After I Quit the Game, He Followed Me to the New World

In my fifth year of pursuing Daniel Lutz, I gave birth to his child through IVF.
But his affection level, which had reached 99, not only refused to budge to 100 but began to fluctuate wildly.
Dragging my weary, post-partum body to find him, I was stopped by a burst of cruel laughter from inside his study.
“She has no idea the egg wasn’t even hers, does she?”
“The second the kid was born, Daniel dropped her affection score straight to zero.”
“So what if she finds out? She should be grateful she has a face so much like Lily’s.”
Then, Daniel’s voice, laced with a bored sigh. “Playing with her for this long… I’m getting tired of it.”
It was only then that the horrible truth crashed down on me. What I thought was my hard-won happy ending was nothing but a punchline.
I turned away, my voice a hollow whisper to the System in my mind.
“Arrange my death. I want a new world.”

1
Are you sure, Host? The System’s voice echoed in my mind. Your mother is very ill. If you start over in a new world, she might not live to see you succeed.
A wave of bitter sorrow washed over me. Five years ago, to save my mother from cancer, I accepted this mission.
At first, it was deceptively easy. I fell into the trap of Daniel’s charm, losing myself in his manufactured tenderness.
But reality soon delivered a brutal slap.
All because I moved a photo album of his long-dead first love, Lily, and failed to wear a red dress he’d laid out for me—Lily’s favorite color. For that, he abandoned me in the slums of a foreign country and took my passport.
I was nearly stripped naked by a group of men before I escaped onto a street and was hit by a car. It was only from a hospital bed that I was able to call him.
His voice was glacial. “If you didn’t look so much like Lily, do you think I would’ve ever given you a second glance? Consider this a small punishment. When you’ve learned your lesson, I’ll come get you.”
That was just the beginning.
He made me kneel up thousands of stone steps to a remote temple to pray for Lily’s soul. He had his friends strip me and abandon me at a ski resort on a freezing mountaintop. He kicked me, a non-swimmer, into the ocean, forcing me to retrieve a bracelet he’d dropped.
He called it “testing my sincerity.”
Then he’d turn around and laugh with his friends, placing bets on how many “pranks” it would take to make me finally give up and leave.
A few months ago, everything changed. He softened, telling me he wanted a child with me. I watched his affection score soar and naively believed my suffering was finally over.
Now, the laughter from his study was deafening.
“Daniel, including the baby, that makes an even 100 pranks, right?”
“I bet she still won’t leave. The kid might not be hers, but it’s yours, man. She’s put up with everything else. What’s one more lie?”
“Totally. Every time you throw her a few affection points after a prank, she comes crawling back like a pathetic puppy wagging its tail.”
Each word was a scalpel, carving open my heart.
So, he knew. Daniel knew I was a Host, and he could manipulate my system’s affection meter at will.
“These disgusting mission-runners… just watch. I’m going to break her.”
“This is gonna be good.”
Daniel’s voice, dripping with amused contempt, was the final blow that extinguished the last flicker of hope within me.
I closed my eyes, forcing the tears back. A bitter smile touched my lips.
“I’m sure,” I told the System. “Arrange my death. The sooner, the better. I’ll find a new target in a new world.”
After the System confirmed, I returned to my hospital room and stared silently at the sleeping infant in the bassinet. To bring him into this world, I’d endured countless hospital visits, so many hormone injections that my stomach was a canvas of bruises. The memory of the thick needle piercing my body for the egg retrieval still made me shudder.
And it was all for nothing. I was just an incubator for his dead girlfriend’s frozen eggs.
“Elara, what are you doing out of bed?”
Daniel and his friends strolled into the room. “We’re here to pack your things. The doctor said you can be discharged. Oh, right, I brought you some seafood chowder. You should eat.”
His affection level flickered, then settled back at 99. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw no love. Only the same mocking cruelty I saw in his friends.
They were waiting. Waiting for me to pretend I wasn't deathly allergic to seafood and obediently eat it, just like I always did.
I smiled and thanked him. But this time, I ignored the soup. I packed my own bag and walked out of the room first.
