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A man called "Savior" officially welcomes the first 500 citizens of First Next City.

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The next morning, the boys woke up at 8 am, filled with excitement and energy. The house was bustling with ten boys running from place to place, as they hurriedly changed out of their sleeping clothes and ate breakfast, which was a bowl of cereal and apple slices.

Finally, after the boys were done eating and were fully awake, they headed out of the house. Most of the other citizens were coming out of their homes at the same time, chattering excitedly as the different groups merged together and started walking towards the Convention Center.

"Hey, check this out." Sicheng suddenly said. He was the last to leave the 127 house, and as he closed the front door behind him, he noticed something built into the house next to the door.

The rest of the group crowded around the object, observing it with interest. It was a small, rectangular electronic tablet. On the black screen was a list of ten names, of course, a list of the people who were living in the 127 house. All of the names were simultaneously blinking with a bright green color.

"What do you think that's for?" Jungwoo wondered out loud.

"Maybe it's just there to remind us of who's in our group." Mark suggested.

"What's the point of that?" Donghyuck interjected. "Of course we'll remember who's in our group, I mean, there's only ten of us. We're not that forgetful."

"Look at how they're all blinking." Taeyong said. "Makes you wonder what it means when one of the names stops blinking..."

Yuta smiled mischievously. "It means that person's dead."

The other nine boys fell silent, staring at Yuta in shock. Yuta noticed how serious their faces were and burst out laughing, clutching onto his stomach.

"Oh my god. You guys seriously think I was being serious?" Yuta choked out between laughs. "You should've seen your faces. Hilarious."

Seeing Yuta laugh so hysterically, the other boys started laughing too. They were also laughing at themselves, since it was so stupid of them to believe in something that was highly unlikely, especially since the First Next City was probably the safest, least deadly place in the country at the moment.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late to the orientation if we just stay here laughing our asses off." Doyoung said after everyone had calmed down. "If we get there early, we might get good seats."

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The Welcome Orientation was being held at the Presentation room, which was the largest room in the building. It was a wide, round room with dozens of elevated rows of seats, all surrounding the center of the room. At the center, there was a small stage and a podium. The entire room was covered in the same three colors- white, silver, and dark grey. It was a very boring and plain space, but as more and more people filled it up, it looked a bit livelier.

The 127 group was able to find ten empty seats near the back of the room. They had arrived just in time, as the last of the 500 citizens were rushing in.

"Damn it." Mark said under his breath.

"Language, kid." Johnny said from beside him. "What's wrong, anyways?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking, like... what if this orientation is just as boring as the old guy from yesterday? The one that led us to our house. I bet this orientation is just gonna be a speech from someone just as boring as him, but a much longer speech. Look, I brought some food in my pocket. If it starts to get boring, I'll just eat to keep myself awake." Mark slyly took out a bag of potato chips from his pocket to show Johnny.

"What happens if you run out of food?" Donghyuck whispered from the other side of Mark.

"Then I'll just sleep." Mark shrugged.

"Why don't you just sleep. Give the food to me." Donghyuck shuffled around in his pockets and shook his head in disappointment. "I forgot to put food in my pockets."

"Bruh." Mark said. "Hell no."

"Language!" Johnny snapped.

"Hey, shut up." Doyoung whispered loudly from the end of the row. "It's starting."

The dimmed room was suddenly lit up, and a blinding spotlight appeared on the stage. Almost immediately after the lights came on, a skinny, middle-aged woman stepped into the spotlight. Like every other adult that the kids had seen here so far, her outfit was all white: white blazer, white blouse, white pencil skirt, white shoes, and even white hair. She probably just dyed it so it could match her outfit. Only her thin lips stood out, since they were painted dark red.

She stood there, with her face looking all mean, as she scanned the fully-packed arena. Applause was scattered throughout the room, but everyone looked confused and uneasy. For a "Welcome Orientation", her face didn't look welcoming at all.

Finally, she raised her hands and the applause abruptly died down. She adjusted the microphone on the podium and leaned so close to it that her lips were almost touching the microphone.

"Splendid to see you all here this morning." Her voice was surprisingly smooth. "Allow me to introduce the founder and leader of Seoul's First Next City- your Savior!"

A more enthusiastic applause emerged as the woman stepped off the stage, and a man took his position behind the podium. He was a few years older than the woman, and he looked very composed and professional. Except for one peculiar thing: he was wearing sunglasses.

"Maybe the spotlight's too bright for him." Donghyuck muttered.

Keeping his sunglasses on, the man began his speech. "Almost a decade ago, construction for Seoul's First Next City was started. We didn't want to keep everyone waiting, which is why we only announced it to the public when construction was finally completed. But this is only the beginning of a mission that will save hundreds of thousands- even millions- of lives. Out there, people don't stand a chance. If people don't burn to death, then they'll starve to death. It's only a matter of time before life can only exist either in a First Next City or on Mars. But the Planet Mars Project demands too high a price, eliminating the poor from ever having a chance to live a better life.

But here in First Next City, we only ask for a small amount of money because the real payment that we ask from all of you comes from your heart. Follow the rules, and in return, we provide you with education, food, shelter, and other necessities to live a good life. What are the rules, you ask? It's simple. Living here is a privilege, so you must prove that you are worthy of that gift. That is why we have designed a test called the 'Survival Phase'. Each night, you will..."

Mark's eyes began to close as the man continued his speech in the same monotonous voice. He decided that he could use this time to get back a few hours of sleep, since he couldn't sleep the previous night.

"... you can use any method to kill each other-"

Mark quickly straightened up in his seat and frowned. Just a few moments ago, the man on stage was talking about education and shelter and all that goodness, so why was he talking about killing now?

"Hey, Donghyuck." Mark nudged his friend's arm. "I wasn't listening for a bit, what's he talking about?"

But his friend's eyes widened and stayed glued to the stage. Mark looked around the room and noticed everyone else was listening quite intently to the man's speech, as looks of fear and panic were written on their faces.

Mark sat back uneasily in his seat and focused his attention back on the stage.

"... No matter how we look at it, humanity has caused the downfall of the planet. But since humans still want to live, we must eliminate those who are not capable and skillful enough. Once we accomplish that goal, a new generation will arise- a generation of survivors who will lead the rest of the world to a new and better beginning."

The man paused and smiled at the audience. "Thank you for coming to this orientation, and welcome to Seoul's First Next City! You are welcome to begin classes at the University today, or you can explore the city to your heart's content. Good luck tonight! We are excited to see what you are all capable of." With a final nod at the crowd, the man disappeared off the stage.

There was no applause; instead, murmurs began to rise among the crowd.

"What the..." Mark sighed to himself. "I guess I missed out on all the important information..." He looked up at Johnny, who was standing up from his seat. "Hey hyung, what's all this about? Why does everyone look... scared?"

"We can't go to school today." Johnny muttered, ignoring Mark's question. "We should all stay home and discuss what the hell we're gonna do." He paused and laughed bitterly. "I guess Yuta was right about what it means if the name stops blinking..."

Mark was driven to even more confusion as his friends stood up and moved through the crowd towards the exist. He was starting to have a headache.

"Hey, wait up- what names? The ones on the tablet in front of the house? Hey, wait-" He climbed over chairs to catch up to his friends. He noticed in concern that their carefree, excited energy from earlier was all gone, as if the man on stage- the man who called himself "Savior"- had just sucked the happiness out of everyone in the arena. 

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-to be continued-