of my mind.]
Everyone in the hallway froze.
In the next instant, Rick scrambled to my side and shoved me in front of him. “Don’t kill me! Kill her! Kill her!”
The creature chasing him was the little girl, crawling at high speed on all fours.
She saw me and hesitated.
The next second, I whipped out a pillow and stuffed it into her arms. It was one I had just washed that day, still smelling
faintly of soap. The little girl buried her face in it, rubbing against it affectionately.
“What are you doing?!” Rick screamed. “Kill her!”
I scooped the little girl into my arms and patted her head. “I told you not to stay up so late. See? Your dark circles are
getting worse!”
The little girl leaned against my shoulder, tucking her head shyly into the crook of my neck.
I went back into my room and placed her gently on the bed.
She clutched my hand, not letting go. “S… Sis…”
“I’m here,” I whispered. “Hush now, go to sleep.”
Obediently, the little girl closed her eyes and was asleep in moments.
Rick stared, dumbfounded. “You… how did you do that?”
“You can make yourself useful,” I said, still gently patting the girl. “Go close the window properly.”
It’s not good for a child to sleep in a draft.
Rick ignored me, instead drawing a machete. “While she’s asleep, we can kill her. Killing monsters gives hidden rewar-
ds.”
I quickly covered the little girl’s ears. “Don’t you dare! How could you say something like that in front of a child? What if she has nightmares?”
Rick was speechless.
He advanced on the little girl, machete raised.
I sighed. You can’t save a man who’s determined to die.
Before the machete could fall, the little girl’s eyes snapped open. Her hand, now tipped with razor–sharp claws, shot out
Chapter 2
06.21
and sank into Rick’s throat, tearing him in half from the neck down.
Fresh blood sprayed across my bedsheets like a fresh coat of paint.
[CHAT: Rick’s dead. Why does Eva look so sad?]
[CHAT: Maybe she feels bad that another player is gone. A ‘there but for the grace of God go l‘ kind of thing ]
[CHAT: Feel bad for what? Rick was a scumbag who deserved it.]
Tears streamed down my face. “My bed! My beautiful bed!”
With my bed ruined, where was I supposed to sleep tonight?
[CHAT: Okay, never try to guess Eva’s thought process.]
[CHAT: I’ve never seen someone love a bed so much.]
[CHAT: What’s wrong with loving your bed? A bed is warm and comforting. A bed will never judge you. A bed will never betray you. A bed will always be there waiting for you. Beds good, people bad. Cherish your bed.]
The little girl panicked, trying to wipe my tears with her small, cold hands. “…S–sorry…”
With my bed ruined by Rick, I had no choice but to carry the little girl to a different room.
Later that night, a large, pale hand with visible stitches was about to close around my neck when it stopped, its gaze
falling on the sleeping child beside me.
A moment later, the blanket I had kicked off was gently pulled back over me.
[CHAT: Am I seeing things, or did the boss just tuck Eva in?]
[CHAT: Eva’s a legend. She’s trained the boss into a perfect house–husband.]
[CHAT: I ship it so hard.]
The next morning, I woke up to a system announcement.
[SYSTEM: Congratulations to the 5 surviving players.]
[SYSTEM: Today, the hidden bosses will be activated: The Beastly Father and the Vicious Mother.]
The remaining players panicked.
“Hidden bosses? Isn’t that something from an S–rank instance?”
“If the system wants us dead, it should just say so!”
“I want to file a complaint! No one told me we’d have to fight hidden bosses! I quit! I want to quit!”
Unlike the furious players, the chat was ecstatic.
[CHAT: The hidden bosses are finally here! This is getting good!]
[CHAT: Can’t wait to see what insane trick Eva pulls this time. I’ve already subscribed to her stream.]
[CHAT: I’m starting to feel sorry for the A–rankers. They’ve pulled five all–nighters, tormented by ghosts, while Eva just snoozed her way to the final stage.]
The players were still yelling about quitting.
Chapter 2
06.21
Eliot’s voice cut through the noise. “We all signed a waiver. Quitting isn’t an option. We just have to figure out how to
deal with the new bosses.”
“How are we supposed to do that? I’ve never even seen them before! You’re so smart, you figure it out!” another player
snapped.
“Watch your tone!” Jax growled.
“Oh, you like playing the big shot, don’t you? But now you’re just as clueless as the rest of us.”
Jax was left speechless.
I suddenly asked, “The Beastly Father and Vicious Mother… they must be pretty old, right?”
Eliot leaned in and whispered, “Do you have an idea?”
I murmured something in her ear.
Eliot looked at me, hesitant. “… Are you sure? Will that even work?”
I nodded confidently.
“Trust me.”
That night, Eliot and Jax invited me to sleep in their master bedroom on the third floor.
The system suddenly chimed in. [SYSTEM: It’s midnight. Aren’t you going to sleep today?]
“Huh,” I said. “That’s weird. I’m not tired at all.”
As the clock ticked past midnight, footsteps echoed from outside the door. The sound was strange–two quick steps followed by a slow, dragging one, as if someone with three legs was approaching.
Thump–thump… drag. Thump–thump… drag. The sound grew closer and closer, then suddenly stopped right outside our
door.
Jax peeked through the peephole, then turned back, mouthing, “I can’t see anything.”
“Open the door,” I said.
Jax stared at me, furious. “Are you insane?”
“Open it,” Eliot echoed.
Seeing that we were both resolute, Jax gritted his teeth and turned the handle.
A grotesque old man, his skin a bruised purple like a corpse, was slumped against the door, still in the posture of peeri- ng through the peephole.
Seeing three living people, he let out a guttural, rattling sound from his throat and lunged at Jax with clawed hands.
The next second, the television flickered to life.
“Elite, you say? Hell, I eat elites for breakfast!”
I held the remote, having already set it to the right channel. I’d discovered a few days ago that the manor’s TV only had nine channels, one of which was “Classic War Epics.”
The old man froze, turning his stiff neck toward the television with an expression of pure disbelief.
Chapter 2
ten minutes, he was snoring.
[CHAT: I never thought I’d be watching old war movies in a horror game stream!]
[CHAT: Who needs holy water and wooden stakes when you have a goddamn tank battalion on screen!]
[CHAT: What old man can resist a classic war flick? Not even a ghost old man, apparently)
Jax’s expression was a kaleidoscope of emotions. “…How in the world did you come up with that?”
“Oh,” I said. “My grandpa used to have trouble sleeping.”
“I always use this trick.”
In my house, insomnia is not an option for anyone.
[CHAT: LMAO, Jax’s face is a picture of existential crisis.]
CHAT: He’s probably questioning whether he’s even in a horror game anymore.]
06.21
[CHAT: Jax, you should be thanking your lucky stars you’re with Eva now. I feel so safe in this room, the positive energy is off the charts.]
“Where’s Eliot?” I asked.
Jax stammered, “She… she went to take care of something.”
A scream suddenly erupted from the room next door, where the other two players were.
A few moments later, Eliot returned, sharing a knowing look with Jax. “They’re dead,” she said.
Jax nodded, seemingly unsurprised.
I grew wary. “What are you talking about?”
Eliot walked over and tried to hug me. “Eva, we won. We’re the last three survivors.”
I sidestepped her, avoiding the embrace.
“Eva, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Eliot said, her voice soft. “I locked their door from the outside after the Mother
