Prologue Part 2:

"….hey…hey….hey…Are you ok?"

The faint, distant calling encouraged me to regain consciousness and wake up. Before opening my eyes, I immediately noticed a painful ache in neck. As I went to rub the strained spot, that voice returned, "You feel that, too? Man, it seems like everyone here had terrible sleeping postures."

When I opened my eyes, everything suddenly made less sense. Is this just an ordinary college auditorium? The monochrome cream-colored walls and rows of plastic blue chairs with the pull-out wooden desks seems like something out of an average campus tour. There's no way that this is part of Hope's Peak University, right? More importantly, how did I even end up in one of these chairs? This could only sound like the ending of an intoxicated blackout, but I've never even had alcohol, so that can't be possible. What is going on?

"Yo, are you there?"

I sat up and turned my head towards that voice I've been hearing since I got here. Standing in front of me was a young man with a similar stature as me. His voice was noticeably more boyish than mine, but he looked suitable for a Hope Peak's student. He was in formal business attire with a U.S. dollar-patterned tie. His hair was colored bright lime green with a fringed and somewhat carefree haircut, which definitely fit his face more than the outfit. Nonetheless, if this was another student, I'd be more than grateful if he could help me figure out what was happening.

"Hey! Are you confused yet?" the man asked.

"You're way too late with that question." I responded.

"No, I was just fashionably late!"

"Whatever, I'm not buying that excuse. Anyways, could you help explain, oh I don't know… ANYTHING that's going on here?"

"Everyone's had the same question since we've woken up. Now, listen; I'm not an expert in criminal activity or law or anything like that, I leave that up to the attorneys I've worked with. However, it seems that we've all fallen for a big scam!"

I groaned and tilted my head back in a sense of defeat. A scam? How? If the university's advertising was using photoshop and visual effects for all of their brochures and website videos, then an entire team of people would have to be crowned ultimates for their work. However, when putting all of it together, the university's promises seem insanely ambitious. Did I actually get baited into a scam?

I dreadfully responded, "The Ultimate Logician fell for a scam? I feel like such a dumbass, it hurts."

The man said, "Woah, the Ultimate Logician? Like, your expertise is in the entire field of logic? That sounds absurdly powerful. Hell, you're at least way beyond more useful in this situation than I am."

"Well, finding out about this being a scam is not that helpful but it does give a place to start. I suppose that explains the average layout and why there was no one outside when I got into the courtyard. However, it also raises more questions. Why would this internationally funded institution pour so much money and effort for a prank? I even got a free plane ride over here. Speaking of effort, what was up with the weirdly fancy lobby? And most importantly, why did I fall through the flo-"

"And just like I thought, you think too much, but I can at least clarify a couple of things. Firstly, this building is really… weird."

"No shit, Watson."

"Um, isn't it, 'No shit, Sherlock.'?"

"Shh! I'm trying to be Sherlock here. Don't blow my cover!"

"Okay then, 'Sherlock', the strange nature of this building comes from its random mixture of fabulous-looking areas and painfully dull ones. The other classrooms and auditoriums similar to this, the laundromat, and the bathrooms would be the dull areas. The lobby, the dining hall, and the central stadium would be examples of the fabulous areas."

"What exactly is the central stadium?"

"It's kinda what it sounds like. The center of this complex is genuinely laid out like an even bigger version of the Roman Colosseum. It's got the Greek theatre-style seats that expand out as you walk towards the top and the field itself is accessible on the bottom. The only noticeable difference is that there's a stage at one end of the field with the backstage door locked."

"If I remember correctly, the staircase in the lobby had a locked gate on it, right? Does that mean anything past the first floor is also locked?"

"Yes, sir! A couple other students and I tried to open the doors leading to the upper-level rows, but it was no use. Not even that glorious hunk of a man could make anything budge." His emphasis on that last sentence was apparent in… certain areas. I'll keep that observation to myself.

The man continued, "Anyways, you should come meet everyone over at the stadium. It seems like we've got a pretty wild group of characters to keep us entertained until we can leave this place."

"Fair enough," I replied.

The man hastily stepped down the classroom aisle and said on his way out, "Imma go get a glimpse at the buff dude some more. Don't be late!"

I quickly responded, "How exactly do I get there?!"

"You're the Ultimate Logician! You'll figure it out, Super Bowl!" He then left the auditorium.

"Super Bowl"?! Not even in the world's supposed most prestigious university can I escape the butt of high school jokes about me. My efforts to do so are now truly doomed. Great.

Now I had no choice but to get myself up from my uncomfortable position in this even more uncomfortable chair. I slowly stood up with a tight-knit legs and a strained face, tired from the gobs of information I've been trying to make sense of for the past… however long. Nonetheless, I should try to see who I'll be temporarily stuck with. Although the guy I just talked to was pretty eccentric and happy-go-lucky so far, I wouldn't mind if most of the other students were him because I've definitely met worse.

I left the classroom into a rather non-descript university hallway. As weird as this was to understand, the sheer dullness of the place almost astonishing to me. The cloudy gray color of the paint on the walls and the doors with the white Styrofoam ceiling tiles and the fluorescent lights left a bizarre sense of disappointment and normalcy. The look wasn't entirely dull; the black-and-white-checkered tiles did pop out, but it's really just flooring for an old-fashioned diner that somehow made its way into a school hallway. For a moment, I was taken aback by it all, realizing that the end goal of my dreams from years of academic endeavor and prosper had led me to that drab classroom and this ordinary hallway. Should I be ashamed that I allowed myself to be put in this position, or is something else entirely going on?

After several seconds, I snapped out of my inner rambling and thought of which way to go. I checked the door across the hall from me only to find another auditorium almost exactly like the one I just came out of. Since I heard two doors shut consecutively from when that guy left earlier, I figured to enter the door on my left. But what I found horrified me.

It was the same golden lobby from my memory, statue and all.

I quickly ran back onto checkered tiles of the hallway, making sure I wasn't about to be put on a perpetual loop of consciousness and unconsciousness. However, something felt off. That moment I stepped on the lobby floor felt much more real and immersive than it did in my memory. It was like comparing a lucid dream to reality. Not only that, but if the lobby entryways were a part of an elaborate trap, the trap should have sprung by the time I stepped foot in there, and I would already be falling. With that in mind, I carefully walked back into the lobby. I creeped in the lavish room anxiously only to find no sort of hidden tricks this time. Grateful for once, I glanced at the statue once more. The figure is just as large as I remember her, and her accessories are detailed in the exact manner I remembered it. Even stranger was the locked gate on the upper side of the spiral staircase next to what I remembered as the main entrance to the university. On the other side of that entrance was a large double-sided door, complete with the peculiar bear heads on the doorknobs. I walked over to that side of the lobby and opened the doors to find everyone there waiting on me.