"Bang. "

  "The beginning of creation as we know it started with the big bang. Everything that will be known was decided in the big bang, the turning point from nothingness to light, the breaking of darkness with hope, and the beginning of the end with the end of the beginning."

  "But what if that wasn't true? What if the big bang is a cover up to make humanity conform as chess pieces of a much larger game."

  I finally break the awful drumming of the lecture. "Take philosophy they said. Philosophy is an easy credit they said. This feels more like conspiracy theories than philosophy," I joked to my desk mate and best friend, Ian. "Arthur, relax, as stupid as his lectures are, Professor Zalkost has the easiest tests known to man. Compared to his lectures, the tests are like first grade math."

  This shit is so boring. I'm 21 years old, I was born with a silver spoon, and here I am stuck in this class with no idea what I want to do with my life. I would much rather be exploring the world or getting a girlfriend, or literally anything else. Hell, I would even work a dead end gas station job if I could get out of doing this.

  "Ian, can you cover me while I run to the bathroom? I need to stretch my legs. Another 30 minutes of this and my bones will be Jello," I pleaded with him. He loudly sighed, "Fine, but you owe me one. Maybe deal with my parents this summer with me, or else I will die from their nagging if I have to suffer it alone." "I refuse to let you take me to hell with you," I joked as I stood up and bolted out.

  As I started down the empty halls, I began to zone out to the sound of my footsteps. Until suddenly, the air was filled with silence. Absolute silence.

  I paused and looked around and opened my mouth, screaming "..."

  I meant I screamed "..."

  Wait. "Where's my voice? Where is the rhythmic sound of my footsteps?" I wondered to myself. I stomped my feet, only for continued silence.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  This is wrong. Very very wrong. I turned around and bolted to Professor Zalkost's room, running past empty rooms, without a single sound as I ran through the halls. Not even the buzzing of electricity, the faint mumbling of voices, or the usual crowd known for skipping classes.

  I make it to the classroom, and slam the door open. Wait... The door, actually made a noise... But the classroom appeared empty. Yet, it seems like sound is back.

  "Ian! Professor Zalkost! Marie? Jake? Anyone?" I cry out. I really wish I memorized more of my classmates names. "Where did everyone go?" I pinch myself trying to wake up from this dream, and it hurts. It hurts a lot.

  Suddenly a red screen pops up in front of my eyes reading out, both on the screen and an audible message in my head.

  [Welcome Arthur Cane Rivers! You have been chosen to...]

  I zone out. I feel my breath leaving my lungs as I fall to the ground. The walls spin, my heart pounds, and my lungs barely inflate as my thoughts spiral. Where am I? What's happening? I can't be dreaming, I definitely felt pain. I must be-

  BANG

  I pause, laying on the ground as I regather myself. What was that sound?

  BANG BANG

  Gunshots? No. Sounds like doors. And it's getting closer. The red screen pops up again.

  [Survive. Time limit: 30 minutes. Rewards: Class Advancement, Starter Kit, and Teleportation back to "Professor Zalkost's Class: Real World"]

  Survive? Must be from the sound. 30 minutes? That should be easy. I don't understand the rest. Class advancement and starter kit? That teleportation... That indicates I'm in a different place, but that shouldn't be possible. Unless...

  "No," I shake my thoughts away, and take a closer look at the room around me. I touch the walls and notice faint grid lines. They are all over the walls, floor, and ceiling.

  BANG. Followed by an unnerving screech. "Krrrreek." Whatever it was, it was no animal I knew. I tried to remember what the screen said and suddenly it popped up.

  [Active Quest: Survive. Time Remaining: 25 minutes, and 47 seconds.]

  [Status: Marked.

  Position revealed. Run]

  "Shit." I find whatever strength is left on my body and start moving to the classroom doors.

  BANG BANG.

  I move as quickly as my legs will let me. I don't have time to understand. I need to get out of here. I bust through the doors, quickly looking both ways as I hear another, and more violent screech.

  "KRRRREEEEEEEK."

  [Automatic translation: "Food". Good luck, Arthur Rivers]. The screen disappears as quickly as it appears, unblocking my view of this... This thing. This monster.

  "Fuck me."