The air was vibrating from the music filling the theatre. The song playing was one he had never heard before. Almost alien-like as if it did not belong on this earth.

And suddenly the music was gone, everything became quiet. It was silent as if the entire world had gone quiet. And his soul yearned for it to return.

He had never wanted something so much, his entire being calling out… and then with a single note, it returned.

The sound of millions of beings singing at once. The universe itself was singing along with the melody. And his soul could not be contained.

As the song hit a crescendo, his soul left him and became one with reality itself. And at that moment, he was everything and everything was him. Waves of sadness, joy, despair rolling over him as he let the sounds consume him in their entirety.

And as quickly as it came, it left, and for a second as the music faded, he could see. He glimpsed a hill covered in grass and flowers and sitting atop of a stump was a boy from which the music originated from.

The boy playing was him… William Woods.

Will woke up with a start, his breaths quick as he remembered the intensity of the dream he had just had. He had been having dreams since the system descended for the past two days.

Calming down a little he looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in a makeshift camp located in the school assembly hall. And on the other side of the school was the gymnasium where he had been planning on heading.

Taking a look down at himself, he remebered how strangely he was dressed after selecting his class. He had on a dark blue vest, with the standard black pants and boots all the other classes received. He also had a dark blue cloak that seemed to end around his knees.

His thoughts soon wandered to how he had even ended up in this situation.

The day the system had appeared he had been in his first period class awaiting the teacher. Then disaster had struck. With everyone panicking they had decided to treat this like one of their drills and evacuate the school.

That was until everyone realized they were trapped. Panic had set in and the teachers were having a terrible time trying to keep everything in order. Until someone had used the intercom to tell everyone to meet at the gymnasium.

With a plan in mind, the students, and the faculty, including Katie, the school principal, set off. This is when they discovered exactly how dangerous the school had become. The reality of the situation had set it.

They had tried to reach the gymnasium, they really had but as people started to die… the faculty decided to camp out at the assembly hall which was much closer. Two had passed and everything had been going well… if well meant only a few kids breaking down.

Until the realization that they were all going to starve to death soon if they did not find food.

Will rose from his makeshift bed of blankets they had scavenged and checked his phone.

It was around 10 in the morning, he then quickly shut it off to preserve the battery as much as possible. After accounting for the time, he quickly went to talk to Camellia who he knew was already awake.

As he neared the area, that Camellia slept at he saw that she was already prepared and had a map of the school in her hands.

“Camellia you can’t actually be serious about this” Will said in a hushed but hurried tone. Camellia looked at him and sighed turning away, “We have to! Do you just want everyone to starve to death! Look I’m not arguing about this with you again ok.”

She started to head towards Ms. Olson, also known as Katie to the faculty.

Looking at her and then around he saw the state of the students. Most of the kids were either still sleeping or just lying there. Some were crying tears that they didn’t have anymore.

They were in a sorry state and if things didn’t change, they would all just die here.

He knew something had to be done but he wished Camellia did'nt need to be the one to take a stand. William knew he wasn’t the type to stand up or lead a crowd, but he would stand with his friend if he had to. To survive, to live.

Mustering his courage, he ran after Camellia and grabbed her hand. Before she had a chance to say anything he blurted out, “I know I said not to do this, but I can tell you’re pretty dead set on doing this. So, I might as well help you out.”

Camellia’s face lit up with joy he hadn’t seen in a while. “Yes! I knew you would come around. Ok, just follow my lead as I talk to Ms. Olson.”

With a nod from Will, they went to talk to the principal of Hollow gate.

Katie Olson was standing on the steps up to the stage of the auditorium. William thought she looked defeated, ever since her idea to camp out here, they hadn’t received any other instructions from her or the staff.

They seemed just as confused as the students and that was not encouraging at all. But Camellia did not seem fazed in the slightest. Marching towards Katie she said, “Ms. Olson I have an idea about how we can survive this “Initiation Event” I just need you to hear me out.”

Looing up Katie, seemed to regard them for a little bit. Letting out a sigh she responded, “I don’t have any plans so let me hear it.”

Listening to the plan Camellia had already told him a million times before, he thought maybe they could actually pull this off. And from the look Ms. Olson, she also seemed to think so.

“Wow… that’s actually a really good idea. Let me talk to the other faculty as well but I think you got something here.” In a hurry, she ran off to where all the staff members were grouped.

As she left Camellia turned to look at him and said, “We’re going to survive this Will… all of us.”

He wished he could believe her; he did but in the very back of his head he could hear it. The melody from his dreams, but this time it felt sinister. Gone was the sound of a million beings singing, in its place was the sound of a single person weeping.

And for some reason, he was sure that it was him.

As he looked at his status he hoped they were ready for what was to come.

William Woods

Class: Mage Lv1

Skills/Abilities: [Inferior Mana Sense] [Basic Mana Manipulation] [Mage’s Intelligence]

Titles: NA

Quests: [Above and Beyond!] [Discover the Melody]