╭                                                                 ╮
━━━  " 📂 " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝙁 𝙇 𝙄 𝘾 𝙆 𝙀 𝙍 

! ep. 01 pt. 03 ─── ʚĭɞ

╰ ╯

Red lights flashed in front of them, an alarm pounding in their ears as the I-Land system kicked into action, the stage moving forward to connect with the platform that had transported each participant across the gap.

Their gaze moved from the massive '13's written out on each wall and onto the floor, where each panel was connecting together through a series of white lines in a rectangular pattern. When completed, the lights flashed silver and the image continued on one of the walls, displaying the logo of the show that they had seen once or twice before that date.

"Dear twenty-four applicants." A voice announced, and slightly shocked, the I-Landers glanced around to find a source. They wouldn't find one, which was when they realised it was a voiceover coming through the system.

Yoomi barely even allowed herself a change of expression. That was give far too much away too quickly. She needed to keep the stony, almost villianous initial impression, no matter how hard it got with everything that was going on around her.

"Welcome." The system continued. "This is the stage of I-Land, and this will be the place for you to prove your skills. Past the gate, you'll see an unknown place called I-Land that only existed in our imaginations."

Yoomi's head turned just slightly to watch the white lines of an animation form an egg-liike pattern, then following the looks of others as one of the screens opened up to reveal such a gate.

"However, not all twenty-four of you may enter." The voice said, shattering some of the hope that just seeing the gateway had given a few of the I-Landers. Yoomi felt confident though. She might not have the nicest of personas, but she had talent and several of them knew her before and knew what she was capable of.

That confidence wouldn't work through the rest of the competition, but just for this small challenge, it would work very well. And that was all she needed to get a start in the competition.

"The capacity of I-Land is only thirteen people." It began to be explained soon afterwards. "And the power to decide those thirteen people goes entirely to you. Every destiny in I-Land is upon your hands as well."

There was a number of shocked faces at this, but Yoomi knew not to react. That showed a lack of confidence, which she clearly had a lot of. In all honest, they should have known it wouldn't be so easy, that they couldn't just waltz into I-Land and hope that was it.

No, right from the beginning it was going to be a competition, a fight to even get a place to have a chance of actually succeeding on the show.

"Now we are going to start the test with the performances you have prepared." The I-Landers nodded, clearly all remembering these performances with ease. Yoomi had picked a good song for her and she knew it, displaying her skills with ease. "The entry test will be assessed by yourselves and only those with majority of votes can go into the I-Land. If there are more or less people after the test, there will be another test."

"It is a unit performance, but the votes will be done for each individual. The order of the performance is up to you." The system announced, much to the surprise of the I-Landers.

Now this is what she had been waiting for. Although deep down she was riddled with nerves and anxiety over performing, Yoomi had been instructed to do all she can in order to cause shock within the competition.

All around her, the male competition was reacting accordingly to what was being said; they were shocked at this news and quite frankly worried about how it would go. Nobody looked mentally ready to perform, and Yoomi adjusted her position in her seat, hands gripping the edge to push herself up when it came to it.

None of them would want to go first, but here she was, practically raring to go. If she didn't have to act as if she hated every single one of them (it wasn't that much of an act) then she could've made a joke about the contrast between them all.

"The first participant, please move to the stage."

The I-Landers looked around at the participants, nobody quite sure who was going to go first. Yoomi felt sick, but she didn't have time for that and she pushed herself upwards before anyone else could, taking several strides over to the seperate stage and stepping onto it, feeling it move into place.

And with a deep breath she turned to face them, ready to begin.

❛ AUTHORS NOTE ━━ you know i
get so inspired rewatching these
episodes bc i had another plot idea
that i cant do bc im too busy but
like??? can my brain calm down
a bit pls