Invitation

Lenny's eyes slowly trickled open, but then he suddenly squinted them. The sun's rays were blinding.

He raised his hand to shield the light as he tried to find his bearing. 

'Ah… dammit… where am I…?'

The blur in his vision gradually cleared, and a figure came into sight. Standing on his chest, was a… bird?

"What the!" Lenny startledly sprung up from the platform he laid and stood on it with his back against the wall.

He briefly scanned the area, taking in the familiar sight.

A black wooden wardrobe stood against the wall across from him, and to its right, was the bathroom door. Beside him, to his own right, was a wall opening—positioned at the far left of the bathroom door—that led to a small dining and kitchen area. Further past that kitchen area, was the entrance door.

He was back at his apartment. 

A sense of relief washed over him. At least, he wasn't in a foreign place.

Just then, his mind recalled the events of the night prior.

'…Dammit! Why am I still alive?'

He tried to think, though. Could it be that shadow-lurking stranger that rescued him? But why? Because the former certainly made it clear that he wouldn't help.

More importantly though, how on earth had the stranger known where Lenny lived?!

'...That—The bastard must've been stalking me!'

Coming to a shocking realization, he could feel a cold chill run up his spine. He was now certain it was the weird stalker that rescued him.

Despite that though, upon thinking about it some more, his frustration increased. Yes, it seemed the stalker harbored no ill intent, but now that he was still alive, he would have to continue facing the daily troubles of life. 

Because of that bloody weird stalker, he didn't break out of this cycle of despair.

'...Argh, dammit! Why couldn't he just mind his business?!' Lenny screamed inwardly. Just then though, he recalled the sensation of running out of air as the cold winter sea swallowed his entire body and filled his lungs.

It was a miracle he did wake up coughing. Or maybe had he already done so? He couldn't remember.

He took a big gulp, then sighed.

The loss of breath and oppressive feeling of gradual suffocation gnawed at his mind. It was an experience he didn't ever wish to remember.

He did, however, recall something else.

Right before he fell into the sea, a man with a face obscured by darkness — donning a gray overcoat on an elegant darker gray suit with black hair meticulously combed back — had been beside him the entire time.

He wasn't sure, but he believed he also heard the man utter some words as he watched Lenny descend into the deep. 

The strange man muttered: "Be reborn." The same words the shadow-lurking stalker told him.

Weird. It was all so weird.

Lenny turned his attention back to the strange bird in front of him. It was a pitch-black crow with unique deep violet eyes. 

'…Do crows normally have purple eyes? What on earth is it even doing here?'

"Hmph!" He kicked the air in an attempt to scare the strange crow away, but it just stood there, staring at him, unafraid.

Then, the purple-eyed crow suddenly flew to the bedside cupboard, landed, and pecked on the smartphone that lay beside the wet bag. It looked up to Lenny, pecked on the smartphone again, and flew out the window.

'What the... was that bird just trying to communicate?'

Lenny reached for his smartphone and inspected it. Surprisingly, it wasn't damaged from last night's ordeal but the screen was wet.

He rubbed the screen on the bed and calmly unlocked it. To his surprise, he had received a message on his WiChat app.

'…An invite link?' He thought upon seeing the message.

The description of the invite link was very brief and simply written: [Become the Top Idol, and the Creator shall grant your deepest desire.]

'Huh…? Is this some type of scam?' Lenny checked the profile of the sender but it was completely blank and null. No profile picture, no bio, and most importantly—much to Lenny's shock—no username.

Unable to understand what was going on at first, Lenny thought a little and found the entire thing amusing. The stalker was most likely trying to scam him, going as far as employing an intelligent bird to make him marvel.

'...Ah, I see. Heh, you think you can scam me with such cheap tricks? I'll humor you,' he mused before clicking on the link.

He was quickly redirected to a browser and the webpage displayed a simple message:

[Become the Top Idol, and the Creator shall grant your deepest desire. Do you accept the invitation?] 

[Yes] / [No]

Lenny scoffed. "Sure, why not?"

'Let me see the tricks he'll employ…'

After accepting the invite, the phone screen suddenly blanked, much to his shock. 

For a brief moment, he thought he was being hacked, but then it came back on. However, it was no longer in the browser, nor was it in WiChat.

The screen displayed his app library, where he spotted a new application with an icon that looked rather flamboyant, as though made to appeal to prepubescent children fascinated by a myriad of rainbow colors meshed together.

"What the…" Lenny muttered.

Clicking on the new app, it loaded for a while and then a retro-design female cartoon character with golden curled hair appeared, moving around the screen and speaking in a cheerful tone. 

"Welcome to Top Idol, the gateway to a world of limitless possibilities! Here, talent, skill, heritage, sex, genetics, disabilities, and so on matter not. Let your desires soar and make your mark in the realms of fame, creativity, and influence no matter your circumstances.

"By accepting the invite, you are now an esteemed 'Pointer.' Get ready to shine bright and let your desires fuel your race to become the Top Idol — the chosen one who shall have their most grandiose, greatest, and deepest desire… granted by The Creator."

Lenny pondered, 'Chosen one, huh? Sounds like only one person can become the so-called Top Idol…'

The robotic feminine voice continued, "Before you embark on this ultimate quest, here are some basic essential details to help you get started:

"Here, in Top Idol, v-points are the currency of success and fame. You earn them by completing tasks, winning pointer-versus-pointer battles, and unlocking achievements. You can also earn additional prizes by topping the monthly leaderboard.

"You can use v-points to invest in your SPECIAL attributes and purchase talents from the shop, which has other items and utilities. Use the amazing tools at your disposal to achieve fame, notoriety, and influence! 

"Once you achieve a certain amount of fame and influence, you take a step closer to becoming the Top Idol by participating in the class advancement test and achieving victory.

"Remember, all your desires are within reach if you are willing to pay the price. So come, and prove how deep your desires run…

"Welcome to Top Idol, where dreams become reality!"