The message still burned in Eli's mind as he walked home.See you soon.
It could've been a prank. Maybe someone in the café noticed him staring and thought it would be funny. But the thing that unsettled him wasn't the message — it was how quickly it had vanished.
No trace. No smudge. Just clean glass and his reflection staring back.
The streets of Hollowbrook were quiet now. Neon signs flickered across rain-slick asphalt, and the sound of distant traffic echoed between buildings. Eli pulled his hoodie tighter, trying to shake off the chill that had settled in his stomach.
By the time he got home, his thoughts were a tangled mess — static, replay, denial.
He sat at his desk, booted up his PC, and stared at the login screen of Eternal Nexus.The blue logo pulsed like a heartbeat.
He hesitated for a long time before typing his password.
The home screen greeted him with the usual calm hum of music and ambient glow. His friends list blinked:
Grassnyerman (Online)NotSmibble (Online)
Eli let out a small breath of relief. They were both up. He hovered his mouse over the voice channel and clicked Join.
Renzo's voice came through immediately. "Yo, what's up, night owl?"
Eli swallowed. "You guys got a sec?"
There was a pause. Then J.D.'s calm tone. "Sure. Everything alright?"
Eli leaned back in his chair, staring at the faint reflection of himself in the dark monitor. "Something weird happened at the café after you guys left."
Renzo chuckled. "What, the espresso machine tried to 1v1 you?"
Eli smiled weakly. "No, I'm serious. Someone wrote something on the window. 'See you soon.' Then it… disappeared."
There was silence. Just the low hum of background noise from their mics.
Renzo finally spoke, his voice lower now. "Okay, that's creepy."
J.D. asked quietly, "Do you think it was meant for you?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Eli hesitated. "But I didn't see anyone. And the barista didn't notice anything."
Renzo let out a long exhale. "Man, maybe it's just nerves. The tournament, the messages from the Circuit… it's getting in your head."
"Yeah," Eli said softly. "Maybe."
But he wasn't sure he believed that.
They queued for a casual match anyway — more for comfort than practice. The familiar sound effects, the countdown, the opening narration of Eternal Nexus — it all felt grounding, like a heartbeat in the noise.
Their lobby filled. The map loaded.
And then something strange happened.
As they entered the match, the announcer voice — normally crisp and clean — stuttered for a brief second.
"Welcome to the Fields of—"Static. Then silence.
The voice resumed half a beat later, perfectly normal.
Renzo joked, "Game's haunted now. Great."
Eli forced a laugh, but his pulse was rising.
They played through it — slow, steady, quiet. J.D. stayed calm as ever, Renzo cracked jokes mid-fight, and Eli found rhythm again. For a while, it almost felt like nothing had happened.
Then, around twenty minutes in, as they were pushing the mid lane, a strange ping appeared on the mini-map.
Not one of theirs.
It came from the fog — the area shrouded in darkness where no vision existed.
Renzo frowned. "Who pinged that?"
"Not me," J.D. said.
"Not me either," Eli murmured.
The ping appeared again. Twice. Then vanished.
A chill slid through him.
After they lost that game — more from distraction than play — they sat in silence for a few seconds.
Renzo finally broke it. "Okay. That was weird."
"Yeah," Eli said quietly.
"Look, man," Renzo continued, trying to keep his tone light. "If this is someone from the Circuit messing with us, they're doing a good job. Creepy marketing campaign, 10 outta 10."
J.D. didn't laugh. "You think it's them?"
"I don't know," Eli said. "But it feels like… something's watching. Like the game knows."
"That's not possible," J.D. replied gently. "It's just software."
Eli nodded slowly, but his stomach still twisted.
They talked for a while longer, mostly about strategy, trying to drown out the tension. Renzo cracked a joke about installing antivirus "for ghosts." J.D. said they'd take a break the next morning.
Eventually, they logged off.
Eli sat alone in the glow of his monitor, the hum of the computer filling the silence. He should've gone to bed, but his eyes drifted back to the Eternal Nexus launcher.
He clicked the notifications tab.
There was a new message.
From: Rook.Subject: Congratulations.
Eli's breath hitched.
He clicked it.
"You've shown potential. Phase Two begins soon.But the stage doesn't wait for the hesitant.Prove your worth tomorrow.A test match has been arranged."
There was a link at the bottom. No description. Just a single button: Join Private Lobby.
Eli hesitated. Every instinct screamed to wait, to message the others. But curiosity — or maybe pride — pressed his hand toward the mouse.
He hovered over the link.
Clicked.
The screen flickered. For a second, everything went black.
Then the Eternal Nexus client reloaded — but this wasn't the usual interface.
The layout was stripped down, dark. The music was gone.
Only one option appeared on-screen:
Lobby: Shadow Circuit TrialStatus: Waiting for Players (1/5)
Eli's heart raced. "What the hell…"
He was about to leave when the counter changed.
(2/5)
A name appeared.
Grassnyerman.
"Renzo?" Eli whispered to himself.
Then another.
(3/5)NotSmibble.
(4/5)Rook.
Eli froze, staring at the fourth name. His headset was still off. There was no voice channel. Just the faint hum of the PC and the glow of the monitor.
He didn't click anything — didn't even breathe.
Then the fifth slot filled.
(5/5) Player: Unknown_47
The Start Match button turned green.
Eli sat there, staring, his pulse hammering in his ears.
Was this real? Was this actually the tournament?
He reached for his headset — but before he could put it on, a line of text appeared in the lobby chat.
[Unknown_47]: You're late, Eli.
His hand froze on the mouse.
The cursor trembled slightly as he moved it, unsure if he was more terrified or exhilarated.
He typed, slowly:
[EliVance]: Who are you?
There was a long pause. The screen flickered again.
And then the reply came.
[Unknown_47]: The game remembers who tries to leave.
The screen went black.
The hum of the PC cut out completely.
Eli sat in the dark, the faint reflection of his own face staring back at him on the blank monitor — and somewhere in that silence, for just a second, he thought he heard the faint click of a mouse.
But not his own.