I had just gotten off of work and started watching tv when a floating blue panel appeared in front of me

  "what the -" I managed to stutter out before the contents of the panel left me awestruck

  'This has to be a joke.' I thought, 'This must be a hallucination or something' I got my phone and texted my friend 'are you seeing this?' and then put my phone in my pocket. Even if it was fake, I still had a nagging feeling to prepare, better safe than sorry, right?

  -- 10 - 9 minutes left --

  my vision blurred as I hyperventilated deep breaths, deep breaths... I needed a weapon and it wasn't like I had a katana in his house. Eventually I decided a pocket knife would have to suffice, I would have to hope that the tutorial provided weapons.

  -- 8 - 7 minutes left --

  I was shaking. what else do I need? Uh probably a lot of things, so where to store them? My breaths are speeding up, I need to calm down... A BACKPACK, I NEED A BACKPACK! Do I have a backpack?? I think so. I ran to my room, never before was I so glad I lived in a cramped apartment, and luckily for me I have the backpack i used in collage. It's good enough.

  -- 6 - 4 minutes --

  my friend responded 'I got it. Glad im not below the average' I respond quickly 'I Am.' he then responds 'oh' and I put my phone away. I wish I put a timer on. What else do i need? am I going to die? I hope not. Wasn't I thinking about supplies? Right, i need food? And water. And uh, I can't think of more.

  -- 4 - 3 minutes --

  I sat down on my couch and thought about what this would really mean, and the thoughts I didn't want to think about started surfacing. 'am I going to die?' 'will I hold onto my morals?' 'WILL I DIE?' 'are my preparations enough?' 'WILL I DIE?'

  -- 2 minutes --

  my thoughts were interrupted by my phone, my friend had texted me again ' I will miss you ' it reminded me of something and i started tearing up, how could i forget?

  -- 1 minute --

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I thought for a bit about what to text but in the end I decided on 3 words 'I love you.' I texted to both my mom and dad before my world went white

  I awoke to a system panel in front of my face and sighed

  I waved my hand though the system panel, it not getting interfered with in the slightest. This wasn't usual, and now that I was in the tutorial Im sure i will soon be very familiar with that concept. My thoughts wandered back to when I was getting supplies, even if panic makes you rush, it has a way of making you adapt. My arm fell limp at my side, before grabbing my pocket knife, it was there. My backpack was here, but my phone wasn't, why? A ding knocked me out of my half sleep state.

  Was it going to keep saying the full name or..? Because that's just humiliating. On topic I guess that's the answer I wanted. I wonder if my phone would even work here in the first place? I probably won't find the answer so I'll just stop thinking

  I sit up and yawn, how long did I sleep? Why am I so calm? i'm just going to blame that on the tutorial.

  I notice something in the corner of my vision and focus on it, bringing up 3 system panels

  that... is that last one really necessary? Just more evidence the tutorial wants to humiliate us. Pioneer is cool I guess. Will the tutorial start once everyone wakes up? Honestly I hope so, I just feel unnaturally calm and I want something to distract from that. Also can these system panels go away already? And just like that the panels went away. I dont question it.

  I stand up and look around. There seems to be around 50 people around me, around 4/5ths of them have woken up and more are waking up by the second.

  I just noticed the floor is made of sand

  Everyone has woken up. I guess we aren't the last group to wake up. While waiting ive noticed that nobody is screaming or trying to run, maybe the tutorial is really making us all calm?

  and just like that, all my feelings came back, I was only able to see everyone else freaking out before I passed out