Chapter 2
“Maybe this is the easiest SSS-level dungeon ever,” someone said.
I stayed quiet, watching the messages overhead.
[Another bunch wishing to die of old age. Boring.]
[Every group picks the same thing. They all think they’re so clever.]
[They’ll find out why “Wish” is ranked SSS soon enough.]
By then, the Boss was standing right in front of me.
“You’re the last one,” he said. “How do you wish to die?”
Well, shit. This was it.
Before I got dragged into this horror game, I’d been the heroine of an erotic novel. My mornings usually started in bed with handsome men. As for other skills, I didn’t have much to offer.
A clever survival plan? From me?
Not happening.
If I had to die here, I might as well make the most of it. This miserable world could use a little pleasure.
Besides, the mist might hide his face, but it did nothing about those broad shoulders, that narrow waist, or his deep voice. The man had potential.
Apparently, lust could make even me brave.
“I’d like shortness of breath, trembling legs, glazed eyes, and pleasure so intense it kills me.”
The Boss went still.
“Oh,” I added, “and you’re the one doing it.”
Even the mist stopped moving. He stood there for a long moment, then took a slow step back.
I waited.
Where was my “As you wish”?
Instead, the system spoke.
[Preliminary task: “Make a Wish” completed.]
[Please follow the Boss into the mansion.]
[Main quest: Survive inside the mansion for three days.]
[Random side quests will appear during this time.]
[Each completed quest grants one new wish.]
[Only the player who makes the correct wish will live to the end.]
Night had fallen by the time we reached the mansion.
I stopped just inside the living room. Memorial portraits covered the walls.
They were pictures of us.
A handwritten note beneath each portrait listed its subject’s wish.
[Die peacefully of old age, no sickness, no pain.]
Except under mine. Someone had blacked out the words with a thick marker.
Everyone turned to look at me.
“Come to think of it,” Martin said, “you didn’t make the same wish as the rest of us, did you? You were off in that corner. What kind of death did you choose, little miss?”
Before I could answer, the Boss spoke.
“Players are forbidden to ask about other players’ wishes.”
His voice sounded strangely tense.
The others stopped asking, but they didn’t stop staring.
“They blacked hers out. That’s a death flag if I ever saw one.”
“She won’t last the night.”
“The answer was right there. Why would she pick something else?”
“Better for us if the dead weight goes first.”
That settled my place in the group.
When we chose rooms, they claimed all the decent ones and left me a tiny, filthy maid’s room.
Martin smirked at me from his doorway. “You won’t live past tonight. Does it really matter where you sleep?”
He shut the door.
Soon, the Boss and I were alone in the living room. He hovered there for a moment, then started to drift away.
