~Adrian's POV~
I dragged myself back to the dorm, my sneakers barely holding together, the soles flapping with every step like they were begging to give up. My shirt clung to my back, soaked with sweat from the eight-hour shift at the diner.
The air smelled of grease and desperation, and my boss's voice still echoed in my head, tearing into me like I was the reason the place was falling apart.
"You're useless, kid. Shape up or you're out."
The tips in my pocket? A measly twelve bucks and some change. Not even enough for a decent meal, let alone the rent due in three days or the tuition payment that was already two weeks late. My stomach growled, loud and angry, like it was ready to claw its way out and fend for itself.
I kicked the dorm door open and dropped my backpack with a heavy thud. The room was a mess... books piled on every surface, clothes spilling out of a laundry basket I hadn't touched in weeks, and a tower of empty ramen cups stacked on my desk like some sad monument to my broke college life. I didn't care. My eyes went straight to my phone, the one thing keeping me sane. The cracked screen lit up with a notification that made my heart skip:
[New Chapter Released: Nightmare Carnival, Chapter 300 — "The End"]
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. For three years, this horror BL novel had been my escape. It was dark, twisted, and downright cruel at times, but I couldn't put it down. It was like the story had claws, sinking deeper into me with every chapter.
The games in the novel were brutal... puzzles and traps that tore characters apart, physically and mentally. The themes pushed every boundary of fear and sanity, and the characters? They fought, loved, and bled for survival in ways that felt too real. But the creepiest part was how it always left me with this weird feeling, like someone was watching me through the pages, like the author was writing just for me.
I grabbed my phone, hands shaking a little as I flopped onto the creaky bed. The springs groaned under my weight, and I ignored the mess around me as I opened the app. The new chapter loaded, and the theme hit me like a punch to the gut: Death.
I scrolled through the pages, my heart racing. The game in this chapter was merciless. One by one, every character was swallowed by it. The male leads, the side characters, even the protagonist I'd been rooting for since the very first chapter... they all fell. Blood spilt across the pages, screams echoed in the words, and then... silence. Nothing but cold, empty silence.
At the bottom of the chapter, there was a single line in bold:
[This is the final chapter. Thank you for reading.]
"What... the fuck?" I whispered, my voice barely audible in the quiet room.
I scrolled down to the comments, and the fans were losing it. The section was a warzone of rage and heartbreak:
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
"You can't end it like this, you bastard!"
"I wasted three years of my life on this garbage?!"
"Bring them back, Author! Don't you dare end it here!!"
Some people were crying, others were cursing, and a few celebrities who'd gotten hooked on the novel were posting long, dramatic essays about how betrayed they felt. I just sat there, staring at the screen, my thumb hovering over the comment box. I didn't know what to say. Everyone else was screaming, but I felt... different. Empty, maybe. Or maybe it was something else, something I couldn't name.
Instead of joining the chaos, I typed something simple:
"Thank you for the chapter and the advice. I enjoyed it."
I hit post before I could overthink it. It was honest, at least. The story had kept me going through late-night shifts, endless debt, and the constant weight of feeling like I was drowning. It deserved a thank you, even if the ending ripped my heart out.
To my surprise, the likes on my comment started climbing fast. Within minutes, it was at the top of the section. People were replying, calling me crazy, a fake fan, or "weirdly peaceful." One person even wrote, "Who hurt you to be this calm about THAT ending?" I ignored them all, scrolling through the noise, when something stopped me cold.
A reply appeared under my comment. From the Author.
Do you want to play a game?
I blinked, my heart stuttering. Out of thousands of readers... thousands of comments... why me? My mouth went dry as I stared at the words. Before I could process it, another reply popped up:
You could become rich.
Rich. The word hit me like a freight train. Me? Rich? I'd spent my whole life scraping by, counting pennies for bus fare, skipping meals to make rent. The idea of money... real money... felt like a fever dream. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, my pulse hammering in my ears.
"Yes," I typed, not even thinking. "I want to play."
The moment I hit send, the Author replied with a single smiley emoji.
And then, a second later:
Let's play.
That was it. No explanation, no details. Just those two words staring back at me.
I snorted, tossing my phone onto the bed.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever." It had to be a prank, right? Some kind of publicity stunt to hype up a sequel or a spin-off. The authors didn't just pick random readers and offer them games. My eyelids were heavy, the exhaustion from the diner shift finally catching up. I rubbed my face, trying to shake the weird feeling creeping up my spine.
"Get it together, Adrian," I muttered to myself. "It's just a dumb app."
I lay back, the bed springs creaking louder than ever. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the mini fridge in the corner. I closed my eyes, ready to pass out, when a faint glow flickered behind my eyelids. I ignored it at first, thinking it was just my phone screen. But it got brighter. Too bright.
I opened my eyes, and my heart stopped.
A glowing window hovered in the air above me, like something out of a sci-fi movie. White letters glowed against a pitch-black background:
DING!
[Welcome, Host No. 000001.]
[Transporting into the Game in... 10... 9... 8...]
"What the hell—" I shot upright, my heart slamming against my ribs. The words were floating, real, right in front of my face. This wasn't my phone. This wasn't a dream. "Wait—wait, wait, WAIT!"
[7... 6... 5...]
"No, no, no—stop, STOP!" I scrambled off the bed, my legs tangling in the sheets. I stumbled to the floor, knocking over a stack of books. The glowing window followed me, unblinking, the countdown ticking down like a bomb.
[4... 3... 2...]
I lunged for my phone, thinking maybe I could close the app, delete it, do something. But the screen was blank. Not even a low battery warning. Just black.
The room dissolved into darkness, like someone had flipped a switch. My stomach dropped, and I felt myself falling, weightless, into nothing.
[Welcome To The Game!]