The large screen flickered to life in the vast metallic chamber, casting a cold glow across the room. It was mounted above a raised platform that jutted out from the front wall like a judge's bench in a cosmic courtroom.
[ Humanity has been summoned ]
The words blazed across the screen,
[ The beginning of the First Stage ]
[ Preparing... ][ Loading information... ]
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
[ Welcome, Humans, to the Battle of Planets ]
The sentence etched itself like a scar on everyone's mind. The room was drenched in dread.
[ Rules will be described shortly ]
Without warning, the structure of the room shifted again—metal plates folding and clanging into new shapes. The ground near the platform trembled as a large metallic door materialized at the front wall.
Then, directly in front of it, the smooth ground split open.
