All Hell Broke Loose

Lu Xiu's hand around the axe handle was shaking, trembling uncontrollably.

At the same time, her body started shaking again.

She looked at her hand, then followed it to the axe embedded in the other woman's neck.

Mia lay on the floor. The blood pouring from her wound had slowed and began running down her collarbone, dripping onto the floor with soft plops.

"Urgh—"

What surged up from her stomach was faster than her thoughts.

Lu Xiu staggered back two steps, bent over, and began dry-heaving violently.

But nothing came out. There was only the burning sensation of stomach acid scorching her throat and the uncontrollable trembling throughout her body.

The smell of blood.

It was so strong.

So disgusting.

Her hands were covered in blood—some her own, some Mia's. The sticky, warm sensation seemed glued to her skin, impossible to shake off.

"Hah..."

Lu Xiu braced both hands on her knees and gulped down air. Her vision kept going black, and even when she closed her eyes, all she could see was the axe burying itself in Mia's neck.

After a long while.

She finally recovered.

She'd killed her.

But Mia would get back up.

I should've known better than to make this so difficult...

Tears welled in Lu Xiu's eyes, and she looked as though she was about to cry. But just as the tears were about to fall, she raised her blood-covered hand and roughly wiped her face, abruptly cutting off the emotion and smearing blood all over herself in the process. "...I'd already prepared myself mentally. The memories of my daily life these past few days were stripped away, so why is the other set of memories still affecting me?"

Mia would return this blow soon enough.

Why the hell would I cry?

Keep pushing through the instance.

Lu Xiu sniffed, then immediately started coughing after the bloody stench caught in her throat.

She barely managed to suppress the coughs, slowly straightened up, and pulled the axe out of Mia's neck.

Splat—

The moment the axe came free, blood sprayed across her pant leg.

It was warm.

Lu Xiu did not look at it. Though her legs were weak, she still steadied herself against the nearby wall and walked out.

At first.

Lu Xiu felt as if the entire world were swaying, cold sweat streaming down from her forehead.

But she gritted her teeth until her jaw ached and forcibly suppressed the churning in her stomach. Once the initial discomfort faded, perhaps because the adrenaline had kicked in again, she finally felt the world stop rocking.

She released the wall and walked toward the corridor, one step at a time.

In the corridor.

The phone rang.

Lu Xiu picked up the receiver and set it aside without bothering with it. It was a call from Mia's younger sister, Zoe. She knew what it would say—nothing more than that she could escape through the attic.

She continued following the sequence, returning to the corridor where she had first entered the house. Using bolt cutters, she cut through the chain locking the cabinet at the end of the corridor and retrieved the fuse inside.

Then she went to the VCR room and installed it.

She left the room.

The moment she turned the corner, Mia appeared again, the bloodstain still lingering on her neck as though nothing had happened.

She was alive again.

"Ethan! It's okay, it's okay, it's me."

"I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

It was as if she had just seen a lover she had been separated from for ages, her face brimming with joy.

Lu Xiu felt dead inside.

Of course.

The next second, Mia's expression changed as if she had flipped a switch, turning vicious once more. She shoved Lu Xiu to the floor.

Then, from who knew where, she pulled out a screwdriver and drove it straight through Lu Xiu's left hand, pinning it to the wall.

This time, Lu Xiu bit down hard on her lip.

She forced herself not to scream.

"But you shouldn't have done that! That hurt like hell!"

Mia snarled viciously. After pinning Lu Xiu's palm to the wall, she turned and pulled out a roaring chainsaw that was already running.

This was the third wave.

In fact.

There was a fourth wave.

Most players who had experienced it before had nearly broken down.

The protagonist's wife.

Mia!

She was truly impossible to get rid of! It never ended!

If this became an instance scenario, it would probably be enough to drive the players here mad.

Although a piercing pain shot through her left palm, although Mia was advancing with the chainsaw in hand, although cold sweat ran down her face and she was a little afraid.

