It started with soft knocks on the wooden door, the unit where Lee Mo Yu was staying. An aging flat in the East, near Mountbatten, where the corridors smelled of rainwater and rust. He was halfway through a cold plate of economy rice when three soft taps were heard.
He frowned and stood, leaving his plate behind to peer through the peephole—only to find no one there. Thunder cracked in the distance, and then the sky opened up, rain hammering down in a sudden burst.
Swearing softly, Mo Yu rushed to the window to pull in the laundry, grumbling at the fact that he have to once again wash the laundry. Just as he clipped the last clothespin shut, his phone buzzed from the table behind him. He turned, expecting a message, maybe a weather warning.
> A card has been drawn for you. Please use the card within 24 hours.
He blinked at the message, confused. What card? he thought. Was this a prank? A scam? Or one of those creepy ARG marketing stunts? No one sends something like this without a reason... And yet, the words itched at the edge of something in him—a memory he couldn't place, a fear that didn't feel new.
He was just about to check it again when the doorbell rang. Looking at the direction of the door, confused—he hadn't ordered delivery, and there were no scheduled parcels. He stepped to the door and looked through the peephole. No one was there.
Frowning, he looked through the peephole again—just in case. This time, a ghastly face flashed by—sudden and close, staring dead into his eyes from the other side of the glass. Its features were warped, skin stretched like it had been submerged too long. It didn't move. Just stared.
"AHHHH!" With an audible gasp, he stumbled back, heart pounding, knocking into the shoe rack and crashing to the floor.
[F**K, What the f**k was that!?]
The thought screamed through his head, louder than the pounding in his ears. He didn't want to move. Didn't want to look up again. Taking a minute to calm himself down, he hesitantly got up and peeped again.
No one.
Just the empty corridor stretching out, silent and damp from the rain. That was when he noticed the parcel on the floor outside his door. Wrapped in old yellow prayer paper with red thread sealed tight like a charm, along with a faint smell of burnt sandalwood. Thinking that it was just an online order he had forgotten about, he excitedly opened the parcel only to be disappointed with a singular card, one that exuded an ominous aura and had a big star engraved on it.
The moment he picked up the card to inspect it, intoxication kicked in. The world started spinning, walls closing in on him and the floor vanished. Time cracked like glass. In a single breath, Mo Yu was pulled under—not falling, but slipping, like being yanked into a different version of the city, all done in silence, he coudnt scream, not that he didn't want to, he just - couldn't.
Slowly opening his eyes, he finds himself standing outside, in the dark, he was no longer in his flat. It was still Singapore but ... for some reason, it felt different, soemthing was - no, everything was off. The HDB blocks were taller, way too tall, like concrete towers piercing a cloudless, night-purple sky. Neon lights flickered with words in dead languages. MRT stations hung in the air with no tracks, as if time had stopped in place.
And the shadows? It felt like it had eyes, piercing right through him. The silence bent. A new message etched itself into the space behind his eyes—like text on a screen he couldn't close:
A voice, which flickered in like radio static, as well as a panel with words appeared:
> ★ card used – 殯雨 (The Funeral Umbrella)
> Mission: Acknowledge what you saw. Do not speak your name.
Reward: 400 Wen
Failure: Your Soul Will Be Devoured
Time Limit: 01:00:00
> Awaiting players : 30 seconds
> Once all players are ready, please touch the card in front of you.
Then came a voice, which flickered in like radio static, " ★ card used – 殯雨 (The Funeral Umbrella), Mission: Acknowledge what you saw. Do not speak your name. ... "
Horrified by both the panel and voice that came out of nowhere, Mo Yu panicked, screamed and pinched himself hoping that it was just a dream, a lucid dream mayhaps.
" Who are you !? What do you want from me!? "
He ran around trying to get away from the panel and radio static voice, but everyehere he ran, everytime he opened his eyes, the same panel appeared, needless to say the voice followed suit as well.
" awaiting players ... "
>29
>28 ...
As the countdown continued, mo yu couldn't helped but voiced out again " who are you! What's happening ? What do you mean by mission!? And what did the failure mean!? Death ? "
>22
>21 ...
" OI F**K YOU, ANSWER ME, YOU USELESS PIECE OF S**T"
please complete the mission. Failure to do so will result in death.
" Tsk, F**K "
Coming into terms as to what seems like a game of some sorts. Mo yu came to terms to what's happening and had focuses intensely on what the mission had entail.
[ Acknowledge what I saw? So I just have to agree that I witness something ? And I can't speak of my name either. What happens if I did? Would the mission fail instantly ? ]
Since thinking by himself had no use he decided to ask the system. " Oi, What happens if I said my name by accident ? "
>10
>9 ...
" OI CB "
> Once a player fails to do what the mission specifies, the failure scenario will occur.
[ So that means I will really die? F**k which sicko came up with this s**t ]
> 1
> 0
> Total number of players, 2. Once all players are ready, please touch the card in front of you.
As the voice flickered, the same one starred, ominous looking card appeared in front of Mo Yu. Taking in a deep breath, Mo Yu touched the card, and right at that instant, the card glowed golden, the art on it shimmered—a faceless figure standing by a funeral wake, holding a red umbrella in the rain. Blinded by final light, Mo Yu closes his eyes for a few seconds only to be welcomed by a new sight when he opened his eyes.
Right in front of him was a funeral, at a void deck. He looked around to check on himself and sighed in relief to find that all four limbs were intact. Just then, a new voice whispered behind him, wet and weeping:
"You saw me that night, didn't you?"