"Three days, fourteen hours, twenty-two minutes, five seconds..." Bagas spelled out the floating, translucent digits hovering directly above his mother’s head, his voice trembling so violently he sounded like he was suffering from a tropical fever.

He blinked hard, desperately hoping this horrific hallucination was just the hangover of a weird dream or a side effect of the raw instant noodle packets he secretly ate at midnight. He even smacked his own cheek hard enough to produce a sharp slap echo inside the kitchen.

"Ouch! Damn, that hurts!" Bagas winced, rubbing his instantly reddening cheek.

Meaning, he wasn't dreaming. He was one hundred percent awake.

"Hey, Bagas! Stop standing around like a statue! You said you were going to sweep the front porch, but here you are gaping near the water jar like a goldfish! Are you trying to harvest drool for a face wash or what?!" Mum yelled from the living room without turning around, while the glowing neon-blue numbers above her head kept ruthlessly ticking down second by second.

"Mum... are you feeling okay?" Bagas squeaked in a voice resembling a drowned kitten, his feet slowly backing away step by step.

Mum paused her rhythm of folding instant noodle cardboard boxes, then turned around with a single eyebrow arched high. "Of course I'm healthy! You're the only one walking around looking like you just got evicted by city enforcement officers. What's wrong with you? Did you get possessed by the ghost haunting the neighbor's mango tree?"

"N-nothing is wrong, Mum. It's just... I think your son's eyes need a quick service at the nearest scrap yard," Bagas panicked, turning his face away because he couldn't bear to look at the numbers marching mercilessly backward on his mother's head.

Before Bagas could process whether this was the start of a mini-apocalypse or just the result of binge-watching way too many sci-fi dramas, a series of violent thuds slammed against the convenience store's rolling door.

Brak! Brak! Brak!

"Half the shop closed at eight in the morning! Are you running a business or dodging taxes, huh?!" a shrill, high-pitched voice belonging to the neighborhood's self-appointed supreme ruler chimed in from outside.

Mum let out an annoyed huff, planting her hands on her hips. "Speak of the devil. The shop isn't even fully open yet, and the neighborhood chatterbox is already here to collect protection money. Go on, Bagas! Open the door! That’s definitely our beloved neighborhood head who loves throwing a tantrum if the trash collection fee is an hour late."

Bagas dragged his feet toward the front of the shop on wobbly knees. His mind was still an absolute mess of panic over the numbers ticking away on Mum's head. With shaking hands, he grabbed the metal rolling door and shoved it upward. The rusty iron shrieked loudly, welcoming the blinding morning sun.

Standing right outside was Mr. Mul, the head of RT 05, sporting a belly that rivaled a refillable water jug, complete with a wrinkled political campaign t-shirt and a small towel slung around his neck like a warrior sworn to protect neighborhood hygiene.

"Took you long enough to open up, Gas! What time is it? The sun is practically burning the neighborhood's collective karma, and you're just now unlocking the door!" Mr. Mul barked without wasting any time, aggressively tapping the tip of his sandal against the concrete floor.

Bagas swallowed hard, his throat feeling like sandpaper. He forced his gaze upward, trying to maintain eye contact, but his eyes reflexively betrayed him, darting straight up to the middle of the middle-aged man's forehead.

Bagas's heart violently crashed down to his ankles.

Floating directly above Mr. Mul's head was a translucent, bright orange number ticking down at a much faster, more aggressive speed than his mother's:

000:06:42:15

Six hours?! Mr. Mul's remaining lifespan is only six hours from right now?! Bagas shrieked hysterically inside his head.

"Mr... Mr. Mul..." Bagas choked on his own saliva, his eyes blown wide, staring blankly at thin air right above the neighborhood chief's brow.

Mr. Mul, who had been glaring fiercely, instantly furrowed his brow, deeply unnerved by the way Bagas was staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Are you trying to protest the trash fee going up by ten thousand rupiah? Don't you know black plastic grocery bags are getting expensive? You think neighborhood garbage falls from heaven for free?!"

"I-It's not about the trash, sir..." Bagas took a step back, his breathing turning ragged as if he had just sprinted a ten-kilometer marathon. He locked eyes with the numbers floating above Mr. Mul's head, which had now shifted to 000:06:41:50. The clock was genuinely, relentlessly running backward!

"Then what is it? Why is your face so pale? You look like someone caught red-handed stealing a neighbor's chicken!" Mr. Mul pressed, crossing his arms and leaning his face uncomfortably close to Bagas.

"Mr. Mul... you should... you should seriously just go home right now," Bagas stammered, his fingers gripping the doorframe for dear life. "Take a deep breath. Don't get stressed. Later, if you go walking to the market, please avoid any streets with speeding motorcycle taxis, okay?"

Mr. Mul snorted loudly, his nostrils flaring in irritation. "What?! Are you bossing me around now?! I am the RT Head, Bagas! You're supposed to show respect, not kick me out like a stray cat!"

"I'm not kicking you out, sir! I'm trying to save your precious life and limb!" Bagas grabbed Mr. Mul by both shoulders in a blind panic, sending the neighborhood chief into a state of profound, god-tier confusion. "I swear, your time left is... I mean, your age is probably... ugh, how do I even say this?!"

Mum, hearing the commotion at the front, walked over carrying a steaming glass of black coffee for their guest. "What is all this screaming so early in the morning? You're embarrassing us in front of the neighbors. Here, Mr. Mul, please have some coffee so your blood pressure stops spiking every time you collect dues."

Mr. Mul took the glass with his right hand, his eyes still narrowing sharply at Bagas, who was back to staring transfixed at his forehead with sheer horror. "This son of yours, Bu Haji, is losing his manners by the day. I come to collect dues, and he tells me to go home. Does he think I'm a ghost floating around in broad daylight?"

Bagas shook his head frantically, desperate to warn his mother to stay away from Mr. Mul, but the words were hopelessly trapped in his throat. The numbers hovering over Mr. Mul's head had now plunged down to:

000:06:39:10

"Mr. Mul..." Bagas whispered, his voice trembling on the verge of tears. "Do you... do you actually feel anything weird in your chest right now? Shortness of breath? Or maybe a sudden urge to repent for your sins?"

Hearing such an absurd question, Mr. Mul abruptly stopped sipping his coffee. He gave Bagas a deeply suspicious look, then slowly reached up to press a hand against his own chest. The front porch fell into a heavy, suffocating silence for a few seconds, broken only by the distant hum of traffic on the main village road.

Mr. Mul suddenly froze stiff. He gripped his chest a little tighter, narrowing his eyes at Bagas with an intense, piercing glare.

"Bagas..." Mr. Mul whispered, his voice dropping into a dead serious tone.

"Y-Yes, sir?" Bagas swallowed hard, bracing himself to sprint if anything supernatural suddenly went down.

Mr. Mul leaned forward, staring straight into Bagas's eyes, and dropped a killer sentence that nearly gave Bagas a heart attack: "Why have you been staring at my forehead the whole time? Is there dirt on my brow? I didn't even get a chance to wash my face this morning!"

At the exact second those words left Mr. Mul's mouth, the translucent digits above his head flashed bright red at a blinding speed, accompanied by a soft, high-pitched ringing sound audible only to Bagas's ears:

000:06:38:00

Bagas stood completely paralyzed, while cold sweat broke out across his back, drenching his shirt.

This wasn't a hallucination anymore. This was hands down the most ridiculous curse to ever exist on planet Earth!