3) Realm lottery and Dóirus

Location: ???

Time: 00:08:28 — Countdown In Progress

When Everett blinked again, he wasn't on Earth anymore.

No screams.

No neon.

No floating raccoons in sequin capes.

Just… white.

A vast, glowing white.

The kind of white that made his brain itch.

He looked around. "Did I... die? Or accidentally uninstall color?"

Then he noticed it. Hovering just in front of him, pulsing in soft blue:

> [SYSTEM LOADING… ⏳]

Time Remaining: 08:28

Synchronizing Global Sentient Opt-In Protocol…

Everett read it twice, then squinted up.

"So now I have to wait for everyone else to finish clicking the damn button? Really? We're doing a group project now?"

He sighed and crossed his arms. The timer ticked down.

8:21… 8:17… 8:14…

There was nothing to do. Nothing to see.

So he sat on what felt like a floor made of glowing tiles—white bricks made of light. No walls. No corners. Just him… and—

Oh.

Not just him.

The world shimmered—and others phased in.

One by one, thousands. Then hundreds of thousands. Then billions.

People. Animals. Creatures he couldn't name.

To his left, a chimpanzee wearing a scarf tried tapping the system button with its foot.

To his right, an elderly woman floated inside a jellyfish-shaped hoverchair.

Behind him, a dolphin levitated in a pod filled with humming blue water.

Across the infinite glowing expanse, life gathered.

The ones who had said yes.

Everett muttered, "Guess the multiverse had more signups than expected."

---

00:06:00

00:05:00

00:02:00

00:00:01

00:00:00

With a flash like a thought being born, the timer vanished.

The air shifted.

A soft chime echoed through the endless white.

Then, with a subtle ripple, walls formed from nothing.

The horizon folded inward like a closing flower—until all participants stood in a great circular hall of glowing bricks and glass sky.

Everett stood, brushing nonexistent dust off his pants.

"Great," he muttered. "Still not isekai'd. Just… upgraded my waiting room."

---

"Hey! You there!"

Everett turned as a young man with spiky chestnut hair and a smile too big for any apocalypse jogged toward him.

"I'm Dóirus! What class you get?"

Everett blinked. "Uh… Cube of Becoming."

Dóirus tilted his head, grinning. "Whoa. That sounds mysterious! Like… final boss tier! Or maybe final janitor tier, who knows?"

He laughed at his own joke. Everett gave him a smile back—tired, polite, the international currency of introverts being cornered.

Dóirus continued, "Mine's 'Doirus,' too—like my name, isn't that weird? It lets me control some water and clouds. But I have this thing called a 'Mystery Lock' on my class tree and this glowing cloud that follows me sometimes. Do you know what those mean? And wait—are you from Earth-Earth or Earth-5? Or like… Upper Nile District?"

Everett blinked.

Dóirus didn't.

The man talked like a panic attack in a karaoke bar.

After three full minutes, he finally paused. "Ah, sorry. I talk when I'm nervous. You ever get that? Talking too much when you feel like a sim on speed mode?"

Everett smiled. "All the time."

They both chuckled.

Everett added, "I'm Everett. I have no idea what my class does yet."

Dóirus grinned. "Hey, that just means your story hasn't started yet. Mine either. But at least we're in it now, right?"

Everett nodded, quietly grateful for the company.

Around them, the noise rose. Some cheered, some cried, some just sat cross-legged in silence. A few were yelling about their classes—"I got Snack Summoner!", "My sword turns into a tax form!", "Why am I a Sad Ventriloquist!?"—and a few were actively sobbing next to their glowing baguette weapons.

---

Suddenly, the sky above them shattered—cracked like glass—and from it, a radiant panel of divine UI descended, blinding and unreadable until it settled into clarity.

Everyone looked up.

> [PHASE 2: CHALLENGE I — REALM SURVIVAL TRIAL]

Challenge: Survive 24 hours

Realm Selection: Initiating Lottery Draw

Total Realms Available: 168,444

Begin Spin…

Above them, a titanic wheel of realms materialized. Its symbols glittered and shifted: volcanic peaks, dark clouds, crystalline towers, bioluminescent jungles, frozen cathedrals, molten libraries, underwater moons.

Each realm—more absurd than the last.

Everett read the ones that weren't flickering too fast:

Glass Realm

Magma Maw

Kukilo Bloom

Tirus Void

Mirror Vault

Realm of Falling Sky

Infinite Garden of Bugs (he shivered)

Frost Rune

He winced.

"Oh no."

The wheel spun wildly, thunderous and dazzling.

Everett crossed his arms. "Please not the bug realm. Please not the bug realm."

Dóirus whispered, "Please not the magma one. I sweat when I eat soup."

The wheel slowed.

Click. Click. Click.

Frost Realm.

A crystalline snowflake sigil lit up, shining in eerie, glacial blue.

> [YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED: FROST REALM]

Realm Type: Cold Class

Difficulty Tier: Medium-Hard

Environmental Hazards: Extreme Cold, Temporal Skew

Known Survival Rate: 68%

Entry in 3… 2… 1…

Everett turned to Dóirus. "Do you have a sweater?"

Dóirus looked pale. "Does anxiety count as insulation?"

Before they could answer—

The floor opened beneath them.

White tiles turned to falling snow.

The sky imploded into stars.

The cold rushed up from nowhere—an ancient cold, deeper than winter and older than fear.

As they fell through the light, Everett held his breath.

> "Well," he muttered. "Here we frostin' go."

---