Echoes of the Grand Hallway

Prepare

Joseph is jolted awake by the phone vibration on his forehead. He jumped out of bed, and the phone came down with a THUNK. "Wh-What?" He stammered. He had been browsing for stuff late into the night, and he is extremely sleepy now. The phone is vibrating on the floor, screaming and swearing to make it's owner to pick it up. He looked around, as usual: Bedroom with lots of bookshelves, almost covering the whole wall, which contains the book he usually read, the books about the Previous Humans. Cracked wall due to the earthquakes recently, and a desk which he will use his hologram displayer on.

Joseph picked the phone up, there's a phone call. He recognize the phone number: It is from an organization known as ARC, stands for "Anomaly Research Center". Is it like the SCP foundation the Previous Humans had been talking about? He thought. He accepted the call.

"Hello?" Joseph said. "Hello, here is the ARC, Anomaly Research Center. We would like to verify some of your experiences.  Why we want this? You asked, we'll talk about it later. First, do you like to study the Previous Human's technology?" The man asked in a very fast manner, like he is urgently going to a toilet. Joseph is temporarily stunned by all the information he gave, and realized that the man is asking questions. "Yes," He responded quickly. "All right, next, do you like to explore places that is not normal?" "Yes," Joseph answered that quite certain. "Finally, do you passed the SST Level 5?" SST stands for Survival Skills Test, which is taken very rarely. Joseph is shocked by this question, because nearly no one will care if you take the SST and get the highest level, which is level 5. "Yeah," Joseph said.

"Do you want a job?" The man asked, like an ambush question.

"Why not?" Joseph said. He is unemployed for now, his money came from the books he sold.

"Great, we asked you because there's an important mission we want you to do, which will give rewards who finished it. Do you know the Grand Hallway?" the man asked.

"A little bit," Joseph answered honestly. Not much has known about the Grand Hallway, what he knows, and what the rest of the world knows, is that the Grand Hallway is located underground,  it has no exact location, and it was created by the Previous Humans.

"Okay, we asked a few of you about this, but we want you to explore the Grand Hallway. Do you accept? This mission would be a trip of no return, but it will help a lot if you decide to go."

"I need to think about that." Joseph replied, uncertain.

"Good, please reply your response before tomorrow."

"Wait-" Joseph wants to protest about the short deadline, but the phone call has already hanged up.

He closed the phone, and thinking about the deal. It seems insane, to go to a trip of no return, but his curiosity drives him: What is in the Grand Hallway? Why no one knows about it? Just as when he is about to go to sleep, a message hit the phone. He picked up the phone and read the news:

"Breaking News: Background of the Grand Hallway Revealed"

"As everyone knows, the Grand Hallway is made by Previous Humans, or humans that exists 1000 years ago. The Grand Hallway, despite to the country's belief, the Grand Hallway did NOT move, instead, it stays underground, stretching at unimaginable length. Also, ARC (Anomaly Research Center) discovered some distortion of various forces in certain forces in certain areas, for example, the distortion of gravity. The ARC will continue investigating this stunning man-made corridors, and more truth is yet to be revealed."

Joseph wants to solve the mystery of the Grand Hallway, but the no-return trip seems to pose a great risk.

He needs to think about it.

The day wore on, and Joseph found himself increasingly difficult to contain the curiosity inside the Grand Hallway.  He wants to discover it. Now.

Just as he decides to ask the ARC for his decision, the phone rings.  It's from the ARC.

"Hello?" Joseph says. "I am ready to explore the Grand Hallway."

"This is AR- Oh great, now what you need is to pack up." The man said.

"Prepare a lotta food and water, you will need it. Maybe one month will do." The man said quite calmly.

"Second, prepare for some batteries, there's a device you need to charge for. We will give you more resources later, come to ARC Headquarters tomorrow before 10 AM."

"Wha-?" Joseph is again shocked by the sudden and early "deadline" of arrival. But he has no choice. The man hang up, as usual.

Joseph goes to the local market and brought, like, 100 dried food and 10 litres of water. The cashier is stunned by the act, but accepted when Joseph says it is for sharing in a party.

He stuff all the food and water inside a bag, a high-tech bag that can handle up to 256 times more than it's own space. The consumables only take about 5% of the bag.

Joseph also goes to the bank and deposited almost all of his money into it. He goes back to the market again, and brought one portable cooker and some gas cans. He stuff all of them into the bag. 

Next, he goes to what he called the "survival store" and brought one flashlight and several packs of batteries. He also brought an axe, for chopping down stuff in the Hallway.

When he returned home with the backpack, he is ready to sleep in his bedroom for one last time. He closed his eyes and the world fades to black.