Chapter 105
The white light pouring from the final escape route in Madness's Last Exit drew ever closer. Behind that warm, hopeful glow came the monstrous roar of the beast that had killed Cha Eun-joo.
-GRROOOOAAARRRR!
No bricks left to rely on now. All I could trust were my character's sturdy legs. Frame by frame, time splintered into shards as I sprinted in a perfect straight line.
Just a little more... just a bit further...!
Cross that door, and this godforsaken horror game would finally be over! No more torment dodging monsters!
One second stretched like minutes, tension soaking every inch of my body. The monster's footsteps and ragged breaths closed in hot on my heels.
But I kept running. Trusting my own judgment.
Just as its claws were about to snag me, my character crossed the boundary of light and shadow.
You've survived this horrific hell to the bitter end. You rush to tell your friends about today's ordeal, but none of them believe you. The experience you want to forget haunts you still as a nightmare. A foreboding premonition creeps in... perhaps it's not truly over yet.
Cl... Clear...! I stared at the monitor with sparkling eyes.
The chat exploded.
gg
anyway clear lmao
esc?ape
lolololololol
look at those sparkling eyes lmao
ggg
betrayed til the end lmao
ex-ally
clear right? lmao
ugh... lol
damn got gut pain from laughing and I have gastritis lol
all-time legend lmao
Behold this flood of awe! Praise directed at me! I cleared hard mode with no deaths, not even once!
Even in this triumphant moment worthy of a toast, the voice chat was eerily quiet.
A low sigh from SniperVillain pierced the silence.
"Haa... Is this game supposed to be this exhausting?"
"One more round and I'd actually die."
welcome back
that's the monster you created
if salty don't suggest horror games!
souls shattered lmao
where's Tier? lmao
The voice chat mixed sighs and groans. The mood had plummeted to rock bottom—guess the guild even found the horror game draining.
Serves 'em right. Who asked to play a horror game? Why bother if it's this tiring.
Not my fault, of course. Absolutely not.
Then, upbeat music chimed as a donation popped up top-screen.
real Elena?
?
whoa
insane whoa
?????
why's she here whoa
French ranker, even did Astria pro tourney
With 5.68 million viewers flooding chat at once, the server stuttered toward paralysis. When did it spike like this?
I swallowed hard at the donation message.
N-next time too?!
Sure, I scraped by this time, but another round? And I nearly got caught at the end—no bricks left, just a 1-2 second scrape into the exit.
"Not doing this game again. It's no fun."
If you want it so bad, play it yourselves. Why push it on me?
c'mon world boss ain't scared of monsters right lmao
hmm... suspicious
other horror game go go
yeah what’s a lil monster lmao
lolololol
ur guts as small as ur height right?
Why keep pushing horror games? Do it yourselves! Oh, and that last guy's banned.
'SmallTina' has been muted for 10 minutes.
?
world boss reflexes insane whoa
5.7M viewers rn whoa
what did I just see?
shhh judge I said nothing
nickname lmao
how'd u catch that???
SniperVillain said not to perma-ban lightly, so I held back... but isn't a report legal?
"Hm..."
Whatever. You're banned every time from now on.
Smida too?
ranker convention whoa
??????
rankers spend different whoa
insane
that's Omega guild master right?
different scale
With infamous celebs like Smida joining, chat heat skyrocketed. Donations poured nonstop.
Thus, my impromptu first stream—for petty reasons—ended in legendary success.
"President Alexei, intel agencies worldwide are buzzing about Sertina's live stream. Your thoughts?"
"Hm... Adorable."
No one pondered the identities of those 2,281 new subs.
The stream end screen went black. I stretched my arms high.
"Haaah."
Tension released, my body slumped like sticky rice cake into the chair. Shoulders and neck ached, eyelids stung.
Dodging monsters took it out of me.
Cooler fans hummed. I shut down the PC and shuffled out.
And that instant—
Fwump!
"Eek?!"
Tier, waiting by the door, hoisted me up and slung me over her hip.
"Sertina-nim, don't we have lots to talk about?"
Eek! Tier grinned wide, grinding her teeth.
Never seen her this mad!
Tier yanked my cheeks with her free hand.
"I!" Streeetch—
"died!" Streeeetch—
"23 times because of you! 23 TIMES!" Ping!
"23 times!!" Streeeeetch—
Eeeeeek! I flailed like doggy paddling.
Tier clamped me tighter.
"All game just bricked in the head!" Streeetch—
"Monster chasing and you shut the door!" Streeeeetch—
"Selling me out whenever!" Ping—
"Even got items to try hard!" Streeeeetch—
"And brick to the head at the end?!"
Save me!!!
Her grip strengthened on my cheeks.
"Died 7 times to monsters, 23 to you!!" Streeetch—
"23 times to YOU!!" Streeeeeeetch—
Eeeeeek!
Still fuming, Tier huffed out to the living room, me in tow.
Perfect timing—Cha Eun-joo and SniperVillain entered.
"Already getting it, huh."
SniperVillain chuckled dryly, shaking his head like incorrigible.
I gazed at them with puppy eyes.
Save me!
Cha Eun-joo smirked down.
Cracking her knuckles, veins bulging. A chill glinted in her eyes.
"Tier. Give her here after."
"Yesss~!"
Not saving me?! I got the clear!
My puppy eyes ballooned to full moons.
SniperVillain shrugged like watching a fun play.
"You brought this on yourself, Sertina-nim. Can't stop 'em."
I flailed toward the nearby sofa.
Tier yanked my cheek.
"Where you going?!"
Eeeeeek!!
"Know how much I suffered cuz of you? Died to every monster once!"
"Sertina-nim needs a lesson."
Cha Eun-joo nodded, arms crossed in agreement.
"Even bricked my face at the exit."
Her eyes gleamed coldly.
After selling out the team nonstop, no defenders left.
"Let's play all night! Sertina-nim too!"
"You sweated from tension—bath time after?"
Then it hit me—that last line from the clear screen.
A foreboding premonition creeps in... perhaps it's not truly over yet.
This is what it meant!!
The horror game wasn't over yet.