When Lu Xiu thought of how everyone else would get to enjoy this treatment next, she smiled in relief.

After smiling.

Lu Xiu directly closed her eyes, bit down hard on her lip, turned sideways, and yanked the screwdriver from her left palm with her right hand.

The instant she broke free.

Mia, who had been approaching slowly, abruptly sped up and swung the chainsaw at Lu Xiu's face.

Lu Xiu instinctively raised her left hand to block it.

The chainsaw's roar exploded beside her ear.

Before Lu Xiu could even react, her left hand was gone.

Skin, muscle, bone, nerves—all of it was torn apart, ripped, and severed in the same instant.

Pain shot from the stump into her shoulder like an electric current, then exploded along her spine, blanking out her vision.

There was nothing in that white void.

Only sound.

The sound of the chainsaw.

And the dull thud of something hitting the floor.

That was her left hand.

When she saw her own hand, Lu Xiu's first thought was not pain, but, So this is what it feels like to lose a hand.

Then the pain returned.

It came back like a crashing tide.

Her scream echoed throughout the farmhouse.

Lu Xiu dropped to her knees, clutching her severed wrist as her whole body curled up. Blood gushed from the stump, warm and sticky, flowing down her forearm to her elbow before dripping onto the floor.

It hurt.

It hurt so much she wanted to die.

Mia carried the chainsaw and staggered away, looking especially terrifying.

"..."

Avoidance would not solve the problem.

What mattered now was accepting reality and solving the problem.

Lu Xiu kept taking deep breaths, repeating those words over and over. Then she bit down on her lip and struggled to her feet.

Her legs were weak.

But she could walk.

She slowly stood, picked up her severed hand and tossed it into the instance's provided backpack, then staggered and swayed her way upstairs before pressing the button.

The stairs leading to the third floor lowered.

Perhaps it was because the hardest part had passed... or because she had broken through the mental conditioning that this body was not suited for combat.

Though the pain made Lu Xiu's vision go dark in waves, her face showed little expression as she panted her way up the stairs.

One step.

Then another.

Blood dripped onto the floor in a long trail, stretching from afar all the way to the third floor.

Lu Xiu finally reached the third floor, though she was nearly unconscious from the pain. Supporting herself against the wall, she slowly made her way into the room on the third floor and picked up the bullets and handgun.

Then.

She continued forward down the corridor.

She did not walk quickly. She swayed, nearly falling several times.

But she still forced herself onward, gritting her teeth and moving forward. She bit down so hard that her jaw muscles ached and her chin hurt.

Even though she was trembling constantly, shaking like a leaf.

She still kept moving.

Because this chapter was not over yet. If she did not defeat Mia, her father-in-law would never appear, the instance would fail, and then it really would be over.

Having lost too much blood, Lu Xiu was practically dragging herself forward.

Finally.

She reached the ladder leading up to the attic.

But just as she approached it, the chainsaw started up again.

Mia was back. Waving the chainsaw, she kicked down the attic ladder and jumped from above.

This was the fourth time.

The deafening crash of the ladder being kicked down exploded beside her ears.

Mia jumped down from above, the chainsaw roaring. She staggered when she landed, then steadied herself.

Lu Xiu looked at Mia, at that twisted face, at the viciously spinning chainsaw, and took a deep breath.

Her left hand was gone.

Blood was still flowing.

Her legs were so weak that she could collapse at any moment.

But Lu Xiu's face was expressionless now. She slowly raised her right hand, lifted the gun, and aimed it at Mia's head.

At the same time, she raised the wrist of her severed left arm to brace her right wrist.

It was strange.

Lu Xiu had been shaking uncontrollably just moments ago, as though she might collapse at any second.

But the instant she raised the gun, her trembling body suddenly went still, as if someone had flipped a switch. She stopped shaking, and even her teeth stopped chattering.

Her right hand holding the gun was utterly motionless.

Even her breathing slowed.

