Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I caught my breath and pushed myself up from the sofa. I gestured to the Spider Girl and whispered a few words to her; she nodded and leapt out the window.

“Hey, Lin Lang. Still going to pretend you don’t know me?” I let out a raspy laugh.

He turned around, his face so wrinkled and haggard that not a trace of his former handsome self remained.

“Why are you here? You should have escaped the Death Game by now!”

“I came to find you, Lin Lang,” I said, forcing a smile as I fought back the tears. “I told you we were leaving together.”

No one knew exactly when the Death Game had first descended upon the world.

Humans were randomly selected and thrown into one eerie world after another, told they could only leave after surviving 99 rounds of the Death Game.

Of course, the rewards for clearing each stage were generous. Anything you could imagine, the Death Game could provide.

As for me, I had simply clicked on an otome game on a perfectly ordinary afternoon and found myself chosen for the Death Game.

I thought I was the unluckiest person alive.

Fortunately, I met Lin Lang. He was much stronger than me-he could even exorcise ghosts through sheer physical force.

After he rejected my request to team up for the umpteenth time, I resorted to my ultimate secret weapon: I clung to his leg and told him I liked him.

It was a shameless move, but it seemed to be incredibly effective against an innocent young man like him.

From then on, whenever Lin Lang told me to get lost, I would wipe away non-existent tears and spout cheesy pick-up lines with a pitiful look: “But I just like you so much! What am I supposed to do? I want to be with you. You can’t take even that little bit of freedom away from me!”

Lin Lang would flush red, unable to argue, and was forced to tacitly allow me to follow him.

We survived many worlds together and eventually formed our own small team.

Supporting each other through the trials, feelings began to grow between us. When I occasionally dropped a cheesy line, Lin Lang no longer showed his old impatience; instead, his face would turn so red he’d practically choke on his water.

Our friends used to tease us, saying that while everyone else was fighting for survival, we were carefree enough to enjoy a romance.

I would boldly wrap my arm around Lin Lang’s, wink, and joke, “That’s right! You guys are playing a Death Game, but I’m playing an otome game. And now, the tsundere male lead has been successfully conquered by me!”

Finding joy in the midst of suffering was an essential way to maintain the mental fortitude needed to endure the Death Game.

As the difficulty increased, our friends died one by one. I transformed from a clueless novice into a formidable participant in the eyes of others.

During our 80th game, we suffered devastating losses.

The older girl who used to pat my head and call me her little ray of sunshine was impaled by a steel rebar. She died in my arms.

After witnessing so much death, I felt my heart grow cold and numb, as if my very tears had run dry.

Lin Lang pulled my head firmly against his chest, letting me lean into the steady, rhythmic beat of his heart.

“Cry.”

“This really feels like a classic scene from an otome game,” I said, trying to talk nonsense to keep the atmosphere from getting too heavy.

Lin Lang said softly, “In front of me, you don’t have to pretend to be heartless or try to make people laugh. You’ll feel better if you let it out.”

I couldn’t hold it back any longer. My sobs turned into a loud wail as tears surged out of me, as if my entire body were overflowing.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you until…”