Surviving The 13 Forbidden Rules of The Aquarium

Ding!The soft jingle of the café doorbell chimed as Kawin stepped inside. He brushed the mist of rain off his shoulders and ordered a hot latte, then made his way to a corner table near the window. Outside, the rain continued to fall relentlessly as people hurried by with no clear destination in sight.Nothing about today seemed unusual—Until he opened his briefcase.Amid the piles of research documents, a salary slip, and a pending termination notice he had yet to sign, something appeared that didn’t belong there at all.A black card.It was the size of a credit card, smooth and glossy like glass. There was no sender's name, no logo—only one sentence printed in silver reflective lettering at the center:"You are invited to the grand opening of a new aquarium—one you should not decline."He flipped it over, but there was nothing else. No names, no addresses. Just a message:"Tomorrow, 6:00 PM. A car will be waiting for you—wherever you are."Kawin stared at it for several minutes un

If a lobby was meant to be a place of welcome, this one had no desire to receive anyone. The atmosphere was far from friendly, and the temperature seemed to drop with every passing minute. The glass walls, which should have been clear, now reflected not only their surroundings—but shadows that didn’t belong to anyone in the room.There were no further announcements from the speakers, yet no one dared speak louder than a whisper.We’re trapped, Kawin thought, scanning the room again.The lights remained on, but there wasn’t a single hum of electrical equipment. Absolute silence. Each wall was made of opaque glass, blocking any view outside. The ceiling was so high that it was impossible to tell if there were any surveillance cameras.Still, everyone felt the same unsettling truth—Something was watching them.Not through cameras. Through something else. Something hidden, but undeniably present. Though it had no visible form, its presence was felt by everyone.“I’m going home,” said a m

The image of the cracked glass with a mysterious wet handprint cast a heavy silence over the room. Everyone froze, unable to move, too stunned to even speak. The silence now felt heavier than any noise that had come before—so absolute, you could hear every breath.The wet handprint on the glass remained. It showed no signs of drying, even though, under normal conditions, a human hand’s moisture would have begun to evaporate by now.Ploy, the quiet young woman in a university uniform standing closest to the tank, hadn't spoken a word since arriving. But now—she was staring at something inside the aquarium, something that seemed… familiar.It struck a chord in her, as though she had seen it before but couldn’t recall when or where. She became entranced. Her gaze was fixed, her expression blank—but her eyes gleamed with an odd fascination.“Ploy…” Praewa called gently.Ploy didn’t respond. Her hand slowly rose toward the tank, her fingertips coming within a centimeter of the glass. She s

The aquarium’s announcement ended, leaving behind complete silence. Tension gripped every face in the room, and all eyes turned to James—accusing, as if silently blaming him for the recent chaos, second only to Ploy. But James paid them no mind. His thoughts remained fixated on the whisper that had told him not to fear the system’s voice… but to fear what was behind the system.What did that even mean?He pondered deeply. The whisper had claimed he had been here before—something that made no sense at all. James was certain he had never set foot in this place. And yet, the haunting familiarity and fragmented memories that flashed into his mind made him doubt himself.

The reversed message on the aquarium glass had disappeared, but its meaning remained etched deep in everyone’s memory.“We remember everything, but no one lets us speak.”Everyone began to question what it meant. Was someone forbidden from revealing the truth about this place? It seemed as though whatever had disappeared was trying to return—through those upside-down letters. Someone here knew exactly what the message was trying to say. And that someone was likely none other than Praewa.She stood silently before one of the aquarium tanks. Dim lighting from within cast soft shadows across her face. Looking closely, one could see the emptiness in her eyes—no emotions, no clues as to what she was thinking or feeling. Slowly, tears began to well up in her eyes.