Matthew's breath came in short, ragged gasps. The broken skyline loomed above him like the skeleton of a dead world, and the red sky pulsed as if it were alive—watching him.
Somewhere far off, a siren wailed, low and hollow.
He spun around, trying to understand where he was. The streets were empty, silent except for the wind dragging scraps of paper across the pavement. Then, behind him, a mechanical click.
A loudspeaker crackled to life from an old streetlamp above.
"PLAYER IDENTIFIED: MATTHEW
GAME ONE: DEAD COUNTDOWN
OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE 15 MINUTES**
LOCATION LOCKED**
TIME STARTS NOW."
A deafening gong rang out.
Matthew stumbled backward as the street around him flickered with light—glowing white lines boxing him into a ten-block radius. From the buildings, rusty shutters slammed down, trapping him inside the perimeter. A countdown appeared in mid-air:
15:00
And then it began.
A door creaked open in the building across the street. Something emerged—slow, jerky, and wrong. A tall humanoid shape wrapped in black funeral robes, with a face hidden beneath a white Noh mask twisted into a smile.
It wasn't human.
It moved like a glitch in a video, blinking forward in quick bursts.
Matthew turned and ran.
He sprinted down an alley, his feet slipping on loose gravel, heart pounding in his ears. Behind him, the thing moved silently, its robe dragging behind like spilled ink.
He ducked into a crumbling apartment complex. The lights flickered. The walls were covered in tally marks—dozens, maybe hundreds—etched with desperate hands.
Suddenly, a voice hissed from a nearby radio:
"Don't stop moving. It only chases if you hesitate. Fear is its signal. MOVE!"
Matthew bolted up the stairwell. The creature appeared at the bottom, mask tilting, then began ascending—each step a nightmare blur of motion.
10:22
He burst into an abandoned hallway. Doors stretched out on both sides. He dove into one.
The room was empty… except for a bloodstained message on the wall:
"TRUST NO DOORS. CHOOSE ONLY TWICE."
A low creak behind him.
He whipped around.
Three doors now stood in the room. One was open. Two were shut. None had been there seconds ago.
He remembered the message.
His hand hovered over the first door.
Slam.
The masked figure was inside.
7:09
Matthew screamed and hurled himself through the second door, slamming it behind him. Darkness swallowed him, followed by silence.
He waited.
Nothing.
The timer floated in front of him, ticking down.
3:44
He was still alive.
But he knew it wasn't over. The game was playing with him.
The air in the room got colder. A faint whisper in Japanese drifted through the dark, over and over:
"生定死… 生定死… Life or Death…"
The light flared back.
The countdown hit 00:00.
The loudspeaker crackled again:
"GAME ONE: CLEARED.
PLAYER: MATTHEW – STATUS: ALIVE."
He collapsed to the floor, gasping.
From the far wall, a steel door opened. Beyond it: another part of the city, darker and more twisted than before.
Another message appeared on the wall beside it.
"NEXT GAME: BEGINS AT SUNSET.
REST WHILE YOU CAN."
Matthew stared into the darkness.
He wasn't playing a game.
He was surviving a nightmare.