She was no longer panting.

The pain was still there, of course. Her severed wrist burned like fire, and every bone in her body hurt. But it was as if something separated her from that pain, making it distant and hazy.

Like watching a fire burn outside through a pane of glass.

Mia raised the chainsaw and charged.

The roar grew closer and closer.

Lu Xiu pulled the trigger.

Bang—

A flash burst from the muzzle.

A bloody flower exploded from Mia's head. She staggered, but did not stop, continuing to charge while swinging the chainsaw.

Bang—

Bang—

Bang—

Lu Xiu kept firing.

Mia drew nearer and nearer.

Lu Xiu sidestepped a few paces. The chainsaw sliced past her face, the wind it kicked up stinging her skin.

She steadied herself, backed up a few steps to widen the distance, raised her gun, and aimed again.

Bang—

Lu Xiu kept retreating and firing.

If she did not have time to retreat, she simply turned and ran.

She kept circling around.

And Mia, like a relentless ghost, kept hunting her.

And so, one ran while the other gave chase.

Lu Xiu was driven into a room. She struggled to reload, then raised her gun, but instead of aiming at the doorway, she aimed directly at the wall.

Mia tore through the wooden wall with her chainsaw and appeared right before her.

In truth, throughout her escape.

Lu Xiu's steps had been unsteady, every one of them seeming as though she might fall. But as long as she raised her gun, her hand was as steady as a rock.

Same as before.

She watched Mia swing the chainsaw and shifted the muzzle.

Bang—

Lu Xiu pulled the trigger again. Mia jerked backward, then charged at her again as if she were immortal.

Bang—

Lu Xiu did not retreat again. She kept firing while counting the remaining bullets.

Five steps.

Four steps.

Three steps.

Mia drew closer and closer.

Three rounds, two rounds, one round...

The bullets were running out.

But Lu Xiu's hand remained steady as a rock.

Bang—

She pulled the trigger for the third time.

Finally, with only one bullet left.

Mia's body finally went limp. After leaving behind a muffled, indistinct "I love you," she staggered and fell to the floor.

The chainsaw dropped to the ground, buzzing as it spun. Its chain scraped across the floor, scattering a trail of sparks.

Then it stopped. Everything stopped.

The chainsaw no longer roared, and Mia no longer moved.

Only Lu Xiu's breathing remained.

She suddenly relaxed, and only then did she hear herself panting.

Every breath she drew carried the smell of blood, and every exhale trembled violently.

She was still holding up her gun, her right hand fixed in its aiming posture without moving an inch.

It was not until her arm began to ache, aching painfully, that she realized the battle was over.

She had won.

Lu Xiu slowly lowered her gun.

Her hand began shaking again.

First her fingers, then her entire palm. It crept up along her arm—to her shoulders, her back, her legs—until finally her whole body was trembling.

The taut string had finally loosened.

Then came the uncontrollable shuddering.

"..."

Lu Xiu looked at Mia lying on the ground and forced a smile. That wasn't so hard.

Though after fighting, I kind of don't want to live anymore...

But that feeling did not last long.

Soon, she raised her face. It's not over yet. Keep going.

The Baker Family was about to arrive—the family of three that players jokingly called the father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law...

Lu Xiu forced herself to take a step forward. Her body was still shaking, and she nearly fell. She hurriedly braced herself against the wall, slowly stepped over Mia, and walked out.

The moment she stepped outside.

A burly figure darted out, clenched his fist, and swung it straight at her face.

...Starting with a punch, huh.

Lu Xiu smiled with resignation again as she watched the fist grow larger before her eyes.

The instance was still continuing.

Lu Xiu was progressing through the instance quickly, but it would not end so soon.

And no one knew that, in this world, there was a girl named Lu Xiu struggling within an instance she had created herself.

The view pulled back.

Baker Estate loomed indistinctly amid the torrential rain, quiet and eerie.

But before long, noisy commotion rose from within once more.

Utter chaos.