“You can carry the baby,” I said over my shoulder.
His smile froze, his eyes darkening instantly. One of his friends nudged him with a smirk, and he forced the smile back onto his face.
“Of course. I’ll carry him.”

2
When we got back to the villa, a woman was standing in the center of the living room.
She wore a red dress. Her hair was long, black, and straight, with perfect bangs. Her smile was a gentle curve.
I froze.
She was the spitting image of Lily. Even the dimple at the corner of her mouth was identical.
“Elara, let me introduce you,” Daniel said smoothly. “This is Janice. I’m sponsoring her. She’s going to stay with us for a while as our… nanny.”
His friends snickered, drawing out the word “nanny” with lewd insinuation.
Daniel chuckled, his gaze fixed on the girl, his desire and satisfaction utterly undisguised.
This was a familiar scene. Though he called me his girlfriend, Daniel never tired of collecting Lily’s substitutes, and he especially loved parading them in front of me.
Last time, I was sick with a fever, and his friends brought him a substitute dressed as a nurse. As I burned up in my room, I could hear them together in the room next door. The time before that, he took me to a gala and picked the most Lily-like woman from a line-up of aspiring starlets.
Afterward, he would always placate me. “You’re still the best one. The most like her.” Then he’d toss me a few affection points like a scrap of meat to a dog. And I, desperate and broken, would swallow my pain and force a smile as I saw his latest conquest out the door.
He’d been more restrained while I was pregnant, but I knew he still had a mistress tucked away somewhere. And now, he couldn’t even wait a day to flaunt this new one in my face.
“You’re good at making desserts, right? Janice loves them,” Daniel said, smiling at the girl beside him. “She’s allergic to mango, prefers chocolate. Use that expensive French chocolate, the one she likes. Oh, and Janice rescued a stray cat. She can bring it here to live with us.”
The girl’s eyes filled with tears of gratitude. “Daniel, I only mentioned that once. I can’t believe you remembered.”
“Of course. When something is important to me, I pay attention.”
The irony was so thick I could have choked on it. He could remember all that, yet he pretended not to see the hives that broke out all over my face every time I forced down seafood for him. He couldn't remember that I had a deep-seated fear of cats after being badly scratched as a child.
But then, I wasn’t important. I was just his favorite toy.
That night, I went to our bedroom to change and found the two of them already in our bed. Janice was curled in Daniel’s arms, her face flushed an unnatural red. Daniel’s eyes were dark with a storm of passion.
Seeing me standing there, he dropped all pretense. A lazy smirk played on his lips. “Janice didn’t have anything suitable to wear. The things in your closet fit her perfectly. You can sleep in the guest room tonight.”
Janice pulled back a corner of the duvet, revealing the pale pink silk of my nightgown. Her smile was a triumphant, mocking slash. “I’m sure my sister won’t mind,” she purred.
“This lingerie was never meant for her anyway,” one of Daniel’s friends chimed in from the doorway, leaning casually. “It belongs to whoever fits it best.”
I understood his meaning. Every piece of clothing in that closet had been chosen by Daniel to match Lily’s taste. Now that someone who looked more like her had arrived, I was being replaced.
“Go get some sleep, Elara,” Daniel said, his tone laced with that familiar, cruel amusement. He was so confident. “Don’t worry. In my heart, you’ll always be number one. You know how much I love you.”
He was certain that with his affection score at 99, I wouldn’t dare say a word. I would just be his good little dog, grateful for any scrap of affection he threw my way.
I did exactly as he expected. I turned and walked away without a word.
The moment the door clicked shut, a series of messages lit up my phone screen. They were from Daniel’s group chat.
“Didn’t you guys say bringing in a new girl right when she thought she was safe would be the ultimate mind-fuck?”
“We practically did it right in front of her, and she still didn’t make a peep.”
“Haha, Daniel, aren’t you planning something even bigger? You’ll never get rid of that leech.”
“Shit, Daniel, wrong chat! Recall! Recall!”
I watched as the messages vanished one by one. My breath hitched, and a sharp pain lanced through my numb heart.
