Ah, I’m gonna be late for my job interview. First one in four months and I overslept. How typical of me. It is such a good place to work at too. Only two blocks away.

The man in his twenties quickly got dressed, skipping breakfast. He squeezed out some toothpaste into his mouth, that he smeared onto his teeth using his tongue. The mint flavor burned, but he endured. He also skipped the toilet. Thankfully, he went once during the night, so it was not an emergency. He rushed out from his two room apartment in a panic, even forgetting to lock the door...

He quickly sprinted over to the big company building. Perhaps more accurately; company skyscraper. A big digital clock hung over the entrance. The big red numbers formed into: '09:25'. Before he entered, he spat out all that toothpaste he squeezed into his mouth, onto the ground. He then spat again, this time into his hand, and rubbed his mouth to get rid any excess toothpaste that may have dried on his lips.

Only 5 minutes, no big deal right? Hehe… I’m screwed.

A very attractive receptionist sat at the counter. He jogged over, and rang the small silver bell to get her attention. Some may call it a useless action, since she did see him come in, but he felt it was there for a reason. “Where is waiting room B, please? Ah, I’m here for the job interview.”

She tapped the keyboard a few more times, before turning her head to his direction. “Hmph, you are late. Your name?" She said, and saw the confused look on the man in front of her. "I need to check your identity first. Just hurry up if you want to be there in time."

"Ah, yes. Simon. Simon Lime?"

She tapped the keyboard a few more times... she looked carefully at her screen, almost squinting, then to Simon, then back at the screen. "Very well, you may pass. You are lucky, the boss is also late. It’s on the third floor, just take the elevator behind me and then follow the signs.”

He thanked her, and rushed into the elevator, hitting the floor button several times. C’mon, close already! Oh, no! Someone is coming! Quickly shut, you stupid door.

An elderly man, wearing a very nice suit entered the building. He whistled a catchy tune and waved to the receptionist, who waved back. He approached the elevator, and could only stare helplessly as the doors shut right in front of him. Their eyes met just before the doors closed, and the elderly man’s gaze caused Simon to feel a chill down his spine. Sorry old man, take the stairs instead.

A nice and calming melody played out inside the elevator. It only made Simon feel more stressed. There was a mirror on one of the walls and he adjusted his clothes and hair. His brown hair was short, but the rush in the morning made him unable to shower and could only use some water to control it. It had dried up again, and now the back of his head stood up again. He noticed his white mouth. Ah, shit.

Simon spit in his hand again, this time making sure it was actually clean, not filled with left over toothpaste. He quickly rubbed it on his mouth, then wiped it off with his sleeve. Eh, good enough.

The doors opened with a ‘ding’, and he saw the big white arrow, on a black sign, pointing to the right. He followed the corridor and found the door with the letter 'B' on it. This it is.

He opened the door. A faint creak immediately notified everyone in the room that someone was entering. All faces in the room turned to stare at him, causing him to quickly sit down in the first chair by the door.

“Huh, just another applicant.”

“He is late. How disgraceful.”

“What is he wearing? You should wear a full suit in situations like these.”

Overhearing some of the mumbling made him feel even worse. He now noticed what kind of clothes the other people in the room wore. Nice suits and dresses all around.

Damn, shouldn’t have skimped out on the clothes. Guess jeans, sneakers and my dad’s old suit jacket doesn't cut it in the real world. At least, I will stand out among the crowd, but maybe not in a good way.

After about thirty seconds the door opened again and an elderly man in a very expensive looking suit came in.

“Sorry for the wait. I, uh, had some traffic problems.” The elderly man looked around in the room, and spotted the elevator thief. Their eyes met, and the elderly man’s lips and eyes twitched, but he recollected himself so quickly, that no one noticed the change in his expression. “Follow me to the interview room.”

“Wow, was that diamond buttons on his suit?” A voice in the group said.

Oh no, looks like this is a really snobby place. Not to mention, it was apparently the boss I stole the elevator from. Ah, maybe I could have gained some benefit from riding with him… Or more likely, he would get an even worse first impression from me.

The applicants entered the interview room, after the elderly man. The room had no chairs or tables inside. Nothing that seemed to suggest they were actually doing an interview. Instead, the elderly man simply told each applicant to take a glass orb from the crate, that stood in the middle of the room. The glass orbs were palm sized and transparent.

What is this? That thought went through everyone's mind.

“I’m sure you got some questions, but for now keep them to yourself. Also, please have an open mind to what I’m about to tell you.”

“This is no ordinary orb. If you focus on it you can make it glow. That is the first test you must pass.”

The elderly man, the boss of the company, then picked up an orb, closed his eyes, and demonstrated what he meant. Several gasps were heard amongst the crowd.

Wow, is this… magic? Haha, how silly. But, you never know…

Simon also decided to try it out. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the orb with his mind. It actually started glowing. All eyes were on him and his orb.

“Yes! Yes! Just like that.” The elderly man wrinkled his whole face as he smiled. Any ill thoughts about the elevator thief went poof, completely gone. “Well done, son. Now, the rest of you, start trying.”

“This is impossible.”

“It’s not working!”

“This is stupid.”

Several people complained, and some held the glass orb up towards the lamp light, checking for anything inside them. Some took out their keys, and tapped them against the orb. Almost everyone wore their confusion on their face.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

But just as they were about to throw their orbs away, another orb started glowing.

