Why me?

Reyan was gasping for breath, his chest rising and falling erratically. Fear was written all over his face. His hands trembled, and the bags he was holding slipped from his grip. He frantically looked around.

"What the hell just happened? How am I back here? I… I went inside my room, right? Was this… another dream? No! How can I have the same dream twice? I… I actually died... huh! My head—"

He quickly touched his forehead, running his fingers over it. Perfectly fine.

"No… that wasn't a dream."

His pulse quickened. Panic settled in his gut like a heavy stone. He rushed to his neighbor's door, banging on it desperately.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Is anyone there? Please, open the door! Hello?! I'm your neighbor! Hello??"

Silence. Nothing.

He swallowed hard. "Maybe they're not home…"

His eyes darted around, searching for any sign of life. But the street was empty. Not a single trace of movement. His gaze slowly shifted toward his own room's door—

And then he saw it.

A quick, fleeting glimpse—his own dead body lying inside.

Reyan's breath hitched. He instinctively touched his forehead again, as if checking whether he was still alive. His mind screamed for an answer.

"What… what the hell was that?"

His fingers fumbled to dial his best friend's number.

Ring… ring…

No answer.

Maybe I should call the police.

Ring… ring…

No response.

"Why isn't anyone picking up?" His voice cracked with desperation.

A suffocating fear took hold of him. He bolted down the stairs, his feet pounding against the floor. He ran toward the street—the same path he had taken earlier.

Empty.

Not a single soul in sight.

"This… this isn't possible! Just a while ago, this place was crowded with drunk idiots passing out in the alleys!!! And the dogs… where the hell are the dogs?! Did they really go looking for corpses…?"

His hands shook as he dialed his mother's number.

No response.

"What the hell is happening? Why is no one answering?!

He looked around in disbelief. Every store, every pharmacy, every hotel was closed.

His heart pounded as he reached the 24/7 supermarket.

"Huh? This too?! But… but I was just here a while ago! I bought things from here! How is it—?"

His voice caught in his throat.

He stumbled back onto the road and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"HELLO?! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! PLEASE!! SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING!!"

Silence.

Reyan's breathing grew erratic. He staggered forward, his legs barely holding him up.

"Where did everyone go…? Don't tell me this is a dream too…"

His head spun. He started running again—faster this time—his bag slipping off his shoulder and landing on the road behind him.

The road remained empty. Nothing but silence surrounded him.

"Where… where the hell did everyone disappear?! Am I… the only one left?"

His voice trembled.

"What the hell is happening to me…? God… please, let this be a dream… I want to wake up…"

He kept running. For the past half an hour, he had been running without stopping. His breath was ragged, and his body was drained of energy. His pace slowed, and his knees wobbled.

Panting heavily, he came to a halt and glanced at his watch.

11:38 PM.

And then—

A figure appeared in the distance.

Relief washed over him, and his lips parted in disbelief.

"Finally… finally… someone!"

But the relief didn't last. His eyes widened in horror.

The figure was him—the same person he had been trying to escape from.

Only this time, he wasn't holding a hammer.

He was holding a baseball bat wrapped in razor-sharp barbed wire.

Reyan's breath hitched.

"Why… why him?"

Ignoring his exhaustion, he forced his body to move. His eyes locked onto the figure's face—

And then he saw it.

Or rather, he didn't see it.

The man had no face: no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Only hair on his head.

A Faceless Man.

A cold shiver ran down Reyan's spine. Reyan's stomach twisted into knots. His entire body screamed at him to run. And so, he did. He bolted towards his apartment.

His legs pumped faster, but a quick glance over his shoulder sent terror surging through him.

The Faceless Man was chasing him.

Reyan screamed.

"Someone! Please! Help me!!"

He clenched his jaw, keeping his head down, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Don't look back… don't look back…"

His legs burned, but he kept running.

Then—

A sharp, crushing pain exploded in his shoulder.

THWACK!

