The classroom was a cacophony of chaos.

Jin pressed his back against the wall, watching the scene unfold with wide eyes. His classmates were in a frenzy — some screaming, others sobbing, clutching onto one another as if the world itself was ending. Desks were overturned, and backpacks were strewn across the floor, forgotten in the panic. The overwhelming noise of crying, shouting, and frantic footsteps filled the air.

At the front of the room, Mr. Bennington, the English teacher, was doing his best to keep order. He was a tall, lanky man in his early forties, with a receding hairline and a habit of tugging at his collar when stressed. Right now, he looked more frazzled than Jin had ever seen him.

“Everyone, calm down!” Mr. Bennington shouted, his voice hoarse from trying to shout over the hysteria. “Stay in your seats! We need to—” But his words were lost in the pandemonium as another student let out a high-pitched scream.

Jin’s friend Jake was beside him, looking just as lost. “Dude, this is insane,” Jake muttered, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. “We’ve been transported to... I don’t even know where!” He kept glancing toward the windows, where the otherworldly forest loomed outside, casting long shadows across the room.

“Quiet, everyone!” Mr. Bennington tried again, this time slamming a book onto his desk to get their attention. The sharp sound cut through the din, causing several students to flinch. “Listen to me! We need to stay calm until we figure out what’s going on.”

Jin wasn’t sure how they were supposed to stay calm when the entire school had just been uprooted and dumped into a nightmare landscape. He could still see strange, flickering shapes moving between the trees beyond the glass, their glowing eyes watching. The entire building felt like it was on the brink of being swallowed whole by this new, terrifying world.

Outside the classroom, the scene was no better. The hallways were filled with panicked students and frantic teachers trying to bring order to the chaos. Jin could hear the shouts of the faculty echoing down the corridors, their attempts to organize the nearly 1,239 students and staff turning into a desperate struggle.

“Everyone to the gym! Now!” a female teacher called out, her voice cracking under the strain.

But it was no use. The crowd surged in every direction like a flood breaking through a dam, students jostling and pushing as they tried to find answers — or at least a familiar face.

In the midst of the chaos, the school principal, Mr. Nakamura, stood near the main stairwell, his usually calm demeanor replaced with a look of grim determination. He was a stern man in his early fifties, known for his no-nonsense attitude and sharp suits. Today, however, his suit was wrinkled, and his usually neat hair was disheveled.

“Everyone, please head to the gymnasium in an orderly fashion!” Mr. Nakamura shouted into a megaphone. “Teachers, assist the students! Do not let anyone leave the building!”

But no one was listening. Some of the international students were crying in confusion, their limited Japanese making it hard for them to understand the instructions. Others were clinging to their phones, frantically trying to call their parents, only to find there was no signal.

Jin and Jake exchanged a look, their earlier shock slowly giving way to a creeping sense of dread. “We need to move,” Jin said, grabbing Jake’s arm. “We can’t stay here. It’s too chaotic.”

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“Move where?” Jake asked, his eyes wide. “Did you see what’s out there?” He gestured toward the windows, where the fog still lingered like a silent, encroaching threat.

Jin didn’t have an answer. All he knew was that staying in one place felt like a bad idea. The primal urge to run, to find safety, gnawed at him. But safety didn’t seem to exist in this strange, alien world.

The two of them pushed their way into the hallway, where the crush of bodies made it nearly impossible to move. Jin could hear fragments of conversation all around him — frantic whispers in Japanese, English, Korean, and other languages he couldn’t even place.

“What’s happening?” “Where are we?” “Is this a terrorist attack?”

A girl from Jin’s class was hyperventilating, clutching her chest as her friends tried to calm her down. Another student, one of the Korean exchange students, had fainted and was being carried by two of his classmates.

As they were swept along with the crowd, Jin and Jake finally made their way to the gymnasium, which had been hastily converted into a gathering point. Teachers were attempting to organize the students into groups based on their classes, but it was clear they were overwhelmed.

Mr. Bennington appeared at the entrance, looking relieved to see them. “Jin! Jake! Over here!” He waved them over, his expression a mix of relief and exhaustion. “We’re trying to take roll call, but it’s chaos. Stay close, alright? We don’t want anyone getting separated.”

The gym was filled with the sound of hundreds of voices — crying, shouting, and anxious murmurs blending into a dissonant hum. The normally bright and cheerful space felt like a prison, the walls closing in as more and more students flooded in.

Jin scanned the sea of faces, looking for anyone from his own class. “Do you think anyone’s hurt?” he asked, his voice low.

Jake shook his head. “I don’t know, man. But I think we're way over our heads.”

Jin couldn’t help but agree. The fog outside the gym windows was growing thicker, the shadowy figures in the distance inching closer. Whatever this world was, it was anything but safe.

And as the gym doors slammed shut behind them, Jin had a sinking feeling that their nightmare was only just beginning.

The noise in the gymnasium was almost unbearable, a swirling vortex of fear and confusion. Jin stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Jake, the crush of bodies making it hard to breathe. The teachers were shouting over the chaos, trying to bring some order to the pandemonium, but it was like trying to hold back a tidal wave with a paper shield.

Just as Mr. Nakamura raised his megaphone to speak, the lights overhead flickered and dimmed. The gymnasium fell into a sudden, oppressive silence, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.

A bright, unnatural light flared to life at the head of the gymnasium stage, bathing the entire hall in an otherworldly glow. Jin squinted against the brightness, his heart pounding in his chest. All around him, students and teachers alike turned to look, their eyes wide with shock and uncertainty.

There, floating a few feet above the stage, was a creature unlike anything Jin had ever seen. It was small, no more than two feet tall, with delicate, translucent wings that shimmered like glass in the light. Its skin was a vivid, ethereal blue, and it was clad in intricate robes that seemed to shift and ripple as if woven from mist itself. In one slender hand, it held a staff topped with a glowing crystal.

For a moment, the entire gym was deathly still. Even the most panicked students were struck silent by the surreal sight before them.

The blue-skinned creature hovered in the air, its insect-like wings fluttering softly, a devilish grin spreading across its face as it surveyed the sea of shocked faces staring back at it.

“Hello,” it said, its voice high-pitched and strangely melodic, like the chime of a crystal bell. The single word echoed through the silent gym, sending a chill down Jin’s spine.

The grin widened, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.

And in that instant, Jin knew that whatever this creature was, it wasn’t here to help.