Shae Harris found herself seated on a familiar sofa.
She scratched her head, wondering if she was dreaming about that fat idiot as usual.
But she was also worried that she was asleep, because it wasn't the time to be asleep.
But how to wake up was another problem, because she thought about it didn't know how to wake herself up.
Shae Harris figured sitting here wouldn't help anything, so she decided to explore.
Shae Harris stood up from the leather couch and walked around the room.
No doubt about it, it was the same room where we all watched anime with Ming Jun.
There were no windows in the room, and the only odd thing that wasn't in her memory of the original was the door.
Shae Harris stood in the middle of the room, conflicted about whether to go forward or backward.
With a shrug, she walked over to the door leading to the next room.
But it didn't open. She twisted the handle a few times, but nothing happened.
She glanced lower to check whether there was a keyhole, but it was smooth.
Shae Harris had an impulse to smash the door open for no other reason than curiosity.
Don't mention it—she had already fallen into the notion that this was a game.
Ming Jun mentioned some weird novels like that about people who enter mysterious games when death approaches.
Or maybe she was already taken out by that villain doctor without any resistance.
Shae Harris wasn't that concerned about the question of whether she was alive or not, because she certainly felt alive.
And feeling alive can develop into actually being alive.
It's all a matter of mindset.
Shae Harris first threw a kick at the door, but the result was that her ankle was almost twisted out of place.
Shae Harris glared at the door while limping to the sofa.
Then she reluctantly started to think about the reason why it couldn't open.
Hmm, maybe I haven't completed this level yet.
But what exactly am I meant to do in an empty otaku's room?
Watch some anime?
Shae Harris groped around the sofa for the remote.
It was placed neatly on a small, short, round glass table in front of her.
She snorted and picked it up before using it to turn the TV on.
In response, the black screen remained the same.
Shae Harris flipped it over, intending to see whether it was a battery problem.
But there was no indication of where a battery would be placed.
Thinking that it was one of those self-powered remotes that has an endless power supply, she shrugged and tried again.
After three trials, Shae Harris figured that it definitely wasn't working.
So she picked it up and walked over to the tightly shut door to the next room.
Her feet were much better after some rest, which meant that it wasn't that serious.
Shae Harris raised the remote and slammed it on the door.
It made a loud bang sound, but that was all.
Neither the door nor the remote had any substantial damage.
Heck, there wasn't even a scratch on either of them.
Shae Harris chuckled and raised an arm to try again.
But her hand felt lighter as it drew close to the door.
In confusion, she turned to her empty hand and then back to the table, where the remote lay snugly.
Shae Harris snorted and went back to pick it up.
But it was like someone had glued it to the table.
Shae Harris kicked the table and stomped to the door leading to the room in front.
As the handle turned smoothly and the door creaked open, she rolled her eyes.
Then she shot one last glare at the other door before slamming it shut.
The room she was currently in had various trinkets and clothes that screamed weeb.
Shae Harris shivered at the figurines placed in the tall cabinet that seemed to be staring at her.
She tried to pick something up, but it was the same old problem.
The object just refused to leave the table.
Shae Harris felt that this room was definitely doing it on purpose.
So she tried to break the glass cabinet by kicking it.
It didn't work, of course, but it was the meaning that counts, right?
Shae Harris wanted to comfort herself with that, but she couldn't.
And that was because the damn room was definitely doing it on purpose.
The cute smiles on the figurines' faces all turned into smirks.
And Shae Harris could swear those tiny eyes were provocative.
But the next moment, it vanished and everything was back to normal.
Somehow, that made it even more annoying.
Shae Harris decided that it wasn't worth it as the veins bulged in her hands.
She stomped her way out of that room and found herself in an even worse place.
Darkness spanned every corner of the environment like a never-ending blanket covering everything.
Even the ground beneath her feet was a deep black carpet.
Shae Harris, though, wasn't afraid and deduced what this place was.
It was probably the end of the game which the developers left blank.
Even if she walked for eternity, there would still be nothing but darkness.
Shae Harris had a fleeting idea to walk into the darkness to see just how far this space was.
But she quickly dismissed it. What if the developers suddenly get an inspection from the leader and they have to hurriedly delete the space?
Or they suddenly realize that leaving such an empty space unattended could lead to a bug?
But she also didn't want to go back to that room.
Just like its owner, it's very annoying.
Luckily, there's another door to explore right here.
Shae Harris's eyes twinkled as she walked over to another door not too far from the one she just left.
The color was lighter than Ming Jun's door, and the two were placed not too far apart.
The door opened, revealing another familiar room.
It was Noi Karn's room.
The same movie theater that we watched our first movie in was revealed before her eyes.
Shae strolled around for a while and even took a seat.
Learning from her past, she didn't try to take stuff carelessly.
Plus, this was her youngest's room. Unlike Ming Jun, she would feel bad causing trouble in here.
So she regarded it as rekindling nice memories.