The barbed bat slammed into his back. Blood splattered across the ground. Reyan stumbled forward, crashing onto the pavement, his vision spinning.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to get up— "Why... me??"

But another brutal hit landed on his spine. Blood splattered across the cold pavement, illuminated under the silver moonlight.

His fingers clawed at the ground, reaching forward—

THWACK!

This time, the bat struck his head.

His skull split open.

The Faceless Man didn't stop.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Five… six… seven times…

Blood painted the moonlit street.

The faceless figure stood over Reyan's body, the bat dripping with crimson.

And then—

Tic…

RE-SET

—

Reyan found himself standing at the apartment door once again. His hands trembled as the bags slipped from his grip, crashing onto the floor. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. His forehead touched the cold floor as he inhaled sharply, trying to steady himself. His mind was racing, drowning in a chaotic storm of thoughts.

"What the hell is happening to me? This time… I'm sure this isn't a dream. I felt that pain. My shoulder… my head… my back. He killed me. I died. There's no way I survived that. Then why… why am I back here again?"

He clenched his fists, trying to suppress the panic rising in his chest. "A time loop? Am I trapped in some kind of sick cycle? But why? And where is everyone? Are they stuck in the same loop as me? That thing… that faceless thing… What the hell is it? A ghost? A demon? Something even worse?"

His breathing grew erratic. His thoughts were spiraling into madness. It was a simple fact—when you are brutally murdered by an entity with no face, not once, not twice, but multiple times, and when there's no one around to help you, your sanity starts slipping away. Reyan had realized one thing by now: he was going to die again. And he had no idea if he would return or if this was the end for him.

His body refused to move. He sat frozen in place like a corpse turned to ice. His mind screamed at him to run, but his limbs wouldn't respond.

Then… he heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Approaching from his right.

Reyan forced himself to turn his head slightly toward the sound. It was him. The Faceless Man.

Reyan's entire body shivered in terror. "No… Not again… Please, not again." His voice was barely above a whisper.

But this time, the faceless figure wasn't holding a bat wrapped in barbed wire. Nor did he have the hammer from before.

This time, he held a knife.

A long, gleaming, razor-sharp blade reflected the moonlight like polished silver.

The figure stepped closer. Slowly. Purposefully.

Reyan's survival instincts finally kicked in, and he started crawling backward like a wounded insect. He sobbed as he begged, "No… Please… I don't want to die… I still want to…"

A hand gripped his hair.

Reyan's breath hitched in his throat.

His last words barely escaped his lips.

"…live."

And then, the knife sliced through his throat.

Blood poured out like a thick river, staining his clothes, pooling beneath him, soaking into the floor. The last thing he felt was his own head being separated from his body.

And then—

RE-SET.

—

Reyan was back at the apartment door. Again.

His bags slipped from his hands once more, but this time, his eyes widened in sheer horror. His breath caught in his throat. His entire body shuddered violently.

He dropped to his knees, gagging. His stomach twisted into knots, and he vomited onto the floor.

He wiped his mouth, his hands shaking.

And then… he remembered.

Everything.

From the very beginning.

"That motherf— Wait… If I die, do I come back in time?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. His mind started racing with possibilities.

"Does this mean… I can kill him? If I do, maybe—maybe I can break this loop! Yes… Yes, that has to be it!"

A twisted grin spread across his face. A broken, manic laughter bubbled up from his throat.

But then…

"STUPID!!!"

His own voice screamed inside his head.

"What if I don't come back next time? What if… what if I only have a limited number of resets? What if… the next time is permanent?"

His excitement died instantly. Hopelessness crushed his chest like a boulder.

And then, a flicker of something ignited within him. A spark.

A fire.

"No… Maybe this is a test. Maybe God wants me to fight. Am I just supposed to sit here and wait for death to come again? NO. If I still have time, if I still have a chance… I will fight. I will survive. And I will kill that monster."

Determination hardened his gaze. He reached into his pocket, gripping his room keys. He unlocked the door—

But this time…

He left it open.