech. ”That’s it. Good. Luck.”

The Observer’s figure faded into the white backdrop, leaving a hall filled with confused humanity with their mouths hanging open. None of us had any semblance of an idea about what we were thrown into, and now, our lives were played like a fiddle by him.

We didn’t speak, nor did we think. All we did was stare at the obelisk.

I got up from where I sat and walked past a few of us scratching their heads, taking their sweet time to figure out what the hell to do. The atmosphere around was mixed, urgency and apathy present, with the majority of us losing our minds from the insanity that was going on.

But there were some who were just built different. The eyes of those who were already beneath the obelisk were fierce with anger, and to some select few, excitement. After all, there were a lot of us who grew up in different childhoods, some worse than others, and those who had gone through hell would simply think of this as just another day in their lives.

And no, I never assumed that I was one of them. To be honest, I didn’t understand what I was feeling as I approached the obelisk. I wasn’t excited, I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t angry either, it was just… well, the life I had back on the earth wasn’t a life I found worth returning to, so, here I am.

The closer I got to the obelisk, the lesser the density of us remained. On my way here, I noted more than just a few intriguing individuals—there was a guy who’d lost one of his arms, for example—but otherwise, the most contrasting features they showed were their lack of fear in their hot, intense gaze.

It was when I was inches away from touching it that I felt a touch of hesitation. This happened a lot in my life, every time I took another step forward, mountains of doubt resurfaced, doing their best to pull me back.

I didn’t know why my mind jumped to the conclusion that this would be a combat-based test, I mean, yeah, there was a chance that I’d end up sitting down and completing an accounting exercise; But that was a wild, wild assumption.

Reaching the obelisk, another screen popped up.

[Start your aptitude test?]

Gulp.

I was nervous.

My whole life, I’d always been average; the background character of my own story. Even now, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I’d be forgotten too. I didn’t have the eyes of those who possessed the confidence and strength inside of their souls, I didn’t have the courage nor mettle of those who had broken past their own darkness.

Closing my eyes, I drew a large breath, sucking in as much of the fresh air as I could. I willed the answer on the top of my head, then felt the air around me twist. My legs lost their sense of touch at the same time, before founding their footing in another place at another time.

Once that strange sensation was over, I opened my eyes to a massive dirt field, with a thick, persistent white fog shrouding the horizon that awaited me. I couldn’t see past the distance of ten or twenty or so meters, no matter how hard I scrunched my eyes, and the chill in the air didn’t make it any easier either.

I walked around my spot for a few minutes, checking if there was anything different if I wandered past where I was located initially. Everything felt the same, the dirt patches on the ground never indicated that I’d encountered something unfamiliar, and the fog made it difficult to ascertain my relative location after the steps I’d taken.

[Survive three waves of adversaries.]

[Wave 1: Green Goblin]

Green Goblin? Where is it?

I turned around, spotting a figure that materialized just right outside of my visible distance. Its dark silhouette wasn’t imposing; It had the figure of a lanky teenager carrying a thick club in its right arm. Its elongated nose was its most defining feature, and as it peered closer, I noted the green luster on its skin, and also, its abhorrent facial features. That is ugly.

From the way it failed to spot me even at this distance, I figured out that despite how massive its eyeballs were, its vision was rather poor.

I inched closer around it — trepidation and fear coursing in my limbs — attempting to sneak past its poor vision. Perhaps an attack from the back would turn the odds in my favor, or maybe, I could steal its shoddy club away from it before we started to brawl.

Keeping a constant eye on its scrawny back, I crept towards it, each step feeling heavier than the rest. Curse my fat, out-of-shape body. Why did I skip all my exercise? I used to be able to do these for hours and hours.

Oh right, the depression.

As I entered the range of two or so meters, it jerked when my foot stepped onto a soft, wet patch of the ground. It turned around, undermining the sneaking effort I’d put forth to reach my current spot.

It grinned.