After My Boyfriend Abandoned Me In-Game, I Went Wild in Reality

I designed a holographic zombie survival game.

Inside it, I gave my boyfriend a lightning-element power that could cut through anything, and I gave my best friend a wood-element healing power that could mend any wound.

I kept nothing for myself. No power at all. Just dead weight the two of them would have to carry.

They comforted me, promised they would protect me forever.

But the moment they learned the military had fallen and the world had collapsed into chaos, the two of them kissed each other, right in front of me.

"All those years we treated you like a treasure, it was only ever about your money and your status."

"Now that the virus has broken out and the whole world's been reshuffled, your fortune is worthless paper. We don't have to pretend anymore!"

They built a power-user squad, put a price tag on me and traded me like a slave, and in the final battle against the zombie king they even threw me off a high-rise to draw the fire.

But what they didn't know was that there had never been any zombie virus at all.

The moment I died, the game would end, and the three of us would return to reality.

Barret Gilbert knelt on one knee, straightening the train of my wedding gown.

Marjorie Fox stood off to the side, gushing with envy.

"The loose diamonds on this dress alone have to run seven figures, right?"

Barret shot her a hard look, his face going serious.

"When Paula Delgado and I get married, of course we use nothing but the best."

Marjorie let out a cold huff.

"What do you mean, 'you and Paula'? Paula's mine!"

"You want to bet? One shake of my head and she calls off the whole wedding right now."

The two of them had never gotten along.

Just as they were about to start fighting over me again, and I was about to smooth things over, the front door of the bridal boutique slammed open.

The man who staggered in was covered in blood. He convulsed and dropped to the floor.

A few seconds later, the veins across his whole body bulged, his skin turned a strange bluish-purple, and he rose slowly, his entire frame twisted into an unnatural posture.

I shrank back into Barret's arms in terror.

Marjorie froze for a couple of seconds, then broke into a piercing scream.

"It's a zombie! Run!"

She grabbed Barret's hand and pulled him to the door, yanking at the car handle with shaking hands, and only then remembered the keys were on me.

I stared at the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder, completely stunned.

Every single day they fought tooth and nail over who was closer to me, and now, the second there was real danger, they'd abandoned me and run off together?

Feeling my eyes on them, Marjorie and Barret let go of each other's hands as if they'd been shocked, and shouted at me.

"Hurry up, come on!"

I rubbed the ankle I'd hurt when I was shoved down earlier and reached out a desperate hand.

"The heels are too high. I twisted my ankle."

Barret gritted his teeth, ready to rush over and save me.

Marjorie clung to him, holding him back.

"That's a zombie! One little scratch and you're dead!"

Barret turned his head and said something to her, and all at once Marjorie let go, and the two of them stumbled their way over to me.

"Don't be scared, Paula. We're here to save you!"

Barret swept me up in his arms, while Marjorie grabbed a warning sign and swung it, driving the zombie back.

Watching the two of them, warmth flooded through me.

I'm the only heir of the Delgado family, and the two of them are ordinary working people, nothing more.

Everyone said their backgrounds and status didn't match mine, and no one had any faith in what the three of us had.

When the higher-ups at the company found out I meant to marry Barret, they even voted it down unanimously and told me to think long and hard before I acted.

To prove to everyone that the two of them were sincere, I used my highest-level clearance to launch the company's newest holographic projection game and hooked them into the system while they were resting.

From the moment we met up earlier to try on wedding attire, we had already been inside the game.

In the game, I would give Barret an offensive power and give Marjorie a healing power.

I myself would awaken no ability at all, only become the biggest piece of dead weight in the apocalypse.

Every moment of the game would be livestreamed.

As long as they carried me through to the destruction of the zombie king, the game would come to an end.

By then no one could question my decision anymore, and no one could deny what the three of us had!

I curled tight against Barret's chest, feeling his heartbeat, and the corners of my mouth lifted with certainty.

They'd been terrified at first, but in the end they still threw everything aside to save me.

That was proof enough. My choice had been the right one.

Barret gunned the engine and raced back to the villa.

Watching my fingerprint unlock the door without a hitch, the two of them let out long breaths.

"Thank God. There's plenty here. We can hold out until the military clears the zombies."

"Nina, it's a good thing you always liked stockpiling. I'll never call you a spendthrift again."

I gave a small smile, but I didn't tell them the truth. I'd stocked up in advance precisely to prepare for entering the game.

Barret gently massaged my hurt ankle while Marjorie went to take inventory.

By the time the swelling in my ankle was fully gone, three days had passed.

Over those three days, the internet failed first, then the power, then the water.

Watching the food supply dwindle by the day, Barret's brow furrowed.

"We have to reach the outside world and find out what's really going on."

Marjorie held up a radio she'd dug out and searched for a broadcast. The moment the words came through clearly, we all froze.

According to the latest reports, every nation on Earth has fallen.

Cities are overrun with infection. Casualties are catastrophic. All survivors are urged to fend for themselves. Do not expect rescue.

In the empty living room, Barret and Marjorie went ashen.

"Nina, can you reach your company's staff? Have them bring us supplies?"

I sighed.

