He Hunts, I Haunt

A split-faced ragdoll who was selected with me started jumping in place in a rage the moment the announcement was made.

"I'm not going into an SSS dungeon! I'm just an innocent doll who eats people!

"Players at that level are terrifying. I can't fight them. They'll tear me apart!"

That only made my situation sound worse.

At least the ragdoll could eat people. I couldn't.

My only ability was that my hair could grow longer.

-

The moment we entered the SSS dungeon, I felt the difference in difficulty.

The dungeon I used to work in was just a small town.

During the day, it looked lively and normal, no different from any other town.

I played a flower girl who gave players clues.

At night, I turned into a wronged spirit and wandered the streets, jumping out to scare people whenever I felt like it.

That town was only frightening after dark.

But an SSS dungeon was terrifying the instant you stepped inside.

The sky hung low and gray. You couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

The forest was so thick that barely any light made it through.

Deep, distant roars echoed through the trees, and there was no way to tell what kind of danger was hiding in the dark.

The ragdoll leapt straight into my arms.

"This is so scary. I wanna go home!"

I tried to comfort it.

"Don't be scared, Bunny. We're the monsters here. The players should be scared of us."

Honestly, my heart was pounding, too.

Deep down, I was praying I wouldn't run into Victor.

If he found out I had sneaked into a horror dungeon without telling him, he would definitely lose his mind.

Last time he was angry, I couldn't leave the bed for five whole days.

I still remembered all the marks he left behind…

I hurriedly shook my head to clear the memory away.

The ragdoll and I were just temporary replacements.

The real monsters here were the ones who were meant to deal with players.

As long as I stayed cautious, Victor would never find out I was secretly working as an NPC.

-

I hung upside down from a tree, letting my hair spill around me like a curtain.

The first player who passed by was a girl.

She barely spared me a glance and walked straight past.

The second player nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw my hair.

But he recovered fast and set my hair on fire.

The flames swallowed my hair in seconds.

NPCs felt pain in horror dungeons, too.

But I couldn't show it. That was my dignity as an NPC.

I tried to chase after him, but he vanished in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the fire only spread faster.

As I ran, sparks flew into the dead grass nearby. A wildfire broke out instantly.

I didn't care anymore. I dove straight into a creek a short distance away.

The ragdoll dragged me out.

It was in horrible shape as well. A player had sewn its mouth shut, so it couldn't open it at all.

I tore the thread out with shaking hands.

It immediately burst into tears and threw itself into my arms.

"Those jerks! The players here are horrible. They stitched my mouth shut!

"They even tried to pull out my stuffing to start a fire. I wanna go home. Waaahh!"

I touched my burnt, brittle hair.

I wanted to go home, too.

We clung to each other and cried, completely unaware that everything we did was being watched through the live feed.

[This is hilarious. How does an SSS dungeon end up with monsters this weak?]

[The strong ones probably already got wiped out by Big V and his team. Only these little leftovers are still alive.]

[Big V is unreal. When do I get to clear a dungeon with him?]

[In your dreams. Big V is busy as he's gonna marry me.]

[Get lost. You really think Big V would look at you?]

[He wouldn't waste a second on someone like you.]

[Why are you even fighting over this? Someone like Big V is way too cold and powerful to care about relationships.]