Eclipse Arena Is Live!!! (II)

Before Ace could react more than a cuss, a sickly green, monstrous hand lunged out from his screen—

And grabbed him.

His body jolted as an invisible force pulled him forward. His vision blurred. His hands, his arms—his entire body was being yanked into the screen.

"Ace?!—" Mia's voice barely reached him before—

Everything went black.

Across the world, the same thing happened.

Young kids playing on their phones. Teenagers locked in their rooms. Adults casually testing the game. Even the elderly who had been curious about the hype.

Each of them saw the same white screen.

Each of them saw the same green hand.

Each of them was pulled inside.

And just like that—

The game had begun.

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Darkness.

Ace's head spun as he fell—no, plunged—into an abyss. His body felt weightless, like he was suspended in an infinite void. A rush of wind howled past his ears, but he couldn't see anything.

Then, all at once—

THUD!

Ace hit the ground, hard. A sharp pain shot up his back as he groaned, blinking rapidly. His vision was blurry, but the floor beneath him felt… solid? Cold, smooth, almost like marble.

He inhaled sharply and pushed himself up, his heart racing. "What the hell was that?!"

A loud ringing filled his ears before fading into a low, distant hum. Slowly, his surroundings came into focus.

He wasn't in his room anymore.

Ace found himself standing in a massive, circular arena. The sky above was an eerie, endless void, shifting between deep purples and electric blues, like some kind of cosmic storm. The walls stretched impossibly high, glowing faintly with strange, ancient symbols.

All around him, people were appearing one by one, dropping onto the ground just as he had.

Some were students from his school. Others were complete strangers—teenagers, even adults, all looking just as confused and panicked as he felt. The murmurs and confused whispers quickly turned into shouts.

"WHERE ARE WE?!"

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"

"THIS… THIS IS ECLIPSE ARENA?"

Ace's breathing was shallow. His fingers twitched at his sides as he tried to make sense of the impossible.

'We got pulled in… we got pulled into the game?!'

Then, a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Ace!"

He whipped around just as Mia sprinted toward him. She looked shaken, but she was here.

"Mia!" He exhaled in relief. "You— You're okay?"

"I don't know!" she said, eyes wide. "What the hell is going on?! One second we were starting the game, and now we're—" She gestured wildly at their surroundings. "—here?"

Ace swallowed. "Yeah. And I don't think we're dreaming. The pain from that fall was definitely real."

A deafening chime suddenly echoed across the arena, silencing everyone. The ground trembled beneath their feet, and a deep, mechanical voice boomed from above.

[WELCOME, PLAYERS.]

Ace's blood ran cold.

The sky flickered as a massive, digital screen appeared, hovering high above them. A pixelated mask-like face emerged on the screen, its expression completely void of emotion.

[THE GAME HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN.]

Murmurs of confusion turned into outright panic.

"What do you mean 'the game has begun'?! This isn't real!"

"Woah this Game is the shit! Really lives up to hype."

Ace's hands clenched into fists. His gut told him this wasn't a game. Something was deeply, horribly wrong.

The masked figure on the screen continued.

[THERE IS A RULE IN ECLIPSE ARENA: SURVIVE.]

A chilling silence fell over the arena.

Ace's stomach twisted. Survive?

Then, as if to answer his unspoken question—

The floor beneath them shifted.

The arena darkened.

And the first challenge began.

-

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The lights in the arena flickered as the masked figure on the giant screen spoke again.

[CHALLENGE ONE: MUSICAL CHAIRS.]

Ace blinked. "Wait... what?"

Mia stared at the screen, then at the arena floor. Rows of chairs—far fewer than the number of players—suddenly rose from the ground, perfectly arranged in a massive circle.

"This is a joke, right?" one of the players muttered.

But Ace wasn't laughing. Something about this felt wrong.

The mechanical voice continued:

[RULES ARE SIMPLE. WHEN THE MUSIC PLAYS, YOU WALK.

WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS, YOU SIT.

THOSE LEFT STANDING… WILL BE ELIMINATED.]

A thick silence settled over the players.

Ace's stomach twisted. He had played musical chairs as a kid. It was a dumb party game where the only thing at stake was bruised pride. But here…

'Eliminated' didn't mean losing a turn. It meant losing everything. But they didn't know that.

