"Ethan~ Breakfast is getting cold!"
The voice slipped under his door - honeyed and false. Ethan Cross's fingers dug into his sheets.
Real moms don't sound like serial killers reading bedtime stories.
This wasn't his mother.
She wasn't even human.
"Sweetie, come out now!"
Footsteps. A shadow gathered under the door. The doorknob twitched.
Ethan's lungs closed.
Then —
Click.
The thing's smile froze, vividly perfect. "Eat soon, my darling. Mommy has to work." It backed away without blinking. At the threshold, it turned with jerky puppet grace, "Buy two fish for lunch. Fresh fish."
"Yes, Mom." His grin became crooked.
The door snapped shut.
Ethan exhaled—
A shadow lingered in the crevice.
He was still watching him.
He maintained his immobile grin, his spine crawling. The shadow dissolved after three eternal minutes.
"Ding! The lottery has begun!"
A ghostly wheel with sectors labeled SSS to C spun with the cruel joy of a carnival.
SSS. SSS. SSS—
The needle has landed.
"Congratulations! SSS rank skill unlocked: The Eyes of the Damned!"
» Eyes of the Damned: Foresees your next death (cooldown: 60 minutes in-game / 7 days in real life).
Ethan scoffed. "Activate it."
His soul tugged at his side
Vision #1: 11:30 a.m
He floated behind his own body, watching Ethan-Prime stare at the living room clock.
Tick. Tock.
The front door clicked.
"Ethan."
Not-Mom emerged, grinning like a zipper on her face. "Where's my fish?"