One Million Viewer

## One Million Viewer by ApeJazzPistol

I believed myself to be very dull until I linked up my account on a website called, “<1>000000.icu”. I got a message in my inbox from some random user about this site, who said that if I wanted a million viewers, I should link my email address to the site. I put the site address in google search to verify if it was spam; however, there was nothing. There were no articles or even a direct link to the site.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I clicked the link from the message. The background of the site was black for a few moments, and then an eye opened in the center of the screen: the white of the eye was bright and glowing in contrast to the dark background, and the iris was as black with a white pupil. The eye blinked and rolled around for a bit before it put its focus at me. A line of white text faded in below the eye, “Hello, Who are you?” I thought it was asking for my address, but the way it phased it made it sound like an AI, so I typed in my first name instead. The eye blinked and the text stated, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am 1 of 1,000,000.”

Thinking it would respond like Cleverbot, I asked if it was an A.I. to which It repeated, “I am 1 of 1,000,000.” It seemed that when I asked any personal questions, if it’s a human or an AI, boy or girl, how old is it, etc., it would simply state: “I am 1 of 1,000,000,” so I moved on to more practical questions, like how to link my account to the site.

“It’s simple; just tell me what it is, then I’ll do the rest.” It couldn’t be that simple and I knew it. “But it is. If you give me your email address, I guarantee you will have 1,000,000 watching you.” I figured there was a typo or a software glitch when I noticed it neglected to say one million people or followers, so I ignored it and typed in my address.

When I pressed enter, the eye closed for about 5 seconds, but when it reopened, the eye had changed: the eye seemed almost cat-like, but the pupil was altered in the shape of the number 1. The text faded in and stated, “Thank you. 1,000,000 will be with you shortly.”

I started with a little summary video about what I’d post in the near future, the visuals were choppy, the audio made it seem like I was talking in a can, and I stuttered throughout the whole thing. I expected very few views, 4 or five at most, but within the first half hour I got over 50 views, which at the time, stunned me. I refreshed the page, and then it was 80. When I did it again, it was 130, and again and it was over 200, then 400, then 750, then 1,100, then 3,500. I stopped to shake off my excitement, 20,000, 50,000... how on earth did I manage to get over 50,000 views from a stupid video?

There were a lot of comments by various users, most of which used random numbers and letters and a few having the numbers between “less than” and “greater than” symbols. The comments were focused on how nice my eyes are, but I found them kinda flattering. There were a few saying that I had a lot of potential, and a couple that said that they’d like to see me in person.

I wanted to send a thank you message to whoever helped get me these views, so I went back to the site again. The screen instantly loaded up, but there were five more eyes scattered across the page, rolling around, blinking with numbered pupils increasing with each blink. Within moments, they all stopped at “0” and fixed themselves at me. The “1” appeared in the center of the page, and the text faded in shortly after greeting me by my name, “I am 1,000,000”

This might have been some elaborate prank, that some punk gave me a virus, but I didn't feel like taking any chances. I kept my computer off for a couple of days. I turned it back on once more to delete both my blog and email account. I had replaced both of them a month later. I've started getting views and followers on my own at a moderate pace, but I've been having these bad dreams lately.

I come home from somewhere, sometimes school, sometimes a bizarre dream trip, but I’m always coming home to see It dark and empty. The door closes behind me and I’m surrounded in pitch black, and then I see them. The eyes. The thousands of thousands of eyes. I feel thin ropes wrapping around my throat choking me. A voice whispers, “1,000,001 will be here soon.” At this moment, I wake up gasping for air and coughing.

I got an email the other day from the same person who sent me the link to the site. It seems like the email was sent to other people as well. It reads as follows:

I have wronged you. I should have never have sent the link to you, but I had to. The 1,000,000 would spare me for a little longer if I found enough sacrifices. You will never be safe, and it’s because of me. I do not deserve forgiveness. The 1,000,000 cannot be killed or even stopped, but it can be delayed. I've attached the link to the site on this email. Tell others to talk to 1 of 1,000,000, get them to talk about themselves: something as little as their first name or a physical feature, even their phone number would be enough to keep it away for a while. But only for so long. 1,000,000 will be here soon. I’m sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfc

<1>

I’m sorry you had to learn this secondhand

<3><4><2>

I wanted it to be a surprise

<7><7><4><3><2>

Oh well

<2><3><9><4><5><7>

More time for you to think, right?

<9><9><8><4><7><9>

Not much though.

<1><0><0><0><0><0><1>

see you soon