C04
I was done with him. They could flaunt their relationship all they wanted, it didn’t matter to me anymore.
I should have been back in the real world after the last level ended, but I wasn’t. Something was wrong. A bad feeling had been creeping up on me for a while now and as my eyelids twitched, that sinking sensation in my gut
only got worse.
Then, a voice echoed all around us. “Due to the return of the landlord, the difficulty of this instance has been raised to SSS level.”
The whole place went dead silent, then, panic.
SSS–level. Even veterans struggled with that difficulty. Hardly anyone had ever survived it. No one expected this
twist.
But I did.
Because in this horror world, there was only one person who could raise the difficulty to SSS–level. Severin.
My stomach dropped. I wasn’t escaping this. It didn’t matter how far I ran or how hard I fought, he would find me. After everything I had been through, after all my efforts, it was still going to end the same way. The NPC started explaining the rules, but I wasn’t paying attention.
I drifted to the back of the group, keeping to myself.
Sean and Miranda stood close together, looking smug and comfortable, like they weren’t trapped in a death game. But when Sean’s gaze flickered toward me, there was something else there; hesitation.
He whispered something to Miranda and she strutted over, her expression unreadable. “Reina,” she said sweetly, “Sean thinks that if you just apologize, maybe we can protect you.”
I let out a short laugh. Then, without a word, I flipped them off.
Sean’s face darkened.
“You bitch,” he hissed. “Do you have any idea where you are? You got lucky last time, but luck won’t save you here. This is an SSS–level world. Without protection, you’re dead. I’ll give you one last chance, apologize and I’ll forgive you.”
I met his eyes and grinned. I stared at Sean, expressionless, wondering how I ever liked him.
Maybe I was just desperate to escape Severin and latched onto the first guy I found. But now, just looking at Sean made my stomach turn.
Night fell and the apartment shifted into something straight out of a nightmare. The air filled with the sounds of electric saws, dragging footsteps and distant screams.
I couldn’t sleep. Every little noise had me on edge. Then, suddenly, a pair of large hands wrapped around my waist.
A familiar voice murmured against my ear. “Miss me, dear?”
My whole body stiffened. I knew it, he came. Severin’s grip tightened as he pressed a cold kiss behind my His voice was slow, almost lazy.
“I heard you’ve got a boyfriend now,” he mused. “I figured I’d see what kind of man you traded me for.”
A loud bang shattered the moment, the door was kicked open. Sean and Miranda stood frozen in the doorway, still clutching their discarded taboo items.
Then, like cowards, they spun around to run, only to stop dead in their tracks. They had just processed the man beside me.
Hanging in the center of the apartment’s hall was the landlord’s portrait, his face large and unmistakable. And now that same face was staring back at them in the flesh. Realization hit.
9:29 AM
