Death Clock

"Wake up."

Metro opened his eyes, and felt a cold sensation as he regained feeling in his body. He opened his eyes, and looked at his body. He was totally naked, from feet to head. He did not feel anything around him at all.

That voice that he had heard just now did not belong to anyone that he had encountered before. It was a mysterious, hoarse voice, but one that had compelled him to wake up.

"Look at the table in front of you."

The surroundings of Metro shifted suddenly, as he landed inside the apartment that he had rented for that relic excavating business. It was an exact replication of the area, except that the wooden table had two unfamiliar objects on it. He regained his sense of touch, and started feeling his body. It was all exactly the same, with no abnormal features anywhere.

'What's happening?'

Metro had retained most of his memories, all the way until his 27th birthday. From there on, there was only some figments of memory. His parents had died early, and had left behind a small apartment in New York that he lived in . He was a customer service staff member in his job, but something had changed after his 27th birthday.

He had started to remember what had happened after he saw the apartment again. An influential man, waving stacks of cold, hard cash, and he was... bowing? Then, there was a crystal book, followed by a few loud noises.

Metro tried to draw out more memories, but his mind had already become exhausted. As a result, his whole body was wracked with pain, causing Metro to go into a foetal position.

However, the pain came like the wind, leaving soon after. Metro estimated that three seconds had just passed, when he had recovered miraculously. His whole body tensed up, as he looked a closer look at his body again.

'Did something happen to my body? Am I not human anymore?' Metro felt that his body was still human, but how was he going to explain everything that was happening to him right now?

"Look wth the table in front of you, and pick up the clock. Do not make myself repeat again." The disembodied voice had an irritable tone to it now, clearly annoyed at Metro's little experiment.

Since the voice controlled Metro's surroundings, he could not escape from doings its bidding. He moved closer to the table, where he could now make out the silhouettes of the objects.

'What's this? I've never seen anything like that before?' The most eye-catching object was a hefty-looking wooden clock, which was about to reach 12. It was exactly 5 minutes away.

Next to it was a beige note, which used the Comic Sans font to write the words on it.

[Scenario: Return of the Witch]

[Novice Trial Mission]

[Description: Betrayed by the devils and left for dead, a cult leader has made a deal with a celestial being! Eliminate the demon with any methods and unlock first skill of Death Clock.]

[Remarks: The Novice Trial Mission will determine your domain. Do note that hidden missions will occur, and that you will be able to increase the chances of survival through completing them.]

"... Death Clock? What does this mean? Does it refer to the clock over here?" Metro picked up the clock and shook it to see if there was anything he missed. He could hear nothing inside, not even the sounds of gears or anything.

"When the clock reaches 12, you will meet your doom. Steal the life of others, and reverse the inevitable." The voice communicated with Metro yet again, this time telling him the properties of the clock.

"What?" This all seemed like he was getting scammed by some random con artist, who was using cryptic messages to attempt to look like a legitimate mystic.

Metro felt fear creep into his heart. If only he could just dismiss this as superstition... Yet, the truth was still there. He was trapped in this place, while the voice was the only interaction he really had.

"What do you want me to do?" Metro tried talking to the voice. He hoped that the voice could enlighten him to the situation that he was put in.

"Simple. Kill people to survive. The more powerful they are, the longer you live. Complete the quest you have, and I will give you a reward. Along the way, you can complete additional events to increase your rewards." The voice explained everything thoroughly. "Pick up the movie reel there. It will activate the quest." A movie reel dropped from the ceiling of the apartment, falling onto the floor.

"Kill?" Metro was horrified at the prospect of murder. He could not believe that he needed to end a human life for him to live longer. He immediately rejected the voice. "Why must I kill people? Can't I just live normally?"

With a sigh, that voice expressed its disappointment. "Amnesiacs are so hard to deal with. I will have to forcefully activate this scenario. Don't worry, once you get back your skills, you shouldn't have much of a problem anymore. If you are concerned about your soul, it's under my protection, so there wouldn't be any problems until the 10 star scenarios."

The movie reel floated up, as it glowed with a blue light. It exploded mid-air, blinding Metro for a moment. When Metro could see again, he was in a place that was pitch-dark. He sat on a comfortable chair that felt velvety soft. Above him, light projected onto a screen, which showed a baby.

The movie showed a boy growing up with dysfunctional parents. His name was Robert. His hair was a golden blonde, while his skin was bone white. They shuttled him to and fro from each other's house, manipulating him to do their bidding. Eventually, the boy managed to wisen up at 17. He had already grown to become a tall fellow, and finished his parents off with a shovel, which he later used to bury them.

He was a talented debater at school, with his results being exceptional. Scared that he might be caught, he erased all traces of his murder by using a shovel. His parents were very hostile to their own families, so no one bothered to find them.

It was this turning point that led him down to the path of a cult leader. Obtaining a well-paying job at a reputable institute, he studied the manipulation techniques that his parents utilised, and altered them to suit his needs.

On the internet, he found malleable people, who he turned against their families. He then proceeded then to gather them under the "Nine Divinities Cult", which was just an excuse to siphon more money for his hedonistic pleasures.

Eventually, he caught the attention of a mysterious person, who sought out him to make sacrifices to something unknown. As the mysterious person had displayed various supernatural powers to him, the new cult leader was eager to agree, as the mysterious person had offered him something, even though Metro did not get a chance to see what it was.

The cult leader decided that a mass suicide was the best way to sacrifice his cult members. He casted several chalices, which he added a potent dose of cyanide to. Gathering all his members, he announced that they will "return to the realm of the gods".

Of course, the cult leader had no intentions to honour his promises. His chalice was filled with a small dose that was not enough to kill even a small mouse. It could fool the others if they took a whiff of it. However, something had definitely gone awry, as the cult leader was nauseous and discomforted after drinking it all down. At Robert's last breath, he secretly held onto a rock with a silver clock engraved on it.

Metro had not seen this before in the previous scenes, but he could tell that this was something related to the "Death Clock" he was told about earlier.

With the rock in his hand, Robert cursed in his heart, "I want whoever did this to me to pay! I don't care which god it is, help me kill them. I'm dead anyway, I might as well sell my soul to the devil at this moment!"

This was also the last moment of the cinematic. The theatre collapsed around Metro, and reformed it into an audience of people clothed in black robes. Metro's imaginary jaw fell along with the cult leader's jaw.