Horror Game With My Cheating Ex

The moment I stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind me.

The room was pitch black.

"Where's the light switch—"

Before I could finish, I felt something cold and wet brush against my face.

Then came a dripping sound.

Drip, drip, drip.

I squinted, letting my eyes adjust.

I finally made out a small shape in the center of the room.

It was a little girl, maybe seven or eight years old.

She was completely soaked, her hair plastered to her face, water dripping endlessly from her body.

She slowly turned her head to look at me.

Then, she reached her hands toward me.

"Sister... play... with... me..."

【WARNING: Player Ava has triggered the Drowned Wraith’s lethal curse. Illusion ‘The Bottomless Pit’ is now active.】

She wasn’t a little girl at all.

She was a child’s corpse, one that had steeped for decades at the bottom of a pond.

Her skin was puffy and deathly pale.

From her empty eye sockets, a black, oily fluid constantly dripped.

Her nails, long and black, were bent at a sickening angle, ready to break the neck of the living soul before her.

【Comment 1: It’s her! The Drowned Wraith! Her illusion makes you feel like you’re drowning for real!】

【Comment 2: Just look at her! That bloated skin, the empty eyes… just two black holes! My anxiety is going through the roof!】

【Comment 3: That black ooze is concentrated hatred. Touch it and it’s game over.】 【Comment 4: RIP newbie.】

But I only saw a little girl, shivering in the rain.

"Oh, you poor thing!" I stripped off my jacket without a second thought. "You're soaked! You're going to catch a cold."

I rushed over and wrapped my jacket tightly around her.

The drowning illusion vanished instantly.

For any sane player, the sight would have been the stuff of nightmares.

There was a woman, tenderly bundling a drowned, discolored corpse in her own coat.

The ghost’s stiff, cyanotic hands, which had been seconds from strangling her, hovered just a breath away from her delicate neck.

The little girl froze, her eyes wide as she stared at me.

Her hands were still poised to strangle me, but she didn't move.

"How long were you out there?" I touched her forehead. "You're freezing. You must be chilled to the bone."

I led her by the hand to the fireplace. There was some dry wood, and I lit a fire.

Warm light filled the room.

The little girl stared blankly at the flames, the emptiness in her eyes gradually replaced by an emotion I’d never seen before.

Confusion.

"Sit down, I'll dry your hair," I said, pulling a towel from my luggage. "What's your name?"

She didn't answer, just sat stiffly by the fire.

I gently wrapped the towel around her head and began to dry her dripping hair.

My touch was delicate, like I was handling priceless porcelain.

"It's okay if you don't want to say," I said softly. "I'm Ava. You look like a Lily. Is it okay if I call you Lily?"

Her body trembled slightly.

Not from cold, but from shock.

For decades, humans had only screamed at her terrifying face.

They tried to run. They begged. They cursed her.

But this woman... she didn't scream.

She dried her hair.

She gave her a name.

"You must be hungry." I rummaged through my bag, found a chocolate bar, and handed it to her. "It's all I've got. We can look for something better in the kitchen tomorrow."

Lily looked at the chocolate in her hand, and black liquid welled up in her eyes.

But this time, it wasn't the venom of a curse. It was tears.

"...Warm," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion.

I smiled. "Of course, it's warm. We have a fireplace and blankets." My voice became firm but gentle. "From now on, this is our home."

"Our?"

"That's right." I patted her shoulder. "From today on, you're my little sister!"

Lily's eyes went wide, as if she'd heard the most unbelievable thing in the world.

Sister?

The word was completely foreign to her.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard it.

Was it when she was alive?

When she was human?

She remembered her death.

The icy pond, the desperate struggle, the burning in her lungs.

After she died, she became a vengeful spirit, torturing every living person who entered this room in the same way.

But now, this woman named Ava had given her warmth.

A name.

A home.

Lily slowly relaxed the hand that had been ready to snap Ava’s neck. Gently, she reached out and took hold of Ava’s finger.

"Sister..." she whispered.

"I'm here," I said, stroking her head.

In that warm moment, the temperature in the room plummeted.

The fire in the fireplace flickered, as if suppressed by an unseen force.

A tall figure materialized silently behind me, a cold presence washing over us like a tide.

Darkness swirled around him like a living thing.

Light was devoured. The air grew heavy.

The Shadow Lord.

The true master of this room.