Prank

One day, a group of young men gathered on the roadside after they finished work.

They met up to relieve their boredom after a long day. Every night, they shared stories and sometimes played games together until one night, one of them, named Bagas, suggested playing a prank to scare passersby.

Since pranks were trending, they all agreed and began discussing what they needed to prepare.

After a long discussion, they finalized the list of necessary items.

They went home to prepare everything, planning to gather again the next afternoon.

The next day, they immediately started preparing the equipment for the prank.

This time, Ucok was chosen to play the ghost because his face was perfect for it, while the others handled the camera to record and upload the footage.

That night's prank was a huge success, becoming a hot topic in the neighborhood. The video they recorded went viral within hours.

The following night, Ardan suggested exploring an abandoned house in the next village.

After gathering all the necessary equipment, they headed there.

Upon arrival, they decided that only three of them—Ardan, Ucok, and Bagas—would enter, while the others waited outside.

Each had a role:

Ardan carried a bright flashlight.

Bagas handled the camera.

Ucok brought a device to communicate with spirits.

Inside, they observed their surroundings while recording, hoping to capture supernatural activity.

Suddenly, Ucok's phone notification went off, startling them.

"Turn that off, man! I almost threw my camera," said Bagas.

"Who's texting you?" asked Ardan.

Ucok fell silent, tapping his phone screen with a serious expression.

"Cok?"

Ucok stopped tapping and looked at them with a sad face.

"My girlfriend just broke up with me," he said.

The tense atmosphere immediately faded.

"That's it?" said Bagas.

"What do you mean 'that's it'? Are you happy about this? So you can get close to her now, huh?"

The mood turned heated as Ucok stepped right in front of Bagas.

"Yeah, I'm happy, but not because I want to date her," Bagas replied.

"I told you to break up with her a long time ago. I saw her with another guy at a restaurant, but you wouldn't listen. And now you're hurting."

"Still, you didn't have to be happy about it! What kind of friend are you?"

"What kind of friend? Dude, before you started dating her, I warned you not to get close.

But you begged me to help you.

You've been rejected by so many girls before, and I didn't want you to fall into depression again.

I helped you because you begged me, not because I thought she was a good choice."

Silence filled the room as they stared at each other.

Meanwhile, Ardan texted the others outside, letting them know they were coming out soon and updating them about Ucok's breakup.

Just as the room fell silent, eerie female laughter echoed from an unknown source.

They instinctively pressed their backs together, their hairs standing on end.

Ucok quickly turned on his spirit-communication device.

Bagas grabbed the flashlight from Ardan.

Ardan messaged the others outside.

Bagas scanned their surroundings with the camera—until he saw it.

A dark shadow at the end of the hallway.

The figure was grotesque and terrifying.

"RUN!" he shouted.

They bolted out of the house.

Once outside, Bagas realized he had been live-streaming instead of recording.

Not only had their argument been broadcast to countless viewers, but so had the shadowy figure.

After calming down, Ucok opened up about his struggles while smoking.

His friends supported him, and he decided to change for the better.

The next day.

Their live stream went viral.

The house owner blocked access to the abandoned house, fearing an influx of thrill-seekers.

Seeing their rising popularity, the group decided to create content accounts to earn money.

They took turns exploring haunted places in teams of three.

But their adventures halted when a global pandemic struck.

Lockdowns prevented them from investigating haunted sites.

Fortunately, none of them caught the virus.

With ghost-hunting on hold, they decided to return to pranking.

This time, they chose a location famous for ghost stories.

Legend had it that a man died in a brutal accident, his body torn apart.

People said his spirit still roamed, searching for his missing limbs.

The group dismissed the story.

They had never encountered anything supernatural—except for that one night in the abandoned house.

Once they confirmed the prank location, they went home to prepare.

Ibnu, one of them, passed by the prank site on his way home.

Unlike before, he felt an unusual chill.

The area, usually mundane, suddenly felt unsettling.

His instincts told him to stay alert.

As he rode his motorcycle, he felt a strange weight, like someone had climbed onto the back.

He glanced at his mirror. Nothing.

His heart pounded.

He tilted his mirror downward—he didn't want to see whatever was there.

The next day, he told his friends what happened.

They laughed it off, thinking he was imagining things.

That night, they set up hidden cameras at the prank site.

Surya was chosen to play the ghost.

The prank went smoothly—until a man with a cane appeared.

They decided not to scare him out of respect.

As they waited for him to pass, an unnatural chill surrounded them.

A suffocating, oppressive aura filled the air.

They brushed it off as paranoia.

Once the man disappeared into the distance, the eerie atmosphere lifted.

They continued their prank.

By midnight, they reviewed the footage.

Something felt off.

Then they saw it.

The man with the cane—

wasn't in the video.

Only his footsteps were recorded.

And then, a whisper.

For a whole month, they all had the same nightmare, leaving them traumatized.

In their dreams, the man reappeared, pleading for help.

If they refused, his body would twist and shift—his skin turning jet black, his towering form growing larger, his glowing red eyes burning into their souls.

But if they accepted, they would find themselves transported back to the prank site, searching endlessly for his missing limbs.

Upon waking, they would feel utterly exhausted, as if they had just run a marathon.

For a full month, the nightmare repeated every night.

In the end, they decided to stop pranking and return to their normal lives.