I used to believe that 99 was real. I was so happy, so terrified of losing it. I tiptoed around him, treasuring every rare crumb of kindness he offered.
But it was all a lie. The rising affection score was just another tool to torture me. They were watching me like a play, entertained by my struggle and my pain.

3
A few minutes later, Daniel called. He wanted me to bring Janice a glass of milk.
“You didn’t happen to look at your phone just now, did you?” he asked, testing me.
“No,” I said, feigning ignorance. “I was about to check on the baby.”
He sounded relieved. When I brought the milk, he even gave me a rare compliment.
The next morning, the baby’s cries woke me. I rushed to the nursery to find him on the floor, having crawled out of his crib and fallen. He was screaming, his face red and tear-streaked. The baby bottle next to him was empty, and he was instinctively trying to suckle from it, clearly ravenous.
Daniel stood by, looking completely helpless.
Even though he wasn't my biological son, the sight sent a pang of distress through me. I quickly prepared a bottle and picked him up to feed him.
“What’s all that noise?”
I looked up. Janice was leaning lazily over the second-floor railing, her silk nightgown hanging loosely, revealing a constellation of dark marks on her neck.
“Oh, whoops. I forgot about the baby,” she said with a dramatic yawn. “It’s all Daniel’s fault. He kept me up all night.” She shot me a glance, her eyes glittering with smug satisfaction. “I really need to have a talk with him. I was hired as a nanny, but he can’t keep exhausting me like this.” She blushed, feigning shyness.
She dangled a torn piece of silk over the railing and let it flutter to the floor. “Sorry, sister. Daniel got a little carried away and ripped your nightgown.”
She giggled, waiting for my reaction.
But I just held the baby, my face a blank mask. I didn’t even look at her. I had grown accustomed to silent endurance. The last time I’d shown any displeasure—spilling tea on one of his substitutes—Daniel had “punished” me. Believing his affection score was my lifeline, I had let him pour boiling water on my thigh. The skin there was now a permanent, puckered scar.
After settling the baby, I went out to hire a proper, professional nanny.
When I returned that afternoon with the new nanny, I found the baby asleep in his crib. But his face was an unnatural, flushed red, his features contorted not in peaceful slumber, but in pain.
The experienced nanny’s face paled. She rushed forward, checked the baby, and gasped.
“He’s been given a sleeping pill. A significant dose,” she whispered in horror. “And I think he’s having an allergic reaction. It looks like anaphylactic shock.”
My heart seized. I scooped the baby into my arms. “We have to get him to a hospital. Now.”
As I reached the front door, Janice blocked my path. “Where are you going, sister? And why are you taking the baby?”
“You fed him sleeping pills? Are you trying to kill him?” The words tore from my throat, raw with fury.
Janice flinched, her eyes darting to the baby’s discolored face. A flicker of panic crossed her features. “He wouldn’t stop crying! I just gave him a tiny piece. It just helps him sleep, what’s the big deal…? No, you can’t go! He’s fine! You’re just trying to tattle on me to Daniel!”
I let out a cold laugh. I thrust the baby into the nanny’s arms, grabbed a fistful of Janice’s hair, and yanked. “Mrs. Davis, take a cab to the hospital. Go!”
Janice shrieked in pain, flailing her arms. She knocked a glass off the coffee table. It shattered, and a shard flew up, slicing her cheek.
“Stop!”
Daniel’s voice was like cracking ice. He strode into the room, his eyes locking on the cut on Janice’s face. His chest heaved, a volcano of repressed rage about to erupt. He raised his hand to strike me, but hesitated, his eyes catching on my face—Lily’s face.
Instead, he drew back his foot and kicked me, hard, in the abdomen.
The force sent me flying. A tidal wave of agony engulfed me.
Daniel glared down at me, his voice dripping with venom. “You’re just jealous of her face, aren’t you? I’ve been too nice to you lately. It’s made you arrogant.”
He then turned, gently taking Janice’s arm, and led her away.

4
Mrs. Davis and I rushed the baby to the hospital. He was treated in time and was going to be fine. I, however, had to be admitted for a few days. The kick had torn open my C-section incision.
