August 30, XXXX 01:09 am

A figure could be seen on his computer desk. Tired eyes were focused on the blaring screen, reading through the same dialogue lines over and over.

The sounds of fingers hitting each key echoed across the dimly lit room.

Empty bottles, food wrappers, and crumpled sheets of paper, all scattered across the floor around this suspicious figure. It was past midnight and you might wonder, what was so important about what this person was doing, that he had to finish it right now and not wait for tomorrow?

That was because tomorrow might not even come. The next day marked the end of the worldー or atleast according to his predictions.

The task he was doing right now? It wasn't that important, surely not a common nor useful thing to do before the start of an apocalypse. He was simply replaying an old game.

His favorite game to be precise. It sounds like a waste of time, Kim Minho thought so too. But he just felt like playing it again, he wouldn't have the chance to once the apocalypse happens.

, a mystery rpg game. It was set on a retro futuristic world, filled with steam-powered machinery and a hint of magic.

You played as a time traveling detective who wants to change the past. This sort of plot easily caught Minho's interest, it was like a steampunk version of Sherlock Holmes.

The protagonist was cool and smart, the side characters were also just as interesting. Each having their own back stories and characteristics that made them unique.

It was mostly story based, but there was also a fun battle mode.

Pretty interesting, right? However there was one issue, this game was incomplete.

It had a supposed total of 20 chapters, but only around five were released before the game completely stopped updating. This happened 7 years ago.

The developers were anonymous so there was no way to contact them, otherwise Minho would've persistently sent multiple emails, begging them to finish the damned game.

It's been about six years since he first finished this game, but it's still as good as he remembers. Nostalgia hit him like a truck, reminding him of the fateful day he found this game.

He was in his "dark ages" and wasn't doing well, financially and mentally. While looking for jobs online, it suddenly appeared on his laptop, a mysterious file with jumbled letters.

Any normal person would immediately delete it, with the risk of it being a virus. But Minho wasn't a normal person, he was a depressed teenager with no life. So he opened the file, if everything went wrong and his PC got infected with a virusー he could just jump out the window of his apartment.

Fortunately that wasn't the case, instead of a virus it just loaded a game.

A simple layout of a black screen with a big text of the title of the top . Under it were the new game, load game, and settings options. There was a frame around the screen, decorated with a clockwork-like design.

Once the button was pressed, the clock on the centermost top would spin until its hour hand reached the twelfth hour, the screen would then turn white and display a small cutscene featuring the main character.

Those were good times, he was at the 5th chapter now, he's been playing non-stop since evening. The boss had 5 HP left and he dealt the finishing blow, winning the battle.

"Ah sh*t... Finally."

Minho stretched his arms, sitting in the same place for hours certainly made his limbs sore.

After reading through the last dialogue lines, a big white text with the words rolled in. With that he finished the unfinished game.

Just as he was about to stand up and call it a day, a window popped up on his screen.

[ aLwd3us0k9rat1ob9n has an update available right now. Install? ]

Are you kidding me? Of course I'd install!

He quickly clicked the button and settled back on his chair. Impatiently waiting as the resources were slowly downloading.

He was on the edge of his seat. The game updated just as he finished the fifth chapter? How lucky was that!

[Download complete, returning to home screen..]

He quickly moved the cursor towards the button, checking his saved data and loading the most recent one.

"F*ck the apocalypse, I'm gonna finish this game first!"

Minho exclaimed in a loud voice, unable to contain his excitement. Too loud that his highschooler neighbor upstairs stomped on the floor angrily, making him aware he was being too loud. Why was that kid awake at this hour anywayー

Just as the screen started to load the beginning of the 6th chapter, it froze.

"What the f*ck."

Minho glared at the screen, in an attempt to intimidate it and make it stop freezing. Of course that wasn't gonna work.

Since he was just gonna have to sit there and wait it outー now was a good time to answer the call of nature, he's been holding it in since an hour ago.

Right as he stood up and entered the bathroom for a well deserved pissー he slipped and hit his head on the tank.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He fell unconscious, submerging his head into the toilet bowl.

Kim Minho, a pathetic man who died a pathetic death. His life was short lived but it was one filled with happiness and joy(unsure). Unfortunately such a blissful life was taken by the waters of a vicious turd-eating beast.

Let us all take a moment of silence as this man rests in peace...

But he couldn't rest just yet. The world, or should I say the □□□□ had other plans for him.

　　　　　　.....

Strange...

He thought for sure he'd kicked the bucket and died miserably. Was he just dreaming earlier? No it was too real.

He finally got the strength to open his eyes; it was dark...His head was hurting, and so was his stomach. The cold midnight air swept against his skin as he laid there, leaning on a brick wall like a dead man. It was quite mossy and uneven, it must've been a really old brick wall. But that was besides the point.

The view around him was pretty dim, a singular lamp post being the only source of light. And It seemed like he was in some sort of alleyway.

