*updated 2nd August 2018*

A mummers of chatter broke out almost as soon as the bell rung, drowning out the sound of the professor as he tried to shout above the Friday night plans. As the stream of bodies started flowing out of the door, an odd figure was trying to barge his way into the lecture hall.

"Yo!" the young man going against the flow shouted, squeezing his large frame through the crowd, his loud voice causing several people close to him to wince. He started waving manically to the back of the hall, where another boy was peering at his phone with interest.

"Wyatt!" The loud guy screamed as he lurched towards the smaller boy, slapping a hand on the other's shoulder, his blond hair golden under the afternoon sun filtering through the window. The smaller boy winced, both at the sharp impact and the volume as he scrambled to catch his phone before it fell.

"Get off me, George. Why are you here?" the Asian boy - Wyatt - replied, shoving George's hand off his shoulder with a grunt.

"Check your message," George exclaimed, his loud volume drawing a lot of eyeballs. Wyatt shook his head, used to his friend's loud voice and his tendency to draw attention from those around.

"It's all over the internet. There is this guy who set up a secret tour that offers thirteen people to go on the biggest adventure of their life, for free!" George continued to shout. He finished the sentence with a punch in the air. His expression turned dreamy, a contrast to his huge physique.

Wyatt leaped up to pull his friend's hand down before they draw more attention than they already have. As the words registered in his head, he turned back to his best friend with a slight shake.

"George, are you reading those fake news on Facebook again?" he asked. George shook his head vigorously and Wyatt wondered by it hasn't popped off his head by now. Studying his friend, Wyatt recalled the last time George was convinced that a portal had opened up in Greenland only to find out that he had mistaken a fantasy book news article as actual news.

"T's for real, my dear Wyatt," George continued, dropping a hand around Wyatt's shoulder and cutting off his escape. "People checked out the website and company. Everything is legit. The application process is open for another few days," George continued, a sparkle in his eyes. Wyatt didn't like the look he was giving him, but he couldn't escape George's clutches. "Come on, it'd be fun. Imagine if you get picked—"

"There are probably millions of people applying," Wyatt cut him off. He studied the dreamy expression on George's face and shook his head. This stupid expression was the main reason why his best friend wasn't as popular as you'd expect a Lacrosse Captain to be.

"Well if you don't apply, you won't get in at all," George said. Wyatt rolled his eyes. Why did his best friend have to be such a romantic? "Wouldn't it be wonderful to go on a free trip and meet the girls of our dream—"

"Like I've said a million times before, you've read too many comic books for the good of your little brain," Wyatt interrupted. George, however, didn't look offended.

"You don't have a romantic bone in your body. Anyway, I'll put your name down with mine tonight whether you agree or not," George said, turning serious. "We have as good a chance as anyone. It says that each applicant would be handpicked by the guide himself. Who knows? Maybe we'd be exactly what he is looking for!"

Wyatt shook his head. He never understood how George could be so optimistic. For anyone who knew the basics of statistic, it was clear that their chances were slim to none. Even if one of them got picked, the other was unlikely to.

"There isn't an age requirement, though everyone must speak English," George continued to ramble off, not caring if Wyatt wanted to hear it or not. "And they can't have any serious medical conditions or had major surgeries done."

"That's reasonable," Wyatt commented. You wouldn't want someone having a heart attack during the trip.

"There's also a weird stipulation. That any events happened during the tour cannot be held responsible to the guide, and safety is not guaranteed." George added as though it was an after thought. Wyatt frowned. While it wasn't uncommon, the last line stood out. Could this be a trip to North Korea or Iraq? Wyatt mused to himself. Though he had wanted to visit these countries, you couldn't travel the world if you were dead.

"Exciting, isn't it?" George bounced on the balls of his feet. Wyatt stifled the urge to tell him that he had a very different definition of exciting compare to the rest of the world. Normal people tend to avoid dangers so they could live another day.

"I'll need a passport photo of you and your passport, of course," George said, ignoring the fact that Wyatt had repeatedly said he wasn't interested. "I'll get the forms printed and we can fill them in together tomorrow. Or we can do it online in the library."

Wyatt sighed inside and shrugged. The chances of them getting on this trip were astronomically small, so he might as well humour his friend to save himself from the hours of complaining if he didn't.

"Fine," he answered and George gave him another almighty pat on the back. Mission accomplished, he bounced away from his friend without a second glance, leaving Wyatt in the now-empty hall.

Wyatt shook his head and told himself that he needed new friends.

