Jax let out a loud burp. “Stop being dramatic and let us out of here!”
[SYSTEM: Announcing a new rule. Due to intense viewer demand, the rules have been changed–only one player may
clear the game.]
Dead silence.
[CHAT: Here we go! The real show is about to start!]
[CHAT: Eva can’t see the live polls. She has no idea her stream has blown up and the system changed the rules to boost
the ratings.]
[CHAT: I knew it was too good to be true. A horror game letting three people win? A real–life battle royale is much more
entertaining.]
Jax drew his machete and slowly advanced on me.
“Sorry about this,” he said.
Both he and Eliot were A–rank players. At this moment, killing me, the defenseless C–rank, was the logical choice.
“I just want to live.”
He swung the machete at me.
Suddenly, a red blur shot past. The little girl launched herself out of nowhere, sinking her teeth into Jax’s leg.
“Don’t… hurt… Sister…”
“Get off me! Get off!” Jax yelled, kicking wildly at her.
A pair of large, stitched hands grabbed Jax by the hair and neck and twisted.
CRACK.
Chapter 2
06.22
Jax crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide and vacant. The long–haired male ghost kicked his body aside and looked at me, suddenly shouting, “Look out!”
A steak knife was pressed against my back.
Eliot’s voice was a soft whisper in my ear. “I’m sorry, Eva.”
“If we hadn’t met in a game, maybe we could have been friends.”
I looked at Eliot without a trace of fear. “But I’ve already won, haven’t I?”
[CHAT: What’s going on? Eva and Eliot are both still here?]
[CHAT: The system said only one can win. Eva, are you sleep–talking again? Wake up!]
[CHAT: I have a feeling there’s a hidden meaning in what Eva just said.]
I stared into Eliot’s face. “You’re not a player at all, are you?”
“From the very first day, I never saw you eat a single thing.”
“You know the layout of this mansion and the monster spawn times like the back of your hand.”
“Last night, the moment you left the room, the other two players were immediately killed by the Mother.”
“Who… or what… are you?”
Eliot didn’t speak. After a moment, a guttural laugh escaped her lips. Her mouth stretched wide, splitting her face into a
grin that was humanly impossible.
The next second, her face crumpled into a mask of wrinkles, her lush black hair thinning into wisps of white.
In the blink of an eye, the beautiful young woman had transformed into a withered old crone.
She raised the knife and lunged at me, shrieking like a madwoman.
“The family’s secrets will rot in this house forever!”
“No one is ever leaving!”
[CHAT: HOLY SHIT, IT’S THE MOTHER! THE VICIOUS MOTHER WAS HIDING AMONG THE PLAYERS THE WHOLE
TIME!]
[CHAT: I just spilled my chips everywhere! That boss is disgusting!]
[CHAT: HANG IN THERE, EVA! RUN FOR THE DOOR, YOU MIGHT STILL MAKE IT!)
I glanced at my watch. “Should be kicking in right about now,” I said calmly.
Suddenly, the Mother’s hand went limp. The knife clattered to the floor. Her knees gave out, and she collapsed, clawing
at the ground but unable to get up.
“What did you do to me?!” she shrieked.
“You didn’t taste it?” I asked. “The sleeping pills. The ones you put in the milk yourself.”
I love to sleep, but not so much that I need eighteen hours a day. I realized soon after entering the game that my sleep
schedule was abnormally long. The very first day Eliot gave me that milk, I knew it was drugged.
Instead of exposing her, I decided to play along, putting on a show of being perpetually sleepy for the other players. It
Chapter 2
was all to buy time, to let Eliot’s true purpose slowly reveal itself.
06.27
[CHAT: Eva, you played me like a fiddle! I’m in tears! You were faking it the whole time! The clown was me all along!]
[CHAT: Eva, you’re so smart it’s scary.]
