1 Birthday Game
"— And this morning, the foreman of Giga Hen Ltd. storage unit in Red Flame District contacted the authorities. A rank 1 Totem Base appeared within the basement of the unit and the Warlock's Conclave has evacuated and restricted the area. If you're—"
*Pip*
The screen of the television darkened with a soft chime as a groan echoed, followed by a soft thud.
"I left it on all night... fuck," his arms smacked on the floor as he unclenched the remote in his palm and rolled down the couch. The cold floor did wonders to refresh him. Snorting slightly, his body still reeling in the sweet after sleep moment where his skin would shiver in delight as to what fresh fuck his life had to shove down his throat, Reed sat up and leaned against the leg of the couch.
"Uh..." He looked at his room idly. His mind probably still processing the fact that he had indeed woken up.
*Ting-a-ling-ting*
Another soft chime struck Reed's sleepiness. Blinking, the man found his cellphone. A 6-inch tactical smartphone— bigger than his you-know-what.
On the screen, the notification of a message from— GovtXT— with the small preview of the new text stating— Happy 21st Birthday! Please be sure...
But what attracted Reed's eye was numbers.
07:01—
07:02
"Too early," he grunted, pulled himself up on the two-seater couch, and curled in with a peaceful expression.
*Zt*
*Zt*
As he easily plunged into yet another bottomless valley of sleep and dreams, his mind so deeply enchanted by the act that the soft zapping sound of the electricity, through the plug with which the Tv is connected, failed to wake him up.
The screen of his smartphone lit up but instead of the usual lock screen wallpaper— Moe Moe Tan— the screen turned static. Rows of pink and blue pixels made the screen feel like it's been broken, or worse, hacked. The notification of the message blinked on and off. The time widget showed— 00:00:09
Then,
00:00:08
00:00:07
00:00:06
...
00:00:01
*Trc*
A quiet cracking sound spread and a deep crack appeared on Reed's television. But instead of spreading across the surface of the television, the crack dove mid-air followed by fluorescent pink and blue pixels that made the air itself looked like it had been glitched out.
The cracks grew larger and connected with Reed's smartphone while the crevice of the crack surrounded by pixelated glitches revealed a dark blue, almost black, vortex. However, it was silent. It did not suck in anything.
But it continuously rotated.
For minutes, the vortex remained still. The cracks did not spread further and the surroundings of the room continued to feel like a corrupted virtual reality game space with even a few pieces of furniture and a lamp turning back and forth into pixelated eldritch forms and then normal once again.
Only after a little over two hours did Reed squirm slightly. Once again, he went through his daily routine. Rolling down the floor, he slowly got up and yawned.
"Yaaaa—" Although he completed his yawn, his voice was stuck in his throat and his eyes bulged.
*Fsssshhhhhh*
An intense suction force rumbled forth and easily swallowed Reed even before he could shout for help.
*Fwip*
As if an electronic device, the vortex seemingly disappeared with a soft sound of an electrical device closing off.
The living room returned normal once again and aside from Reed, nobody would have noticed the fact that his lock screen had been changed.
The rabbit girl in a pink bunny suit holding a golden staff had her smile removed, so were her eyes and nose.
Faceless.
---
*Vzzzzz*
A grizzly, grumbling echo erupted following a grey vortex.
*Swish*
As quickly as he was sucked in, Reed was ejected with an equal force that sent him throttling forward against the damp patch of grass.
*Thud*
"Ow—" smacked onto his side, Reed then further rolled forward. His pained yet shortened grunts boomed following the sound of his body dragging across the grass and tearing apart patches of wet soil.
"Ugh... worst birthday ever..." Roan grumbled, his left cheek pressed against the ground and he could easily smell the overbearing fragrance of the wet soil and damp grass. Though generally refreshing, to the lover of locked spaces and solitude, the sense of refreshment wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Peh!"
Spitting and coughing out a few blades of grass, Roan slowly sat up but his left arm ached, quite possibly injured during his roll on the ground.
"Gah!" he gritted his jaws and successfully alleviated himself. But instead of his 'greying' and dull room, his gaze was lit up by a bright and vibrant world.
He stood over a wide expanse of verdant grass. In fact, the space right now looked quite similar to the default wallpaper of the 'Gates' computer software. The land in front of him slanted upwards slightly while the bright blue sky seemed pure and attractive without a single cloud to view.
But still assembled in his boxers and vest, Reed did not have the mood to enjoy such an environment.
It was at this moment, a golden, translucent screen appeared in front of Reed that said—
"Welcome, Reed. Congratulations on your 21st Birthday and I hope this day remains the most memorable day of your life."
Reed blinked.
In the age of Warlocks and Totem Pets, nothing was too strange.
But this golden screen with blood-red words that even slightly dripped due to gravity...
Reed realized— This is fucked up.
But even before the chill in his heart could spread, the words turned out to be black in color as if he had seen it wrongly previously.
"In the next 30 minutes, I will answer any and every possible question you can think regarding your current situation. I shall remain honest and provide brief replies without playing with my words. Please, be smart and take good advantage of this benefit like a few others~"
As the words on the screen were read carefully, a small timer appeared in the middle of the top half of the screen.
29:58
29:57
...
Reed looked at the words and unconscious blurted, "There are others?"
"Yes. Another 20 contestants are still familiarising themselves with their situations," the words on the screen changed and answered Reed's question.
"What is this place? Let me go back!" Reed called out anxiously.
"This place is my personal realm," the words answered.
"Let me go back!" Reed hissed, trying to hold the screen but the words did not change and even his hand passed through the screen. However, the moment he came into contact with the screen, his wrist and palm seemed to have glitched out as if a broken screen.
Shocked and afraid, Reed pulled back and looked at his arm with his back slowly being soaked in a cold sweat.
Still rattled, Reed continued to look around anxiously but only after a few minutes did he calm down.
Glancing towards the silent screen, he saw that the timer had reached 26 minutes and then he bit his lips.
"Why am I here?"
"You are fortunate enough to be selected for a game."
"What game?"
"The game of life and miracle."
"Why me?"
"All the contestants are chosen randomly. There are no qualities or specific traits that I specifically looked for."
"What if I don't want to play this game?"
"Then you shall remain in this wide expanse forever. Starved to death."
Reed gulped.
"This is a game, right? What are the rules?"
"The rules will be explained alongside all the participants."
"Tell me about other participants."
The screen didn't change at this moment and Reed realized his mistake.
"Will you tell me about other participants?"
"No."
"What if I lose?" Reed thought that the chances of his own failure seemed to be more prominent than his success in any kind of game.
"There are various outcomes. Most of the outcomes are fatal in nature but a few lucky ones may survive."
Reed grew silent.
"Can I go to my room to change my clothes?"
"No."
"Who are you?"
"I am Miracle."
"Why are you doing this?"
"To confirm something."
Gritting his teeth, Reed growled, "Don't our lives matter to you?"
"No."
"Are you from the Warlock's Conclave?"
"No."
"Are you a human?"
"No."
"Are you a living being?"
"No."
"Are you a totem beast?"
"No."
And just like that, Reed began questioning the screen as much as he could.
