Chapter 1

It’s been three years since my family got trapped in this horror game, and I fell in love with an NPC. I died for him ninety-eight times.

When bloodthirsty ants gnawed off my limbs, I desperately wished he’d just turn and look at me. When a monster swallowed me whole, I still wondered if he’d shed a single tear.

After my ninety-ninth revival, he finally agreed to be with me.

I thought it was salvation. Until my mother got caught by a monster.

“Julian! Hit the switch, now!”

I screamed until my throat bled. Activating that switch would set fire to those monsters and save her.

But he spun around, pressing his hand firmly on the lever. “Seraphina is afraid of fire! No one touches it!”

Mom’s screams cut off abruptly.

Seraphina saw me sobbing uncontrollably. She hid behind Julian, peering out shyly.

“Julian, Cassidy is crying. She said this world is just a game, and even if Aunt Eleanor dies, she’ll just revive.”

But he had no idea. Here, if my mom died, she was truly gone.

She’d never come back.

I watched him protect another woman as they walked away. The boy who used to need me to hold his hand just to step outside was now a stranger to me, like he’d swapped bodies with someone else.

Later, when monsters besieged our community, Julian, naturally, ordered me to lead them away.

I turned around without hesitation and walked into the stronghold I’d built for myself.

“Who do you think you are, to demand my life again?”