369. Why I was saved by the phrase 'Please verify within 24 hours'

When I opened my smartphone in the morning, what caught my eye was a DM from note.

“Account verification required”

For a split second, my heart skipped a beat.

Huh?
Did I violate some terms of service?

I’ve been writing articles for the Creative Awards every day, but was there some kind of problem?

I hurriedly opened the message.

“Please verify your identity within 24 hours”

“If you do not complete the verification, your account will be permanently suspended.”

As I read further, a screen for entering credit card information appeared.

What should I do if my account gets frozen?
The moment I thought that, my mind went blank.

The articles I’ve written so far.
The comments I’ve received.
The people I’ve met through note.

I felt like those precious things were slipping through my fingers in an instant.

I reflexively started to proceed to the input screen.

However, my hand stopped.
Just a slight sense of unease.

I took a deep breath just once.
And then, I tried going back to my account.

I can see my articles.
Notifications are arriving too.
Everything is the same as usual.

Wait, it’s the same as always.
Even so, the restlessness in my chest didn’t disappear.

“Within 24 hours”

That phrase alone kept repeating in my head.

That’s when I looked at the clock.

The message arrived at 2:17 AM.
I am asleep at that time.

It is 7:00 AM now.
I try calculating.

There are still 19 hours left.

That was the moment.
Something that had been tightening my chest loosened a little.

I see.

It’s not that there are only 24 hours left.
There are still 19 hours left.

I turned my smartphone face down.

For now, I’ll eat breakfast.
I change the water for the gardenia flowers that bloomed at my parents' house.

I cut the pineapple my husband chose.
I drink the protein shake I started having recently.

While spending such an ordinary morning, my restless heart gradually calmed down.

That’s right.
Something like this happened before.

When I couldn’t see my access stats due to a note glitch, I searched to see if it was just me.

Then I found an article by someone writing about the same situation.

“Oh, it’s not just me.”
How much was I saved by that one sentence?

Maybe someone is writing something this time too.
Thinking that, I tried searching.

Then, little by little, the strangeness of this message became visible.

The way the recipient name was written.
The sender’s address.
The awkwardness of the text.

They were all things I could have noticed if I had been calm.
Yet, at first, I couldn’t see them.

Come to think of it, the night before, my heart was a little restless.

Casual conversation with my husband.
Dieting.
The future.

I went to sleep carrying small worries.

So maybe it wasn’t just the scam email that I reacted to this morning.

The anxiety I had been carrying since last night was likely reacting along with it.

Outside the window, the morning light was illuminating the gardenia flowers.

Wrapping my cup with both hands, I took one more deep breath.

And then, I finally realized.

What saved me this morning was not the anxiety-inducing phrase,

“Please verify within 24 hours.”

I close the smartphone screen.

The white gardenia flowers could be seen through the morning sun.
There are still 19 hours left since that message arrived.

(Postscript)
These are the parts where I felt something was off this time.
Like Conan’s deductions, please enjoy the oddities.

1. Even though the email icon is the same,
the recipient name is Note with a capital N.
(Top photo/Bottom photo is me buying An-san’s travel article♡)

2. The DM recipient name is also Note.
(At this point, I hadn’t noticed yet)

3. A message sent in the middle of the night at 2:17.
(Thinking, 'I’m asleep, though,' while clicking the link)

4. The text “Thank you for your patience” on the screen I clicked through to out of anxiety.
(Here is where I first thought, 'Huh?' and moved on to breakfast)

5. After breakfast, when I clicked the DM icon, I couldn’t jump to the account.

6. Here, I compared it with an email message from note when I created another account recently.
(I realized it was written as note, and Note is different)

7. I reported the DM as spam.

8. Since I went to the trouble, I turned the two-hour event into an article.

(End)