Mia clenched her fists. "This should be simple."

Ace nodded, muscles tensing. "Then we better not lose."

A loud DING rang through the arena.

Then, a haunting, distorted tune began playing from nowhere. It was cheerful, almost playful—yet something about it felt deeply unsettling.

The game had begun.

All at once, the players hesitantly started walking in a circle, weaving between the chairs. The movement was awkward, nervous, like they were all waiting for something awful to happen.

Ace kept his pace steady, scanning the seats. There were at least fifty players here—but only about thirty chairs.

Twenty people won't make it.

The thought sent a cold chill down his spine as he smiled. He was definitely winning this.

The music played on, twisting and warping as if the notes were bending in on themselves. Sweat formed on Ace's brow. He kept his focus, trying to calculate the best position. He had played enough games to know that the moment the music stopped—

It did.

Silence crashed over the arena like a thunderclap.

For half a second, no one moved.

Then—chaos.

People lunged for the chairs, shoving, scrambling, desperate to secure a seat.

Ace twisted his body and dived, landing hard on a chair just as someone else reached for it. Their hands clawed at the armrest, but Ace was faster. The player cursed and spun around, searching for another open spot.

Mia had secured a seat too, panting as she gripped the edges of her chair. But others weren't so lucky.

At least twenty people were left standing.

A deep, guttural noise rumbled through the air. The masked figure on the screen spoke once more:

[THOSE LEFT STANDING… ELIMINATED.]

Before anyone could react, the ground beneath the standing players vanished.

Screams filled the arena as they plummeted into the darkness below. Their voices faded instantly—cut off as if they had never existed.

Then, the floor sealed back up.

Just like that, they were gone.

Ace's hands gripped his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. His pulse hammered in his ears.

'They were just sent out of the game? Right?'

But it wasn't over yet.

Because the masked figure's voice returned, echoing coldly across the arena:

[ROUND TWO.]

The music began playing again.

And there were even fewer chairs.

The sickening melody played again, echoing through the arena. The remaining players hesitated for a split second, still in shock from what had just happened. But there was no time to think—the game had already resumed.

Ace forced himself to move, his legs feeling stiff as he stepped into the rotating circle of players. Mia walked beside him, her breathing heavy but steady.

There were fewer chairs now.

Ace counted quickly—only twenty left.

That meant at least ten more people were about to be eliminated.

He clenched his jaw. This wasn't just about sitting down fast enough. This was about SURVIVAL.

Mia whispered beside him, "People are gonna start getting desperate."

Ace nodded. "Stay close to me. If someone tries to pull anything, we fight for our spots."

The music continued, twisting and warping into something even more unnatural. The notes were distorted, as if reality itself was bending under the weight of the sound.

Players started adjusting their positions, subtly pushing forward, eyes darting around, trying to pick the perfect chair.

Then—

The music stopped.

A half-second of eerie silence.

Then—pure chaos, again!

Players shoved, yanked, and threw themselves at the chairs. Someone tackled another player to the ground just to steal a seat. Another grabbed the back of a chair and ripped someone off it before sitting down.

Ace saw a chair right in front of him. He lunged for it—

Someone else dove at the same time.

Their hands collided on the armrest. A tall guy—one of the older players. His eyes were wild with desperation.

"Move," the guy hissed, trying to shove Ace aside.

Ace gritted his teeth. "Not happening."

The other player yanked Ace's arm, trying to pull him off-balance.

No way. Not like this.

Ace used the momentum against him. Instead of resisting, he let himself fall—and at the last second, twisted his body, slamming his elbow into the guy's side.

The older player stumbled just enough—

Ace seized his chance and dropped into the chair.

The guy reached for him, his face a mix of panic and rage—

Then the floor beneath him disappeared.

His scream barely lasted a second before he was swallowed into the abyss below.

Ace sat there, breathing hard. His heart hammered in his chest.

Mia had found a seat too, gripping the edges so tightly her knuckles were white. Around them, the unlucky ones were vanishing, pulled into the void, their terrified cries cut short.

Then, silence.

The masked figure's voice returned.

[FINAL: ROUND THREE.]