My boyfriend, Victor Pearson, was ranked number one in the world in horror games.

Meanwhile, I was secretly working part-time as a monster NPC inside one of those dungeons.

Every dungeon he cleared was SSS rank, whereas the one I worked in was the beginner level.

We were never supposed to run into each other… until he nearly wiped out all the monsters in an SSS dungeon.

The system pulled me in at the last second as emergency backup.

When I tried to scare players with my awful acting, the live chat tore me apart.

[Hahaha, since when did the monsters in this dungeon get so cowardly? She’s supposed to scare us, but we actually scared her instead.]

[This is next-level dumb. Getting lost in a dungeon is embarrassing. Is this monster here for comic relief?]

[Poor thing. She'd better hide. Anyone else might let her go, but if she runs into Big V, she's dead before she knows it.]

[Come on. Big V only hunts the nastiest bosses. He wouldn’t even bother with trash like that. She would probably scare herself to death first.]

I did everything I could to avoid Victor, to keep him from realizing I was the monster working there.

But somehow, I stumbled right into him anyway.

The chat exploded, waiting for my instant death.

After all, he was a legend on the leaderboards, a god among players.

But instead of killing me, he bent down and gently pinched my cheek.

"Hey, babe. How many players do you wanna take out? I'll help you."

The people in the chat lost their minds.

[What the hell?!]

My name was Shermaine Lane.

My boyfriend, Victor Pearson, was insanely powerful and ranked first on the horror game leaderboard.

Say his name, and almost no player or monster would fail to recognize it.

Even the most terrifying SSS-rank bosses feared him.

One day, out of sheer curiosity, I asked, "Are you really that good?"

He was in the kitchen at the time and casually showed off his knife skills.

Huge potatoes were sliced into paper-thin pieces in seconds.

I was just about to stare in awe when, in the next moment, he scooped me up and tossed me onto the bed.

The muscular man bit open my lace strap, then brushed right against my most sensitive spot.

"So? Am I good or not? You tell me, babe."

"That's not what I meant!"

I blushed and tried to kick him away.

He caught me easily and kissed me until my mind went blank.

From there, everything spiraled out of control.

It only stopped after I praised him enough to finally satisfy him.

When I walked out of the bedroom, my legs were still shaking.

He just smiled and pecked my lips, as if he wanted more.

Then he went back to cooking like nothing had happened.

After that, he washed the sheets, changed the litter box, watered the plants, and mopped the entire apartment.

With him around, the place was always spotless, which made it impossible for me to stay mad at him.

I thought Victor was completely shameless.

But honestly, he was incredible.

People constantly threw ridiculous amounts of money at him to carry them through dungeons, calling him a legend every chance they got.

Whether he helped or not depended entirely on his mood.

Because I was easily frightened and once had a terrible experience inside a dungeon, Victor forbade me from ever entering another horror dungeon again.

What he didn't know was that I had secretly been working as a monster NPC in a horror dungeon for two whole months.

-

Victor, as the top-ranked player, only cleared SSS-level dungeons, while the dungeon I worked in was the beginner level.

We lived in completely different worlds, and there was no possible way we would ever run into each other.

So, I wasn't worried at all about him finding out.

Watching my account fill with more and more coins made me happy.

Beginner dungeons weren't as scary as I had imagined.

Every day, my job was to play a story NPC and scare players when the script called for it.

Everyone who came through was a newbie.

A few of them even fainted because of me.

That was when I realized I was definitely better as an NPC than a player.

I thought things would stay this way forever… until the system suddenly sent out an emergency alert.

[SSS-rank dungeon monster NPCs are critically low. Emergency transfer requested from other dungeons.]

And unfortunately, I was chosen.

A split-faced ragdoll who was selected with me started jumping in place in a rage the moment the announcement was made.

"I'm not going into an SSS dungeon! I'm just an innocent doll who eats people!

"Players at that level are terrifying. I can't fight them. They'll tear me apart!"

That only made my situation sound worse.

At least the ragdoll could eat people. I couldn't.

My only ability was that my hair could grow longer.

-

The moment we entered the SSS dungeon, I felt the difference in difficulty.

The dungeon I used to work in was just a small town.

During the day, it looked lively and normal, no different from any other town.

I played a flower girl who gave players clues.

At night, I turned into a wronged spirit and wandered the streets, jumping out to scare people whenever I felt like it.

That town was only frightening after dark.

But an SSS dungeon was terrifying the instant you stepped inside.

The sky hung low and gray. You couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

The forest was so thick that barely any light made it through.

Deep, distant roars echoed through the trees, and there was no way to tell what kind of danger was hiding in the dark.

The ragdoll leapt straight into my arms.

"This is so scary. I wanna go home!"

I tried to comfort it.

"Don't be scared, Bunny. We're the monsters here. The players should be scared of us."

Honestly, my heart was pounding, too.

Deep down, I was praying I wouldn't run into Victor.

If he found out I had sneaked into a horror dungeon without telling him, he would definitely lose his mind.

Last time he was angry, I couldn't leave the bed for five whole days.

