"Urgh..."

Deon groaned as he struggled to get up. His head felt like someone had grabbed a rock and bashed it into him.

Wait...was that actually what happened?!

His eyes remained closed, trying to remember what happened before he blacked out.

Right, I had a shitty stream before getting something at the convenience store with the donation money.

It was so cold, I thought I’d have to go home early before...

"Ah! That’s right...! That woman!"

The woman who approached him and handed him a small box with an envelope inside. And how she talked about some kind of competition that he didn’t quite remember.

Deon put a hand on his head, slowly pushing himself up before he realized where he was. Or rather...where he couldn’t make sense of.

Endless white stretched in every direction, as far as the eye could see. For a brief second, his brain tried to make sense of it.

This some kind of filming set? This has gotta be studio lights...right?

But the thought fell apart almost instantly as he saw other people, who were just as groggy as him.

Voices resounded through the space all at once, messy and overlapping. But almost all the conversations that Deon heard only told him one thing: everyone was just as confused as he was.

"Where are we—?"

"Wasn’t I just at—"

"This isn’t funny. Who is doing this?!"

This wasn’t exactly how people got kidnapped. There was no van or struggle—hell, he could still taste the cheap milk bread still in his mouth.

Deon’s hand instinctively reached inside his pocket, pulling his phone out. He immediately navigated to the emergency line and tried to call it.

Beep...beep...beep...

Nothing.

What the...I know there’s no signal, but I can’t even reach the emergency line?!

Damn it, Deon, why’d you have to break the first rule your mom taught you? Don’t trust strangers! And here you are, in this position because you trusted a stranger!

But before he could blame himself any more than he already had, a noise had cut through all the chatter.

A man wearing a gray suit to his left raised his voice, trying to control the situation. "Everyone, calm down! Panicking isn’t going to help—there has to be a way out of here!"

Another woman wearing a red dress cut in just after he finished. "Then find it! You think yelling’s gonna do anything?"

"Haha!" someone else laughed, looking all around. "Hidden cameras, right? This has to be some kind of show, like those prank survival things—!"

Deon decided to separate himself from the crowd that was starting to form in the center, or what looked like the center, of the room.

His mind was fixed on trying to remember what the woman said, and the most important word that he’d picked out was:

"Competition, huh?"

I’ve done a few game shows before. With this much people. Teams are bound to be formed.

Since we don’t know the rules, I need to stick with a team as well to not be left behind. Problem was...who?

Deon paused and scanned the room, trying to pick out anybody that look like they could handle themselves.

That was when he managed to spot someone, not because they stood out alone—quite the opposite, actually. A small crowd had formed around a single person.

Why? Because that was Levi Knox, award-winning actor and generational idol.

He was wearing a white turtleneck and a similar black jacket that Deon was wearing. His long white hair was loosely tied back as he spoke with some of his fans who had crowded around. His soft violet eyes stared at them, yet for some reason, Deon could see that he wasn’t really interested in what they had to say.

Deon realized that he was scanning around as well, doing the same thing that he was doing. For a brief moment, he had considered it.

...

Who am I kidding? That’s Levi Knox, you can’t even approach within 10 steps of him, Deon. Better to just find someone else...

Deon turned around, only to take a step forward, straight into someone.

"Ah! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—"

But that was all Deon heard. Everything else filtered through his head as he looked at who he bumped into.

There was only one word to describe this person: beautiful.

Long baby-blue hair spilled past her shoulders, kept neatly in place by a white band across the top of her head. The dark gray blazer with a subtle woven texture that she wore made the pale gray of her eyes stand out even more as they widened in embarrassment.

Deon barely managed to catch himself from staring. "Ah, no. It’s my fault, I didn’t hear you approach."

"R-Right..."

"Uhm...by any chance..."

She fidgeted with her sleeves for a moment, then looked at him again. The girl hesitated, as if unsure whether she should ask before she finally spoke up:

"Are you DDayTuber?"

Of course. A hundred strangers in this insane white void and someone still recognizes me...

He crossed his arm, expression flat before speaking. "If you’re here to laugh about it too, then get in line."

"W-What? No!" she blurted out so quickly that even Deon paused.

Her hands shot up in panic, waving frantically as she shook her head. "I’m not like that—I mean, I watched sometimes, but not to hate-watch or anything! I just—"

She cut herself off, cheeks flushing slightly before forcing the next words out in one breath.

"My user ID is QuietLurker!"

"...What?"

She pointed awkwardly at herself, as if that somehow clarified everything. "QuietLurker. From your stream earlier. Oh but it’s embarrassing to use your userID in real life...Please call me Hana."

Deon blinked, realization kicking in immediately.

"good luck...hope this helps."

"That was...you?" Deon said slowly, trying to comprehend what’s going on right now.

She gave a small, embarrassed smile and scratched her cheek. "Uhm...yeah. Sorry if that was weird."

Deon opened his mouth, the words feeling strangely unfamiliar on his tongue. A simple thank you shouldn’t have been difficult.

Especially not to someone who had shown him more kindness in five dollars than most people had in the last few months.

But before he could say anything—

A deep rumble shook the floor beneath them. The entire white space trembled just enough to send murmurs through the crowd.

Deon instinctively stepped back, eyes narrowing as he turned toward the source.

At the center of the room, where the largest group had gathered, the ground began to rise. People stumbled away as a circular platform slowly emerged from beneath the seamless floor. It lifted several feet into the air before stopping.

And standing atop it...was a man in a perfectly tailored black suit.

His face was completely hidden behind a blank white mask, featureless except for two dark eye holes that gave away nothing.

"Welcome and greetings to all participants of the Miracle Royale," the man said simply.

"I am the Game Master, and will be in charge of this round’s Miracle Royale."

For a moment, everyone was too stunned to speak. But as they recovered, the shouting began all at once.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Let us out!"

"Who are you people?!"

"Is this some kind of kidnapping?!"

Yet the masked man stood motionless, allowing the noise to swell until it nearly drowned itself out.

Then he raised one gloved hand, gesturing calmly. "But you all signed, did you not?"

"..." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"However," he continued smoothly. "Everything we told you is real."

Almost like it was preordained, the room fell quiet on instinct. Even Deon felt himself listening despite better judgement.

The masked man spread both arms wide, like a showman on stage. "The winner of the Miracle Royale..."

"Will be granted the power to reshape the world in accordance with their vision!"

The main raised a hand up into the air dramatically before—

Snap!

With a snap of his finger, a small card had appeared in the hand of each and every one of the contestants along with a pen.

"Now then..."

"What is your desire?"