Other than his affection score dipping and then climbing back to 99, Daniel had no reaction.
When I returned to the villa, the front door was ajar. I could hear Daniel and his friends laughing inside.
“She actually hit Janice! Can you believe it? I guess getting her score to 99 really did make her arrogant. At least it’s something new. The pathetic doormat act was getting boring.”
“It’s a shame, though. Janice was the best look-alike yet, and now her face is ruined.”
“Hey Daniel, you’re not even going to check on her? The kid’s in the hospital too, you know.”
Daniel just smirked. “No need. With the affection score as leverage, she’ll come crawling back like the dog she is.”
I felt a bitter mix of amusement and despair. He had no idea. I didn’t care anymore.
I walked in, placed the baby’s medical report on the table in front of him without a word, and went upstairs.
“Ooh, someone’s got an attitude. Aren’t you going to go smooth things over, Daniel?”
“She’s the mother of your child now. She’s got more leverage. Gotta act like the lady of the house, right?”
I ignored their jeers and shut my bedroom door, curling into a ball on the floor behind it. The tears I had held back for so long finally broke free, falling in heavy drops onto the hardwood. I cried out all the years of humiliation, grief, and pain.
I cried until my eyes were dry and sore.
Suddenly, the System’s voice returned.
Host, your request has been approved. We can take you away immediately. Your next world has already been selected.
I sat there, stunned, for a long moment. Then, fresh tears began to fall. But these were different. These were tears of relief, of liberation.
“Good,” I whispered, and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
It should have been the most peaceful night I’d had in years. But in the middle of the night, I woke up choking on thick smoke.
My eyes flew open to a terrifying sight. Flames were climbing the walls, licking greedily at the ceiling. Primal survival instinct surged through me. I covered my mouth and nose and ran.
The moment I burst through the front door, I saw Daniel on the ground, gasping for air. He saw me, his face a mixture of shock and relief, which quickly turned to panic.
“The baby! I think the baby is still inside!” he yelled. “Elara, get out of here! The fire’s too big, we can’t go back in!”
My heart plunged. It felt like a giant hand was squeezing my throat, suffocating me.
“It’s okay. I’ll go back. I know where he is,” I said, my voice steady. And without a second thought, I turned and ran back into the inferno.
I gritted my teeth against the searing pain as flames kissed my skin and threw my body against the nursery door until it splintered open.
The crib was empty.
I stared, disbelieving. I searched the entire room, then the rest of the house, a frantic, desperate scavenger hunt. A cold dread washed over me.
“Jasper! Where are you?” My voice was a raw, trembling croak, lost in the roar of the fire. I searched everywhere, but he was gone.
As despair threatened to consume me, an image flashed in my mind, courtesy of the System.
It was a view of the lawn below. Daniel and his friends were there, huddled together.
“Move, let me see!” one of them said, snatching a pair of binoculars. “She’s still looking! She has no idea the baby’s not in there.” He laughed. “Man, Daniel, this is your cruelest prank yet. Cost you a whole villa, though.”
Daniel just shrugged, a smirk on his face. “Whatever. I bet she still won’t leave me. She hasn’t completed her mission.”
“I’ll take that bet. This is a new level of messed up. It’s psychological warfare.”
The System broadcasted their casual cruelty directly into my mind. I stood there, surrounded by fire, an icy cold spreading through me that had nothing to do with fear. The flames illuminated my deathly pale face.
My phone rang. It was Daniel.
His voice was laced with amusement. “Sorry, Elara. The baby isn't in there. And by the way, he isn’t yours. I used Lily’s eggs.”
“You didn’t really think I fell in love with you, did you? I’ve been planning this little show for over a year.”
“Surprise.”
As his words landed, the affection score on my system interface plummeted from 99 to 0.
This was his grand finale. To strip me of every last shred of hope.
But I was about to disappoint him. I didn't cry. I didn't scream.
Instead, I let out a soft laugh. “Yes,” I said. “Thank you. Thank you for finally setting me free.”
I hung up the phone.
“I’m ready,” I told the System. “Let’s go.”

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