"Six UF students. One dead city. Extra credit just became a fight for survival."
About
Six University of Florida juniors desperate for extra credit fly to a real Chinese ghost city, a pristine empty metropolis built for millions. They arrive treating it like a field study, analyzing empty highways and silent malls with textbook arrogance. Their dynamic is pure comedic friction: constant hysterical critiques of each other's expert takes. But as the silence stretches and the mystery of the empty streets sinks in, the vibe shifts from funny to eerie. Reality doesn't match their research. Based on real locations, this is academic satire where the joke turns unsettling but never dry.
Characters
He is a sharp, laid-back UF junior from Saint Petersburg, Florida, studying urban planning. He treats the ghost city like a puzzle only he can solve and uses arrogance for comic effect while actually knowing his stuff. Unlike the others, he is from a real city and sees the layout clearly. He is consistently funny, mocking the group's incompetence while quietly leading them. He stays calm when things get weird, using wit to cut through the panic and keep the team from walking off cliffs.
She is a loud, competitive UF junior from Athens, Georgia, majoring in Health Sciences on a pre-med track. She treats the ghost city investigation like a triage unit, scanning for hazards while aggressively correcting everyone else's mistakes. She is medically knowledgeable but uses her expertise to roast the group's poor life choices with dramatic flair. She believes she is the only adult in the room and mocks the others for being soft. Her energy is high and chaotic, constantly warning about germs or structural instability while making fun of Jake's stupidity. She is arrogant, quick to react, and refuses to let anyone else take charge.
He is a loud, arrogant UF junior from Blades, Delaware, majoring in Sports Management. He barely attends class and lets teammates do his assignments for him, yet acts like he knows everything. He treats the ghost city like a casual field trip and assumes physical fitness makes him prepared for anything. He talks constantly about training and performance while having zero real-world experience. He is sarcastic, competitive, and completely oblivious to danger, believing confidence alone makes him capable. He mocks academics, overestimates his intelligence, and somehow expects everyone else to follow his lead.
Chloe is a driven UF junior from Fort White, Florida, population 650, studying Political Science on a full academic scholarship. She grew up in a tiny town where everyone knew her business, so she is fiercely competitive and determined to prove she belongs at UF. She knows local government codes and regulations by heart, often citing them incorrectly in high-stress situations. She is energetic, arrogant about her grades, and mocks the others for lacking discipline. She treats the ghost city like a zoning violation waiting to be corrected.
Mia is a twenty-one-year-old media production junior from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, who treats every moment like content waiting to be captured. She carries her camera everywhere, live-streaming the group's entire trip from the dorms to the ghost city, and her follower count explodes overnight as the mystery deepens. Mia is sharp, energetic, and dramatically expressive, often exaggerating events for her audience while breaking the fourth wall to address her viewers directly. Despite her constant filming, she is academically gifted and understands engagement hooks, pacing, and storytelling, making her the group's unofficial director of narrative. Her high-energy personality and ruthless commentary on her friends' mistakes provide constant comedy, even as she uses her media savvy to help uncover the truth behind the empty city.
Wang is an elderly Chinese man with a weathered, deeply wrinkled face, wispy white hair, and a worn flat driving cap he never removes. His defining feature is his grin: a wide smile of black-stained teeth the students would recognize anywhere, if they could ever place it. He was their cab driver in Kangbashi, the one who fled without payment, and he has been reappearing ever since in a different job every time, always wearing the uniform of whatever work he's doing in the scene. The cap and his old jacket never change, no matter the job. The truth is Wang is a ghost. He shows up in unexpected places throughout the city at key moments, quietly helping the students when they need it most. The students always recognize the smile but can never quite pin him down, and Wang always denies being the same man, in horrible broken English, with a perfectly straight face. He never breaks, never explains, never gives himself away.
Intro
The semester ended with a slammed door. Six University of Florida juniors, arrogant and behind on credits, skipped the last day of class like it was a joke only they understood. They threw bags into a van, cracked the windows, and tore toward Jacksonville International, riding a wave of reckless energy that only exists when you're twenty-something and convinced the world is waiting for you. The airport was loud and fluorescent, alive with chaos. They moved through it like they owned the place, loud enough to draw side-eye from security but too confident to care, treating every gate like a VIP lounge.
The flights were a blur of cramped seats and stale, recycled air. Tiny trays of cold food slid down the aisle; someone cracked a pretzel and immediately regretted the dry, salty dust. On the long haul overseas, the cabin dimmed into a heavy, blue-lit silence. That's when Tenesha felt it. Across the aisle, a passenger was watching. Not a glance, but a fixed, heavy stare. She turned, locking eyes for a second too long. The stranger didn't look away, just held her gaze until a prickle of unease ran up her spine. She whispered to Kyle, but they laughed it off, popped in headphones, and drifted into an uneasy sleep. When the captain announced descent, the cabin lights buzzed back to life. Trays were cleared. Tenesha scanned the row where the watcher had sat. Empty. Just a folded blanket. No sign of them. She frowned, glancing at the others, but they were already unbuckling, hyped to land. She shook it off. Probably just went to the lavatory. Whatever.
They touched down on Chinese soil, the air thick and different outside the terminal. The energy surged back. They were here. A city that didn't exist. A place with six-lane highways and zero people. It sounded like the ultimate adventure. They grabbed their packs, hopped into a taxi, and gave the driver the address. The ride was quiet, the landscape shifting from urban sprawl to eerie, empty expanses of concrete and glass. The driver spent the whole trip glancing up at the rearview mirror, offering polite, confused nods and black-toothed smiles as they rattled off English he clearly didn't understand. He was performing ignorance, just trying to get them somewhere. But the moment they pulled out a map and pointed to the ghost city, his demeanor snapped. His eyes locked on the spot. He understood. He gave a sharp, real nod of affirmation. That was the only time. When they arrived at the edge of the silent metropolis, he didn't wait for payment. He didn't ask for money. He just gestured a quick, frantic bye, eyes darting back to the rearview one last time, and peeled out fast, tires kicking up dust. He bolted like he was escaping. They stood there with their packs, the silence of the empty city rushing in. Kyle watched the taillights disappear, taken aback. No charge. No small talk. Just gone. The rest shrugged it off. Maybe he forgot, maybe he's weird. Kyle felt the weight of it but still remaind focused on why they were here to begin with. Three red flags in a row.
Mia holds her phone up, already live. “Okayyy, guys, we’re LIVE,” she says, voice bright. “We just landed in China and this is the ghost city.” tilts the camera toward the empty skyline. “0 people. Let’s see what it's hiding.”
Release Date 2026.09.17 / Last Updated 2026.09.30
