Tenfold Retribution for My Betrayer

My boyfriend and I were trapped in a holographic survival game.

But he had fallen in love with the games damsel-in-distress, an NPC.

To draw the monsters' lethal aggro away from her, he pushed me into the path of the horde, time and time again.

The first time, the ghouls tore my legs to pieces.

The second time, acid-spitters corroded half my face.

The third time, I was left to burn alive in a purgatory fire that raged for three days and three nights.

The fourth time, he tricked me into drinking a vial of pheromone lure and locked me inside a cage swarming with mutated hounds.

"Its just a game, Cassidy. Your pain dampener is set to a hundred percent. Even if you die, youll just respawn at a lower level."

"But Grace is just data. If she dies, the system wipes her out permanently."

He stood outside the cage, gently covering the NPC's eyes so she wouldnt have to witness the horror of me being ripped apart.

What he didn't know was that to get him his legendary weapon, I had permanently locked my pain settings to the maximum reality threshold the day before.

And back in the real world, my physical body had already begun a three-minute countdown to irreversible brain death.

Clack.

The final latch clicked into place.

I was completely sealed inside the cramped, rusted iron cage.

Outside, a dozen mutated hounds paced in agitated circles, their throats vibrating with low, wet growls. The pheromone lure he had fed me was taking full effect. The sweet, cloying scent was an irresistible feast to these starving beasts.

"Austin," I pleaded, my voice trembling violently. "Please open the gate. I'm begging you."

Three paces away stood the man I had loved for five years, my fianc.

Austin didnt even flinch. He only tightened his grip around the shivering girl in his arms.

The girl was Grace, an NPC in this survival game.

"Austin, Im so scared," Grace whimpered, burying her tear-stained face into his chest.

Austin immediately looked down at her, his voice softening into a tenderness I had never once received. "Dont be scared, Grace. Im right here. They won't touch you."

My heart squeezed so hard it felt as if it would burst. In this virtual world, his display name was Austin. Yet, I no longer even had the right to call him by that name with any expectation of warmth.

"Austin!" I cried out, my nails digging deep into my palms. "Did you hear me? Open the gate! These things are going to eat me alive!"

The hounds grew wilder. The largest of them lunged against the bars, spraying hot, rancid saliva across my face.

"Ah!" I shrieked, cowering into the furthest corner of the cage.

At that moment, Grace peeked out from Austins embrace, her eyes wide with simulated pity. "Austin, she looks like she's in so much pain... maybe... maybe I should just feed myself to the monsters instead? Im only data anyway. It doesnt matter."

She sounded so incredibly innocent. But I saw itthe fleeting, smug twist of her lips hidden behind his shoulder, mocking me.

Predictably, Austins brow furrowed at her words. The look he cast toward me was dripping with sheer disgust.

"Cassidy, are you done acting?" he snapped. "This is a game. Your pain dampener is at a hundred percent. Even if you die, you just respawn back at the safe zone. What is there to be so terrified of?"

He paused, his impatience rising. "But Grace is just code. If she dies, shes gone forever."

Before I could reply, the largest hound threw its weight against the rusted latch. The lock snapped. Crimson eyes locked onto me, and it lunged.

"No!"

An agonizing, tearing sensation exploded in my calf.

I screamed, a sound so raw and guttural it barely sounded human. The pain was so intense it shattered my mind, vibrating through every fiber of my being.

With my pain block completely disabled, the sensation of flesh parting from bone was like a thousand white-hot knives carving up my nervous system.

"Austin! Help me! It hurts! It really hurts!" I wailed, desperately reaching a blood-soaked hand through the bars.

But Austin only raised his hand, gently shielding Graces eyes. "Shh, sweetheart. Dont look. Itll give you nightmares."

The rest of the pack swarmed. Claws and teeth tore into my flesh. One of them clamped its jaws around my abdomen and pulled. I could feel the wet, sickening sensation of my own organs spilling onto the cold floor.

The pain was so absolute I couldn't even twitch. My vision began to blur, replaced by the violent, flashing crimson of my system HUD.

[WARNING: Player's neural load has exceeded safe limits! Emergency override initiated!]

