The day had finally arrived.
The final leg of the human volunteers' journey to the tournament grounds, a vast, Earth-like environment, awaited them. The large training facility was abuzz with frantic energy. Volunteers rushed around packing their gear, while soldiers in heavy armor double-checked equipment. Everyone was nervous, excited, or pretending they were—except for one person.
Kai Azura, currently going by the name Ethan Azura, was sprawled in a corner of the hangar with his headphones firmly in place. His hands lazily drummed against the sides of his knees as a few other volunteers hurried by in their freshly issued combat suits, faces tight with anxious anticipation.
He didn't care.
His playlist—downloaded and stored offline—was playing loud enough for him to ignore the growing chaos around him. He tapped his foot in time with the beat, chewing gum and only half-listening to the announcements over the speakers. A group of volunteers started pacing by, whispering about the "great unknown" ahead, but Kai just sighed.
These idiots have no idea what they're walking into.
The music cut off abruptly, and the hangar went quiet.
At first, Kai thought the power had gone out. Then, he realized the truth.
A large celestial figure appeared at the far end of the hangar.
This wasn't the usual commander or officer. The man who materialized before them was… otherworldly. His figure was wrapped in celestial armor that glowed with a faint, otherworldly aura. His hair was a shifting mixture of silver and black, his eyes glimmered like distant stars, and his voice, when it rang out, carried the weight of millennia.
"I am Satoran, and I will be your guide to the arena."
The soldiers, the volunteers—hell, even the officers—stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths hanging open in awe as they took in the sight of the celestial.
Kai, however, wasn't impressed.
Really?
He pushed his headphones back over his ears, tapping them to turn the volume up as he resumed his own personal concert, blocking out the celestial's dramatic entrance.
Satoran's voice boomed across the hangar again, this time with an edge of amusement as he floated down, his figure barely touching the ground. "You should all be honored to have been chosen. Today marks the beginning of your trials. No one returns unchanged."
Probably they will return as dead bodies, Kai thought to himself.
The soldiers and volunteers scrambled to take up positions, eyes wide, some of them even stepping forward to ask questions. But Satoran didn't give them the time of day. Instead, he raised his hand, fingers glowing with a soft, white light.
Then, with the casual flick of a finger, the entire hangar—and everything in it—was gone.
The ground beneath their feet disappeared. The walls of the hangar vanished. The sound of the bustling compound fell away into nothingness.
In an instant, Kai's feet were no longer on solid ground.
And the volunteers? All of them—hands gripping whatever was nearest, eyes wide in confusion—had no idea what the hell was happening.
But Kai? He didn't budge. He didn't even flinch. He had felt this sort of celestial nonsense before. After all, rebirth, cosmic powers, and the like were nothing new to him.
What pissed him off wasn't the fact that he had just been transported in the blink of an eye, like a piece of trash floating out of a vacuum cleaner.
It was that he was no longer in control of the music.
He cursed under his breath, fingers twitching in the air as he instinctively reached for his phone. But of course, there was no Wi-Fi here. No 5G. No signals of any kind.
His playlist was offline, but he couldn't help the annoyance bubbling up inside him. Not being able to scroll through his notifications? Fine. But this? This was something else.
Satoran, you bastard…
Kai's jaw clenched. The celestial was standing there, surrounded by a shimmering aura, watching as the volunteers floundered in confusion. Some dropped to their knees in panic, others frantically asked questions, but most were still too stunned to do anything.
"Relax," Satoran's voice rang out. "It's only a short journey. You will arrive shortly."
Kai just shook his head and leaned back, rolling his eyes.
Short journey?
He let out a frustrated sigh. "It's just teleportation. Honestly, these people act like it's magic or something."
The rest of the volunteers continued freaking out, but Kai tuned them out. Instead, he focused on the playlist he had the foresight to download before leaving. At least he could still enjoy the music.
"Just let me enjoy my damn tunes in peace," he muttered to himself, though the annoyance was clear in his voice.
Satoran, still floating midair, didn't seem to notice the sarcasm.
As the celestial continued talking about "the trials" and how "this is where everything truly begins," Kai nodded along only half-heartedly. He didn't need to hear the whole speech. It was the same old drivel.
Somewhere in the back of the crowd, a volunteer yelled, "Are we really going to fight in a tournament with all of these aliens and—"
Before the volunteer could finish, Satoran's hand rose slightly, and a powerful wave of energy cracked through the air, silencing them instantly.
"Do not speak unless spoken to, mortal," Satoran warned with a grin. His voice was smooth but carrying a terrifying weight.
The room went still.
Kai, meanwhile, remained in his corner, still chewing his gum, still not impressed.
Then he cursed again under his breath.
"Great. No Wi-Fi, and now I'm stuck with a bunch of idiots on an alien field," he muttered. "Why did I even bother?"
It wasn't like the celestial's magic would let him escape, so he might as well enjoy what little peace he could get.
His headphones went back in, music blasting louder than before, as the rest of the volunteers whispered and shuffled around. They were all in for the ride of their lives, whether they knew it or not.
But for now, Kai Azura? He was just here for the soundtrack.