The night wind slipped through the cracks of the window, billowing the thin curtains before letting them fall again.
Peter sat stiffly at his desk, his palms still damp with cold sweat. That whisper lingered in his mind, refusing to leave—
"You… have seen it."
He slammed the laptop shut. Yet there was no satisfying snap of the lid meeting the base.
For a moment he hesitated, then flipped it open again.
The screen glowed back to life. The forum was still there, frozen on the final frame.
But the post had changed.
Beneath the cursed video link, a brand-new reply had appeared, its timestamp marked just one minute ago.
[Anonymous_X] The list has been updated. A new name has appeared.
The thread stretched downward, unveiling a black screen filled with stark white letters.
The first line had been crossed out in red: [User_11].
The second line, the same: [DarkSoul].
Each name had a note beside it.
—"Died of sudden seizure."
—"Body found with face grotesquely twisted."
Peter's eyes widened as he scrolled down with trembling fingers.
And there, at the very bottom, new letters slowly flickered into existence:
——Peter_91.
His lungs locked up. For a moment, he couldn't breathe at all.
The Cold Spread
Peter blinked rapidly, praying it was an illusion. But the name remained, sharp and merciless.
"This… this is a prank," he muttered, throat dry. His voice cracked, unconvincing even to himself.
The screen flickered. New replies rolled in, stamped with precise times.
[Anon_A] RIP.
[Anon_B] Next one on the list, lol.
[Anon_C] God have mercy. This is real.
[Anon_D] OP wasn't lying. Another one marked.
Each short line struck him like nails hammered into his skull.
Peter fumbled for the mouse, trying to shut the page. The cursor quivered across the screen, shaking violently, impossible to control.
And then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The Bloody Handprint
He froze.
That was no branch scratching, no wind rattling. It was deliberate. Rhythmic. Heavy.
Peter turned toward the window.
At first, he saw nothing but the faint glow of a streetlamp outside.
Then, his pupils shrank.
A blood-red handprint pressed itself against the glass.
Five fingers spread wide, tips pointing inward, as though someone outside was staring directly at him.
"Jesus…" Peter's lips went pale. His hand shot to the cross at his neck, clutching the cold metal as if it could ward off the terror seeping into the room.
But the chill only deepened.
The handprint began to smear downward, leaving trails of crimson streaks across the glass.
Bang!
The window shuddered violently.
Peter jolted upright from his chair, slamming against the wall, heart hammering so hard it hurt.
Messages in the Dark
Frantic, he snatched his phone from the desk. The screen lit up—
A flood of notifications.
Private messages.
Every sender: "Anonymous."
The first:
——You saw it.
The second:
——Don't turn off the lights.
The third:
——Now it's your turn.
"Fuck…" Peter whispered. His vision blurred.
Then, with a sharp ding, the phone went black. The battery had been drained in an instant, though it had been at 80% just minutes ago.
The room collapsed into silence.
Only the church bell tolled again in the distance, deep and mournful, like a funeral dirge.
The Annotation
The laptop flared to life on its own.
The forum glowed once more, the victim list stark against the black screen.
Peter's gaze locked onto his name.
And now, a fresh annotation had appeared beside it:
——"The viewer has been marked."
His veins iced over.
Before he could scream, the screen shifted.
A video began to play.
Black background.
The ancient corpse lay inside the coffin, unmoving.
The camera drifted closer.
Closer.
The corpse's eyelids twitched—then peeled open.
Those lifeless eyes stared straight at the camera.
And in the faint reflection of the lens… Peter saw his own face.
The Hook
He toppled the desk in blind panic and bolted for the door. His hands tore at the handle, twisting desperately.
But it wouldn't budge.
It felt nailed shut.
Behind him, the whisper slid into his ear, cold and intimate, as though the speaker stood inches from his skin.
"You… are on the list."