Chapter 3

During our first year in this world, my family members died one after another at the hands of monsters.

Only my mother and I were left, along with Julian, whom I had saved.

My mother treated him like her own son. She saved her share of the food she found, unwilling to eat it herself, giving it all to him.

She even collapsed from starvation because of it.

Now, he was willing to watch her die for another woman!

“Cassidy, can you stop being so dramatic?”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, looking at me like I was some hysterical lunatic.

“Can’t your mom just revive? Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Seraphina cares about her appearance and can’t stand having a stain on her clothes. Besides, even if your mom really died, you still need to take off your clothes and give them to Seraphina, right now!”

As his words fell, he seemed to fear my resistance. He grabbed a long spike and nailed my limbs to a wooden board.

The moment the spike pierced my flesh, my agonizing scream echoed through the sky.

But this bloody scene still couldn’t stir a shred of softness in Julian.

Seeing my pain, he, fearing it might scare Seraphina, turned and covered her eyes.

“Cassidy, you dirtied Seraphina’s clothes and wouldn’t take them off for her. You deserved this!”

Julian’s voice was as cold as ice. He didn’t notice the undeniable triumph in Seraphina’s eyes as she nestled in his arms.

They stepped closer, their actions becoming increasingly unrestrained as they tore my clothes into shreds.

Leaving large patches of my skin exposed.

Most of them were survivors who had received my help in the past.

Now, they all leered with crude amusement, even sneering and making vulgar jokes about me:

“Wow, I never would have thought our capable Sister Cassidy had such smooth, fair skin underneath. You must’ve gotten a lot of ‘nourishment’ from Julian, huh?”

“What are you talking about? Do you really think Julian alone could ‘satisfy’ a slut like that?!”

“This is a good chance then. Julian alone probably can’t keep you happy, right? How about us guys give you a proper ‘service’ tonight!”

Seeing this, Julian stepped forward and stopped them.

My eyes instantly lit up. Just as I thought that after dying for him ninety-nine times, he might still have a little love for me…

His next words plunged me back into the abyss.

“Be careful not to hurt her, or I swear I’ll make you pay!”

I suddenly burst out laughing.

I laughed at myself, at how after my ninety-ninth revival, I actually believed this NPC could have real feelings.

The bronze key in my pocket pressed against my chest.

That was the pass to the stronghold, earned with sixty-six of my lives.

The stronghold’s leader was Rhys, the strongest survivor in this game. His stronghold was impregnable, but not just anyone could enter.

To secure a spot for Julian, I agreed to their demands and risked my life to scavenge supplies from the monsters’ main lair.

I died sixty-six times there before they finally agreed to let Julian and me live inside.

I had planned to tell him on his birthday, “Julian, we have a home now.”

But then he used sharp steel cables to tightly bind me, just to save another woman.

“Cassidy, you’ve already died so many times, what’s one more? But Seraphina is different, she’ll be scared to tears!”

With that, he violently threw me towards the monsters.

I watched in horror as the monsters closed in. The memory of my past agonizing deaths made me instinctively struggle violently.

But the more I struggled, the deeper the sharp spikes dug into me.

As the monsters came closer, I screamed desperately towards Julian:

“Julian, I’m scared too! Please, come save me! I’m your girlfriend, you can’t just abandon me!”