It was supposed to be the proudest achievement in my life, but as the clock struck twelve, the illusion of greatness vanished, leaving me with a woman melting on my lap. She didn't say a word—she couldn't, not with her mouth fusing with her chin and tearing off from her head, dropping onto the floor entirely. Her eyes screamed with pain, secreting tears, but a second later, her expression ceased, along with her eyes, having been swept away by her own tears, leaving two voids of emptiness with a mushy mass of pink—her brain, peeking through the darkness. Her makeup, clothes, shoes, and accessories all came off, leaving her body bare—bare enough for me to see each individual bone and organ inside of her—for her skin had peeled away along with her attire. Not even a single strand of hair remained rooted in her skull since she now had half her head left, exposing her drooping brain with each fold prominent. They almost looked like intestines bundled together, forming one contorted mass of tissue. But even that began to degrade, becoming a mush of red that slid down my thigh like a blob of slime and onto the floor, where the remnants of her skin went. All that remained on my lap was an exposed corpse, an endoskeleton with pieces of meat attached to it, hanging on from the thread-like nerves. I watched closely as her lungs melted, followed by her liver falling off from the side. Her intestines unwound like a ball of yarn until they met the same fate as her other organs. I didn't even notice at what point her stomach disappeared. Her once-beating heart, now deprived of any sustenance, had ceased all movement and gradually reduced to particles, chipping away at all sides until it was no more. With all the meat gone, a single twitch was enough for her skeleton to break into pieces like a fragile tower of sticks. Not even a single drop of blood remained. She was gone. All that was left was a mound of a grain-like substance. Some of them still clung to my lap as if they were stuck in the fabric of my pants. No one would believe me if I told them that this was once a human being.

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I sat still, not because I was too scared to move, but because I couldn't. Just like the woman, I, too, slowly met the same fate. My brain was already half gone, bringing my movement and emotions to a permanent halt.

Suddenly, like the moon rising from the horizon, a silhouette appeared in the distance, taking shape bit by bit from the ground up. It is here. It's the very entity responsible for everything, the one who showed me a glimpse of a prosperous future but then took it all away and reduced it into this worthless pile. Its hollow black eyes stared at me with excitement, as if its plan was coming to fruition, and its carving for a mouth shifted up and down to form a chuckle. It was tormenting me.

"You are out of time," the entity spoke. Its deep murmur will be the final sound I will ever hear.

I wanted to fight back, to at least come to terms with my demise in my own accord. But I didn't even have the liberty of doing that, not even screaming in despair. My body began to crumble like the woman's. Bit by bit, I began to slowly cease to exist. It didn't hurt. It was more like the broken portions of my body were numb, but I could sort of feel the chill of my surroundings enveloping my now-exposed organs. I am now close to meeting the same fate.

If only I hadn't signed up for this place. The signs were already there on full display. If only I had followed the unsettling feeling in my stomach back then, I wouldn't be in this situation. My friends, my colleagues, my family—I haven't even bid farewell to any of them. Please, I just want some more time, even a few more seconds, enough to utter one final prayer. I don't want to die like this—to be at the mercy of a monster, to pass away without gaining satisfaction from my life, to leave this world with a bundle of loose ends. I don't want to die yet. I beg you. Please. Let me li-..........