Pulling out his phone, Wyatt typed the words 'Mystery tour lottery' in and waited for the page to load. He needed a new phone but he didn't want to burden his family with more cost. Studying in the UK wasn't cheap. Not that his family was doing poorly, but a penny saved was a penny earned.

Finding an article on a domain that looked legit, Wyatt clicked inside and scrutinized the small text.

Calling all thrill seekers! Do you want to go on holiday for free? Do you want to visit a brand new destination never seen before? If the answer to both is yes, then you are in the right place.

We are seeking thirteen men and women to embark on the adventure of their lifetime. The location would not be disclosed due to its sensitive nature, however, we will guarantee that it would be beyond your wildest imagination.

The tour would last two months over the summer, and the application is open until 30th June with the winners announced the day after. The trip would be free to all thirteen participants, who would be personally chosen by the guide himself.

Still interested? Here are the terms and conditions:

-Applicants must be able to speak fluent English.

-Applicants must not have any major health issues, for the full list, click here.

-Applicants must understand that he or she is in charge of their own safety and health. The guide would not be liable to any injuries, sickness or death as a result of the trip.

-There will be no outside contact allowed until after the trip. There will also be a non-disclosure agreement.

-Applicants can be of any age, any gender, any nationality, and any shape providing they meet the above criteria.

Wyatt paused. While a free trip sounded insanely attractive. The fact that you won't have contact with the outside world at all worried him. Safety and health aside, of course. Though the travel company would provide insurance for you, you could always get your own. But the specificity also strengthened his theory that they were headed somewhere dangerous. But would visiting North Korea or Iraq really take two months?

Wyatt scrolled through the application form to see that it didn't only require the standard information for international travel, but an absurd amount of health and background information as well as academic records. However, judging from the social sharing count it had accumulated, people would do anything for a free trip.

Putting his phone away, Wyatt allowed himself a moment to consider what would it be like to go on this epic adventure if he did win. It was his final summer before graduation. A grand adventure did seem like a good way to end things.

Then he remembered the million count on the social shares the trip had garnered and shook his head. He had better things to do. Like his coursework.

However, the next day he was immediately cornered by George and the two of them fill in the paper forms. It appeared that they didn't accept email application after all and each applicant had to write their own form. Weird.

"I think I need to call my parents to find the family tree," Wyatt joked as he tried to remember whether his grandfather had four or three siblings. This application form was killing him, but at least it only asked details and didn't involve a writing assessment of sorts.

"I told my grandpa to take a photo of mine and send it over, you want to see it?" George asked, waving his phone. "My parents are applying too. They figured why not since I'm already going to spill all the information to this place," George added. Wyatt almost choked on the sandwich he was eating. His mum would probably freak out if she knew Wyatt was divulging so much personal information. But the website did explicitly state that no personal data would be kept confidential.

"I wondered if Chloe is applying, too," George mused out loud. Chloe had been George's crush ever since she had smiled at him during Fresher's Fair.

"You can just ask her," Wyatt answered, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. There were plenty of opportunity for George to ask her out her, but for some reason, the usually confident boy shied away from every one of them.

"I bet she'd go out with me after I come back from the trip," George continued to muse out loud and Wyatt snorted. He wasn't doubting his friend's chances with Chloe, but the idea that a trip would be the game changer seemed absurd. She either would date him or wouldn't. A mystery trip that they wouldn't be allowed to talk about wasn't going to be the deal breaker.

"Alright, are you all done?" George asked, finishing his last sentence with a flourish. Wyatt tapped his finger on the table, writing his grandfather's siblings as three instead of four. He wasn't completely sure, but he wasn't bothered to call his grandfather all the way in Singapore to asked.

"All set," Wyatt shuffled the thick wad of paper together. At least George had offered to pay for the postage.

"I'll do it after class. Do you think anyone else in our uni has applied?" George asked, scanning the library with squinted eyes as though he would figure it out that way. Wyatt shrugged.

"Probably, it is a good opportunity and fit in with the summer holidays," he reasoned. George reached a hand over to his shoulder as a big smile spread on his face.

"We're going to get in, I just know it," he said with such conviction that had Wyatt shaking his head. It wasn't the first time George thought they were destined for something big.

"Don't be a naysayer." George tsked at Wyatt, putting his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder again. "This is going to be the summer of a lifetime, I just know it."

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Hey ho! So it took me a while to rewrite what I already have, which was in quite bad conditions! It's the first time I've tackled a third person story in English, and I had to keep correcting after myself with the Is.

I hope you guys are enjoying the concept so far - I certainly am excited to share more of The World Beyond! If you're reading it, let me know in the comments below what you think!