I still remembered all the marks he left behind…

I hurriedly shook my head to clear the memory away.

The ragdoll and I were just temporary replacements.

The real monsters here were the ones who were meant to deal with players.

As long as I stayed cautious, Victor would never find out I was secretly working as an NPC.

-

I hung upside down from a tree, letting my hair spill around me like a curtain.

The first player who passed by was a girl.

She barely spared me a glance and walked straight past.

The second player nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw my hair.

But he recovered fast and set my hair on fire.

The flames swallowed my hair in seconds.

NPCs felt pain in horror dungeons, too.

But I couldn't show it. That was my dignity as an NPC.

I tried to chase after him, but he vanished in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the fire only spread faster.

As I ran, sparks flew into the dead grass nearby. A wildfire broke out instantly.

I didn't care anymore. I dove straight into a creek a short distance away.

The ragdoll dragged me out.

It was in horrible shape as well. A player had sewn its mouth shut, so it couldn't open it at all.

I tore the thread out with shaking hands.

It immediately burst into tears and threw itself into my arms.

"Those jerks! The players here are horrible. They stitched my mouth shut!

"They even tried to pull out my stuffing to start a fire. I wanna go home. Waaahh!"

I touched my burnt, brittle hair.

I wanted to go home, too.

We clung to each other and cried, completely unaware that everything we did was being watched through the live feed.

[This is hilarious. How does an SSS dungeon end up with monsters this weak?]

[The strong ones probably already got wiped out by Big V and his team. Only these little leftovers are still alive.]

[Big V is unreal. When do I get to clear a dungeon with him?]

[In your dreams. Big V is busy as he's gonna marry me.]

[Get lost. You really think Big V would look at you?]

[He wouldn't waste a second on someone like you.]

[Why are you even fighting over this? Someone like Big V is way too cold and powerful to care about relationships.]

[I agree with the comment above. How would someone like a god ever fall for an ordinary person?]

-

The fire in the forest kept spreading.

The ragdoll and I were terrified it would draw even more players, so we decided to move somewhere else to scare people.

According to the system map, there was a small wooden cabin about two miles to the east.

New players always passed through that area when they entered the dungeon, so weaker monsters were supposed to lie in wait there.

We followed the map for over an hour, but still ended up lost.

At one point, we even got startled by a group of passing players.

Their clothes and weapons were splattered with blood from recent kills. Honestly, they looked scarier than we did.

[Hahaha, since when did the monsters in this dungeon get so cowardly? They’re supposed to scare us, but we actually scared them instead.]

[This is next-level dumb. Getting lost in a dungeon is embarrassing.]

[Those poor things. They had better hide. Anyone else might let them go, but if they run into Big V, they’re dead before they know it.]

[Come on, Big V only hunts the nastiest bosses. He wouldn’t even bother with trash like that. They would scare themselves to death first.]

[Am I the only one who thinks the girl monster is kind of cute? She even braided her new hair just to run faster.]

Most of the chat was laughing at me.

Some people sounded like they couldn’t wait to see me get ripped apart by players.

I had no idea any of that was happening.

All I knew was that a much bigger problem had appeared: a player who clearly had no intention of letting the ragdoll or me walk away.

-

'Are you a player?'

He was tall and broad, built like a tank, with eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.

My hair was braided now, and aside from being a little pale, I didn’t look much different from a player.

But his mouth curved into a strange, knowing smile.

'You have beautiful eyes.'

Players had black eyes. Only monsters had gray ones.

He had already figured me out.

'I never thought an SSS dungeon would have such a pretty ghost. I wonder what you feel like under me.'

He licked his lips and stepped closer.

The chat erupted.

[This guy is gross. He will even harass monsters!]

[Honestly, most SSS dungeon monsters are hideous. Anyone would react like this after meeting a cute ghost girl.]

[She’s not getting away. I know him. He’s ranked 23rd on the leaderboard. He’s good, but he’s also famous for being a creep.]

[I don’t think I wanna watch this anymore. Ghost girl, run!]

[You’re feeling sorry for a monster now? Well, I’ve never seen people do it in a dungeon. My pants are off. Showtime!]

[You’re worse than the monsters. Keep it in your pants!]

I tried to run, but the man blocked my path in one step.

The ragdoll jumped in front of me and shouted for me to go.

Then it threw itself at him.

Its mouth split open, ready to swallow him whole.

The man sneered and whipped out a knife, slashing across its mouth and eyes in a single motion.

'With skills like that, you should be ashamed to show your face.'

Then he looked at me sinisterly.

'If you do as I say, you won’t end up like this doll. I promise I’ll be gentle with you, sweetheart.'

Some people in the chat couldn’t stand it anymore and told me to run.

I didn’t move.

The man kept walking closer, his gaze crawling over me.

'Smart move. You can’t escape anyway. Might as well make it easy for both of us.'

His hand reached out, then his expression stiffened.

He stared at the ice erupting across his arm, frost racing up his skin like living glass.

'What did you do to me?'

Someone in the chat finally recognized it.

[Isn’t that the Frost Curse? It’s a rare item you only get from killing the final boss in the Frostfall City dungeon!]