Episode 1: If it's your time... (Part 1)

Warning: This episode contains themes of death, emotional distress, and burnout.

Death is inevitable...

That's what they all say.

But...

How exactly does death come?

Does he wait for the soul to arrive at his front door...

or does he make his way toward a person himself?

Because right now...

Death was making his way to claim mine.

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"What are we going to do about this?" the department dean exclaimed.

The noisy faculty office immediately fell silent as every head turned toward the commotion.

"This is like the hundredth time you failed to submit the documents I asked you to do!"

Thirty-one-year-old Ivory Ramirez stood frozen in front of everyone, her head lowered as she silently endured the dean's reprimands.

"So irresponsible. So disappointing!" Miss Esguerra continued. "I thought you were academically intelligent!"

Ivory felt her chest tighten.

It was already humiliating enough to be scolded in front of her colleagues... but students were still inside the office, witnessing everything unfold.

"I'm really sorry, Ms. Esguerra..." Ivory spoke softly beneath her breath.

Nobody dared interfere.

Everyone in the university knew how terrifying the dean could be when angry.

"Don't make me regret hiring you, Miss Ramirez!" the dean snapped.

Fuming, she stormed toward the door and pulled it open.

"This will reflect on your faculty evaluation. Remember that."

The door slammed shut behind her.

Silence lingered inside the office for a few moments before the tension slowly dissolved.

"Ivory!" one of her colleagues immediately approached her. "What happened? I thought you submitted those documents last week."

Ivory suddenly collapsed onto the floor.

Her colleagues quickly caught her before she could hit the tiles.

"T-That's what I thought too..." Ivory replied weakly, exhausted. "I personally handed the documents to her. I didn't even leave them with the secretary..."

She took a shaky breath.

"I'm really screwed."

At that moment, Miss Esguerra's secretary hurried inside the faculty office.

"Miss Ivory," she called worriedly. "I heard what happened."

"What the hell, Mel?" another professor complained. "Why do our files keep disappearing after we submit them to your office?"

The secretary lowered her head guiltily.

"I received all of your files," she explained. "I even recorded them in my logbook."

"I suspect they're inside her car," one of the male instructors suddenly spoke. "I once saw her carrying piles of documents there."

The office fell silent.

"And what, Mr. Lucero?" another colleague asked carefully. "You think she's deliberately sabotaging Ivory's work?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Then the secretary slowly spoke.

"...Honestly, I think so."

Everyone looked at her.

"I mean... why does she keep calling all of you irresponsible when most of the faculty members here are professional at work?"

Ivory quietly lowered her eyes.

She had spent eleven years teaching at the university.

Teaching students had never been difficult for her. In fact, it was the one thing in her life that genuinely made her happy.

But trying to earn Miss Esguerra's approval?

That was impossible.

And not just for her.

Even professors from other departments struggled to approach the dean comfortably.

The faculty office slowly returned to normal afterward.

Students who witnessed the ordeal quietly left. Papers shuffled once more. Chairs moved. Conversations resumed as if nothing had happened.

But Ivory remained seated on the floor for a while.

Her chest still felt tight.

Too tight.

"You should go home early," one of her colleagues told her softly.

Ivory forced a smile.

"I'm fine," she lied. "I still have to inform my one o'clock class that our meeting is cancelled. Then I need to redo the documents and resubmit them."

"Come on, Ivory," another colleague sighed. "Just do them tomorrow."

Ivory shook her head.

"I need to finish them today... while I still can."

Her colleagues exchanged worried glances but eventually returned to their own work.

By late afternoon, Ivory found herself alone in her cubicle at the corner of the faculty office, tirelessly redoing the missing documents from scratch.

The sun had already begun to set outside the windows.

One by one, the faculty members timed out and went home.

But Ivory stayed.

She remained hunched over her laptop, hoping to finish everything before eight in the evening.

Exhausted, she stood up from her desk and walked toward the coffee machine.

"Long day, isn't it?"

A male voice suddenly spoke behind her.

Ivory flinched in surprise.

"M-Mister Lucero!" she exclaimed, nearly dropping the paper cup in her hand. "You're still here?"

Mr. Lucero smiled faintly.

"Yes," he answered calmly. "I'm surprised you didn't notice me."

Ivory laughed awkwardly, trying to ease her embarrassment.

"I'm sorry... Maybe I was too focused on work."

"That's alright," he chuckled softly. "You looked like you didn't want to be disturbed."

Ivory lowered her gaze.

"I'm really sorry."

The two exchanged small, awkward smiles.

The coffee machine hummed between them as Ivory brewed her drink while Mr. Lucero prepared himself a cup of tea.

Then he suddenly spoke again.

"You know... people like Miss Esguerra never change."

Ivory quietly listened.

"You already gave eleven years of your life to this university." His voice was calm. Gentle. "And for what?"

Ivory forced a small smile.

"T-That's alright," she replied, though her voice trembled slightly. "I'm still thankful to her... for hiring me."

The coffee machine beeped.

"I still have a long way to go." Ivory added.

"But you don't deserve this." The words echoed strangely inside the empty office.

Ivory froze.

"She's been treating you unfairly for years..."

Her head suddenly began to ache.

"She sabotaged you on purpose..."

The dizziness returned stronger this time.

Ivory grabbed the edge of the counter for support as the room spun around her.

"Nobody notices how exhausted you are..."

His voice no longer sounded distant.

It sounded like it was inside her head.

"Miss Ramirez?"

Ivory slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision blurred.

Mr. Lucero was kneeling in front of her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Are you alright?"

Ivory immediately pulled away from him and stood up.

"I-I'm sorry!" she exclaimed in embarrassment. "Did I pass out?"

Mr. Lucero only chuckled softly.

"That's alright," he said as he stood up. "Maybe we should call it a night."

Ivory nervously nodded.

The two timed out together and left the faculty office.

The university hallways were nearly empty now.

Quiet.

Dimly lit.

Cold.

As they walked side by side, Ivory suddenly felt a chill crawl down her spine.

The hallway lights began flickering weakly overhead.

Then one light suddenly turned off.

Then another.

And another.

Ivory slowly stopped walking.

"Do you believe death is inevitable?"

Mr. Lucero's voice echoed softly through the hallway.

Ivory looked at him in confusion.

"I-I think so..." she answered hesitantly. "I believe that if it's your time to go—"

She froze.

Mr. Lucero was no longer beside her.

Ivory turned around.

He stood several steps away from her now.

Watching silently.

"M-Mr. Lucero...?"

Another light went out behind him.

Then another.

Darkness slowly swallowed the hallway one light at a time.

Until only the flickering light above him remained.

Ivory's breathing became uneven.

And then she noticed it.

His eyes.

They were glowing.

"Y-You're not Mr. Lucero..." Ivory whispered fearfully.

The man smiled.

"Was there ever a Mr. Lucero to begin with?"

Ivory's eyes widened.

His face suddenly began to melt.

Like burning wax dripping from skin.

She stumbled backward in horror as his appearance slowly peeled away into something inhuman.

Tears blurred her vision.

Then the melting stopped.

A tall figure stood before her beneath the flickering light.

Dark robes.

A scythe.

Glowing eyes staring directly into hers.

Death tilted his head slightly.

"It's time to go."