VOID

Chapter 0: warm-up

As the group of college students arrived at the old classroom building on campus, they couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness. They had all received a mysterious email from a company called I0I, inviting them to participate in a new virtual experimental study. The email promised a cash prize of $1,000 just for playing, and the chance to win a share of $1,000,000 if they could solve the final riddle and beat the game.

The selected group chosen to partake in this game consisted of a diverse mix of students, each with their own unique backgrounds and personalities. There was for example this first group made up of Alex, the pre-law student with a troubled past; Brittany, the fashion design major with a secret addiction; Carlos, the computer science major with a talent for hacking; and Dana, the no-nonsense business major with cutthroat ambition that stood anxious with excitement.

As they entered the building, they were greeted by a hologram of a friendly game coordinator named Dada who explained the rules of the game. They would be placed in a virtual reality escape room, where they would have to solve riddles and complete challenges in order to escape. Equipped only with a smartphone, their imagination, and working as a team where they learn and adapt. Game is over for a player only when the final riddle is completed or a player has died in the game. Logging off results in immediate death in the game.

The group followed the hologram to a dimly lit room, where they saw a table with 20 smart phones on it. Each student took one, and the hologram Dada explained that the phones would serve as their main communication, information and navigation device during the game.

With the phones in hand, the students donned their VR headsets and were transported to a virtual reality room. As they looked around, they noticed that their group had gotten a lot smaller. Where were the other students? 

The group, consisting of Alex, Brittany, Carlos, and Dana, looked around the dimly lit room, and they saw that it was filled with a table of different books and loose papers. The room was illuminated by a group of lit candlesticks with engraved numbers on them, which gave off a flickering light that cast shadows across the walls. On the back wall was a whiteboard with a series of Greek symbols scrawled on it.

The group quickly got to work, examining the books and papers on the table and trying to decipher the message on the whiteboard. Alex, the pre-law student, suggested that they divide the work and assign tasks to each member of the group.

Brittany, the fashion design major, began to flip through the books and papers, looking for any clues or hints that might help them solve the riddle. She soon came across a children’s book called “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” As she leafed through the pages, she noticed that certain letters were circled and that there was a Greek symbol on the corresponding page.

“Hey guys, check this out!” Brittany exclaimed. “I think I found something!”

Carlos, the computer science major, came over to take a look. “Looks like a code of some kind,” he said, frowning in concentration.

Dana, the no-nonsense business major, glanced at the book and shrugged. “I don’t know about this. It’s just a kids’ book. How is that supposed to help us?”

Alex chuckled. “Don’t be so quick to judge, Dana. You never know where the answers might be hidden.”

Carlos examined the whiteboard, trying to find any hidden messages or codes that might have been left behind. He noticed that the Greek symbols on the whiteboard matched the ones in the children’s book.

“Hey, I think I see a pattern here!” Carlos said, his eyes lighting up. “The Greek symbols on the whiteboard match the ones in the book. Maybe if we match them up, we can figure out what they mean.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “Great, now we’re relying on a children’s book to solve this puzzle. This is ridiculous.”

But despite her skepticism, the group worked together to match the Greek symbols on the whiteboard with the circled letters in the children’s book. It wasn’t long before they realized that the symbols formed a message: “Remove the fifth candle.”

As they worked to decipher the clues, they began to feel a sense of urgency. They knew that the candles would only burn for another 15 minutes or so, after which the room would be plunged into complete darkness. They had to act fast.

They searched the room for the fifth candle and found it hidden behind a stack of books. As they removed it, they heard a faint clicking sound, and a hidden door in the wall began to slowly creak open.

“We did it!” Brittany exclaimed, grinning from cheek to cheek.

“Yeah, and just in the nick of time,” Alex added, glancing at the candles. “I don’t think we would have made it much longer in the dark.”

Escape room (warm-up challenge)

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The group looked at each other in amazement, laughing and celebrating their victory. They had deciphered the riddle and unlocked the way to freedom. They couldn’t wait to see what lay beyond the door and what other challenges and mysteries awaited them in the virtual reality game.

Continue the story with Chapter 1: researching the void.