It was 3am.
Her bleary eyes were hooked on to the monitor. On screen, the message read-
"This game would take you beyond time into another dimension and nothing will be same again. To proceed, press Enter".
She thought for a second and pressed the key...
Swati figured that it was a joke.
But then, her screen went black.
She felt cold.
Then, four words appeared on the screen: "Welcome to the Death Zone".
The words dissolved and a message came on the screen:
"We are a community of people who are now dead. We committed suicide. We did it for sake of this game. This game will give you everything you want, but you will pay for it with your soul. If you're ready, please press enter".
She pressed enter out of curiosity to see what would happen. Another message followed:
"Thank you for registering. You are now a Death Zone member. Time is no longer relevant. Funds of USD 40 million have been transferred into your bank account for your own use..."
Swati smiled. It was followed by a scream as she saw her internet bank account was up by USD 40 million.
She started to dance. But there was no joy. She felt overwhelmed at the thought of spending so much money.
The next day she went to ritzy clothes shops and bought everything. She walked into a car showroom and bought each model. She bought a large house in the Salt Lake. With the money came fame and fortune. But she was hollow inside.
There was a fire in her old house the very day she had bought her new house. All her family were killed. But she could not cry.
Swati began to understand what the game meant.
The frustration drove her to sell her property. The day after the sale, she was found dead on her bed after taking cyanide.
Somewhere in Bangalore, the same message appeared on Puneet's monitor.....
By Sumit Kumar, Times of India, Kolkata