Welcome, Player #513!
On the verge of death, you made a grave choice to loop]
Jia opened her eyes slowly to find her body floating in an endless sea of whiteness.
Jia blinked rapidly, confused.
"Player? Where is this?"
"Is this heaven?"
Her voice echoed through the space. Trepidation filled her heart.
Above her, a screen materialized with a hum.
[ Gain all targets affections to return to your world.
Fail and lose your soul to the abyss.]
A semi-transparent screen appeared above, carrying the disembodied, feminine voice.
Suddenly, the screen faded to show a woman heavily bandaged, lying on a hospital bed. Even with a bandage up…she recognized her body.
"Is–is that me?" Jia's voice shook. So she was not dead yet.
[You still have a choice to forfeit. But your real body will die. Do you accept?]
"So…you're saying I have to fulfill whatever objective it is to get back to my world into my body?"
[Yes.]
Jia took a deep breath.
"I don't quite understand, but I accept."
[Best of luck, Player #513. You have a limited number of loops. Use them wisely.]
"Wait, loops? What do you mean by thaaaaa–"
Jia's question came out in a gurgle. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled downwards into darkness.
Moments later, she gasped, eyes flying open in complete darkness, heart pounding.
Her hands flew to her throat, trying desperately to pry off the invisible hands sucking the breath out of her lungs.
Did she have an out-of-body experience?
"Wait…I'm alive?"
Her voice came out in a hoarse rasp.
Even in the dark, her body felt warm. Then the smell hit her–blood.
"H-hello? Hello–ack!" she coughed, her throat throbbing.
Feeling around in the dark, she made contact with wet wood.
Wherever she was, it was an enclosed space.
" Help…" her voice came out hoarsely as she pounded against the enclosure, desperate.
What happened with the robbers?
Was she in the hospital, dreaming up the interaction with an entity?
Jia pushed again, finally feeling the top budge with a screech.
"Ugh!"
A sliver of light shone through the crack, and with renewed strength, Jia pushed hard; the top creaked and fell with a loud thud.
She sat up, taking in grateful gulps of fresh air and looking around.
The glare of the moonlight afforded her a good view of the room. This didn't look like a hospital. It looked more like…
"An abandoned shed?" She whispered. Her voice sounded different.
A sick feeling made its way down her stomach.
Something was terribly wrong.
Jia looked down and discovered with chilling realisation that she was sitting in a coffin.
"Oh my God!" She scrambled out of it, tripping in her heavy dress.
"What happened to my voice?? And who put me in this dress?"
Jia stared at her splintered palms in frightened realization.
Her burn scar was gone, and her hands had become pale and slim.
"These are not my hands!"
It was real! She didn't dream it up! She was in another person's body in another world!"
Scrambling out, she nearly face planted into the cold, wet ground.
"Great heavens…."
A woman standing a few yards away, holding up a lamp, looking absolutely gobsmacked.
Jia stumbled to her feet, running towards her.
"Hello! Please help me! I don't know how I got here!"
But the woman's eyes widened in terror as she let out a shrill scream.
"By Saintess Dureva, it's an undead!"
"Wait, please! Don't leave!"
But she was fast; she disappeared into the forest.
"…..tis' true I tell you! She's alive!"
Several male voices came from the direction she ran.
They sounded Angry.
Her survival instinct kicked in immediately.
Jia ran in the opposite direction, aided by the moonlight on the forest floor
As she ran towards a tree clearing, she noticed a sloppily dug hole resembling a grave.
Was that for her?
A shudder passed through her, and she lost her balance, tripping over a tree root and knocking the air out of her lungs.
" Ahhh!"
She lunged to her feet but tumbled to the ground again. Jia desperately grabbed at weeds in vain to slow her fall.
"Show the way, you wench! I'll have your tongue if you're lying!" a guttural male voice called.
"I swear by the Moon goddess, she's come back to life!"
Jia ran deeper into the woods, blindly and desperately.
Even from afar, she could see the outline of moving torches, loud male voices, and barking dogs.
She'd reached the edge of a cliff.
"Whoa!
Below her was a fast-moving stream she would have plunged into were it not for the moonlight.
"Over there! I see bloodied footsteps!"
The voices were getting closer.
Jia looked around, desperate. She couldn't turn back now.
"There she is!"
There were three scary men emerged holding barking manic dogs by the leash.
Frightened, Jia took an involuntary step back and went over the cliff.
"Oh my God!"
Immediately, she grabbed onto a tree root poking out of the cliff for support, and she looked down.