“Oh, another one. Well done!”

In total, five people managed to get their orbs to glow.

“Amazing! Five people at once. With this, we don’t need to keep searching. Ah yes, the rest of you can leave now. You five, go through the door behind me and I will be right with you.”

“What?! A stupid test like this is all you did?” A well-combed, clean-shaven, young man pulled out a paper from the inside of his jacket, and waved it in front of him. “You haven’t even looked at my resumé.”

“My father is the CEO of one of the biggest companies in the country and when he hears about this….” Another said, and pulled out his phone to make angry text messages.

Several people voiced their opinions about the test, but they quickly accepted the reality of the situation. Even the most stubborn person in the group didn’t physically resist, and left the building without causing any real trouble.

The elderly man entered the room where the five, that passed, waited patiently.

“Congratulations on passing the test!” He clapped his hands together. “You are all now hired!”

“Wha-? Really? That’s all it took?” One of them said.

“Hey, don’t jinx it now. Just be happy for now.” Another said.

Hmm, this doesn’t feel right. On the job ad, they promised a very high wage, but they never specified the actual work we would do here.

“Um, excuse me, but what exactly are we supposed to do?” Simon asked.

“You will find that out later. For now, let’s introduce ourselves. You may call me Istus. Now you.” He pointed with his whole hand at the elevator thief, the one that first passed the test. “Tell me a bit about yourselves too.”

The man stretched out his old jacket and cleared his throat. “Okay, my name is Simon Lime. Twenty-four years old, had an average life until I finished high school. Then, I lost my parents and have been job hopping ever since. Currently single…” He said, while looking at the two quite attractive girls in the group.

One of the two girls spoke up. She wore a red suit jacket, obviously the female version, with a black skirt. “Um… we don’t need the entire life story, thank you. My name is Helena Ealer. Twenty-three years old. My dad thought I should get out and experience what it’s like to work for your own money, so here I am. Currently single…” She said, while looking at the attractive man, with perfect fashion sense and a shining pearly white smile, that stood next to her.

That person smiled in reply, and began his introduction. “Haha, the more we know about each other, the better. Don’t be afraid to say anything. My name is Andrew Griffin and I’m twenty-three years old and heir to Griffin Inc. Still, this sounded interesting, so I thought, why not, and came here.” He said and brushed his hand through his golden hair.

But he did not end it there, he continued. “Have been doing some modelling since I was thirteen, was the lead singer in a small band for two years during seventeen and eighteen. Likes to scuba dive, long walks on the beach, romantic dinners at expensive restaurants, shopping, and I’m currently studying at Harvard University, though I’m on a break now. Well, that’s enough for now, but just ask me later, and I will happily answer you.” Andrew said and finished his speech with a teeth flashing smile.

“Okay, my turn. Name is Sten Tone. Twenty-six and like powerlifting. Next.” The largest person in the room said. Being around two meters tall, and twice as wide as a normal person, he was quite intimidating. As he finished talking, he crossed his arms over his chest, and the jacket he wore creaked at the seams.

“…. Oh, my turn.” She fidgeted with her hands, and spoke softly. “Um, my name is Anne Rebecca Cher, I’m twenty-two. Likes to read, and don’t like to go outside much. Not sure what else to say…”

Istus nodded. “Very well. That will do for now, I’m sure you will get to know each other a lot better soon. Now, come with me. We are going to the top of this building. The tenth floor. There is one last thing to do.”

Istus quickly walked out of the room, with the other five, following behind him with confused faces.

They arrived at the top floor, and entered the room. The sight they saw as the door opened, shocked them.

Instead of normal lamps, the only source of light in the room came from candles. Most of the candles sat on the floor, on a weird circle pattern, drawn in chalk, that they didn’t recognize. The windowless room and the dark red, almost blood-colored walls didn't help with the atmosphere.

“Um… what is going on here?” Andrew said.

The girls hid behind the mountain of muscles, called Sten, and the sight shocked Simon so much he almost forgot to breathe.

Istus laughed and tried to calm them. “Don’t worry. It’s just like the glass orb test. It seemed weird at first, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s true, I guess.” Andrew, nodding to himself, couldn’t help but admit that he was very sceptical at first. Indeed, the very successful glass orb test granted them this 'opportunity', whatever that meant.

“Now, stand in each of these five smaller circles, on the outside of this bigger circle. Careful not to touch the lines, or you might damage it, which means I would have to repair it, and waste my own and your time.”

The party of five, carefully stepped inside the circles.

Simon bent down, and looked at the circles closer. Hmm.. I have never seen such symbols before. Is this a magic circle? No, that can’t be…. surely, that’s impossible...

Istus stepped inside, into the middle of the circle, and started chanting something in a completely unknown language.

“What is going on? What is he saying?” Helena asked with a nervous voice.

“Do- don’t worry, Helena. As long as I, Andrew Griffin, is here I won’t let anything happen to you.” Andrew puffed out his chest in pride. While in good shape, he was not even close to Sten's level.

Suddenly, the circles started to glow. The light rose to the ceiling and an invisible force restricted their movements.

“Argh! Can’t move my body!” Sten shouted.

Then everything went white.