Chapter 1:
School had just ended.
Where should I go now? Should I head to my part-time job or just go home?
Wait… what's with this light?
I'm being surrounded—by nothing but light!
W-wait, What is this ?
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And just like that, I found myself standing in a strange place surrounded by a lot of people—maybe thirty or forty of us.
Are we still on Earth? Maybe not. I can't see the sun, even though it should still be afternoon. The surroundings look like Earth, but something feels off.
There are a lot of Koreans and Japanese people around me.
Can they speak English? Most of them probably can't.
We're surrounded by trees—maybe in a forest, or the middle of a jungle.
We were suddenly teleported here… this isn't a dream. I actually feel fine, but in the blink of an eye, I moved to a different location.
I live in the Philippines, but it seems like I'm the only Filipino here.
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"Hey," someone called out.
I turned around and saw a tall man waving at me.
"Hey, I'm Marco. I'm from North America. Can you speak English, foreigner?"
He's a Black American.
"Yeah, I can," I replied. "How long have you been here?"
"I just got here earlier," he said. "I don't know what's happening… but where are we? Did someone kidnap us?"
"I don't think so," I said. "Kidnapping us seems impossible. I didn't feel anything weird—I was just walking, blinked my eyes, and suddenly ended up here."
Marco crossed his arms. "Oh, it's a good thing you can speak English. Some people over there can't. Are you Korean? You look Asian."
"No, I'm Filipino. I'm from Southeast Asia," I replied. "I can't speak Korean, but I can speak a bit of English—and I understand it pretty well."
We just kept talking, waiting for something to happen.
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✨ End of Chapter 1