The roar of the rapids below was deafening.
The root creaked, and her grip started to loosen.
Oh God. Oh God. She was going to die 5 minutes after coming back to life.
"You should have caught her sooner!"
Their leering faces appeared above her.
"Please….don't kill me…" Jia begged.
[ 1 Seduction Point Used.]
A purple haze surrounded their leader, and all of a sudden, his ugly smile turned dazed as he stretched out his hand to her.
"It's okay, love, let me help you up…"
"What is wrong with Tomas?"
The second pockmarked man shot her a glare.
"She's bewitched him! She's a witch!"
"Grab her! She'll cost more gold if we sell her off!"
"But we made a deal, we can't get paid without a body!"
"Hold Tomas, he might try to save her!"
" You shan't touch her!"
Their leader snarled, reaching out to grab her wrist.
What was the ultimate rule when you dangle over a cliff as dangerous men argue over whether to sell or kill you?
Look down and let go.
Frantic desperation blurred Jia's judgement as she took a deep breath and let go.
"Nooooo!"
"You fool! Why didn't you grab her on time?"
She plunged into fast-moving rapids in seconds.
" Aahh!"
The water was far chillier than expected.
Jia sank quickly, dragged by the heavy dress under the raging water.
Something heavy hit her head, and strength left her body.
She floated upstream, heading towards a fall.
Without something to break her fall, a violent death was sure.
"It-it's okay.." Her teeth chattered from the cold and pain.
This was all just a bizarre hallucination from all the drugs the paramedics gave her.
There's no way any of this is really happening.
" I-I will wake up soon," Jia closed her eyes as her body went into a downward downfall.
Jia woke up in a simple–looking room as the jumbled memories rushed back.
Her wet dress was gone, and beneath the sheets.
Naked.
She was naked.
At the end of my bed on the wall, there is a mounted deer head staring at her.
"Fucking hell!"
She looked around, trying to patch her fuzzy memories.
Fire crackled merrily in the hearth, warming her.
Someone must have found and saved her.
Never mind they saw her naked
She spotted a large, ornate mirror on the wall.
There was something else she needed to confirm.
Wrapping the sheet around her body, she got up and tiptoed towards the mirror, letting the sheet drop.
The face staring back at Jia was not hers: curly brown hair that reached her waist, golden eyes, an oval-shaped face, thick brows, and a pointed nose with soft pink lips that stared back at her in consternation.
" Oh ..my…God…"
She was taller with an hourglass figure and heavy, perky bosoms that were a little too large for her petite frame.
Jia shuddered, and her reflection did the same.
"I know I'm me. I'm Jia-Hyun, an orphan, 22-year-old part-time worker, second-generation immigrant living in Boston…."
Yet the face that stared back at her was also hers.
Suddenly, the log cabin door swung open.
"Good. You're finally awake...."
His voice trailed off.
Standing before her was a specimen of a man dressed in hunting clothes, with a hunting rifle slung over his shoulder.
Tall, dark-haired with red eyes, a day-old stubble and a dark look in his eyes.
Jia was transfixed for a moment before she realized she was standing in front of this man, completely naked.
His eyes travelled down her body with an intense look in his eyes.
[2+ seduction points added.]
Jia yelped in realization, snatching the sheet and wrapping it around her body.
"W-who are you?"
He glared at her.
"If you're going to take your life, I ask you not to do it on my borders. What is your name? I will be sending a complaint for damages to the head of your household."
"Household?"
He raised a brow and took a step closer to her. This room was large, but it seemed to shrink with this man looming over her.
"Are you orphaned?" His deep voice reverberated in the room.
"Orphaned....I–yes."
"Then what is your name?"
"My name is...." She trailed off.
"I'm afraid I've lost my memories…" she sputtered. Which was not really a lie.
He took another step towards her, and she backed away, eyeing him with extreme suspicion.
"Your face has gone pale...have you perhaps–"
Jia smacked away his outstretched arm and backed away.
"Where are we? What's your name? Who are you?"
"Hmm..It truly appears you've lost your memories."
He took a step back from her; even dressed ordinarily, he looked regal.
"I'm Cassian Draven Marcellus, and I own the Western lands here. I saw you fall while I was riding back
on horseba–"
"Wait. Cassian, what?"
He looked displeased at her interruption.
"Cassian Draven Marcellus. Duke of Elyria Kingdom. It seems your memory loss has robbed you of your manners as well."
Elyria?
"Elyria?" Jia laughed, stumbling backwards, nearly losing her footing.
"I'm in the VR game?"