"What did you just say?"
"I wish to complete the prologue," I nonchalantly repeated.
"Are you completely insane? Or are you just suicidal?"
Well, her professionalism only lasted for so long.
"I do not consider myself either, though the former may be somewhat accurate, though not officially diagnosed."
"Well, if you want to, we can do a diagnosis if you survive, it'll cost more, of course. But back to the topic at hand, I am in no place to refuse your wishes."
"That makes my life a whole lot easier."
"Well then, follow me this way. It's just across the hall."
I stood up and let her take the lead out of the small room and into the corridor. We walked through the blindingly lit halls of the hospital until we reached a large door.
"Well then, this is it, your tomb," she sighed.
"That's only if I do not make it back."
"You seem pretty confident, hopefully not cocky though. Although if you die without paying your bill, I'll have no choice but to bring you back to life, it's hospital policy," she joked.
She unlocked the heavy, black, metal door to a surprisingly large gray room with dozens of sleeping pods. Then she pointed in their direction.
"Pick your poison, it'll be highly effective."
"Don't mind if I do."
I then left her side and headed in the direction of the pods. All the pods were identical, so I decided to enter the closest vacant one. As I walked, I observed the other occupants who seemed to be in a much better financial situation, judging by their clothes.
"This one should serve its purpose."
Just like all of the others, it was a pale white bed encased in an egg-shaped container.
"Just to receive my check, I'll give you one piece of advice: do whatever you can to pass the trials. Morality has no place there."
"Very well."
I then opened the pod and made myself comfortable.
"Well then, pray to whatever god you believe in."
"No need, I have never received any blessings."
As soon as I finished speaking, she pressed a green button on her black remote, and the container started encasing the bed.
A moment later, I lost consciousness.
***
I woke up in a dark space with nothing below or above me. The only thing in my line of sight was my status screen, which must have been automatically opened, as I had no memory of doing so. There was also the added fact that there was now an unfamiliar voice in my head.
Welcome to the prologue, Jason Wringer. To survive, you must complete the trial.
[Yes/No]
"What happens if I say no?" I was confused.
[You will be sent back to reality.]
"Is there a catch?"
[You will not be able to attempt the prologue again.]
"Then I guess I have no choice but to accept."
I pressed the Yes option on the window.
Suddenly, my vision went black as the status window disappeared.
***
Eventually, an unknown amount of time later, I was sitting idly on a hard wooden floor. I was alone. The only thing of interest in my line of view was a large wooden door presumably leading to the outside.
After a minute of staring at the door, I finally chose to get on my feet. I walked until I could reach the knob of the door and hesitantly twisted it.
The door opened with a loud creak.
The door did not lead to the outside world, but to a similar small room. In this new room, there was another sleeping body just like mine a few moments ago.
It was the body of a middle-aged man.
The man had clean clothes, nothing like mine. He had short jet black hair without facial hair.
With that, I was no longer alone.
I pondered for the next three minutes about whether or not to wake him up. I then made my decision.
Walking over to the man, I called out to him, but I kept my distance.
"Are you alive?"
I then heard a soft sound coming from his direction.
"Hmm, is this the prologue?"
My eyes slightly widened in shock. I had no idea there would be other people in the prologue who were from the real world. Was this an anomaly? I had never heard this in passing or read it from the books I had stolen over the years.
"I believe so."
The man suddenly shot up in a panic.
"Woah woah woah! I did not know that there would be others here!" he yelled.
So he has the same questions as I. The government may have hidden this type of situation to help encourage more brave souls to go through with the prologue. Being possibly responsible for the death of other humans would be a massive deterrent.
"That's also what I thought at first, but reality says different."
Noticing the state of my person, his expression turned somber.
"Kid, are you on some kind of suicide mission?"
This man had the same reaction as the doctor; they all believe that I want to die and that this is my chosen way out. In reality, this is my only chance to survive.
"I plan on making it out, thank you very much."
He didn't respond; he most likely thought I was all bark and no bite. I did not mind him thinking that way; better to be underestimated, especially in a precarious situation such as the one I found myself in.
"Do you have any idea what we are supposed to do?" I asked to break the silence.
"No clue, kid, maybe the door across the room will give us a hint."
The door was the second thing I noticed in his room, and I imagined that it led to another sleeping person, or perhaps it finally led to the outside. Not wanting to linger, I walked over to the door and twisted the knob.
No one was there... but at least it was an outdoor area.
Covering my eyes from the blinding sun, both the man and I walked into the plaza.
Forgetting an important question I asked:
"What's your name, dude?"
"Alex, what's your,s kid?"
"Jason"
We remained silent for a moment. Meanwhile, I was observing our surroundings and noticed four more doors, not including the one we came from. A moment later, we heard the door opposite ours opening.
Coming from the new door, two more people, this time both of them being young women, somewhere in their twenties. One of them had disheveled blonde hair and ruffled-up clothes. The other had long black hair and seemed to be a wealthier person, just going off her tidy, expensive-looking clothes.
Seeming to spark up as it looked like the ladies had caught his attention.
"Aye, more people!" he cheered quickly, making his way to the two.
The girls slowly backed up from the excited Alex. Then they started to converse with him.
"Didn't realize there would be more than just us two," the girl with black hair said.
"Yes, I was surprised as well when I met my new friend Jason over here," Alex responded, pointing in my direction.
I hadn't realized that we became so close within the first ten minutes of meeting. There was nothing outwardly wrong with him, so I did not mind.
"What's up?" I greeted, slightly waving my hand.
The woman with the blonde hair seemed to pay more attention to me, as we had a similar clothing situation. Upon further observation, she seemed to be injured. I imagine possible domestic abuse, though I shouldn't make such a bold assessment without confirmation. Maybe she and the other woman had a little scuffle, but it was unlikely.
A moment later, we heard a loud sound coming from another one of the doors.