Chapter 3

The puzzles kept coming.

The second room was laid out nothing like the first.

This cramped little space had a full ten doors.

And the puzzles inside were complex to the point of cruelty.

I forced myself to stay calm.

No matter how hard the puzzles were, they all pointed to the same end in the end.

As long as my train of thought didn't get cut off, I could finish before the painkiller wore off.

Maybe it was the anger and fear tangled together, but my mind felt unusually sharp.

In under half an hour, I was already eighty percent through.

The comments noticed, still scrolling past.

「The streamer's trash, but the fiancée's actually impressive. Even this didn't break her.」

「She's solving so fast this round, feels like she's about to get out any second.」

「Fake, obviously. The two of them are putting on a show!」

「Even if it's fake it's still impressive, okay? That many puzzles, I couldn't memorize them even if you let me rehearse in advance.」

「Knowing how this streamer usually operates, I've got a feeling it's not that simple!」

「Holy crap, what's that thing crawling around on the floor in the next room?」

That last line, and I was tense all over again.

Graham had actually sent something in to stall me and drag out the runtime?

Before I could think it through, my stomach started to ache again, low and dull.

The painkiller was almost gone.

I stared hard at the door to the next room. A faint scraping sound came from that side.

It didn't sound like anything an animal would make.

Maybe it was a live NPC.

The thought of that actually settled me down.

The thing that had crushed me most was having no way to reach the outside.

If it was a live NPC, I could try to get out through him early.

A figure in a horror mask came into view.

He was flat on the floor, inching forward.

I wasn't afraid. I just spoke up.

「How much do they pay you a day to play the NPC in here?」

He seemed to freeze for a second.

After fiddling with something I couldn't see, he answered quietly.

「Three hundred a day.」

His voice came clear and cool, and I let out a breath.

As long as it was a real person, as long as I could talk to him, that was the best I could hope for.

「I'll give you a thousand. Get me out right now.」

「I've got acute appendicitis. If I wait any longer, it'll kill me!」

The words came out fast and ragged.

The color was draining from my face, bit by bit.

He saw it through the mask and crawled over faster.

Once he'd confirmed my state, he pulled the mask off.

A boy of about twenty. He looked a little familiar, but I didn't think I knew him.

「You look really bad. I'll get you out right now.」

He'd just hauled me onto his back.

The comments that had been jeering went quiet.

When sound came again, it was Daphne's voice.

「Jasper Harding, don't forget our nondisclosure agreement! You want to pay the penalty?」

I called out toward the speaker, forcing the words.

「Graham, my stomach's killing me. It's acute appendicitis. If you can hear me, let me get out!」

Daphne gave a cold little snort.

「So a second ago your heart was bothering you, and now it's acute appendicitis?」

「If you ask me, you just don't want Graham to blow up. Scared some other woman's going to steal him away?」

Graham had been wavering.

Then he heard Daphne, and it turned to blame the moment he opened his mouth.

「Millicent, are you done making a scene?」

「The more fans I get, the more we both benefit!」

「I know you want me all to yourself. I promise, after the engagement I'll spend more time with you. Just hold on a little longer. Finish playing this out for me, okay?」

Playing it out? Ha. So it turned out every wretched moment of mine was, in his eyes, nothing but a carefully written script.

Every bit of pain I was carrying didn't even outweigh one lie from Daphne.

I didn't want to waste another word on them.

I turned to Jasper.

「Don't worry about what they said. If there's a penalty fee, I'll cover it for you. Just get me out, now.」

My stomach hurt worse and worse. All I wanted now was to live.

But I hadn't imagined they could be this shameless.

To keep us from getting out, they'd gone and locked every single door.

Jasper looked at how pale I'd gone and pointed at a low crawl-hole near the floor.

「This is the NPC access route. They can't lock it.」

I gave a bitter little smile. Forget an NPC route, even if it were a real dog's hole I'd be crawling through it now.

I crouched behind Jasper and dragged myself along the ground.

But Jasper had barely gotten out when someone landed a punch on him.

Graham had come around.

He saw the wretched state of me and didn't feel a shred of pity.

「Millicent, have you lost your mind? Crawling through a dog hole just to wreck this stream?」

Daphne stoked it from the side.

「The whole internet's seen you crawl through a dog hole now. You've humiliated Graham completely.」

I was shaking all over with rage, swaying like I might drop.

「Graham, the engagement's off. I'm not playing this out anymore!」