Chapter Text
congratulations!!!
you got a snack at 3 am!
You completed the game!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There is nothing left for you.
This is a silly game about a silly concept.
You don’t need to return anymore.
Not anymore.
_______
Objective: get a snack at 3 am
————
Nooby woke up, groggily dragging themselves out of their constantly premade bed. The sleepiness was trying to overpower their urge to eat, but they refused.
Hunger, all through their body.
It was always like this, the same routine.
Get up from bed, walk out the door, get a snack from the counter.
And then sleep, praying that they didn't wake their father up.
It’s gotten to the point that Nooby doesn’t even remember how the morning went. Or even if there was a morning to begin with, but that isn’t possible. Day and night cycles were normal right?
Hopefully.
Nooby was met with the uncomfortable rough carpet on the ground as they flopped down from the bed. They let out a small groan before getting up, dusting non-existent dust off their body as they chose to leave the comfort of their bedroom.
They eyed the offline computer that sat idle on their desk. They never had the chance to turn it on, simply because that wasn’t their goal. It looked old now, which was odd.
It always looked new from their perspective, so why were they doubting it all of a sudden?
Enough with the overthinking, Nooby quickly skedaddled out the door, being careful with not making too much noise to wake up their father who was just next door.
The house looked the same, same layout and same corridor as they passed by some unimportant doors. Nooby moved past the suspiciously stable tv held above the ground with duct tape, watching it teether and swing slightly. The air smelt musky, like a storage room that was just opened after months of leaving it to rest.
While walking to the kitchen, their gaze drifted from the chips on the counter to the front door. Something they never really thought about, obviously for no particular reason. Just the menacing thought of having to deal with their father’s reaction of getting locked out if they left, probably.
Yet Nooby felt dragged towards it. Like something was telling them ‘you can go, there's nothing stopping you now.’
So Nooby did.
They slowly approached the door, eyes locked on its handle and letting their curiosity get the better of them.
The world tensed as they reached out to the door in front of them, grabbing its handle and twisting it slowly. Nooby knew this was wrong, but followed through.
A soft click could be heard as the door swung open.
And all they were met with, wasn’t the cold grasp of the night that would normally trigger goosebumps across their skin, nor the darkness that normally spilled from the sky above that would turn their neighborhood into a horror movie.
Instead, all they saw was white.
.
.
.
.
A voice called out to Nooby, but the world was blinding them straight in the face.
Or was it just their vision..?
They saw a silhouette of someone in the distance, someone who looked so similar to them it felt uncanny.
A red baseball cap on top of their head.
“you’re a player too, aren’t you?”
“what’s your name?”
Their voice which they barely used since they woke up spoke out.
“nooby.”
“well nooby, i guess we both share similarities, haha.”
Whoever was talking, they sounded so.. familiar. Why?
“i mean, being stuck in some kind of loop of the same day… been there.”
A loop? Nooby pondered.
Yeah, everything did… feel like a loop didn’t it..?
A sick feeling festered in their chest and stomach, like a burning realization. The bright white that covered their vision didn’t make it better.
“i was only able to break out of it by, you know, leaving.”
“maybe you should try that as well sometime.”
Please wait for me, please.
Tell me how.
I don’t want to be stuck here.
“it’s becoming night again, you should start getting home.”
And just like that, Nooby’s vision cleared like a fog, the silhouette disappearing into the distance.
They were kneeling on a rough road, staring ahead of a long path in front of them. Street lights lined the pavement, like they were leading the way out. There was still a heavy white mist cloaking the area, forcing Nooby to look forwards and follow the road.
They have to find whoever was talking to them, that person would lead them out, right?
Behind them was… nothing. The road ended when it started somehow.
No sign of their house at all, like it was an illusion.
Like everything they did in there, his father’s existence, the snack they craved for.
Wasn’t even real.
-
A shuddering gasp left their mouth before Nooby started running. Running towards wherever the road took them.
He didn't want to think about whatever everything was implying.
The sky shone bright as day, no sign of night approaching. Did that person lie? Or was even the sky fake too?
There’s no way.
Eventually, the road led them to a group of traffic cones and road barriers. Not like it mattered, as Nooby pushed them aside into the grass near the pavement and ran past as it tumbled.
The road continued on, expanding into an empty parking lot.
The painted lines that marked each slot were slightly worn down, despite there being no cars around.
Except for one.
There was a car parked nearby, the blueness of its hull standing out in the dull atmosphere of the world.
There was note plastered on its windshield, reading the words: ‘this is my car. -cashier’.
It was placed right in front of a… convenience store? Makes sense given the cashier part, Nooby thought.
He perked up, deciding to get a closer look out of curiosity.
After approaching one of its… broken windows, they took a peek inside.
It was empty, no sign of a cashier or even a customer. The shelves were barren, as if someone raided the store of everything it had and left like nothing. Dust settled on the counters, showing no sign of life or even a single presence.
The feeling of loneliness got worse the more Nooby searched the area.
Their attempt at opening the door was a failed one, as they realized it strangely refused to open anyways.
Nooby sighed loudly before they continued following the rubble-covered pavement. A grey manhole with the engraved words ‘SEWER’ was stuck onto the road opposite of where Nooby was standing.
It seemed off, but they carried on.
Nooby didn’t focus much on it, as there was something bigger right in front of them.
A house.
It looked simple, yet the inside of the house that they could see from the open window looked… similar to how Nooby’s house looked.
The TV, the kitchen, the bag of unopened chips, the corridor.
A wave of familiarity washed over their thoughts before they sprinted towards the door.
This has to be it, right?
“well nooby, i guess we both share similarities, haha.”
That voice echoed in their mind as they approached the door, their breath unable to catch up from their previous sprinting. A hand outstretched to grab the handle of the door, the feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe, this will be over.
Nooby slowly opened the door…
.
.
.
.
And was greeted with nothing.
Their heart dropped like a pin in the dead silence.
Not a soul, no one anywhere. There wasn’t even a single sound that played in the distance.
The house was empty, abandoned.
And then the words came back to them.
.
.
.
“i was only able to break out of it by, you know, leaving.”
The door was suddenly slammed shut, the noise breaking the quiet peace that this false world built for so long. But it wasn’t because of the wind.
A shaky arm was pulled back from the door by the baseball capped individual as wet tears streamed down their face. He reached out and touched their face. Why were they crying?
It felt too sudden to be real.
It can’t be.
Nooby stuttered back, before breaking into a full sprint back towards the parking lot, eyes glued to the ground in fear. They tripped from their rapid movements on rubble, falling straight onto the harsh pavement.
Their cap fell onto the ground from the fall.
Yet they curled up on the ground, they didn’t have the energy to get up again.
Nooby was all alone.
There was no one to help them.
They weren’t even in a ‘loop’ anymore.
Just stuck in static.
Soft sobs came from their dry throat as they cried helplessly, being overcome by sadness while they remained on the pavement.
They were alone.
Alone.
Alone.
Just them and no one else.
No matter what they did, there was no way out, was there?
What were they supposed to do…?
Their hands grasped the ground, searching for stability in its rugged edges.
And then the world continued on without them.