Chapter 1
Before I could even process what was happening, I had been dressed in bloodred bridal robes.
At the first bow, there was no heaven or earth in sight. At the second, no elders sat in the hall.
And the “groom” beside me—
was a three-meter-tall, charred entity draped in crimson wedding robes.
When it bent to bow, its spine snapped with a series of sharp cracks.
My legs gave out beneath me. I collapsed and struck my forehead against the floor.
The third bow—husband and wife bowing to each other.
In the blink of an eye, I was lying on an antique marriage bed.
Red candles burned high, the bed curtains hanging low. The entity sat beside me.
Its face was a mangled mass of flesh. Its impossibly thin neck stretched longer and longer, slowly bringing its face toward mine.
I wanted to vomit. I wanted to scream. I wanted to call my childhood friend Li Jingchi’s name and beg him to come back and save me.
But terror taken to its limit became paralysis. I couldn’t make a sound.
All I could do was close my eyes in resignation as heavy tears rolled down my cheeks.
Then the cracking beside my ear abruptly stopped.
An ice-cold hand covered my eyelids, plunging me into darkness.
When the weight lifted and I opened my eyes again—
the enormous, skeletal entity from moments ago seemed to have been nothing but a nightmare.
The figure beside me had become an elegant young nobleman, tall and graceful.
I blinked hard.
The young man sitting by the bed wore vivid red wedding robes, his white hair flowing like moonlight over snow.
His features were refined, his eyes smiling. He was impossibly beautiful.
“Wife…”
Yet when it spoke, its voice was unnaturally stiff, unmistakably that of a monster struggling to imitate human speech.
“My wife…”
The white-haired young man leaned over me again, drawing closer and closer.
His silken hair slipped over his shoulder, brushing coolly across the tip of my nose.
I bit my lower lip, my face wet with tears, and instinctively turned my head left to evade him.
It followed, its cold lips pressing softly to my right cheek.
I shook my head desperately and turned to the right.
Its head tilted after me, and it kissed my left cheek.
My brain promptly stopped working.
The visual horror might have vanished, but I knew perfectly well that this beautiful man before me was the same charred entity from moments ago.
I still remembered the first time I tried to escape from Li Jingchi. It took him less than half a day to catch me.
He seized my wrist and teleported us both beside the corpses of players whose eyes were still open in death.
“See them?”
“That’s your future. You’ll let them toy with you like an idiot, and then they’ll devour every last bit of you.”
“Never trust an entity’s so-called kindness. There’s only one thing on their minds: how best to eat you.”
“Gu Lin, you can’t survive on your own. I’m the only one here who can protect you.”
Just like now.
This entity had to be savoring my hopeless struggle, knowing I was fantasizing that it might let me go.
Like a human playing with a cookie when they weren’t hungry—licking it first, then swallowing it.
I squeezed my eyes shut again, my tears of despair refusing to stop.
Those cold kisses moved to the corners of my eyes, taking my tears with them.
Then I felt something tugging at my clothes, loosening my sash and opening my robes.
My eyes flew open, and the whimper lodged in my throat finally burst free.
“Don’t!”
My gaze crashed into the “young man’s” pitch-black eyes.
It tilted its head slightly, expressionless.
My body went even weaker with fear.
Desperate to undo my mistake, I forced myself to continue even as my teeth chattered.
“I-I mean… don’t—don’t rush… because you’re so wonderful…”
“Look at you. You’re so handsome, and you can transform, too. You’re amazing, and you’ve been so-so gentle with me… I’m truly moved… so happy that I get to marry you…”
I trembled as I spoke, tears still streaming down my face.
“B-but this is my first time getting married… so could we take it slowly? I promise I won’t run. I swear!”
The entity watched me in silence the entire time.
Its hollow black eyes did not blink once.
It stared so long that I became certain it would tear open my stomach in the next second.
“No.”
That was what it said.
Before despair could swallow me whole, it scooped me up.
It lifted me high in the air, then drew me into its arms and seated me facing it.
Its hand came down on the top of my head. It stroked me once, then again.
“Afraid.”
It lowered its head, pressing cold lips to my hair.
“My wife.”
Then it kissed my forehead.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Another kiss landed between my brows.
“…”
Its kisses left me dazed. I didn’t dare move a muscle.
The entity seemed to have grown addicted to petting me like a cat and was in no hurry to eat me.
It didn’t stop at stroking my head. Its fingers explored my ears, the nape of my neck, even my elbows, giving each a curious little squeeze.
Gradually, my wildly pounding heart slowed. Its touch made me drowsy, my eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
Then its movements suddenly stopped.
Half asleep, I tipped my face up. “Mm… hmm?”
Why had it stopped petting me?
But the moment our gazes met, I saw it.
As it lowered its head, one eyeball dropped out of its socket, leaving behind a hollow black cavity.
“…”
I blinked.
Then my eyes rolled back, and I fainted dead away.