The bearded man cursed again. “What fucking congratulations? You’re saying I’m dead?!”

“By participating in Blessed Second Chances, you have the opportunity to regain life. Those who pass all system trials will be given the choice between reincarnation or revival. Participants earning top scores will also receive a voucher for one wish.”

Everyone: I can live again?!

"There are 13 trials in total. Each trial has –”

Listening, Freda and a few others frowned. Other than the three seconds of pause between each sentence, was the system going to give them any time to process this craziness?

"— rewards and punishments. Rewards are awarded at the end of a trial to participants who have passed. Points are awarded based on performance and will contribute to your overall ranking. The top scoring participant in each trial will also be given a surprise bonus reward.”

Everyone held their breath as they waited nervously for the second half.

"Punishments —”

The woman who had been pounding the wall earlier screamed just hearing the word. The bearded man yelled at her to shut up while the gelled haired man went over to comfort the woman.

"— are issued at the end of a trial to participants who do not pass. The punishment for a trial not passed is a retrial. The retrial will not be counted towards the 13 required trials. The punishment for a participant who dies during a trial is one trial deducted from their completed quota.”

“How can a dead person die?” the anime protagonist muttered, echoing the thoughts of others in the room.

“Participants, please do your best to pass the 13 trials with exceptional scores for a pleasant rebirth. This message will be repeated two more times.” There was a six second pause. “Participants welcome to Blessed Second Chances.”

While the system repeated its introductory information, some in the room listened the second time while others whispered about the information provided. Having gotten the basics, Freda joined the second group.

In a circle, five people stood in discussion as a sixth joined them.

“Is this serious? Are we dead?" One voice was full of shock.

"We can't be. This has to be a prank.” Another voice spat disbelief.

“I don't know about anyone else,” a melancholy voice began, “but I believe it. I am dead.”

Seeing everyone's eyes turn to her, the college girl continued.

"Before arriving here, I was in the hospital. For the past year, I have been out of school because of a heart condition. I was on the organ donor waitlist up until a few days ago. Just as it seemed I was going to get an organ, a company CEO was admitted to the hospital and was placed above me in the waitlist. My family begged but it was no use; the CEO was a big sponsor of the hospital so they said they could only give it to him.”

Looks of disgust flashed across the faces of the group. The bearded man let out a string of curses towards that CEO.

Freda sneered as well. She wasn't surprised by the hospital’s or CEO’s actions. She thought back to the house she lived in when she was 12. It was a beaten up decrepit building of apartments. The residents were excited when they heard there would be a redevelopment supported by the government, thinking that their buildings would be renovated and rebuilt for better living conditions. Instead, the redevelopment involved tearing down the buildings and constructing high-rises to gentrify the area. The event put Freda and her father on the streets for half a year.

With her head lowered and eyes still red at the corners from her earlier crying, the college girl finished her story:

"Everyone was talking about how unfair it was. Then my condition took a turn for the worst. The last thing I remember is being surrounded by my family.”

"Unjust and unfair," the college boy murmured, repeating the words of the system.

“That’s right," the pocket knife man tensed. "Before coming here I was drunk. I had just been laid off because of a mistake someone else made and blamed on me. I was walking by a busy street…” He cradled his temple with a deep frown. “When I think back on it, my head is filled with the sound of car horns.”

"It can't be!" The bearded man threw his fists to his sides. "I was just drinking a caramel soy latte at a café!”

Freda glanced at him, her personal health issues leading her to a possible explanation. “Do you by chance have any allergies?” 

After her insightful remark, the man's expression darkened.

One of the women who'd been listening to the system repeat itself had joined them while the pocket knife man was telling his story. She looked to be in her late 30s but her face suddenly became full of wrinkles as she sobbed and dropped to the floor.

“Ma'am!” Several people reached out at once, concerned that the woman was passing out or would hurt herself on the ice.

But their actions were no comfort to the helpless tears of a mother. "Timothy! My poor Timothy!”

The rich man with the unsettling smile patted her back. "Don't lose hope. If you rank in the top, you get a wish, remember?” As he said this, the system reached that line of information in its recitation.

The mother sniffled as she nodded and allowed the man to help her to her feet.

As the system finished its second round of announcements, Freda cupped her chin and nodded approvingly. 

"The system is pretty nice to repeat it so carefully so many times.”

She did not notice that nine other people were now looking at her with strange expressions. 

In her mind, the system had shown several signs that its intentions were not malicious and the trials would not be overly difficult. First was the fact that while the room was cold enough to have even those who were not crying sniffling and rubbing their red noses, it was not cold to the point where just standing there would give them frostbite. The goal was to make them uncomfortable and fearful, not to harm.

The second clue was that everyone appeared at different times instead of all at once. While this may seem insignificant, Freda figured that not dropping everyone in at once was a way to make things less overwhelming for the participants. This way, the first to arrive would be confused just as Freda was, but those following would be comforted by the presence of other people who could help them in figuring out the situation. The hysterical second lady threw things off a bit, but that was just an unfortunate coincidence and not the system's fault. 

As for the introduction speech, not even teachers will repeat exam questions so many times. The system was not malicious. Just weird.