Death Rollback

In an instant.

Fang Xiu felt as though he had plunged into an icy abyss!

I can see you!?

What happens if I can!?

His mind was in turmoil. He tried to sort out his thoughts, but his wife gave him no chance.

Crack.

The sound of shattering porcelain rang out again and again.

Cracks began spreading across his wife's delicate, pale skin. In the blink of an eye, countless black fissures covered her entire body, leaving her looking like a smashed porcelain doll.

The sound of flowing water came from within those black fissures. Crimson blood wriggled out through the gaps like crawling worms.

His wife's silky long hair began to move, writhing through the air like a swarm of twisted black snakes.

"You can see me!!" An inhuman roar burst from his wife's mouth.

Her small, cherry-red lips had stretched all the way to her ears. Her even teeth had become serrated, and another mouth lay nested inside her mouth, as though one had grown in her throat.

Fear swept over Fang Xiu like a tide, flooding his entire body in an instant.

His body stiffened involuntarily. His brain crashed, leaving his mind blank.

The next moment, the shadow of death arrived right on cue.

A gaping, blood-red maw closed over Fang Xiu's head.

His vision went black. Cold, slickness, and suffocation engulfed him as his wife swallowed his head into her mouth.

Then unimaginable pain tore through his entire body...

Fang Xiu was dead!

For a moment, the scene was utterly horrifying.

A seemingly inhuman being had bitten Fang Xiu's head clean off.

His headless body did not fall immediately. Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain, soaking the sheets.

But a second later, the surrounding space and time began to shatter like glass, and everything returned to nothingness.

Never let them know you can see!

Never let them know you can see!!!

The white ceiling was covered in tightly packed bloody words, as though someone had bitten open a finger to write them.

Fang Xiu jolted awake and sprang upright in bed.

Cold sweat covered his forehead. He gasped for breath, his eyes filled with terror.

What's going on! Didn't I die? Was that just a dream!?

That was the first thought that entered Fang Xiu's mind. But when he saw the bloody words on the ceiling, his body froze.

Never let them know you can see!?

Damn it! This isn't a dream!

Fang Xiu stared fixedly at the words on the ceiling. Under his gaze, the bloody writing abruptly vanished, as though something had wiped it away.

It disappeared again!

Could that sentence be a hint?

Am I supposed to pretend I'm blind? No! That's not right. This body's original owner wasn't blind. He was just an ordinary person, and in his memories, he'd never seen my wife.

He had always lived alone, leading a perfectly normal life. He had never seen or heard anyone else in his home. Perhaps that very normality was why he had not been killed the way Fang Xiu had.

Then "never let them know you can see" means... I can't let my wife know I can see her. I have to act as though she doesn't exist!

Only by living normally, just as the body's original owner had-acting as though he was the only person at home, neither seeing nor hearing her, ignoring her completely-could he avoid being killed.

Just then, a woman's voice, gentle as water, drifted in from outside the bedroom.

"Honey, it's time for breakfast."

Her voice was so tender, tinged with affection that invited endless fantasies.

Yet all it brought Fang Xiu was fear. Endless fear.

The terror of having his head bitten off by that bloody maw surged back into his mind.

He instinctively wanted to flee, but there was no escape.

His wife had already entered the bedroom.

She still wore the same white slip nightdress, with pale skin and a smile gentle enough to soften the passing years.

"Honey, you're awake. It's time for breakfast." His wife smiled tenderly.

The shadow of death loomed over him. He was only an ordinary person. When had he ever experienced anything so bizarre, much less had his head bitten off by an inhuman horror?

But this time, he forced down his terror and lowered his head to look at his blanket, trying to follow the bloody message's instructions and pretend he could not see his wife.

Who could have known that his wife would refuse to play by the rules? She bent her slender waist toward his crotch. Just as her face was about to touch the blanket covering it, she tilted her head upward and smiled tenderly at Fang Xiu.

Their eyes met. The air froze.

The next second, a horrifying delight flashed in his wife's eyes, and her gentle smile instantly twisted into a savage grin.

"You can see me!"

Once again, Fang Xiu became a headless corpse.

Never let them know you can see!

The bloody words stabbed into Fang Xiu's eyes again. He sprang up!

Once more, Fang Xiu jolted upright in bed, gasping for breath.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! That goddamn bitch!

Another death had left him not only terrified, but also with a spark of anger rising in his heart.

I died, then came back to life. Death rollback? An endless loop? Do I return to the starting point every time I die? Like loading a saved game?

I lowered my head to avoid looking at her, but she moved into my line of sight herself. That supports my theory even more. It means she has to confirm I can see her before she attacks.

Fang Xiu's mind raced.

Just then, the gentle female voice sounded again.

"Honey, it's time for breakfast."

His wife slowly entered the bedroom, a tender smile on her face.

This time, Fang Xiu immediately took out his phone and pretended to use it, scrolling through short videos of pretty women in black stockings. But the suggestive dances that had appealed to him before could not stir the slightest interest now.

His back was already drenched in cold sweat.

"Honey, why are you looking at other women right in front of me? Don't you like me anymore~?"

I like your fucking mother! Fang Xiu cursed inwardly.

He kept scrolling through short videos, trying to distract himself. Having learned from experience, he deliberately held the phone so close it almost touched his face, blocking his line of sight.

"Honey, I remember you aren't nearsighted. Why are you holding your phone so close? Can you see me?"

Fang Xiu's heart lurched!

Does acting strangely give me away too?

But after saying that, his wife did not immediately bite him.

That allowed Fang Xiu to relax a little.

Yet when he swiped to the next video, his gaze suddenly froze.

Because the pretty woman in the next video... was his wife!

His wife smiled radiantly in the video, gentle as water. "Honey, am I pretty?"

Fang Xiu's pupils abruptly contracted, and his gaze fell uncontrollably on his wife's face.

"You can see me!!"

"Fuck you!"

Overwhelmed by terror and rage, Fang Xiu hurled his phone away. It struck the wall and shattered.

But his wife leaned in beside him, her face hideous, her skin splitting open, murmuring over and over, "You can see me! You can see me!"

"I can see your fucking mother!"

Fang Xiu roared and threw a vicious punch at his wife's cracked face.

He had never thought he would become a man who hit his wife, and he had always despised that kind of behavior.

But that was life. People always ended up becoming what they hated.

His punch landed, and Fang Xiu cried out in pain. It felt as though his fist had struck a wall, breaking his hand on impact.

His wife, however, was completely unharmed. Frenzied greed filled her eyes. Without giving Fang Xiu any time to react, she opened her bloody maw and bit off his arm.

"Aah!!"

An agonized scream rang through the room.

This time, Fang Xiu died horribly, far worse than before. At least the earlier deaths had been instantaneous. This time, he was eaten bite by bite.

It was an experience few ordinary people could ever have: watching a grotesque being devour your body, one bite at a time, until you died.