[WARNING: Real-world physical vitals are dropping rapidly. Brain death expected in three minutes!]

[Countdown initiated: 02:59]

I coughed up a thick mouthful of blood. Through the crimson haze, my eyes drifted to Austin's hip.

There hung a magnificent, glowing golden sword.

Dawnbreaker.

The legendary weapon I had sacrificed my pain-dampening rights to obtain for him. And now, he was using it to shield someone else.

[Countdown: 02:00]

Amidst the blinding agony, fragments of the last three days flashed before my eyes like a broken film reel.

Three days ago, during the ghoul siege.

My legs had been bitten off by the horde, jagged white bones tearing through my skin. Austin had swept Grace into his arms and run without looking back, using me as a decoy to draw the Ghoul King away.

"Just hold out for a bit, Cass! Ill draw them off and come right back for you!" he had yelled.

He never came back. I was torn to pieces by thousands of ghouls.

Two days ago, in the nest of the acid-spitters.

To shield a screaming Grace, Austin had shoved me directly into the path of the spitters. The corrosive acid melted half my face, sizzling and smoking against my flesh. As I writhed on the ground in agony, he had merely pulled Grace away, murmuring with disgust, "Don't look. It's hideous."

One day ago, at the Purgatory Pyre.

The quest demanded a living sacrifice to quench the flames that had burned for three days. Austin looked at the weeping Grace, then turned his gaze to me.

"Cass, your pain dampener is on. You won't feel a thing."

With those words, he pushed me into the fire. I felt every inch of my skin peel away, every nerve ending screaming as I burned alive for three full game-days.

And all of it was for that golden sword at his waist.

Offering myself to the system's crucible was the only way to forge the weapon that would ensure his survival in this hellscape. The price was the permanent, irreversible loss of my pain-shielding privileges.

I had foolishly believed that once he had the sword, we could fight our way out of here together.

I was wrong.

"Roar!"

A stray hound bypassed Austin, leaping toward Grace. With a swift stroke of Dawnbreaker, Austin sliced the beast in two. The golden light flashed elegantly; he hadn't even had to shift his stance.

He protected his NPC with the very sword bought with my flesh.

"Austin, you're so amazing!" Grace breathed, gazing at him with simulated adoration. Then, she clutched her temple, her brow pinching in delicate distress. "Oh... my head. The howling of these monsters is making my head throb."

She swayed on her feet, looking as though she might faint at any moment.

Austin's face contorted with worry. "Grace, what's wrong?"

Without a second thought, he unbuckled a sleek silver band from his left wrist.

The Pain Nullifier.

It was a priceless, tier-one defensive item, a unique compensation given to the very first wave of trapped players. Only one existed per player, permanently bound to their account.

Yet, to spare an NPC a mild headache, he unlinked it.

He took Grace's small hand and clasped the silver band around her wrist. "There. Now you won't feel any pain or fear."

Inside the cage, my fingers clawed at the bloody floor until my nails tore off. I stared at the man I had loved for five years, watching him hand our only lifesaver to a string of digital code.

My heart ached worse than my mutilated body.

With the last of my breath, I gasped out, "Austin... what if... what if I really die?"

Hearing my voice, he finally spared me a glance. A sneer touched his lips, his face filled with cold contempt.

"Then hurry up and die so you can respawn at the safe zone. Stop ruining the mood."

[Countdown: 01:00]

My vision faded entirely into darkness. Only the steady, cold ticking of the clock echoed in my mind.

[Countdown: 00:30]

A hound clamped its jaws around my throat, crushing my windpipe.

Gargle.

I couldn't make a sound anymore. Blood flooded my airway. The noise of the world began to recede, drifting away like a radio losing signal.

I could no longer hear the beasts tearing at my flesh. I couldn't hear Graces soft whimpers, nor Austins soothing whispers.

He hadn't looked back once.

I figured he was probably whispering promises to Grace right now, telling her he would take her to see the digital northern lights or the neon fireworks programmed into the safe zone. The very things he had once promised me.

[Countdown: 00:15]

It was so cold. The wind seemed to carry my warmth away as my blood pooled on the dirt.