"I tried already. Upper management said the staff didn't get out in time. They were all wiped out."

The two exchanged a glance, something churning in their eyes that I couldn't read.

After a long moment, Barret spoke, stiffly.

"We can't just sit here and eat through everything. Nina, you go out and find supplies."

I stared at him, stunned.

"Me?"

"I've been pampered my whole life. Half the time I'm too lazy to even walk. And you want me to go scavenging?"

"But it's the apocalypse now!" Barret's voice rose. "Marjorie and I already risked our lives to save you once. Shouldn't you pay us back?"

Seeing how sour the mood had turned, Marjorie stepped in to smooth things over.

"Stop fighting. Things are urgent right now. Let's go take a look outside first."

A thought stirred in me.

The two of them still didn't know they had powers. It was only human to be afraid of what was out there.

Once they came face to face with the zombies and their powers were triggered, once they understood the world-ending strength they held, they'd naturally protect me!

Thinking that, I nodded in agreement.

"Let's check the front door."

Out in the real world, the design team immediately spawned zombies outside the villa.

Through a single wall, Barret and Marjorie looked at the horde of bruised, purple-black bodies, and suddenly clutched their heads.

A moment later, Barret tested the air with an outstretched hand. A streak of purple lightning flashed, and the zombie nearest us dropped where it stood.

Marjorie looked at him, thrilled, and reached out her own hand.

As a green glow shimmered into being, a protective barrier sprang up around Barret in an instant!

Marjorie grabbed a baseball bat and swung at the barrier with everything she had, and still couldn't crack the defense.

The two of them were beside themselves. They turned to look at me.

"Nina, what's your power?"

I copied them and stretched out my hand.

A long while passed. Nothing happened.

They wouldn't give up. They told me to focus and keep trying.

I tried again. Still nothing changed.

"Looks like heaven gave me a fortune to rival a nation, but no power to go with it."

"From here on out, I'll be counting on the two of you to protect me!"

I looked at them, smiling, and waited for their answer.

But the two people who had promised to protect me forever both changed their faces at the same moment.

"You're useless. How do you have the nerve to stand there and beg us power-users for shelter?"

I stared at them, speechless.

"One of you is my fianc, the other is my best friend"

Before I could finish, Marjorie cut in.

"That was before."

Barret picked it up at once.

"Paula, don't you get it yet? The world has already changed."

Their voices were ice-cold. Without meaning to, I took a step back.

"You both said you'd sacrifice yourselves to keep me alive!"

They exchanged a tender look and started to smile coldly.

"You idiot. You still haven't figured it out?"

"We're the real thing. You? You were just our way of climbing higher and grabbing resources!"

My mind went blank.

Watching me stand there dumbfounded, they didn't hold back at all. They kissed, deep and hungry.

"This is perfect. The old order's shattered, money's just wastepaper now. In the apocalypse, powers are the only real strength!"

"The two of us don't have to sneak around behind Paula's back anymore. We can finally be together out in the open!"

It hit me like a bolt of lightning. My eyes went hot and red.

"Marjorie, I always treated you like my best friend."

"Barret, I was ready to go against everyone to marry you. Is this how you repay me?"

They pulled apart, unhurried, and the way they looked at me was pure arrogance.

"What friend? You just had money, so you kept me around as your foil, something to make your fine-lady elegance look better!"

Barret said the rest of what he'd been holding back too.

"If it weren't for marrying you and splitting your fortune down the middle, you think I'd have played nursemaid to your princess complex?"

"Wake up, Paula. The world's different now. From this moment on, you're nothing but a stray dog groveling at our feet!"

I thought of the whole thing being livestreamed, the shame and fury boiling over, and I swung my hand at Barret's face.

The next instant, Marjorie raised her hand and reinforced his protective barrier.

And Barret, without a shred of hesitation, unleashed his lightning at me, splitting the skin of my right hand wide open!

I cried out in pain.

The game ran in full-simulation mode. The damage wouldn't follow me back to the real world, but the pain was completely real.

Watching me scream and twitch, the two of them froze for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Paula, know your place."

"Step out of line again and I won't promise you'll keep your life!"

"We're going out to find other power-users and build a squad. You, you useless thing, stay home and cook and do the laundry. No slacking."

They swept out.

I sat in silence for a moment, then opened the line to the real world.

Can I end the game early?

I'm sorry, Ms. Delgado. The game is only in trial operation. There's no manual exit option yet.

To end the game, there are only two ways. Either they protect you and you defeat the zombie king, or you, the game's protagonist, die, and it all ends.

Then can I kill myself?

I'm very sorry. Suicide would crash the system. You could all be trapped in the game, unable to ever get out...

I cut the call and sat on the couch, my face dark.

I was still turning it over when Barret and Marjorie came back with a group of power-users.

Seeing nothing on the table, Marjorie slapped me across the face.

"Useless. I told you to cook, and you dared to slack off?"

I lifted my head and looked at that woman with her twisted, snarling face, and the pain went straight through me.

"You dare hit me"

Before I could finish, Marjorie swung both hands, two more slaps, left and right.

"So what if I hit you?"

"From today, you're the lowest slave in our power squad. Anyone can order you to work!"

