Chapter 1
Chapter 1. Game Start?
When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the cold floor of a dark, damp basement. The air was thick with the metallic scent of iron, and her whole body was tightly bound, trapped within a metal cage.
‘I was definitely on my way home from work…?’
Suddenly, a hole like a sinkhole appeared beneath her feet, and she lost her balance and fell. She thought she should be in a hospital, yet strangely, she found herself trapped in this prison-like place.
Even stranger, her hair, usually a short brown bob, was now long and golden in the reflection of her eyes. She wanted to tug at it to confirm it was hers, but her body was bound, making it impossible.
Blinking to clear her dazed mind, she tried to grasp the situation, when an ominous sound slowly descended from the stairs above. Heavy footsteps, deliberate movements.
The man who appeared before her had a chillingly handsome face. Hair as black as swallowed darkness, and piercing gray eyes. His face looked incredibly familiar.
‘Why… why is Silas here in front of me?’
Silas Blackwood. At first glance, he looked like a well-dressed, neatly groomed man in a suit, but she knew better.
She knew the dark madness lurking within him.
Because he was a character from her favorite horror game lately, <The Devil’s House>. The problem was that this man was practically the protagonist’s antagonist, the serial killer. Before his identity was revealed, Silas was infamously nicknamed “The Butcher.”
“Awake, are we?”
The man descending the stairs spoke in a casual tone. She tried desperately to understand what was happening. But with a serial killer in front of her, the more pressing question wasn’t “why am I here?” but “how can I survive?”
Could this be a dream? If so, would being killed by him return her to the real world?
But the sensation of the ropes constricting her body, the damp air of the basement, and the metallic stench were all too vivid. Dreams couldn’t feel this real.
“You’re quick to catch on. I was going to deal with you immediately if you made too much noise.”
Silas smiled brightly, but the meaning behind it was so chilling that it sent shivers down her spine.
‘What kind of person is Silas?’
How could she survive? She tried to recall everything she had played so far in the game.
Amnesia, psychopathy, his refined appearance, and his smooth words that always allowed him to slip off suspicion… the first victim chair…
She hadn’t reached the ending yet, so she had no idea how to escape the house or get the police involved. The game’s protagonist, the police, had to infiltrate and coordinate with colleagues to clear it.
In other words, there was no way for her to handle this alone.
Could she survive without being “dealt with” until Silas was captured?
Given that Silas had murdered countless men and women, it seemed nearly impossible. Realizing the bleakness of her future, tears streamed down her face.
She thought bitterly, Why did I even get possessed into this? Others get to possess princesses or heroines of mature romance games… why am I the victim of a horror game?
“You’re quite lucky,” he murmured softly.
At that moment, she suddenly remembered the prologue of the game, where Silas first appeared.
“You’re the first guest in this mansion, aren’t you?”
This line opened the game and addressed the first victim. Although the victim’s identity was lightly mentioned later in the case files, the role was crucial.
It introduced Silas’s brutality to the players. He killed the victim in an incredibly gruesome way to show his cruelty.
That future was now hers.
‘How… how can I survive?’
She forced herself to calm her racing heart and slowly inhaled, but her pulse already felt ready to burst in her throat.
“You’re special.”
“Si-Silas.”
Bang!
Hearing her name leave the lips of what was just prey, Silas approached the cage, pressing close. The blade in his hand scraped the bars, producing an unpleasant sound as if ready to violate her.
“What are you? How do you know my name?”
“….”
“What are you!”
Rachel was terrified, believing he could open the cage at any moment and stab her with the knife. Tears streamed down her face, but she had to survive. What could she possibly say to stay alive? In the game, not a single victim ever survived.
‘No… I can’t give up yet. Even if I’m cornered by a tiger, as long as I keep my wits…’
At least he was someone she could talk to, and she vaguely knew him, making this better than facing a tiger.
In that brief moment, she focused all her attention. She needed to find any possible way to survive. But no matter how she thought, there seemed to be no escape from the psychopathic killer… Ah!
One idea came to mind. Well, it was more like a gamble than a solution. But she had no time to think of another plan. Silas’s patience was running out by the second.
“H-Honey! Don’t you remember me?”
“…Honey?”
“Yes! It’s me, your wife…!”
She had once read an article about a psychopathic serial killer. They loved animals and cherished their family dearly.
She couldn’t exactly bark like a dog, so as a fallback, she decided to play the role of family. After all, he had lost his memory. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
“You’re saying you’re my wife?”
“Yes, that’s right! I’ve been searching for you desperately… I never imagined we’d meet like this…”
She wanted to say, It would have been better if we hadn’t met, but she swallowed it. His suspicious gaze scanned her from head to toe.
She clenched her fists tightly, forcing her hands not to shake. Remaining calm was her most important priority.
“What’s your name?”
Raising an eyebrow, Silas asked unexpectedly. He wouldn’t remember the name of one of the countless extras found dead.