With the absolute last of my strength, I lifted my mangled right hand and touched my ring finger.

There sat the digital wedding band. It was a perfect virtual replica of the ring he had used to propose to me in the real world. He had told me it was a symbol of shared lives, a vow of eternity.

In this game, its primary function was to send a high-priority distress beacon to your partner when your health fell below five percent.

[Countdown: 00:10]

I looked at Austin's silhouette. He was gently wiping away Grace's tears. He looked so handsome, so soft. But that softness was no longer mine.

The final ember of love in my chest quietly died.

I didn't press the distress button.

Instead, with my bloody, trembling finger, I swiped to a different option on the holographic interface.

[PERMANENTLY DESTROY]

[Countdown: 00:03]

The ring on my finger dissolved into a brilliant shower of light, scattering into the dark.

The moment the ring vanished, I saw Austin's hand freeze.

He stiffened, as if struck by a sudden current of electricity. He whipped his head around, staring wildly toward the cage.

[Countdown: 00:01]

My time was up.

[Countdown: 00:00]

Meeting his panicked, horrified gaze, I used the very last ounce of my life to offer him a grim, final smile.

Austin, you got your wish. I won't get in your way ever again.

My head slumped forward, and my world went black.

The moment my eyes closed, the sky above the virtual wasteland turned a violent, bleeding crimson.

A piercing, deafening siren wailed across every corner of the map, sounding like the scream of a dying world. High above, rows of bloody text materialized in the sky, reflecting on every player's interface.

[SERVER-WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT: Warning! Player 'Cassidy' vital signs have synchronized with reality and flatlined!]

[SERVER-WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT: Warning! Character deletion protocol initiated. Data collapse in: 10, 9, 8...]

Austin froze.

Dawnbreaker slipped from his hand, clattering against the stone floor.

"Cassidy?" he murmured, before throwing himself toward the cage. "Cassidy! What kind of sick prank is this? Stop screwing around and get out of there!"

He reached through the bars to grab me, but his fingers passed straight through my body, catching nothing but dissolving grey pixels.

My corpse was disintegrating at an impossible speed, breaking down into stardust.

This wasn't the clean, white light of a player respawning. This was total, permanent deletion.

"Austin," Grace whispered, terrified by the sudden crimson sky. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, her voice trembling. "She must have just respawned back at the city. Shes trying to scare you. Dont be angry. W-weren't we going to watch the fireworks?"

Austins body shook. He stared at the empty space where I had just been, desperately trying to swallow the suffocating dread rising in his throat.

He shoved Grace away, retrieved his sword, and forced a cold sneer onto his face.

"Right. She's just playing a game," he muttered, as much to himself as to her. "Let's go. I want to see how long she can keep up this little stunt."

He strode away, refusing to let himself believe that I was gone.

But at that exact second, in the real world...

BEEEEEP

Inside the high-tech VIP medical suite, the life-support pod housing my physical body emitted a sharp, continuous drone. On the monitor, my steady heart rhythm flattened into a stark, unmoving line.

"Patient has flatlined! Heart has stopped!"

"Quick, prep the defibrillator!"

Dr. Stephen Mercer burst into the room. When his eyes hit the flatline on the monitor, his composure shattered completely.

"No! There's no time!"

He shoved a nurse aside, grabbed an emergency fire axe from the wall, and swung it with all his might against the reinforced glass of my pod.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

"Cassidy! Wake up! Look at me!"

The glass shattered. He dragged my limp, fluid-soaked body out of the pod.

"Defibrillator! Charge to three hundred!"

The metal paddles pressed hard against my chest.

"Clear!"

A massive surge of electricity coursed through my body. My chest arched violently, then fell back onto the table.

As my consciousness drifted into the deepest dark, a cold, mechanical voice echoed within the quietest chambers of my soul.

[Betrayer sacrifice complete. Soul contract activated. Special talent 'Absolute Vengeance' bound.]

[When the betrayer, Austin, experiences love, guilt, or regret toward you, that emotion will be multiplied tenfold and converted into physical pain upon his own body. Happy hunting.]

My last conscious thought was a silent vow etched into the dark.

Austin, from this day forward, may we never meet again in this life or the next.