"AGH!"
Danna jolted awake, her scream tearing into the heavy silence.
Slowly, she realized she wasn't on her office anymore, but in a forest. Above her, the sky was hauntingly crimson.
Her body, frail and trembling, instinctively recoiled. Pale as moonlight, with white hair cascading around her delicate face and silver eyes wide with confusion, she struggled to process what she was seeing.
Beneath her, a dark pool of blood gleamed. Her hand slipped against the slick surface, sending a jolt of terror through her. Gasping, she scrambled backward, unaware of the strange, unfamiliar place she now found herself in.
Her throat burned with thirst. Her limbs felt leaden, weak.
How long had she gone without water?
Had she drunk too much caffeine? Had someone... drugged her?
Nothing made sense.
And the blood kept spreading, as if it was alive, reaching for her.
When it finally came into view, she froze. Two diamond-bright eyes were staring straight at her, soft and naive.
"No..."
She whirled around, catching a glimpse of herself. Slender, fragile, and far smaller than she remembered. Her body, once full of strength, now looked weak, delicate, almost breakable.
And the place around her... it was all too familiar.
"That can't be real... This kind of thing only happens in childish fairy tales..."
But as she tried to stand, her legs buckled beneath her, sending a sharp, raw pain through her body.
Pain she shouldn't have felt—
Not if this were just a dream.
"WHY THIS GAME?!"
If someone were to be transmigrated into the world of a romance novel as the heroine, they would probably celebrate.
After all, people liked to say heroines had it easy.
All they had to do was exist, say a few charming words, and let the male leads fall hopelessly in love with them. Victory, fame, a perfect ending. It was all supposed to be theirs by default.
But ECLIPSED was the complete opposite.
An otome game that took the world by storm with its brutal, unforgiving mechanics.
Here, the heroines didn't win by fluttering their eyelashes or whispering sweet words.
They had to fight.
They had to survive stage after stage, clawing their way through danger just to stay alive.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
The real nightmare?
Half of the essential items, upgrades, and even critical survival tools were locked behind brutal paywalls.
"Why is this game so greedy... but so addicting?!" Was what she always said, but still played regardless.
It was always the same story with her otome games:
1. The basic route? Free. The good ending? $9.99, please.
2. The rare confession scenes? Locked behind a $4.99 "Emotional Bond Expansion Pack."
3. The one weapon that could actually save her in boss battles? Available in a limited-time event bundle—$14.99 or rot.
4. And that one outfit needed to survive the winter arc? Only obtainable through a "Festive Gacha Draw" with a 0.02% success rate.
And don't even get her started on the gacha system.
It was emotional gambling, and she knew it.Yet there she was, sleeves rolled up, wallet open, tears in her eyes.
Like a fool.
It truly felt like nothing was free anymore. Not even dreams or hopes. Everything had a price.
You had to drown in student loans just to claw your way into a stable job, if you were lucky enough to get one.
Whoever said "never stop dreaming" was probably some rich kid who'd never had to scrape by or make ends meet.
Suddenly, something felt... different.
No. Something was definitely wrong.
She went still, the hairs on her arms standing on end, as her survival instincts kicked in.
"Ah..."
Right, there was that one little detail she'd forgotten to mention.
ECLIPSED was about a girl named Alice who got sucked into the Crimson Reverie, a dying Dream-Realm that was like Alice in Wonderland,
This place was born from the collective subconscious of dreamers from all over the multiverse.
With no fresh dreams to fuel it, the Reverie started devouring itself in a nasty cycle of decay.
And now, it was stuck in eternal twilight, locked between a sunset that would never end and a night that would never start.
Basically, this was a gothic, vampiric otome game.
And guess what?
She was Alice now.
And she was about to get eaten.
In a flash, Alice was on her feet, her body moving on instinct.
"I'm not just going to stand here like some damsel in distress!" she muttered under her breath, already sprinting through the dense, twisting forest.
The trees blurred past her, the branches scraping against her skin as she pushed forward, not daring to glance back.
Behind her, the sounds of footsteps rushed in. The growls, hisses, and distorted whispers of creatures chasing her filled the air.
Okay, yeah, maybe this was a terrible idea Should've stayed and fought! Wait, I can't even fight! Or... or anything but running in a straight line through a forest full of things that want to drink my blood!
A rustle in the underbrush sent her heart into her throat, and she pushed herself harder, desperation fueling her every step. She couldn't stop! Not now!
Then, she felt something wrap around her nape.
A cold, clammy hand grabbed the back of her shirt with such force that she was pulled backward, her neck almost snapping painfully.
"Ah, no!" she screamed, trying to break free, but her legs were suddenly caught, cold hands gripping her arms and legs like iron shackles.
Well, this is it. I can't believe this is how it ends. The first real chase, and I'm already caught. Really? I couldn't even have a fighting chance?
She kicked and punched, but it was useless. They were stronger, faster, and far too many. Her attempts were met with mocking laughter.
"A feisty one," a low, masculine voice chuckled, dripping with cold malice. "With such sweet dreams.... She'll fetch a high price."
She tried to twist out of their grasp, but one of the creatures grabbed her chin, lifting her head. His eyes glinted in the red moonlight, and his fangs gleamed, long and sharp, like daggers.
"Hmmm, I wish I could just taste..." another growled, eyes glowing with hunger as he looked at her. She felt bile rise in her throat as disgust replaced the fear that had been flooding her moments ago.
"No tasting," a third one snapped, his voice commanding and sharp. "I can tell by her beauty, her figure, her sweet aroma... we might even be able to auction her off to the Countess"
"T-The countess?" a fourth creature asked eagerly.
Countess?...
She remembered now.
One of the game's core features: the Villainesses. But these weren't your average, one-dimensional villains.
No, that was exactly why ECLIPSED had gone viral.
The villainesses weren't just tragic fools waiting to die.
One was a regressor, doomed to relive her life over and over.
Another was a transmigrator, a soul from another world playing her hand in this one.
And one repeated the moment again and again, not able to escape the crushing grip of fate.
That's what made the game so different.
The Villainesses held the real power.
The heroine was puppet, a mere pawn in a game where everyone else knew how to play—and play dirty.
"Definitely. Look how delicious she is…" The leader, the third one, leaned in close, his eyes devouring her with sickening glee. All four of them were so hungry—their eyes glowing, their fangs glistening with blood.
The leader sneered, snapping his fingers. "Chain her and knock her out. Careful not to bruise her... we don't want to damage a perfect potential slave."
Before she could protest or try to fight, a sharp pain exploded in her temple.
Her vision blurred, darkness creeping into the edges of her sight.
The world tilted, her body going limp as everything faded to black.
{INITIATING SYSTEM...}
{INSTALLING RESOURCES....}
{INSTALLING GACHA...}
{1%...}
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