November was really a shitty period. It was the end of autumn, which meant constant rain, while at the same time it was so cold you'd think winter had already arrived.
November wasn't really the month to go out. Add to that a middle schooler who had gone missing a few days ago, and you'd think nobody would invite others to their place at night—or that those invited would refuse. But having a stupid best friend made it impossible to choose the reasonable option.
Having been reincarnated as a woman—even one who looked like Karen Gillan—had been difficult. Especially when puberty started to hit.
Of course, the most difficult part had never been the fact that I'd become a woman, or that I now lived in a small town in the 80s in the USA. No, the hardest thing I had to accept in this new life was the fact that I had somehow ended up in the Marvel universe.
Maybe it was because, until now, nothing strange or world-ending had happened around me. After all, Hawkins was a peaceful, remote town. But it still felt surreal.
I still remembered the day in history class when the teacher started talking about Steve Rogers and how he defeated Hydra. I'd been on edge for days after that.
Fortunately, I was quite far from New York. Very far from problems.
Or at least, that's what I thought—until I went to my best friend's boyfriend's party and ended up in what seemed like the horror version of Hawkins, while my best friend, Nancy, was banging Steve Harrington.
"This is the last time I'll be playing the third wheel for you, Nance…" I whispered to myself as I ran desperately, trying to reach my car before the thing caught up to me.
I still couldn't fully understand what had happened a few minutes earlier. I'd been sitting alone near the pool, perched on a plastic chair, peeling an orange with a small kitchen knife. My fingers were numb from the cold air, and the damp smell of wet leaves clung to everything. Then I accidentally cut myself.
And that was how it started.
I went inside Steve's house to grab some tissues. The place was loud, warm, and smelled of cheap beer and chlorine. Music echoed through the walls, vibrating the floors. When I returned to the pool, the night felt wrong.
That's when I noticed strange lights coming from the water.
And like those stupid people in horror movies, I stepped closer to see what was emitting that glow, even though I could feel the air around me growing unnaturally cold. The lamps lining the pool began to flicker, their light stuttering like a dying heartbeat.
Then, predictably, a monstrous hand burst out from under the water, grabbed my ankle, and dragged me into the pool.
Honestly, if I hadn't had my own cheat—like almost every reincarnator—I would have died, drowned in that pool.
Even when I pulled out Chamber's Headhunter under the threat of drowning, I panicked and missed the first three shots.
Fortunately, I managed to steady myself after those misses. I shot it in the arm, escaped the pool, and slowed it down with a Trademark.
Because the Trademark I created only had an area of effect seven meters in diameter, I placed the first one inside the pool. When it activated, it slowed the entire area—not only the monster, but the water itself. The liquid thickened, becoming heavy and resistant, making it even harder for the creature to move while it was already affected by the slow.
That bought me enough time to run out of the house.
As a precaution, I placed a Rendezvous on the edge of the fence just in case things went sideways while I tried to reach my car. I was terrified, cursing under my breath, but still in one piece—for now.
It was while running that I realized I wasn't in the real world anymore.
I didn't know if it was the white particles drifting through the air, the thick vines crawling over the streets, or the dull grey sky pressing down on everything, but it didn't matter. Getting out did.
Unfortunately—and predictably—my car wasn't where I'd parked it in the real world.
"Fuck! Don't tell me I'm that NPC whose only purpose is to introduce the villain and die. Why is there no car, for God's sake?! Fuck you, Steve, and your house isolated from the rest of the world!"
Not finding my car stressed me out a little—emphasis on little—but I still had a monster chasing me. So, with no other choice, I ran again, cutting through the woods.
The forest was dark and twisted, trees packed so tightly their branches clawed at the sky. Wet leaves and exposed roots made the ground uneven, mud clinging to my shoes as I ran. I hoped the terrain would slow the thing down.
I didn't want to make the stupid mistake every NPC made: not seeing the thing chasing them and assuming it had given up. Too many examples proved how dumb that mindset was.
But while running, I started to think.
