The system notification that had appeared at the end of the previous night expanded across Darius Kane’s vision, replacing the forum with his updated trial information.
After an entire week of waiting, his first official post-placement mission had finally arrived, and this time Horror Town provided more details than it had during Terrifier.
Darius immediately focused on every line, unwilling to miss anything that might affect his survival.
The moment he saw the world title, his expression changed.
[Homeowner: Darius Kane] [Street: 666] [Rank: Iron — 100/3000] [Leaderboard Rank: 10,659+] [Asymmetrical Survival World: COUNTDOWN] [Completion Rate: 45%] [Death Rate: 55%] [Average Rating: C+] [Main Mission: Help Quinn Harris escape the Countdown curse and survive.] [Reward: 100 Exchange Points] [Side Mission 1: Kill or repel the demon.] [Reward: 1,000 Exchange Points] [Entering Trial World…] Darius barely had time to process the fifty-five-percent death rate before the familiar sensation of weightlessness seized him.
His surroundings disappeared, darkness flashed across his vision, and a pleasant fragrance reached him before his eyesight fully returned.
At the same time, a young woman’s concerned voice sounded from only a few feet away.
“Sir?
Are you okay?” Darius opened his eyes and discovered that he was sitting on the floor of a hospital elevator.
Standing nearby was a young woman in her twenties with golden-brown hair tied back in a ponytail, dressed casually in a green jacket and jeans.
Her face was instantly recognizable.
Elizabeth Lail might have been the actress in his old world, but here the woman standing in front of him was unmistakably Quinn Harris, the protagonist of Countdown.
Darius’s mind immediately began racing through the movie.
Quinn was a nurse at this hospital, and the cursed Countdown app was supposed to tell users the exact amount of time they had left to live.
If his memory was correct, she had only recently downloaded it after hearing about it through people at work, and her timer would show a little under three days remaining.
Horror Town had clearly inserted him at an extremely convenient point in the story.
Quinn crouched slightly.
“Sir, are you sure you’re okay?
You passed out almost as soon as you got into the elevator.
Maybe you should let someone check you out.” Darius pushed himself upright and leaned against the wall for balance.
“I’m fine.
Thanks.” He deliberately paused as though trying to remember what had happened, buying himself a few seconds to organize the movie timeline.
“Did I actually faint?” “For a few seconds, yeah.” Quinn watched him carefully.
“If you’re still being treated here, you should probably go back upstairs.” Darius nodded, then suddenly asked, “Did you download the app?” Quinn’s expression changed.
“What app?” Darius could practically see suspicion forming behind her eyes.
They had never met as far as she knew, yet a stranger who had supposedly just fainted was suddenly asking about something on her phone.
From Quinn’s perspective, the question made absolutely no sense.
If anything, it probably made him sound mentally unstable.
Darius quickly added, “The one that predicts when you’re going to die.
I can’t remember the exact name for a second.” That only made her more cautious.
Quinn took a small step backward.
“Why are you asking me that?” Darius sighed internally.
Great.
Five minutes into the mission and the person I’m supposed to save already thinks I’m a stalker.
Still, this reaction was completely reasonable, and forcing the issue too aggressively would only make things worse.
He raised both hands slightly to show he wasn’t threatening her.
“We don’t know each other,” Darius said.
“Or more accurately, you don’t know me.
But I know who you are, and I need you to answer one question before you decide whether I’m crazy.” Quinn stared at him.
Darius continued, “Did you download Countdown?” The elevator suddenly felt much quieter.
Quinn didn’t answer immediately.
Her eyes moved from Darius to the floor indicator, then back to him, and the suspicion in her expression became much more obvious.
Countdown wasn’t exactly secret, but she had downloaded it only recently.
There was no logical reason for a stranger inside an elevator to know that.
Finally, curiosity won.
“Yes,” Quinn admitted.
“I downloaded it.
How did you know?” Darius’s expression became serious.
“And it says you have around two days and twenty-two hours left.” Quinn froze.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Knowing about the app itself could have been coincidence.
Maybe he’d heard hospital employees talking about it, or perhaps the download had become popular enough that everyone was discussing it.
Knowing the number displayed specifically on her phone was completely different.
“How do you know that?” Darius didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he watched her reaction and confirmed that his memory was accurate.
Horror Town had inserted him shortly after Quinn received her timer, which meant most of the movie’s major events hadn’t happened yet.
Evan was still alive somewhere in the hospital, Matt Monroe hadn’t entered Quinn’s life, Jordan hadn’t downloaded the app, and the demon hadn’t begun openly terrorizing Quinn.
