The Infinite Trial

First Game: The Quantum Choice

After Karl woke up from the penalty, an announcement echoed through the void:"The game will begin in two minutes."

But Karl was badly wounded, drifting in the emptiness. He clutched his void canoe tightly, his strength waning, fighting to stay conscious.

Thirty seconds.

Ten seconds.

One second.

Right before Karl lost consciousness, the game began.

Instantly, Karl's wounds vanished. His body stabilized, and he was teleported to a pure white room—doorless, windowless, and eerily silent.

Then, an announcement shattered the silence."Welcome to the first game of Infinite Judgment.""Inside each box is a living entity, but its life or death is undetermined.""You may choose to open your box to observe its contents, or you may leave it closed."

A pause. Then, the voice continued:"Open the box – You will see whether the entity inside is alive or dead, but this action will alter the reality of the entire room. If it's alive, you may leave, AND IF IT IS DEAD, YOU WILL BE ERASED.""Do not open the box – The box remains in a quantum superposition, where its contents are neither confirmed as alive nor dead."

"What will you do?"

A pure black box appeared in Karl's hands.

"You have 15 minutes to decide."

Then, he noticed a message scrawled on the wall:"Observation is death. The unknown is survival."

Karl's mind raced. Schrödinger's cat! If we don't observe, its state remains undetermined... But what does that mean? Should he leave the box closed until the time runs out?

Suddenly, a distorted recording echoed through the air:"Don't open it… we made a mistake…"

A middle-aged man with round glasses hesitated for only a moment before opening his box.

He was erased instantly.

Panic spread like wildfire.

People began opening their boxes in desperation, some surviving, others vanishing into nothing. The room devolved into chaos.

Then, a voice cut through the panic—calm, firm, and commanding.

It was Amelia. Karl recognized her instantly—his classmate, one of the smartest in their grade. They were once rivals, constantly fighting for the top spot in their class. Now, in this deadly situation, Karl had no time for competition. He needed to trust her.

"If we all refuse to observe, we remain safe," she said, her voice carrying authority. "Does anyone know about Schrödinger's cat? It's an experiment Schrödinger did about a hundred years ago. In the experiment, Schrödinger placed a cat in a box, and there's a 50% chance the cat will die and a 50% chance it will live. But if we don't observe it, it stays in an unknown state, where it WON'T DIE. We don't have to keep it alive, we just have to keep it from dying! That's the key!"

"Trust me. The life in the box won't die, and it won't live. It will stay in a safe state. But if we open it, its state will be confirmed—and that could lead to death."

The voice returned, cold and merciless:"If no boxes are opened within 10 minutes, all will be erased."

A cruel ultimatum.

"I believe you," Karl said, stepping beside Amelia.

"This might not be the best solution," she admitted, "but the message said observation is death. What if the voice is tricking us?"

Most players ignored them. Fear consumed them. One by one, people opened their boxes.

Half survived. Half were erased.

It became a gamble.

Six players remained. Then five. Then four.

More boxes opened.

Then there were only three: Karl, Amelia, and a policeman in a black suit.

"I trust you," the policeman said, his voice steady. "It could be the solution."

"Thank you, sir," Amelia replied, still uncertain. "But we don't know for sure."

Then, the countdown ended.

"Time's up. You didn't open the box. Death penalty."

"What?! Why? What did we do wrong?" Karl thought, his mind racing as he turned away, ready to flee.

Silence.

Then—

"Just kidding."

Karl's hopeless heart fluttered back to life.

"You unlocked the secret ending. No one has ever done this before. Here's your reward."

— Observation +5— 100 credits— 1x Mirror Fractal— 1x Unknown Box

As the items crashed into him, Karl blinked, bewildered.

What is this kind of giving? He wondered, stepping aside as he stored the items away.

He was teleported back to his empty skyscraper, the cold emptiness greeting him. He collapsed onto a soft woolen couch, exhaustion pulling him into unconsciousness.

"What? Why are those damn robots chasing me?" 

The entity, now on the verge of being erased, observed a boy lying on a couch in the skyscraper.

It cracked open a portal and teleported to Karl.

Well, guess it'll be you.

The entity dived into Karl's body.

Where am I?

In your subconscious

Are you me?

No, I said before, I am an AI from another higher dimension civilization, they made this a game for all of humanity, and it was hosted by rich people in our civilization.

Karl was shocked, the life of humans is just a toy to the stronger people, yeah, Survival of the fittest is the rule of this universe, nothing is really fair, bearing this anger, he asked the AI more questions

How do you talk to me then?

Everytime you are asleep, I can send signals to your subconscious, and this is how we contact each other.

Does everyone else have a bot?

Yes, but they won't really notice it

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