Michael Pain didn't sleep well.
Not because he was scared.
Because his brain wouldn't shut up.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it again — that blue, flickering screen. Like reality had a crack in it and something was looking through.
He lay on the thin mattress in the small room above the gym in New York City, staring at the ceiling fan that barely moved air.
"…I'm not crazy," he muttered.
A pause.
Then, quieter:
"Probably."
Morning came loud.
Weights dropping. Men shouting. The gym below already alive like nothing ever happened.
Michael got up, stretched, and walked downstairs barefoot.
Same routine. Same mop. Same bucket.
Except now, he was waiting.
For something.
And it came fast.
[SYSTEM ACTIVE]
Michael stopped mid-step.
The mop almost slipped from his hand again.
"…Good morning to you too," he said softly.
People walked past him. No one reacted.
The screen was only his.
[NEW TASK GENERATED]
Assist training sparring session (0/1) Maintain gym equipment (0/1) Clean locker zone (0/1)
REWARD: +15 TP
Michael blinked.
"TP?" he whispered. "Like… talent points? XP? What is this, a game?"
No answer.
Just silence.
And that uncomfortable feeling that the system didn't care if he understood or not.
He decided to test it.
He picked the easiest task.
Cleaning the locker zone.
Simple.
Normal.
Safe.
The locker room was worse than the gym floor.
Old sweat. Broken doors. One flickering bulb making shadows stutter across the walls.
Michael started cleaning.
One locker.
Two.
Three.
Then—
A sound.
Metal scraping.
Behind him.
He paused.
"…If this is a rat," he said quietly, "I'm charging it rent."
No response.
The scraping stopped.
Then started again.
Closer.
Michael slowly turned.
Nothing.
Just rows of lockers.
Still.
Silent.
Then the screen flickered.
[TASK PROGRESS: LOCKER CLEANING 70%]
Michael frowned.
"That wasn't there before," he muttered.
He turned back to the lockers.
And that's when he saw it.
A dent.
Fresh.
Too fresh.
Like something had hit the metal from the inside.
He stepped closer.
Touched it.
Cold.
Deep.
Too heavy to be accidental.
"…Okay," he said softly. "That's not normal."
The lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then—
BANG
A locker door slammed open by itself.
Michael stumbled back instantly.
His heart jumped — not fear exactly, but instinct. The kind that tells you your body understood danger before your brain did.
He didn't scream.
He didn't run.
He just stared.
Inside the locker…
Nothing.
Empty.
But the air felt wrong.
Heavy.
Like something had been there a second ago.
The system flickered again.
[TASK UPDATED]
Investigate anomaly (0/1)
REWARD: +25 TP
Michael exhaled slowly.
"…Of course," he said. "Now it wants me to investigate the horror movie part."
He stepped forward anyway.
Because that was the problem with Michael Pain.
He was curious.
Too curious.
The locker slammed shut behind him.
Hard.
The sound echoed through the room like a gunshot.
Michael didn't turn.
He just sighed.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "That's definitely not part of cleaning."
He placed his hand on the locker again.
And for a split second—
The screen flickered violently.
[SYSTEM SYNC ERROR…][STABILITY: 3% → 4%]
Then it stopped.
Silence returned.
Michael pulled his hand away slowly.
"…So touching weird haunted gym lockers gives me points," he said.
A beat.
"…Love that for me."
He walked out of the locker room.
But as he did—
He didn't notice the faint scratch marks inside the metal.
Marks that looked less like damage…
And more like fingers trying to get out.