OFFLINE – Chapter 1
Going Live
Rain hammered softly against the apartment window while the blue glow from Kai’s monitor lit the dark room in uneven shadows. Empty energy drink cans covered half the desk beside his keyboard, and the cheap standing fan near the corner rattled loudly every few seconds like it might finally break tonight.
Perfect atmosphere for another failure of a stream.
Kai Mercer leaned back in his chair while the livestream dashboard loaded slowly across his second monitor.
LIVE IN: 00:07
Three viewers waiting.
Amazing.
After nearly eight months of streaming horror games, late-night chats, and random reaction content, Kai still barely averaged more than ten viewers on a good night. His channel sat buried beneath thousands of larger creators online.
But rent was due in four days.
So here he was again.
Going live at 2 AM for strangers who mostly joined just to spam memes before disappearing forever.
Kai adjusted the webcam slightly while checking his reflection.
Tired eyes.
Messy black hoodie.
Dark circles from too many sleepless nights.
Good enough.
The countdown reached zero.
The red LIVE icon appeared.
“Alright,” Kai muttered while forcing a tired smile toward the camera. “Welcome back to another terrible financial decision.”
The chat moved slowly beside the stream.
ghostly_cat: yoo
derek77: finally live
luna.exe: bro looks dead already
Kai laughed softly.
“Thanks. Appreciate the emotional support.”
Outside, thunder rolled somewhere across the city while rain streaked down the apartment windows behind him. The stream continued normally for the first twenty minutes. Casual conversation. Cheap horror game. Small jokes with the chat.
Nothing unusual.
Then the donation alert appeared.
A loud electronic sound echoed through the room while the screen flashed bright red.
Kai blinked.
$10,000 DONATION.
The entire chat exploded instantly.
WHAT???
NO WAY
BRO GOT RICH
FAKE DONO
Kai physically leaned closer to the screen.
The donor username displayed only numbers:
User-0
No profile picture.
No message attached.
Just the donation.
Kai laughed nervously. “Okay, whoever just did that… you genuinely scared me.”
His hands visibly shook while refreshing the dashboard.
The payment was real.
Pending verification—but real.
The chat continued exploding with reactions.
Then another donation alert appeared immediately afterward.
$1.
Same account.
This time with a message:
Keep streaming no matter what happens.
The room suddenly felt quieter.
Kai forced another awkward laugh.
“Well that sounds threatening.”
The chat spammed laughing emojis instantly.
Probably a troll.
Rich trolls existed.
Weird rich trolls definitely existed.
Kai tried continuing the stream normally afterward, but something about the donation message lingered uncomfortably in the back of his mind.
Keep streaming no matter what happens.
Strange wording.
Then the apartment lights flickered once.
The chat reacted before Kai did.
LIGHTS??
nahhh horror movie starting
turn around
Kai glanced behind himself automatically.
Nothing there.
Just the apartment kitchen dimly visible beyond the doorway.
“Congrats chat,” he muttered. “You manifested haunted electricity.”
Thunder cracked loudly outside again.
The stream continued.
Then User-0 donated again.
$500.
New message:
Don’t check your hallway.
Kai stared at the monitor.
A cold uneasiness slowly crawled into his stomach.
The apartment hallway outside his front door suddenly creaked.