Chapter 1

After returning home, Alice quickly locked the door to her room and excitedly hopped into bed, turning on her Xbox. As soon as it was switched on, she felt herself being sucked into the game and suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar forest. A hologram of an adult woman appeared before her.

"Hello, Player! Welcome to the Death Game. Please set your name and your password." Another hologram then materialized between them. "We also need your fingerprints and we will take your biometric authentication for security. All your data will be safe without third parties knowing."

Alice typed in her name and password into the holographic square in front of her. The hologram also performed an iris scan for identification.

“Thank you so much, Alice Haley. My name is Megan. I am an AI created by The Hidemask to perfect this game. If you ever need help or have any questions, just call my name. I'd be more than happy to assist you.”

"Just like the human world, the Death Game has vast, beautiful, and dangerous places. You can find both friendly and hostile creatures in this game. You'll also be able to meet other players. There are lots of hidden spots with hidden rewards inside. But be careful, you might put your life at risk and possibly die in this world. I'm sure you'll love it!" Megan said with a cheerful tone.

"Hahaha, alright!" Alice said with a laughing smile.

Alice took Megan's words as a joke and smiled mischievously.

"Do you have any questions, Alice?"

Alice chuckled, “Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I am an AI. I am not designed to have a boyfriend."

Alice pouted. She thought that the AI in front of her was too serious and couldn't take a joke.

"If you don't have any other questions, allow me to explain the terms and conditions of this game."

"You have 30 starting points which can be exchanged for weapons, disguises, skills, or abilities. Each item is worth 5 points, so you will lose 5 points every time you exchange something. You can also gain extra points by completing missions. If your points are depleted, you can continue playing as long as your life still exists.”

"You have 5 lives here. Unlike the points you can get by doing missions, you can't increase your life by doing anything, but other people can give theirs to you. So, if you lose all your lives, then you will die. Make sure you use it wisely! Do you understand?"

"Well, yeah!" Alice nodded in understanding.

"Great! Let's set a costume for you. What costume do you want?"

The hologram displayed thousands of different types of female avatars, from princesses, businesswomen, schoolgirls, cyborgs (half-robot humans), etc. While scrolling through the different avatar views, Alice's eyes fell on an avatar wearing emerald green pants and a pine-colored cape with a tailcoat. She thought this particular color combination was perfect for camouflage in the forest.

"I choose this one!" Alice declared.

Five points were deducted.

"Good choice, Alice! What weapon do you want to have?"

Alice furrowed her brows in thought.

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Megan readily suggested, "You can take any weapon you want. If you don't know how to use it, you can buy the skill with your points."

"Yes, you're right!" Alice quickly touched a bow and arrow.

Alice had been interested in archery since she was a child, but her parents refused to let her take any archery courses. Instead, they enrolled her in a science course she loathed.

"What a great choice!" Alice sighed to herself.

"Do you want to add another item?" Megan asked.

"Umm... I don't think so," Alice answered, shaking her head.

"Okay. I will send you on a mission," Megan said.

"Wait! I thought I was on a mission?!" Alice asked in confusion.

"You are still in Alice setting mode. I will send you on a mission for the ActivatedLand," Megan explained.

"May I know what my mission is?" Alice asked nervously.

"Sorry, Alice. I can't tell you. You will find out what your mission is in the game. Such are the rules. I thought you'd read our entire guidebook," Megan said with a frown.

"Oh, yeah... that's ummm... I forgot about this part."

Alice muttered, trying to cover up her lies. Even though she hadn't read the manual at all. Just then, a two-meter-tall oval-shaped portal appeared in front of them.

"Please come in, Alice. Have fun playing!" Megan said with a smile.

Alice walked towards the portal with a pounding heart and then entered it. As soon as she stepped through, her eyes darkened. She felt as if her body was on a bed falling into an abyss. Until finally a white light slowly appeared to illuminate her and made her open her eyes.

Alice opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself in Seoul, South Korea, at night. Players were arriving and leaving through portals one after the other. She spotted one of the boys pressing a hologram in his hand, and then a portal appeared in front of him. The boy stepped into the portal and disappeared. Alice quickly checked her hands, and sure enough, there was a watch-shaped hologram embedded in her skin.

"Fuck! Megan didn't say anything about this!" she grumbled in confusion.

"Please let me go!"

The sound of a woman's desperate cries caught Alice's attention. She looked over and saw a man, who appeared to be the head of a gangster, dragging a woman away from a nightclub.

"Don't! Don't do that to me!" the woman shouted while crying.

But it seemed the gangster man didn't care about the girl's pleas. He even deliberately tore off her clothes and made her half-naked. The man laughed happily in front of the crying, pitiful girl. Alice, who saw this, couldn't stand it and was about to approach, but suddenly two other men appeared from inside and laughed too. Alice realized that if she fought them, she wouldn't stand a chance even with all the points she had exchanged for strength and abilities.

She looked around and noticed that everyone seemed strangely indifferent to the incident. She shouted and scolded everyone for not helping the girl, but unfortunately, no one paid attention to her words.

"What the hell is this place?!"

Alice muttered to herself in frustration. She then approached a man who was eating ramen outside a small restaurant.

"Hey, there's a woman who is being harassed. Help her!" she pleaded.

The man ignored Alice and continued to eat his ramen.

"Hey!" Alice banged on the table, almost making the man's bowl of ramen fall to the ground.

"What do you want, huh?!" the man asked in annoyance.

"Look at that woman! She needs help. Everyone here is crazy and completely devoid of empathy! Help her," Alice said desperately.

The man slammed his chopsticks onto the table and stood up angrily.

"Why don't you just help her? After all, that woman was here for a reason! She's run out of lives and is risking her life for extra ones!" the man explained.

Alice was taken aback by his explanation.

"Wait! Are you a new player?" he asked, looking at her curiously. Alice was horrified. She took a few steps back, her eyes still glued to the man in front of her. Without another word, she turned around and ran as fast as she could.

"Hey, wait!" the man called after her. Alice ignored him and kept running. Suddenly, she heard gunshots as she collided with something, and then everything turned into the dark.