Same with the last door—the last room was permanently closed.
Shae Harris pressed her head to the door because she thought she heard something.
It was a faint sound, and she couldn't make it out clearly.
"Heard enough," a female voice was heard behind her.
Shae Harris got startled and turned to the front door vigilantly.
Before her stood a woman with striking blue hair and eyes.
She was stunning and wore a white gown while exuding elegance from head to toe.
Such a stunning beauty can only be an NPC.
"What's in there?" Shae Harris pointed at the door and asked curiously.
As for why she wasn't afraid, well, it's a rule in gaming that NPCs don't attack unless provoked.
Secondly, all NPCs you first meet are incredibly strong, so don't even bother thinking about it.
With that in mind, Shae Harris let herself go.
"Who knows, but I think it must be amazing," the woman said with her eyes twinkling with curiosity.
"I agree," Shae Harris nodded, liking this pretty NPC.
"So is there anything you need to tell me?" Shae Harris probed.
"Come with me," the pretty lady walked forward.
The two ended up at the dark space with a black shadowy figure waiting.
"Hello," [Death] spoke.
Another NPC added, Shae Harris thought to herself.
"Those doors are related to Ming Jun and Noi Karn, right?" Shae Harris asked.
"Yes, they are," he nodded.
"So they all came to this space when they died?" Shae Harris put two and two together.
The two figures repeated the same story that they had told Noi Karn and Ming Jun.
"So because we all wanted to die, it counted as having a passive buff that made us your chosen heroes," Shae Harris mumbled to herself while trying to wrap her head around it.
"You can think of it as so," [Death] said.
"Wow, nice explanation," [Life] said.
"Now there's an evil BOSS that wants to destroy the world using our character," Shae Harris mumbled.
They agreed.
"So you want me to hack my character back and kill the BOSS?" Shae Harris jumped up after getting it.
"Of course, you won't go without any help," [Life] added.
"I'll do it," Shae Harris pumped her fist in the air.
Which game-obsessed person would give up the chance to fight a BOSS and save the world?
That's like skipping all the side quests and completing the main quest while stacked with buffs and an OP skill.
"So what skill do I get?" Shae Harris rubbed her hands and looked at them eagerly.
"Well, that depends on you," [Life] said while poking her forehead with her finger at the last word.
"Oh, I get it. It's a random allocation depending on luck," Shae Harris nodded in understanding and thought about it.
After a brief meditation, she knew what her skill was.
And she agreed with the pretty NPC—this skill was ironically suited for her.
"Can I have some props?" she asked, stretching out a hand.
"Sure, why not," [Life] said as a single-sided axe appeared in her hand and was given to Shae Harris.
"Thank you," Shae Harris liked the axe and held it tightly to her chest.
"I guess I'll be off then. Wish me luck," Shae Harris nodded at them before her figure vanished from the space.
"Hmm, she managed to leave here all by herself. Interesting," [Life] said with sparkling eyes.
... Outside ...
[Malice], who had taken over Shae Harris's body shortly after the death of Seo Rina, felt that same uncomfortable feeling.
It wasn't surprised to once again see the real Shae Harris, dressed in that damn school uniform, holding an axe.
"Yo, I'm here to end you," she said, pointing the axe at it.
The possessed Shae Harris stood with red lines snaking across her skin and red, bloodthirsty eyes glaring at her.
"How on earth do you guys keep doing this?" it hissed at her in Shae Harris's voice.
"Come closer, and maybe I'll tell you," Shae Harris said mysteriously while waving her axe leisurely.
[Malice] sneered at her, not believing a word from her mouth.
Instead, it tried to process what the problem was.
It had even tricked that system user into bringing her here ahead of time to ensure that she was completely devoured.
Everything had gone according to plan, and the rune had been successful.
All that was left was for Seo Rina to kill Shae Harris herself, just as an extra precaution before it killed her.
But who could tell it where Alex appeared from?
It admitted that Alex wasn't something it could have predicted.
After all, it knew exactly what type of being the system was, so the probability of Alex escaping its grasp was zero.
Unless Alex had outside help.
The system was also incredibly possessive, so it had never thought of the possibility of something else aiding Alex.
But it seems that can only be the answer to its doubts.
The problem now is that the list of suspects is large, with no clues as to a specific person.
And the whole plan was based on utmost secrecy.
There should have been no one that was aware of its existence.
Because awareness would equal death.
[Malice] looked at Shae Harris and realized for the first time just how much danger these kids represented.
Hindering its plans the first time could be dismissed as a coincidence shrouded in mystery.
It believed that it was always in control.
But the second time it occurred made it start to take the problem seriously.
Now it was the third time, and [Malice] could see that this was very serious.
"But there's no need to get anxious. I'll just have to pry the truth from your mouth slowly and carefully," it said, smiling evilly at Shae Harris.
In reality, it had only been dazed for a mere second as it processed its thoughts before speaking.
"Heh, bring it on," Shae Harris smirked back at it.