Part 17
I try to ignore it.
That ping.
That weird, not-from-my-phone, definitely-from-my-room ping.
I stay still.
Maybe if I don't react…
It didn't happen.
Chat keeps moving like normal.
"anyone wanna vc?"
"nah"
"bruh"
Good. Normal. Safe.
I type a message:
"lol"
Sent.
Nothing explodes.
No control panel.
No weird options.
Just Discord.
I relax a little.
Maybe it's over.
Maybe I actually escaped.
Then someone replies to me:
"you're back"
I blink.
"yeah?"
They type again.
"it picked you last time right?"
My stomach drops.
"What are you talking about"
Three dots appear.
Typing…
Typing…
Then:
"nvm"
They stop.
Go silent.
Offline.
Just like that.
I stare at their name.
Something feels wrong.
I click their profile.
No mutual servers.
No join date.
No roles.
It's like they were never here.
I scroll back up.
Their messages are gone.
Completely gone.
I check with someone else.
"did you see that guy?"
They reply:
"what guy?"
Cold.
That same cold feeling again.
I shake it off.
Nope. Not doing this again.
I go to settings.
Notifications.
Off.
Everything off.
I am NOT getting dragged back in.
I close Discord.
Put my phone down.
Sit there in silence.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Thirty—
Ping.
I flinch.
Slowly… slowly…
I look at my phone.
Screen is off.
No notifications.
But I heard it.
Loud and clear.
Then—
My phone lights up on its own.
Discord opens.
I didn't touch it.
The server loads.
A new channel appears.
At the very top.
#selection
No one is typing.
No one is online.
Just me.
And one message.
From "Server."
"round 2"
I whisper:
"…no."
Another message appears.
"choose the next one"
A list loads beneath it.
Usernames.
All of them.
Everyone in the server.
My hands start shaking.
"No. I'm not doing this again."
The screen doesn't care.
A timer appears.
00:29
Counting down.
"choose"
I stare at the names.
Friends.
Randoms.
The "can I be mod?" guy.
All of them just living their normal Discord lives.
Unaware.
Just like I was.
Timer hits:
00:10
I panic.
I don't want this.
I don't want to choose.
00:05
My finger moves.
I don't even know why.
Maybe fear.
Maybe instinct.
Maybe something else.
I tap a name.
Timer hits zero.
Silence.
Then—
Message sent.
"selected"
The channel disappears.
Everything goes back to normal.
Chat resumes.
People laughing.
Talking.
Alive.
I sit there.
Frozen.
Heart racing.
Because somewhere in the server…
Someone just got chosen.
And they don't know it yet.
Just like I didn't.
I slowly type in chat:
"hey"
They reply:
"yo"
I stare at their name.
The one I picked.
And whisper:
"…I'm so sorry."