It was 1:30 a.m.
Ryuji rubbed his eyes, sat up in bed, and let out a long yawn. Pressing his hand to his lower back, he muttered, "I must've slept way too long."
"Emiko, come on. Give your brother a massage, my back's killing me."
He smirked to himself. "You've become so stubborn, not even listening to your big brother anymore."
His eyes caught the clock. It was already 1:30 a.m.
"Where the hell is she? Almost an hour has passed."
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
The voice on the other end said, "The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."
"Emiko!"
Without hesitation, he slipped on his shoes and rushed outside.
"Where could she have gone? She said there's a store at the gas station three blocks down."
The cold night air hit his face as he quickened his pace through the streets.
"That should be right here, just to my right."
The store windows were dark. No lights inside.
Ryuji switched on his phone's flashlight and aimed it at the glass.
A sign read: "Open: 7:30 a.m. – Close: 10:30 p.m."
"What? Closed? They shut at ten? Was Emiko really here?"
He tried calling again, but still no answer. "Where did she go?"
"Welcome, player. The rule is simple: survive. We won't be here long."
Emiko clenched her teeth. "You bastards…"
A beep came from her phone.
A notification appeared on the screen: "Reach the room at the end of the chapter to escape."
"Come on, who are you? This is ridiculous. This is going to end badly. I'm a lawyer, you know that, right?"
Suddenly, pounding came at the door. Boom boom!
System: Hide under the bed.
From behind the door came a strange hissing noise — muffled, slimy, and chilling. Emiko's eyes widened. The creature burst through the door and charged into the room. Holding her breath, she scrambled beneath the bed and quickly switched off her phone's light.
"What is that disgusting thing?"
System: Use your phone's camera to scan the creature.
With trembling hands, Emiko raised her phone. The screen flickered and displayed:
Creature identified.
Type: Burrowfang
Traits: No sight. Extremely sensitive to movement. Level: C.
The creature sniffed its way around the room. It had the body of a massive dog, but its head was misshapen — like a pile of flesh dragged from underground.
Think. You have to think, Emiko.
Her eyes landed on a piece of metal across the room.
"Let's see if you're really that sensitive to sound."
She grabbed it and hurled it with all her strength toward the far side of the room.
Clink!
The creature whipped its head toward the noise. With an ear-piercing hiss, it dashed out the door.
"Okay... just stay calm..."
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
System: Remember, you have only one life. If you die here, you die for real. Search around — you might find something useful.
"Fine. Giving up isn't my style. Watch me."
Raising her voice, she added, "Why is this dumb system helping me anyway? Whatever. I won't question it for now."
Emiko began to methodically search every corner of the ruined room.
"A knife? You expect me to kill that huge thing with this? Ha! If I find you, I'll make you regret it!"
She left the ruined room and stepped into the pitch-black darkness ahead.
She muttered to herself, "Is this a completely different world? Or just somewhere in this one? But that giant dog thing... no, this has to be somewhere else."
Eww, spiders...
Stepping carefully over the spiders, she suddenly spotted a human corpse. Quickly, she grabbed her knife, gripping it tightly with both hands. Her pupils dilated, sweat beading on her forehead.
She took cautious steps toward the body.
Age: 23. Time until information deletion: 12 hours and 45 minutes.
So the bastard was right — eliminated players vanish into a void.
Tssk tssk… Sshhh… Trrrr…
System: Hide behind the trees.
"Right side."
She turned to her right.
Disgusting! What is this? Almost like she was about to throw up.
She saw human corpses tangled in giant spider webs.
System: Run!
Emiko: Where am I supposed to run? Help! What the hell is this?
Emiko: Whoa, that thing's huge... What does it feed on?
System: In front of you is a giant spider known as Jinkui Kumo — the man-eater.
Emiko: What? It eats people?!
Its abilities include powerful climbing, sticky webs, and razor-sharp teeth — basically a killing machine. Level: B.
Emiko: Looks like my only option is to run...
(She sprinted away.)
The spider didn't seem eager to chase her, eventually giving up.
System: To grow stronger, eliminate your prey.
Emiko: Don't expect me to do that with this tiny knife!
System: Kill every living thing in your path.
Emiko: Isn't that a bit too brutal?
Facing her again was Burrowfang. Their second encounter.
"Come on, puppy. You were sensitive to sound, weren't you?"