1:00 A.M
"Ugh… my head…" Nasrul groaned. He pressed two fingers to his temple. "Why does it hurt this much…?"
He forced his eyes open.
The world swam for a moment with the dark trees, moving shadows, candlelight flickering like it could die any second. His stomach rolled. He lay still until the worst of the headache eased, then dragged himself into a sitting position.
He looked around, blinking hard.
He saw that several light seem to flickered away from this place. Then he look around.
Zakiran was there. Kalai too. Ani. Kamra.
All of them were nearby, asleep on the ground like they'd been dropped in a pile and forgotten. No one looked injured. Just… out of consciousness.
Seem like the other team wake up earlier before then and already move away.
Nasrul candle was still beside him.
He grabbed it immediately, like it would disappear from his sight at any moments.
Then he glanced at the watch.
So it was true. When the hour ended, the candle still stayed with them. Like in the original game.
There some change but not much.
That made things easier.
It also meant the blackout wasn't only his.
"What happened before I lost consciousness…?" Nasrul muttered.
He frowned, pushing at the memory.
Bridge. Pressure. Suffocation. Knees hitting the wood. His teammates frozen at the edge.
Then the face right in front of him.
Red eyes.
A child's voice, cheerful and wrong.
"Hello, oni-chan. Ha ha ha."
Nasrul skin prickled.
"That thing… wasn't Tim," he whispered. "It has to be Lilian."
He swallowed and tried to reason through what he felt on the bridge.
"It wasn't sealing my movement," he said quietly. "I could still move… just barely."
So what was it?
Pressure. Weight. Like the air itself had become heavy. Like gravity had been turned up just around him.
No matter what it was called, it was dangerous.
And it wasn't supposed to happen like that.
One by one, the others began to wake.
Ani stirred first, eyes puffy and scared even before she fully opened them. Zakiran sat up with a sharp inhale, like he'd been holding his breath in sleep. Kalai rubbed his arms and looked around wildly. Kamra rose more slowly, but her face was tense.
They gathered close without needing to talk about it. A circle, small and tight, candles in the middle.
Nasrul pointed at them with his chin. "When that little girl appeared in front of me… why did you all just stand there?"
Kamra looked down, then up again. "We wanted to ask what was happening when you dropped to your knees. But before we could say anything… she appeared."
Zakiran nodded. "And our voices, I meant my voice felt stuck. I tried to shout. Nothing came out."
Kalai added, "Not just voice. I couldn't move. At first I thought it was only me. Then I saw all of you frozen too."
Ani hugged herself. "She just… appeared. Wearing a bunny suit. My heart almost stopped."
Kalai fear snapped into anger. "You told us Tim was the only ghost at midnight!"
Nasrul didn't avoid it. "I was wrong," he said, straight. "In the game, Lilian shows up to warn you about the next hour. I didn't expect her to appear like that."
Ani eyes widened. "You mean she appears at this time?"
Nasrul nodded. "Yes. She's the one that will appear as 1 A.M ghost."
He gestured behind them. "Look. The paper."
A sheet was pinned to a tree trunk. A crude drawing of a child in a bunny suit. Under it, two words.
[STAY AWAY.]
Kalai stood and pulled it free, holding it up close to the candlelight. "So… we really have to stay away from her."
"Yes," Nasrul said. "And there's another problem."
He hesitated for a second, then forced it out. "She can teleport people to random locations."
Kalai let out a short laugh that wasn't funny. "That's… really—" He caught everyone's stare and shut his mouth. "Sorry. That's really troublesome."
Ani breathing sped up. "Random locations…? You mean we'll be separated?"
Silence.
The word separated hung there like a curse. You could see panic creeping across faces—quick, ugly, contagious.
Nasrul stepped in before it swallowed them.
"Listen," he said, voice firm. "Even if we get separated, we still have candles. Candlelight is visible from far away in this darkness. We can regroup by following the lights. Or we can join another group for this hour. We're not helpless."
Zakiran exhaled slowly, forcing his shoulders to relax. "He's right. I panicked." He scratched his head awkwardly. "We've already seen other candlelights from far away. That's common sense."
The tension eased, just a little. Enough that people could think normally again.
Kalai cleared his throat. "Then let's move. I don't want to stand here waiting for her."
Nasrul nodded. "Remember that we need to find the clues."
Kamra asked, "Where are we going first?"
Nasrul searched his memory. "This hour has four clues. One near the bus. One near the water tower—the unfinished one. Then the bridge… and the grave area."
"Grave?!" everyone blurted at once, except Nasrul.
Ani face went blench white. "You mean we have to dig up a grave?!"
Kalai swore under his breath. "That's messed up."
Zakiran voice came tight. "Are you sure? Do we need to dig?"
"No," Nasrul cut in immediately. "No digging. I mean the clue is around the graves—gravestones or nearby. Not inside."
Kamra breath came out shaky. "Hah… don't scare me like that. If I had to dig, I'd rather die."
Nasrul gave a small, tired smile. "Same."
Zakiran stood. "Then we move now. Staying here too long might invite more trouble."
Ani stood quickly too. "Yes. Right now."
They picked up their candles and set off.
They used the old formation again—two in front, one in the center, two behind. Four flames protecting Kalai in the middle.
As they walked toward where the bus should be, Nasrul kept thinking about the candles.
Right now, their light felt strong only because there were several of them. A single candle alone wouldn't do much.
And later—if his memory was right—the wind would start picking up as the night moved closer to morning.
The watch didn't say the candle would run out, but it did say the flame could go out. Their matches were limited. If the flame died at the wrong time, then.
They'd have to relight fast.
At least they could use one candle to light another without wasting matches. One match could restart everything—if even one flame survived.
So staying together mattered.
He knew that.
And yet—
Nasrul frowned, a quiet groan slipping out. Something still bothered him. Something simple. Something he couldn't catch.
Kamra glanced at him. "What is it? What are you thinking about?"
"I feel like I'm missing something," Nasrul admitted. "Not a rule. Not a clue. Something… basic. Like human nature. Or kid nature."
Kalai stiffened. "Don't say you forgot something important about the game."
"It's not that," Nasrul said quickly.
Everyone let out a small breath of relief.
Zakiran tried to reassure him. "Maybe it's nothing. If you can't remember it, it might not matter."
Nasrul nodded, but didn't look convinced. "I hope so."
They kept moving.
After a while, Kamra asked again, "The bus clue… is it inside the bus?"
Nasrul answered without looking up, still half-stuck in his own thoughts. "Not inside. South of the bus, near a big rock. We need to find—"
He stopped.
Because the forest ahead didn't look right.
The candlelight fell strangely. The shadows were wrong. The path felt… off.
Zakiran slowed first.
Then everyone froze.
"What the next?" Zakiran whispered.
Kalai voice cracked. "No way."
Ani hands shook so hard her candle flame almost guttered.
All of them breathed the same word, full of disbelief—
"What?!"