Chapter 2 My Very Inappropriate Last Wish

"Maybe this is the easiest SSS-rank dungeon ever!"

The other players were practically celebrating.

I, however, was staring at the comments floating above our heads.

[LIVE CHAT: Oh, here we go again. Another bunch of idiots wishing to die of old age.]

[LIVE CHAT: How many groups have tried that trick? Do they seriously think they're the first?]

[LIVE CHAT: Just wait. They'll find out soon enough why The Wish is an SSS-rank dungeon.]

Well, that wasn't encouraging.

Before I could give it much thought, a tall shadow fell over me.

The boss was standing right in front of me.

"You're the last one."

His voice was deep and cold.

"How would you like to die?"

Shit.

Before getting dragged into this nightmare, I'd been the heroine of a smut novel.

My daily routine consisted of waking up, fooling around with ridiculously handsome men, and occasionally remembering to eat.

Survival skills? Zero.

Combat experience? Unless wrestling a billionaire out of his pants counted, also zero.

Expecting me to come up with some brilliant plan to escape a death game was like expecting a goldfish to file taxes.

Not happening.

So I gave up.

If I was doomed anyway, I might as well make my last wish count.

And the man standing in front of me?

Well, he wasn't exactly hard on the eyes.

Not that I could see his face through all that black mist.

But those broad shoulders, that narrow waist, those long legs...

And that voice.

Oh, that voice.

I had a feeling there was a criminally handsome face hiding under all that smoke.

I looked him up and down.

"I want to die breathless," I said.

"With my knees weak, my heart racing, and my eyes rolling back in my head."

The boss went perfectly still.

"Oh, and one more thing."

I gave him a slow, shameless smile.

"I want you to do it personally. I want you to fuck me to death."

Silence.

Not a single person spoke.

Even the black mist surrounding his head stopped moving.

For several long seconds, the boss stood there like someone had unplugged him.

Then, very slowly, he took a step backward.

Huh.

Was he... scared?

I waited for him to say those magical words.

As you wish.

Nothing.

Instead, the system chimed.

[PRELIMINARY TASK: MAKE A WISH — COMPLETED.]

[ALL PLAYERS MUST NOW FOLLOW THE BOSS INTO THE MANSION.]

[MAIN OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE FOR THREE DAYS.]

[RANDOM SIDE QUESTS WILL BE ISSUED DURING THIS PERIOD.]

[COMPLETING A SIDE QUEST GRANTS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A WISH.]

[ONLY THE PLAYER WHO MAKES THE CORRECT WISH WILL SURVIVE.]

Three days?

Apparently, my death had been postponed.

Fine by me.

That gave me three more days to appreciate the scenery.

And by scenery, I meant the boss.

By the time we reached the mansion, it was already dark.

The place was enormous, with high ceilings, expensive furniture, and a grand staircase that wouldn't have looked out of place in one of my billionaire romances.

For a second, I almost felt at home.

Then I saw the portraits.

An entire row of framed photographs hung on the living room wall.

Seven of them.

One for each surviving player.

Every portrait had a line of writing beneath it.

[CAUSE OF DEATH: PEACEFUL OLD AGE, FREE OF ILLNESS.]

The same words appeared beneath almost every photograph.

Except mine.

Someone had scribbled over my inscription with thick black ink.

Not a single word was visible.

Seriously?

Even a horror game had a censorship policy?

The middle-aged man who'd suggested dying of old age noticed it too.

"Hold on. You didn't make the same wish as the rest of us, did you?"

I shook my head.

"Then what did you choose?"

I opened my mouth.

"Players are forbidden from asking about one another's wishes."

The boss's voice suddenly cut through the room.

Everyone fell silent.

For some reason, I thought I detected a hint of nervousness in his tone.

Oh?

Was somebody embarrassed?

I glanced at him.

Unfortunately, the other players were less amused.

"Her wish is blacked out. That's obviously a bad sign."

"Maybe the boss has already marked her for death."

"She had the answer right in front of her, and she still chose something different. How stupid can you get?"

"Bet she won't even make it through tonight."

I considered explaining myself.

Then I pictured their faces if I told them exactly what I'd asked the boss to do.

Yeah.

Better not.

The middle-aged man gave me a contemptuous look.

"People like her are nothing but dead weight."

Someone else nodded.

"If the weak links get eliminated early, that's better for the rest of us."

And just like that, I found myself completely shut out of the group.

When it came time to choose bedrooms, everyone stuck together and claimed the nicest rooms, leaving me with the smallest, filthiest servants' room in the mansion.

The middle-aged man gave me a mocking smile as he pulled the door shut.

"Not that it matters. You won't survive tonight anyway. Sleep wherever you want."

The door clicked closed.

The mansion fell silent.

Everyone else had retreated to their rooms.

Only the boss and I remained in the empty living room.

He hovered there for a moment.

Then he turned, apparently preparing to drift away.