I looked at Barret, pleading.

He coldly turned his eyes away.

"Letting you stay and share our resources is already a huge mercy. Don't be ungrateful, Paula."

Seeing I still wouldn't move, Barret let out a cold laugh and dragged in two elderly people from the doorway, both of them soaked in blood.

"Guess who we ran into while we were out searching for supplies?"

One look, and my whole body went rigid. I froze where I stood.

"What gives you the right to hurt my grandparents?"

Marjorie burst out laughing.

"These two idiots came looking for you. If we hadn't been kind enough to save them, they'd already be dead!"

"The old fools just have saint complexes, always telling us to protect civilians. We only gave them a little lesson. Perfectly fair."

I knew none of it was real, that they were all NPCs, but the fury still shot straight to my head.

"You have powers. Doesn't that mean you're supposed to protect the weak?"

"Marjorie, if it weren't for my grandparents' support, you'd have died in that orphanage a long time ago!"

The words landed, and every power-user froze, staring at me in shock.

"They liked handing out money because they had more than they knew where to spend. Who says that gives them the right to guilt-trip anyone?"

"Besides, Margie didn't even kill him. She just taught him a lesson. Instead of kneeling and kowtowing in thanks, you have the nerve to wave that debt around and demand payback? That's shameless."

Ignoring my protests, Barret ordered the men to lock my grandparents in the basement.

"Paula, from this moment on, you're going to be a good dog for us. When we're happy, we'll naturally spare your grandparents a bite of food. Otherwise, you can wait and watch them dry out into corpses."

My parents died when I was young. My grandparents raised me.

Barret and Marjorie both knew that, and they chose this moment to use my one weakness against me.

I couldn't stand to watch them suffer, even if none of it was real.

After a long while, I nodded.

"You win."

The crowd broke into shrill laughter.

After that, I became the squad's slave completely, someone anyone could kick a couple of times whenever their mood soured.

They tested new powers on me and cut my rations, and in half a month I'd wasted away to nothing but bones, wounds layered over wounds everywhere skin showed, and not a single painkiller for the asking.

"Testing on you means we respect you. Medicine's precious in the apocalypse. Why would we waste it?"

To Barret and Marjorie, maybe torturing me was the finest thanks they could offer their former selves.

The apocalypse. Zombies everywhere.

With their powers, they didn't just clear zombies when they went out. They used those powers to deliberately mess with the civilians who were out scavenging, for fun.

The behavior stirred up public rage fast. A few other squads banded together and launched a full assault on the villa.

Barret's crew was outnumbered and steadily driven back.

With no other options, he actually decided to hand me over to sue for peace.

"Paula, you're just dead weight alive. You might as well do one good thing before you die and pay us back."

"We've told everyone you're the mastermind behind the attacks on civilians. Right now every single person is hoping to see you punished. Sacrifice you, and everyone's satisfied. We'll be sure to keep your grandparents safe. How about it?"

As the squad's lowest slave, I'd already been tortured until my body was nothing but wounds, and hearing him say that, my mind broke completely too.

"Barret, you want me dead, fine. But dying to carry your name and your blame? No."

"You think you deserve that kind of respect from me?"

Barret had long since stripped off his righteous mask, and he drove his foot into my chest.

"You won't die? Then I'll make your grandparents die in your place!"

The words had barely left his mouth before someone dragged my grandparents up out of the basement.

Barret's palm twitched, and a bolt of lightning came down streaked with purple light. My grandmother gave one horrible cry, and then there was nothing.

I threw myself onto her, sobbing, hatred surging up inside me.

Right then someone came running up in a panic with news.

"It's bad. The zombie king's shown up."

"Our outer defenses are already broken. Barret, you have to think of something, fast!"

Barret's face changed. He hauled me up and climbed to the top floor.

Looking down at the dense tide of corpses below, he didn't hesitate for a second. He gave the order.

"Zombies can't resist the smell of blood. I'm going to hang Paula upside down outside the window. When she drops and pulls their attention, we break out together from the opposite side!"

Marjorie pulled out a length of rope, bound my hands and feet, and threw me out the window, then carefully cut a slit into the rope.

"In three minutes she'll fall to her death. Everyone else, pack up and regroup!"

Feeling the rope fraying loose above me, I shouted.

"Barret, Marjorie, you'll get what's coming to you!"

The two of them sneered, looking at me the way you'd look at a dead person.

"What's coming to us?"

"Even if there is such a thing, it'll be a problem for the next life."

"Paula, as our best friend and fiance, being able to sacrifice yourself for us should make you feel honored!"

The words ended, and the crowd scattered fast.

I felt the biting wind and closed my eyes in silence.

The seconds ticked by, and the tampered rope couldn't hold my weight any longer. It snapped clean through.

My body hit the open ground, bones broken, blood spreading everywhere.

The zombies caught the scent of blood, turned, and came shrieking toward me.

At the same moment, Barret shouted his order.

"Everyone, charge with me! Once I become the king of powers, every one of you will be lords and ministers!"

As his rallying cry rang out, the me inside the game was torn to pieces by the zombies and died completely.

The next second, in the real world, I slowly opened my eyes.