The timing was almost too convenient.
Darius looked back at her.
“Because that countdown isn’t fake.” Quinn stared at him as if he’d just announced that the elevator was haunted.
“You have less than three days left,” he continued.
“And if you try changing the events that are supposed to lead to your death, the app will tell you that you’ve violated its user agreement.” Quinn’s fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
Darius knew he couldn’t reveal everything at once without sounding insane, so he chose something personal enough to prove he wasn’t guessing.
“Your dad is going to ask you and your sister, Jordan, to visit your mother’s grave with him.
You’ll agree, but after you start believing the app, you’ll cancel because the timing matches your countdown.
That’s when the violation message appears.” Quinn’s face lost some color.
Her mother was dead.
Her sister’s name was Jordan.
A random stranger knowing both pieces of information while discussing a supposedly harmless phone app crossed the line from strange into genuinely frightening.
“Who are you?” she asked quietly.
Darius could already guess what she was thinking.
Stalker.
Hacker.
Someone who had been watching her.
Maybe even whoever created the app.
Any explanation grounded in reality would make him look dangerous rather than helpful.
The elevator bell finally chimed.
The doors began sliding open onto the first floor.
Quinn immediately glanced toward the exit.
Darius sighed.
“I’m not going to hurt you.
I’m actually here because I’m trying to stop you from dying.” That did not make her look more comfortable.
He continued before she could leave.
“Just give me ten minutes somewhere public.
Coffee shop, hospital cafeteria, anywhere you want.
If what I tell you doesn’t make sense, you walk away and call the police.
I won’t stop you.” Quinn stared at him for several seconds as the elevator doors remained open.
She looked toward the busy hospital lobby.
Then back at Darius.
Five minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at a coffee shop roughly fifty yards from the hospital.
Quinn had deliberately chosen a table beside the front window where employees and customers could easily see them.
Two steaming cups sat between them, though she hadn’t touched hers.
Her posture remained tense.
“All right,” Quinn said.
“You got your ten minutes.
Who are you, and how do you know those things about me?” Darius had already prepared his cover story during the walk over.
He took a small sip of coffee before answering.
“My name is Darius Kane.
I’ve been receiving treatment at your hospital recently.
I study theology, folklore, and what most people would call divination or occult phenomena.” Quinn blinked.
Darius continued before she could interrupt.
“A while back, I nearly fell while trying to get to the restroom.
You happened to be walking past and helped me.
You probably don’t remember because you deal with dozens of patients every day, but I remembered your name.” That part sounded plausible enough.
Quinn remained silent, so Darius continued weaving the explanation.
“Earlier today, I overheard hospital staff talking about the Countdown app.
They said several people had downloaded it after hearing about a patient who believed it predicted his death.
I knew enough about this kind of thing to recognize that it might not be harmless.” “You expect me to believe you’re some kind of psychic?” Quinn asked.
“Not exactly.” “Fortune teller?” Darius shrugged.
“Call it whatever makes this conversation easier.” Quinn gave him a look that clearly said it wasn’t helping.
Darius ignored it.
“I figured you’d probably download the app too, so I was looking for you.
I wanted to stop you before you accepted its terms.” He sighed and glanced toward her phone.
“I was a few minutes late.” Quinn studied him carefully, trying to decide whether he was insane or simply very convincing.
As a nurse, she’d dealt with confused patients, delusional patients, frightened families, and people convinced that everything from government satellites to demons was following them.
Under normal circumstances, she would have ended this conversation already.
Unfortunately, Darius knew information he shouldn’t have known.
Still, the explanation sounded ridiculous.
An app predicting death?
A curse?
An occult expert appearing immediately afterward?
Quinn finally forced an awkward smile.
“Look, I appreciate that you seem concerned, but it’s just an app.
Someone programmed a timer and made it look creepy.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to die when it reaches zero.” Darius nodded.
“I know that’s what you’re thinking.” “Because it’s rational.” “Absolutely.” That response caught her slightly off guard.
Darius leaned back.
“So don’t believe me yet.
Test it.” Quinn frowned.
“Two things will prove I’m not making this up,” he said.
“Start with the easiest one.
Try deleting Countdown.” Quinn stared at him for a moment before pulling out her phone.
“That’s it?” “For now.” She unlocked the screen, found the app, and attempted to remove it.
Nothing happened.
Quinn frowned and tried again.
The app remained exactly where it was.
Her expression slowly changed.
Darius calmly lifted his coffee.
This was only the beginning.
(End of Chapter) 500 = +1 Chapter] [Review Goal: 10 = +1 Chapter]