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!]

[Only the top ten players have ever killed that boss. How is a monster holding that item?]

The man's face went pale as ice crept over him.

"No way!"

He reacted fast and activated another item to halt the spread.

But a second later, I pulled out something new.

[Direwolf Talon, Crimson Rose Cross, Judgment's End, Witchseer Eye… These are all SSS-rank items!]

The chat erupted in shock.

One item after another flew from my hands, as if they were worthless.

For the first time, real fear crossed the man's face.

He had probably never even seen this many SSS-grade items in his life.

He couldn't fight back. Not against this.

His resolve shattered in seconds.

The system message rang out.

[Player Bill Walton has been eliminated.]

My account instantly ticked up by 1,000 coins.

That was my reward for taking down a high-level player.

The chat stayed frozen. No one typed a word, utterly stunned.

A long moment passed before someone finally asked, [Is this even real?]

[This has to be a bug. Why does a weak monster have so many top-tier items?]

[I recognize the Crimson Rose Cross. Big V got it once from a dungeon boss. I have never seen anyone else get that one.]

[She is throwing SSS gear around like it is nothing. I've never seen anyone use items like this.]

[Only Big V could fight with these gears, but he's so strong that he usually doesn't even bother with items.]

[What is happening right now?]

I had no idea the chat had gone completely wild.

I rushed to the ragdoll's side and lifted it up.

"Hold on. I'll get you to the cabin and stitch you up."

I opened my inventory.

Page after page of SSS items filled the screen.

Items that would be treasures to anyone else were nothing to me. I had hundreds of them.

Every single one of them was a gift from Victor.

I never used them in the beginner dungeon, so I had nearly forgotten about them.

I finally found a navigation tool.

We followed the route it showed and reached the cabin without any trouble.

Once inside, I carefully stitched the ragdoll back together. Only then did I finally let out a breath.

Ragdoll stared at me like I was a hero.

"I had no idea you were this amazing! If you had used those earlier, we wouldn't have been so scared!"

"I just remembered them," I said quietly.

Not long after, we heard engines outside. Players were arriving.

But this time, I wasn't nearly as afraid.

The ragdoll shook its bunny ears, then it hopped onto the table, waving its arms like a tiny general.

"This time, we're gonna scare them to death. I'm gonna eat them all!"

"Relax, Bunny. We'll be fine."

I stood by the window on the third floor and looked down, trying to think of the best way to scare them.

Then I saw someone I never expected.

My entire body locked up.

Victor was here.

He was walking with a team of players, both men and women. But everyone clearly followed his lead.

The chat exploded.

[No way! It is Big V!]

[That little monster is finished. Not even items can save her now.]

The ragdoll lit up at the sight of so many people.

It looked ready to charge.

I clapped a hand over its mouth, but it was too wide, and a little sound still slipped out.

Below, the man at the center of the group suddenly stopped.