The Game Is Mine

"What? You're leaving this world, and once you do, this world will cease to exist?"

Shane asked in shock, trying to confirm it, the System's words plunging everyone into silence.

"You must be joking! You're the outsider here, so why would this world disappear once you leave?"

"Yeah, you're definitely saying it on purpose to get revenge on Shane!"

No matter what I said, they were never going to believe me.

After I entered the infinite system, an error caused me to nearly complete my mission prematurely. To compensate for that mistake, this world was created.

Only if I successfully completed the mission would this world continue to exist.

If I failed, it would be completely erased.

Once I realized that endless tolerance only made them push further and further, there was no reason left for me to hesitate.

Shane still refused to accept the truth.

"Even if that's true, why would you leave this world? Don't you want to save your sister?"

The more they spoke, the more apparent it was that they were afraid.

-

The others quickly echoed him. "Yeah, what about your sister?"

"Besides, you love Shane deeply! You'd never leave him!"

They looked at me with disdain.

I had met these people before at gatherings organized by Shane, and it was true that he was all I cared about back then, so there was no wonder why they thought that way.

However, I was no longer the girl I was back then.

After Shane helped Eve up, she sneered. "We're both women, so I know what you're thinking! You just want to force Shane into completing your mission with you!"

Then, she looked at Shane, worried. "Don't believe her! She just wants you to compromise, so don't let her have her way!"

Shane hesitated. Hearing it framed that way, it did sound reasonable. After all, I really had loved him deeply.

That kind of feeling couldn't have been fake.

With the two of them reaffirming each other's thoughts, they looked into each other's eyes and promptly decided that I was lying.

"I deceived you, and you deceived me. Since we're both at fault, let's just cancel it out. As long as you don't leave, I'll treat you the same as before."

He didn't even speak a word of the damage he'd done to me, waving it off with a single sentence.

To think that I, at one point, truly fell for a man like this.

Or perhaps I'd fallen for the fictional image of him that I'd conjured in my mind.

After drifting in the System for so long, it was only natural that I clung on after finally finding a place that felt safe.

Thankfully, there was still time for me to stop. It wasn't too late.

"I don't need it. The mission has already been terminated. It can't be reversed."

A flicker of panic appeared on Shane's face. Perhaps he was afraid of me leaving, or that the world would disappear, but none of that was important to me any longer.

He walked toward me quickly, and that's when he finally noticed that my stomach had become flat.

"You aborted the child?"

My silence was all the answer he needed, and doubt, struggle and pain flashed rapidly across his face.

"Any other problems? I feel like there's nothing else to be said, though."

The System was already ready to send me away from this world, but Shane grabbed my wrist, not letting me leave. "I have something to say, Janine. Don't go."

Hearing the sincere pleading in his face, I couldn't help but feel surprised that he wouldn't want me to leave.

However, I had no intention of staying here any longer.

"There's nothing left between us to talk about. It's better to end this completely.

"I'll say it one last time. I don't love you anymore!"

Shane stared at me intensely, trying to find even the slightest change in my expression, but all he found was cold indifference.

"I don't believe you. You're lying, Janine Grover.

"I still have something…"

I shook his hand off and ran toward the passage with all my strength.

I heard Shane's voice, far behind me, but after a while, I couldn't even hear him clearly anymore.