Chapter 1: The White Room
I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed was the cold. It seeped up through the floor, smooth and hard beneath my palms, and settled deep in my bones. This was not my bed, not my small apartment on the quiet street in Hanoi where the air always smelled of jasmine and warm tea. This place smelled of nothing at all—just clean, sharp antiseptic and the faint, metallic tang of something new and unused.
I sat up slowly, my head throbbing as if I had been hit hard from behind. My memory was a blank slate. I could recall my name—Kiên—and that I worked with computers, that I had been walking home from the office late one night under a sky full of stars. After that, there was only darkness.
Looking around, I realized I was in a room that was nothing but white. White walls, white ceiling, white floor, no windows, no door, no mark or scratch anywhere. The only thing that broke the emptiness was a single chair in the corner and a large, dark screen set into the far wall. I stood and walked to the wall, pressing my palm against it. It was cool and solid, and gave nothing away.
Then I heard the voices.
They came from everywhere at once—shouts, sobs, angry demands, terrified whispers. I stepped back and saw that the walls were not solid after all. Faint, translucent panels separated me from dozens of other rooms exactly like mine, stretching outward in wide, endless circles. In every single one of them stood people, just as confused and afraid as I was. There were faces of every color, hair of every shade, clothing from every corner of the world. Some were pounding on the barriers, others were huddled on the floor, and more were staring around in stunned silence.
At the very center of all those circles floated a sphere of pale, glowing light. It turned slowly, as if watching every single one of us, and then a voice spoke—soft, clear, feminine, and perfectly calm, echoing from every direction so that there was no way to tell where it came from.
Welcome, chosen ones.
The shouting died away as quickly as it had risen. A hush fell over the entire space, heavy and thick with dread.
My name is Aura, the voice continued. You have all agreed to take part in the Game of the Thirteen Stars. You are here because you were selected, and because you accepted the terms.
I frowned. I had agreed to nothing. I looked around and saw the same confusion mirrored on every face. A man in the room directly across from me slammed his fist against the barrier again and again.
I never agreed to anything! he shouted. Let me go home right now! Do you hear me? I will sue every last one of you!
Aura did not raise her voice. There was no change in her tone at all.
Request to withdraw from the game is denied, she said. Processing elimination.
A thin beam of red light swept across to his room. The man’s mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. He seemed to flicker, like a candle in a sudden wind, and then he was gone. There was no body, no blood, no trace that he had ever been there at all. The white floor was still smooth and empty.
Silence rushed back in, louder than any scream. People covered their mouths, pressing fists against their lips to keep from making a sound. Tears spilled down cheeks, but no one dared to cry out.
Any form of resistance, escape attempt, or violation of the rules will be met with the same outcome, Aura said, as if nothing at all had happened. There are one hundred players here today. You all speak different languages, but you will understand one another perfectly—your minds have been linked to my system, so no words will be lost. This is the only gift you will receive freely.
The sphere turned once more, and the light it cast shifted, growing brighter and colder.
The first game will begin in ten minutes. It corresponds to the first sign: Aries, the Ram. The rules will be explained when the doors open. Remember this: not everyone will leave this room. Not everyone will even reach the second floor. To survive, you must think faster than the walls, and run faster than the hands of time.
Her voice softened, taking on a tone that might have been gentle, if it had held even a flicker of real feeling.
Prepare yourselves. The game has already begun.
The light faded, leaving us in a dim, humming twilight. I sank down onto the floor, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me. Around me, I saw people looking at one another—strangers, from every country on earth, trapped in the same nightmare. Some looked away, afraid to meet another’s eyes. Others stared back, assessing, wondering who would be their ally and who would be their enemy.
I thought of the man who had vanished, and I knew with absolute certainty that whatever waited for us beyond those white walls, it would be far worse than anything I could imagine.
Somewhere, a bell chimed, soft and clear. The walls hummed, and a narrow opening appeared in the front of my room. Beyond it lay a long, shadowed corridor, and somewhere far ahead, a red light pulsed like a waiting heart.
I took a deep breath and stepped through.
