Rick's routine was as normal as it could get. He had woken up at 7 and gotten ready to head out of the house by 8:00 AM. He was on time, but then why did he have a feeling he was running late?
Was something… truly going on that he was not aware of? He had a sudden urge to carry some kind of protection on him.
By 8:30, he was at school and sat down in his seat, and his eyes turned to look outside the window. But the feeling of something being 'wrong' did not subside.
He got through the day, and by 3:30, it was time to leave for home again. His footsteps carried him toward the station, but his heart did not feel the same joy as every other day.
Somehow, he knew that no bus would come, no matter how much he waited.
"Let's not be stupid. It was just a dream. It's not actually going to come true."
Rick convinced himself, and he waited for the bus. But it did not come.
His only options to get home were either the metro or calling for a cab. And recalling his dream made him not want to take the metro back home.
So instead, he decided to call for a cab and head home. The taxi stopped in front of him, and the driver greeted him in a cheerful tone.
"Welcome back, sir. Are you a student heading back home? Your parents must give you a lot of allowance to afford this."
The taxi driver was a stranger, and yet he showed his envy toward Rick by speaking such words. It was unfamiliar and, frankly, a little insulting as well. But Rick did not react to these words and pretended he did not hear them either.
He turned away until he reached his home and paid the driver.
His empty home waited for him to enter, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But he had a weird feeling as soon as he touched his house's door. He suddenly did not want to enter the place because he was afraid he would die.
Fear was choking Rick, and he immediately tried to run away from the house.
But getting to the road proved to be an impossible task. No matter how much Rick tried to run, he was not able to make much progress.
"W-Why am I not moving?"
Rick asked as he looked down. But his feet were rooted in place, and his will to move forward did not seem to matter.
"Hey, why did you not come to the alley? You always come to the alley, no matter the playthrough. Is this another glitch? Or a secret ending? Anyway, you caused such a mess for me. All my chat is so disappointed in me. How will you make it up to me?"
It was the same person from Rick's dreams standing in front of him. Somehow, he looked even more intimidating than before, and Rick's heart lunged painfully in his chest.
'I need to get away-'
Somehow, Rick broke through the hold the shadows had on him and tried to make it to the road. He looked back to see a shocked expression on the suspicious person's face before anger took over, and his legs were suddenly caught in something.
Rick tried to brace his body for the fall, but it still hurt a lot when he hit the ground.
"Hey, what are you trying to do? Are you… trying to run away? Do you think you can?"
A hand grabbed Rick's head, and the lack of ability to move was making his head dizzy. It was hurting Rick, but he had no way out of the situation.
"Ugh, this is so unfortunate. I want to ask you why you chose a different route today compared to other times to see what triggers it, but I guess I don't have time. Not that you would reply to me since you are an NPC."
Rick had a lot to say. He wanted to roar at the other man to not call him an NPC and explain what this whole 'game' business was and why he was subjected to this.
But unfortunately, his world turned blank before he could ask about it.
…
.
…
The next day, he woke up again and panted in shock. His alarm was loud, and the noise made Rick's head hurt. His body was hurting as well, and he reached for his head to check for any damage.
"T-That… was another dream? Is it really a dream? Or am I losing my mind?"
Rick questioned, but there was no answer to his question. Rather, he did not want his questions to be answered if it meant he would have to lose his life again.
The alarm kept buzzing, and Rick finally turned it off. For the first time in his life, he decided not to go to school.
Surely nothing could happen if he did not go to school and chose to stay in his house instead.
Unfortunately, that was a misunderstanding that only lasted until he closed his eyes during the night hours.
The sun was setting outside when Rick heard the loud sound of something breaking his door. He immediately went to check on what was happening, only to see the face from his nightmares in front of him.
"Oh! An abnormality in this space? The developers never told me about it. Hey, what else can you do? Show us what else has changed from the script."
Rick's killer asked. But somehow, he felt and sounded like a different person than before. It was not the same sadistic man who had killed Rick before.
And yet, Rick had no idea how he would be able to escape from here. Where should he go? All he could do was try to plead for his life.
"S-Spare me. I did not mean to-"
The blade came for his face once more, and Rick's world turned dark once more. His mind felt a mess, but just like before, he woke up the next day in the same bed he had died in.