Home Sweet Hell

I was a professional stay-at-home daughter, a champion of doing absolutely nothing, when a horror game snatched me up and made me a player.

I never expected the first level to be my own neighborhood. For me, this wasn’t a death trap. It was a homecoming.

【Welcome to the S-Rank level: Harmony Creek.】

The moment the game started, the audience in the livestream chat was already writing my obituary. An S-Rank level, with a 0.01% survival rate? A rookie like me was dead on arrival.

But then I saw a familiar figure with a grocery basket and waved enthusiastically. “Hey, Mrs. Gable! Just back from the market?”

I skipped over to play with a little girl who was using a string of bloody intestines as a jump rope.

【LOL, I’ve never seen a newbie this bold. She’s making friends with the monsters.】
【Wait, is she eating a human hand?】
【Hold on… who did she just call ‘Mom’!? That’s the final boss!】

I was leaning against my mom’s arm, gnawing on a spicy pickled chicken foot Mrs. Gable had given me.

Huh?

Boss? Human hand? Where?

1

【Welcome to the S-Rank level: Harmony Creek.】

【Survive for three days to clear this level.】

【For the next three days, you must embody your assigned role. Be good sons and daughters to your parents.】

【Initial Players: 10. Current Players: 10.】

【We wish you a pleasant game.~】

The system’s voice echoed in my ears, and my mind was a total blank. One second, I was at home playing cards with my grandparents, and the next, I’m a contestant in a real-life horror game?

As a professional daughter, my income consisted of strategic allowances from my grandparents’ retirement funds and my parents’ generosity. My primary job was just to be there, providing emotional support and company. It’s not that I never tried to be ambitious. I took the ten thousand dollars my parents gave me as seed money for a startup and came back six months later with twenty thousand dollars in debt.

My mom had just sighed, patted my head, and said, “Grace, honey, you staying home is the biggest contribution you can make right now.”

And now I’d been drafted into a horror game. My soft, cushy life was over. I was toast.

I lay down on the pavement, curled into a ball, and started sobbing. “Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma… I’m a goner. Please remember to water my succulents.”

A guy with full sleeve tattoos spat on the ground and grabbed the old security guard by the collar. “What the hell is this? You think some stupid broadcast about a horror game is gonna scare me?” he snarled. “I run with the Breakers. Give me a couple hundred grand for the trouble and I’ll forget this ever happened.”

A man in a sharp suit tried to intervene, but he was too late.

The security guard, Mr. Henderson, opened his mouth—wider, and wider, and impossibly wider—and bit the tattooed man clean in half.

There wasn't even time for a scream before both halves were swallowed whole.

Several people collapsed to the ground in terror. The broadcast was real.

The man in the suit, the one who’d tried to stop it, introduced himself as a veteran player. He’d cleared five levels already, he said. You have to clear ten to get back to the real world. Apparently, half of us were rookies. With the tattoo guy gone, that left nine of us.

We all had an identity card.

The suit’s face was grim. Let's call him Mark. “Our mission is to play the part we’ve been assigned,” he said, his voice tight. “And survive for three days.”

【Damn, so many newbies on an S-Rank level. The survival rate on this one is only 0.01%.】
【I’ve never seen such a pathetic rookie. She’s literally just rolling around on the ground crying.】
【Hey, didn’t you piss your pants your first time? Wait… what is she doing now?】

I had cried myself out and was slowly getting up, ready to accept my fate, when I finally took a good look around.

This eerily familiar neighborhood… wasn’t this my home?

Mr. Henderson, the security guard, was already back in his booth, waving cheerfully at me. “Gracie! What are you doing out here? Thought you’d be inside with your grandma.”

Stunned, I pulled out my identity card. The role I was supposed to play?

It was me.

2

Mark, the self-appointed leader, gathered the rest of us and led us toward the main gate. Mr. Henderson stepped out to check everyone’s identity.

“You kids,” he said, his voice raspy as he let us through one by one. “Work is important, but you can’t forget your families. Look at you all… besides little Gracie here, I don’t recognize a single one of your faces.” He beamed at me. “Not like Grace. Always at home with her folks. Such a good girl.”

I offered a weak, guilty smile. My status as the neighborhood’s resident homebody was well-known. No one thought it was weird; in fact, most people were a little envious of my parents for having their daughter around all the time.

Mr. Henderson slowly flipped through a worn notebook, his gaze landing on a terrified kid with bleached-blond hair. “Name? Parents’ names?”

The kid blurted out his real name, then realized his mistake and tried to correct himself, but it was too late.

In an instant, Mr. Henderson’s body swelled, stretching and distorting until he was a two-story tall monstrosity. A massive claw shot out and snatched the kid. He was crushed into a pulp before he could even beg for his life.

“He’s a liar,” the monster rumbled, the voice echoing through the street. “He doesn’t belong here. He can’t come in.”

Blood and viscera rained down on the pavement. A few of the more timid players were already soaked in urine. The remaining players frantically double-checked their identity cards, terrified of suffering the same fate.

