Chapter 1

Daphne's eyes opened, and she was sitting on a marble floor. She blinked her eyes, not understanding why she was awake. She remembered the fire, the heat, the knowledge that she was dead. Why was she here? How was she alive?

"She's awake," a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Hey, turn around."

Daphne realized that she had been facing a door with a plaque that read:

She turned around to see a large hall, with a long dining table where nine other people all sitting there.

"Where am I? What do you want from me?" Her hands flew to her pockets and she found everything gone, from her phone to wallet to hairclips.

"Calm down, blondie," a black-haired girl rolled her eyes. "We have no idea why we're here either, and we don't have any of our things."

"Were you about to die?" a blue-haired boy asked. "Were you about to die before you ended up here?"

Daphne felt weirded out by the questions, but she had always been a trusting person, so she answered, "Yes. I was about to die in a fire."

"Hmm," the boy frowned. "All of us here were about to die before we appeared here."

Before he could say anything else, a voice crackled to life. [Hello, players. Welcome to Survive.]

"What the hell do you mean, 'Survive'? Who are you? Why are you calling us 'players'? Why are we here?" a dirty blonde-haired girl asked.

[This is a game called Survive. You ten have been chosen to be its players. As players, you must survive to beat the game. Once you're dead, you're no longer a player.]

"Why us?" Daphne spoke up. "Why were we chosen? What are our purposes? Why are you talking like we might die?"

[Every one of you ten individuals has a skill that might help you beat the game. And you might die.]

"What game?" another boy, a redhead, yelled. "This doesn't make any sense!"

[Yes, yell some more. Create drama for the viewers.]

"What viewers?" A green-haired boy asked.

A white-haired boy pointed at the ceilings, where there were cameras. "That must be what the voice meant."

"People are watching us? Why can't they save us? Why won't they save us?" a black-haired boy's voice cracked.

[All of you have also been picked because you are believed to be dead by the world. Everyone believes that you are all actors of people who are already dead and that this is just a horror entertainment channel]

"So no one is coming to save us?" another redhead whimpered.

[No. The only way to leave is if you beat the game]

"What are the rules of this game?" a pink-haired girl asked.

[This is a game called Survive. You are all in a twenty-five-story building. Every time a challenge is given, you all must complete it. Every time a challenge is completed, a floor will be unlocked. Your goal as a player is to beat the game, which is to get to the twenty-fifth floor. There are only two rules: not to leave the grounds of this building, or to push a player off the grounds of the building. Breaking a rule will be punished with death. The person who reaches the twenty-fifth floor will be able to leave the building. So try your best, and good luck to... Survive.]