Seventy-two hours.
That was all the time Danny had left before the Soul Mark fully opened… before whatever lay behind that grinning mouth beneath his eye would consume him whole.
He staggered through the rain-drenched city streets, his mind numb, his face locked in that cursed smile.
The neon lights of the city blurred in his vision, distorted by exhaustion and the growing whispers clawing at his sanity.
"Find a heart… a living, willing heart…"
The voice from the Threshold echoed relentlessly in his mind.
But how do you ask someone to willingly surrender their own life?
Who could be so broken… so desperate… they'd agree to die just to grant someone else's wish?
The night dragged on, and Danny found himself wandering deeper into the slums—where hope had long since died and desperation rotted in every alley.
In the distance, the faint sound of a child crying pierced the rain.
Danny turned a corner and found a small, hunched figure sitting alone under a broken streetlamp.
It was an old man, frail and gaunt, his eyes hollow but strangely peaceful.
The man looked up and… smiled.
But this wasn't like the cursed, forced smile that twisted Danny's own face.
This smile was calm. Accepting.
"You're looking for someone ready to go, aren't you?" the old man rasped, his voice barely audible over the rain.
Danny's heart stopped.
How did he know?
The old man patted the spot beside him on the cracked pavement.
Danny hesitated, then sat.
"Who… who are you?" Danny asked, his throat dry.
The old man chuckled softly.
"Just a forgotten soul in a city that doesn't care. I've been ready to leave for a long time, Agent Wong."
Danny froze.
"How do you know my name?"
The old man's smile deepened, his pale eyes staring somewhere beyond this world.
"I've seen many like you… walking the line between this life and the next. You're a broker now, aren't you? Selling more than just houses…"
Danny swallowed hard.
He didn't want to say it. Didn't want to admit it.
But the mark under his eye throbbed painfully, a cruel reminder that time was running out.
"I… I need someone. Someone who's… willing to give their heart."
The old man turned his gaze to Danny, his eyes clearer now than before.
"I've got nothing left, son. No family. No regrets. Only one wish."
Danny's breath hitched.
"What is it?"
The man's voice trembled.
"Before I die… I just want to feel warm one last time. Not from the cold… but from kindness. Someone holding my hand. That's all."
Danny's vision blurred with tears.
How could a man's final wish be so simple… and so heartbreaking?
He reached out, gripping the old man's frail, trembling hand.
It felt cold. Brittle. Like the last autumn leaf about to fall.
The old man smiled softly and closed his eyes.
"Thank you… That's enough."
And then…
His heart stopped.
His body slumped forward, still holding Danny's hand.
Danny's phone buzzed.
📧 FROM: Fate Exchange"Transaction complete. Payment received. Return to the Threshold to claim your wish."
But as Danny stared at the lifeless man before him, the words on the screen felt hollow.
The rain continued to fall, and Danny's own smile—twisted and bloody—felt more like a curse than ever before.
🎬 [End of Chapter 10]