Strangely, the gruesome scene didn’t frighten me. Instead, a wave of sadness washed over me.

Mr. Henderson shrank back to his normal form, acting as if nothing had happened, and continued his check-in. When he got to me, he just waved me through. “Gracie, don’t cause a fuss. Everyone in Harmony Creek knows you.”

Once we were all safely inside, a collective sigh of relief went through the group. We followed Mark, running until we were well out of Mr. Henderson’s sight, stopping in a small park.

“Okay, it’s clear we can’t make a single mistake,” Mark said, catching his breath. “From now on, we are the people on these cards. You all saw what happens if we slip up.” He paused, then looked at me with suspicion. “Why was he different with you? Why did he praise you?”

I held up my identity card innocently. “Maybe because my assigned role is ‘professional daughter’?”

He seemed to buy it, nodding slowly. “Alright. I assume no one here has more experience than me, so I’ll take the lead. Call me Mark. You listen to me, and I’ll get you through this.”

I was already tuning him out. My stomach was growling. I just wanted to go home and see my mom.

Before I could sneak away, a familiar voice called out to me. “Grace, honey! Perfect timing.”

It was my neighbor, Mrs. Gable, carrying several grocery bags. Trailing behind her was her little girl, Penny, who was cheerfully using a string of bloody intestines as a jump rope.

Mrs. Gable was thrilled to see me. She held out one of her hands. “Here, sweetie, take this basket for me, will you? Saves me a trip to your house.”

Our families were close. She was always dropping off extra vegetables or leftovers.

“Sure thing!” I chirped, happily taking the basket. It was the perfect excuse to finally go home.

The other players, however, didn't look so happy. A pale, delicate-looking girl, who looked like a strong gust of wind could knock her over, covered her mouth and started to gag.

The livestream chat was flying.

【The basket is full of a severed head and a dismembered arm. Is cannibalism part of this level?】
【That player’s got nerves of steel. She just ran right over and took it.】
【Could she be a master player in disguise? A wolf in sheep’s clothing?】

3

From the other players’ perspective, I knew the scene was horrific.

Mrs. Gable had only half a head, the missing part swarming with maggots. Her daughter, Penny, had skin covered in angry, scorched patches, and one side of her cherubic face was just bare, grinning bone.

Penny ran over, grabbed my hand, and pulled my head down to give me a loud, wet kiss on the cheek. “Gracie! It’s been so long! Come play with us!”

The system’s cold, mechanical voice suddenly cut in, making everyone jump.

【New Mission: Play a game with Penny.】

Penny looked up at the other players, her one good eye twinkling innocently. “You guys have to play too.”

Mark forced a smile, crouching down to her level. “Sure, kiddo. What game should we play?”

Penny clung to my arm, giggling. “I wanna play soccer! Mister, can I borrow your head?”

Cold sweat beaded on Mark’s forehead. I gently poked her cheek. She just giggled and snuggled closer.

“Just kidding! You’re no fun, mister,” she pouted. “Let’s play Hawk Catches the Chicks! I’ll be the hawk!”

The players instantly understood the subtext. A frantic scramble began as everyone tried to be the “mother hen,” the safest position in the game. No one wanted to be the last little chick.

Penny stomped her foot, annoyed. “Stop fighting! You,” she said, pointing at the tallest guy in the group. “You’re the mother hen. Everyone else line up behind him, tallest to shortest.”

The tall guy looked relieved, having snagged the safest spot without even trying.

I ended up at the very back of the line, indignantly clutching the shirt of the person in front of me. This was height discrimination. I still had time for a growth spurt.

The game began.

Thanks to my fancy footwork and Penny clearly going easy on me, she never even came close to catching me. The other players started to relax.

Then, with a fake roar of frustration, Penny lunged forward. But instead of going for the chicks, she grabbed the “mother hen” and tore his arm clean off.

She chewed on the bloody limb, nodding thoughtfully. “This hen is too tough. Chewy,” she mumbled. “I’m full now. I don’t want to play anymore.”

The tall guy’s eyes were bloodshot with pain and rage. He started screaming, all caution thrown to the wind. “You little bitch! You were supposed to catch the chicks, not me!”

My expression went cold. I quickly covered Penny’s ears.

So what if they were monsters? I’d known them my whole life. They were more family to me than these strangers I’d just met. I’d choose their side any day.

Mrs. Gable appeared in a flash in front of the screaming man. With one swift motion, she reached into his mouth and ripped out his entire tongue. “If you can’t speak nicely,” she hissed, “then you shouldn’t speak at all.”

She turned back to the rest of us, her form shifting back to that of a kindly neighbor. “Alright, it’s getting late. Your parents will be looking for you.”

As if on cue, a group of adults appeared in the distance, heading our way. The woman leading the charge, walking with fierce determination, was unmistakably my mom.

My eyes lit up. I broke from the group and ran towards her like a happy puppy. “Mom! My dearest, most wonderful Mom! I missed you so much!”

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