Draft

The city was still awake.

Lights flickered through glass windows. Distant traffic hummed like a tired heartbeat. Somewhere, people laughed. Somewhere, someone argued. Life moved forward without asking who had fallen behind.

He walked through it unnoticed.

Keys in hand. Steps steady. Eyes half-lidded from another long day that meant nothing and everything at once.

Home was supposed to be quiet.

But not like this.

The door clicked open.

A small sound. Ordinary. Forgettable.

“...I’m back.”

His voice didn’t travel far. It sank into the walls and disappeared, like it had nowhere to go.

No reply.

No footsteps. No movement. No presence.

Just silence.

Something felt… wrong.

Not loud. Not obvious.

Just wrong.

Like a room that had forgotten how to breathe.

He stepped inside.

The air was still. Heavy.

The faint smell of something metallic lingered where it shouldn’t.

His fingers tightened slightly around the keys.

“…?”

Living room.

Empty

Dark

Kitchen

Then—

He saw her.

She was lying on the floor.

Still

Too still.

For a moment, his mind refused to understand what his eyes were showing him.

It didn’t reject it.

It simply… didn’t process it.

He walked closer.

Slow

Each step quieter than the last, like even sound was afraid to exist here.

Her hair spread across the floor.

Her hand rested near her side, fingers slightly curled.

Her eyes…

Not looking at anything.

He stopped.

Right in front of her

No scream.

No panic.

No collapse.

Just… silence.

Something inside him should have broken.

But it didn’t.

His face didn’t change.

No tears.

No shock.

No anger.

Only emptiness.

Cold. Clean. Absolute.

“…oh.”

The word slipped out like it didn’t belong to him.

His chest tightened.

Suddenly

Violently

A sharp pain shot through his body, like his heart had forgotten its rhythm and was trying to tear itself apart to find it again.

He staggered.

A hand pressed against his chest.

Breath—uneven.

Too fast. Too shallow.

His vision blurred.

Edges of the world bending, darkening.

His body hit the floor beside her.

Thud

The ceiling above him twisted.

 Sound disappeared

Time slowed into something thick and suffocating.

His heart—

Skipped

Stopped

Struggled

This was it.

Not dramatic.

Not loud

Just… ending.

Then—

Something appeared.

Not in the room.

Not on the wall.

In front of him

A window.

Dark red.

Framed in something that looked almost..alive.

Words formed slowly, as if they were being written into existence.

⚠ WARNING ⚠

Condition Detected: Near-Death

(Emotional Collapse)

Eligibility: Confirmed

Potential: Abnormal

His fading eyes barely moved.

The words shifted.

Changed

Focused

Would you like to become a Player?

Silence

Then—

Another line appeared.

Reward: One Wish Upon Completion

(No restrictions)

Something flickered.

Deep

Buried under the emptiness.

Her face.

The way she used to smile

The way she said his name.

The warmth that no longer existed.

His fingers twitched

Barely

The window pulsed faintly.

Waiting

Watching

Two options appeared.

[ ACCEPT ] [ REJECT ]

The world was quiet.

Too quiet.

His heart was barely beating now.

Each pulse weaker than the last.

His hand lay still on the floor.

Cold

Unresponsive

Seconds passed

Or maybe less

Or more

Then—

A finger moved.

Just slightly

Dragging across the floor.

Slow

Unsteady

Toward the screen

Toward the answer

And in that fragile space between life and death—

Between silence and choice—

He hesitated.

…just for a moment.

[ ACCEPT ]

…or not.

To be continued.

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