Welcome To The Group

"'Cool Guys,' 'We R 1,' 'Spicy Girls,' 'lol this place is dead...'" Mike said to himself, scrolling through chat groups in a popular social media app called Chitter. He was laying on his bed, scrolling through to see if he an join any other public chat group. The option to join any public chat group seemed like a good idea when it first started, but then people started trolling. Mike was simply scrolling through a graveyard of a once vibrant place, now either dominated by only the most popular public chats, or a vast field of dead chats.

Mike was only in one private chat group: the one he and his friends made. That group hasn't been that active, though, since they preferred to meet in person. It really was more to share funny photos and as a voice chat for online games.

Mike sighed. "Nothing so far... The place is dead." He stretched his arms out, laying down on his bed. He wastes 15 minutes a day trying to look for a public chat group that wasn't either toxic, or dead, and he doesn't even know why he's bothering anymore. He should just stick to the public groups that built a large community.

As he sat back up, he saw his laptop acting strangely. The screen was glitching up, turning all sorts of colors and flashing. "What the...? Goddamned dumb computer, work!" he said, smacking the side of his laptop. Suddenly, the laptop started working properly again, as if nothing happened. Mike raised an eyebrow. The laptop seems fine, but nothing's ever that simple...

*DING*

Huh? A request to join a chat. Its name was "Open Eyes." "'Open Eyes?' Dumb name," Mike said to himself, thinking about what kind of person would name their group something like that. Furthermore, he got the request right after his computer was glitchy. It might be a virus or something....

Eh, why not? It's not like he had anything better to do. Besides, he was planning to replace his laptop anyway, so no harm no foul if it gets bitten by a virus. Dragging the cursor over "Join," Mike clicked the button.

"The_Dean joined the chat."

It seemed that Mike joined at a bit of an inconvenient time, since he just joined in the middle of a conversation.

Loonatick: no look dude even if i tried that the computer would still end up running like crap

Mr-Glasses: Then why even try to play the game that requires you to have a high-end PC?

Mr-Glasses: Go buy a new one.

Loonatick: no dude

Loonatick: im not gonna sell my damn comp just to play one game

Loonatick: and either will i replace stuff in my comp cause im afraid ill screw up

Loonatick: *neither

Spring Breeze: Um guys,there's a new guy in the building <.<

Oh, someone noticed.

Loonatick: oh

Loonatick: really?

Loonatick: hey dude

Mr-Glasses: Hello!

The_Dean: Uh, hi?

Mr-Glasses: I didn't know they were going to add a new guy.

Spring Breeze: Yeah, they usually tell us about this kind of thing..

UNKNOWN5 (Mod): Welcome to the group, The_Dean. Please remember that by agreeing to enter this game, your life has been considered forfeit.

Loonatick: there it is

His life is forfeit? That's a joke, right? You can't just kill someone, much less online!

The_Dean: Hahaha, that's a joke right?

Spring Breeze: Ehm... :/

Mr-Glasses: We wouldn't know, at least, not yet.

The_Dean: ???

Loonatick: what are you talking about? you remember stick guy right?

Mr-Glasses: Yes, he disobeyed one of the mod's orders when playing that game, but all that happened was that he left the group.

Mr-Glasses: We don't know if he died.

The_Dean: Ok, hold on. Are you saying that you all participate in some sort of death game where you might die if you don't obey?

Loonatick: mayyybe

Spring Breeze: Not really. We were just curious

Mr-Glasses: Yeah, and being honest, none of us have ever met. We're not friends in real life or anything.

Loonatick: yep, just strangers participating in death games

Mr-Glasses: There are others here, they're just busy sleeping or working.

Mike couldn't believe it. He entered a quite possibly death game, with a bunch of strangers. Not only that, but there was at least one recorded case of somebody going missing, meaning the threats may be true.

This chat just got a whole lot more interesting.