Up until now, I still didn't understand how all of this had happened.
Why had the monster chosen me as its prey and not the others in the house? Was it because I was outside? Because I bled?
Or maybe…
"Don't tell me it's something stupid like… huh… I wasn't having sex or something," I muttered between breaths. "Because—haah—finding another woman ready to come out in the 80s isn't exactly easy…"
As absurd as the thought was, I knew sound hadn't attracted it. I'd been quiet while pacing around the pool. And water clearly didn't bother it—it had tried to drown me. But I was also the only one who hadn't been drinking...
"So… except for that… that leaves me with… me being alone and… the—huhh—bleedi—"
GROAAAAR
The roar coming from in front of me made me stop dead in my tracks.
"Shit! How did it outrun me—"
GROAAAAR
The answering roar behind me gave me the answer.
There was more than one.
"Well, this is bad. Now I definitely feel like the NPC destined to die in the movie's introduction." I said, self-mockingly.
Even though my reincarnation gave me a Radiant Stone capable of synchronizing with characters from games I'd played in my last life, it had too many constraints. Until now, I'd only been able to synchronize with Chamber and Skye from Valorant.
Chamber, probably because I used to be French. Skye, because in this life I'd developed an interest in exploring forests and the fact I'm a redhair now.
Both characters had useful abilities—but escaping another dimension wasn't one of them.
"I should've started my goth phase on the first day of high school. Maybe then I'd have gotten Omen." I complained casually as I decided to head northwest.
My house was near the police station, my original destination to stock up on weapons. But with multiple monsters around—and it being more than thirteen kilometers away—that was impossible.
It would take at least two and a half hours on foot. And even though I hadn't seen the monster clearly underwater, just knowing it was far stronger than me was enough to understand it would eventually catch up.
So my only option was Nancy's house. It was closer—and I could only hope I wouldn't be spotted.
"God, I really hate Marvel. I'm not even living in New York, and shitty things still happen! And in the 80s!!"
As if responding to my complaint, more roars echoed behind me. Closer this time.
Worse, I was slowing down.
I wasn't athletic to begin with, so it wasn't surprising that after a few minutes of sprinting—even with adrenaline—I was running out of steam.
But I wasn't out of options yet.
The range of my Rendezvous was seven square kilometers, so for now I was safe—as long as no monster was guarding it.
'There's a thirty-second interval between each use.' I thought grimly. 'I can't waste it. I only have four bullets left in my Headhunter, and one Trademark. And I can't use Skye's Trailblazer without a safe spot…'
Crack
Without turning around, I knew it had caught up.
Without a word, I placed my last Trademark in front of me and sprinted past it.
Three seconds later, it activated.
I didn't look back. The roar told me everything I needed to know.
Seizing the moment, I activated Chamber's ultimate ability while placing my second Rendezvous.
"They are so dead!" I screamed as I shouted the incantation.
As I finally turned to face the monster, a golden, futuristic custom sniper rifle materialized in my hands.
I barely registered it.
My eyes were locked onto the creature standing a few meters away.
The monster was tall and unnaturally thin, its body a sickly grey-white, like raw flesh that had never seen sunlight. Its skin looked stretched too tightly over its frame, veins faintly visible beneath the surface, twitching as if something inside was crawling. Long, sinewy arms hung almost to the ground, ending in claws that curved like hooked knives, dark and wet, flexing slowly due to the Trademark effect.
But the worst part was its head—or rather, the absence of one.
Where a face should have been, five thick, fleshy petals slowly peeled open, revealing a gaping maw lined with multiple rows of small, jagged teeth. They were uneven and sharp, like those of a shark, glistening with saliva that dripped onto the forest floor. The petals twitched and quivered independently, opening wider as if tasting the air, sensing me.
It didn't have eyes, yet I felt its attention on me—an oppressive, suffocating pressure that made my skin crawl and my instincts scream to run.
"And we're still in the 80s? I'm starting to think that living to see the 2000s is a bad idea. Seriously—fuck you, Marvel!"
BANG!