He could smell a strong stench of alcohol and rust near him. Looking up he finally noticed a figure, crouching down about a meter away from him. The figure was facing the opposite direction and was muttering curses at themselves.

The light of the lamp post glistened on something in the figure's hand, a broken glass bottle. It's shards were littered everywhere, clusters of dark red staining the translucent material of the wine container. Such a waste, Minho was just about to ask this person if they could share, no he had more important things to ask.

Kim Minho wanted to know where the hell he was. And who else to ask besides this unknown figure, who was most likely drunkーright infront of him. Beggars can't be choosers; he'll take whatever information this drunkard can give, even if it was impossible to understand.

Maybe this was the land inside his toilet, and he unfortunately got sucked into it. And maybe the reason for clogging everytime was because there were landslides or something... Meaning whenever he would p- Nevermind, he decided to shake away all the absurd thoughts that were about to occupy his brain.

He fixed his glasses and stood up, feeling the weight of his clothes as he slowly approached the hunched figure.

Before he could even speak, the figure quickly turned towards his direction; it was a middle aged man. He looked quite shabby, but his face was one filled with horror; like he'd just seen a ghost.

"You- how are you-"

The man exclaimed in terror. He backed off in fear and panic, making him slip and fall down the stairs behind him.

Kim Minho who had just awoken, was too sluggish to react and grab the man before he fell to his demise. As expected, the man fell head first down the flight of stairs. Specs of red flew around like fireworks, as the drunkard's body crashed into the ground with a loud thud.

He must've split his skull open; while his body laid limp at the foot of the staircase, a puddle of blood oozed from his head.

Minho couldn't do anything but stare as the scene unfolded, some guy just died in front of him. And he didn't even know who that man was, or where he was; so many questions were left unanswered. He looked around his pockets for his phone but only found a worn down notebook and a pocket watch.

Useless items.. he had no choice but to go out and look for help instead.

Suddenly the headache got worse, he gripped his head in pain and walked away from the scene.

Maybe he could find a police station nearby and report the dead body, and possibly know where the hell he was.

But as soon as he got out of the alleyway and looked outside, he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He crouched down and tried vomiting, but nothing came out; there wasn't anything to throw up anyway.

This must've been his body's response to witnessing such a gruesome scene.

Eventually his shaky legs led him to a house; it looked a bit run down and had three floors, and three doors each floor.

As if it were muscle memory, his legs guided him to the second floor; right at the second door.

He knocked, and of course... No answer.

He knocked again, and again.

Suddenly he heard angry stomping, and noticing the presence of a middle aged lady; dressed in her nightgown with curlers stuck in her hair.

She carried a small lamp with her as she approached him and yelled while whispering.

"How many times did I tell you not to forget your keys Johan!"

Minho was surprised, he just knocked and was now accused of forgetting his keys. C'mon he doesn't even live here.

"If this happens again, you're sleeping in the streets."

She huffed her chest and left angrily after unlocking the door.

Minho sighed and entered the room, locking the door behind him. He looks around for a few seconds and saw the keys. They were sitting on the table near the door, patiently waiting for him to notice them.

"There they are."

He mumbled as he picked them up and walked inside. It was a normal house, quite small but big enough for one person. Certainly didn't seem like the guy lived with anyone else anyway, considering the lack of shoes and personal belongings.

He also noticed an odd amount of paintings in this house, was this Johan guy a painter? And what puzzled him was why the landladyーassuming she was the landlady since she had the keysー thought he was Johan.

Maybe the landlady was going senile, that wasn't good. She can't go around unlocking doors for strangers, thankfully Minho was a nice guy and wouldn't rob anyone, yet.

Minho wanted to explore more of this house but his head started throbbing once more, almost making him fall over. He leaned against the wall for support as he walked towards the bedroom.

Each step he took felt heavy. The pain in his head was excruciating, like thousands of pins and needles were piercing his brain. The room started to look distorted, like it was slowly enclosing on him. Hushed murmurs were whispering loudly against his ears every now and then, accompanied by a strange electronic buzzing.

But he convinced himself that it was just infact the headache making him delirious, and trudged on forward until he bumped his shin on the edge of the bed.

Finally, a place to rest. Minho thought, ignoring the fact that this was someone else's bed. He didn't care anymore, he just wanted to rest already. Plus, whoever Johan was wouldn't mind right? Minho could just grab his ankles and plead for forgiveness, maybe offer to be his servant.

He put his glasses aside and settled down on the soft yet creaky bed, it would suffice for now. Minho shifted and stared at the worn down ceiling, the pounding in his head slowly subsided; as he drifted off to sleep. Though he felt like he was forgetting something...

Right, the dead body. He still has to head to the police station and report it like a good citizen.

But that can wait for tomorrow, he's too tired.

.

.

.

.

.

[successfully connected with host, the program will start running shortly...]