Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended

CHAPTER 149: A Bridge Between Worlds

The world around her was an indistinct blur, a haze of shadows and muted echoes. Yet, she felt its cold harshness, a bleak and unforgiving reality pressing in from all sides. But for a brief, fragile moment, none of it mattered. Standing before her were a man and a woman, their faces breathtakingly beautiful yet etched with sorrow so deep it seemed to stain their very souls.

The air trembled with the clash of metal and the angry cries of unseen forces drawing closer, an impending chaos that engulfed everything in its path. The man and woman turned toward the oncoming storm, their forms tense with resignation. Then, like fragile leaves in a gale, they were swept away.

The warmth of their presence disappeared, leaving her suddenly cold and hollow. Panic surged through her small body as her trembling hand reached out desperately into the void, her fingers stretching toward what was slipping away. But no matter how she reached or how much she willed it, they were pulled further from her grasp—lost to the darkness, consumed by the void, and gone forever.

The crimson-eyed girl jolted awake from her nightmare, her arm still outstretched. Her chest heaved with shallow breaths, the echoes of sorrow still clinging to her like a heavy shroud. Beside her, the fawn slept soundly, its small body rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm. Both were nestled against the mother deer's silken fur that staved off the night's bitter cold.

...It's that same dream again, she thought dejectedly, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared up at the luminous moon.

She wondered when she had last felt a warm touch, or heard gentle words spoken by another. At the bitter thought, a fleeting memory surfaced—a glimpse of the man and woman's radiant smiles. For a moment, it filled her heart with warmth, but as she tentatively raised her hand toward the starry sky, reaching for the fragile memory, it slipped away like mist.

Warm tears silently slid down her cheeks, but as the image of the moon blurred through her watery gaze, another familiar memory began to take shape in her mind, its presence stirring something deep within.

Crimson-red eyes trembled as they fixed on the barn's wooden floor that was partially obscured by a thin layer of scattered hay. The past several days had been a nauseating blur, a series of events so disjointed they left her reeling. One moment, she was free, clinging to the fragile hope of survival; the next, she was shackled and sold to ruthless traders.

Now, she stood as a mere laborer that was owned by Reginald Alden Percival, her fate sealed and her body bound to the whims of his cruelty. She braced herself for what was to come, knowing that she was nothing more than a tool to be abused in ways too dark to comprehend.

"Rawrwu," her canine companion whined softly, a look of concern etched on his face as he looked up at her from within her cloak.

Despite the biting cold, the gnawing hunger, and the crippling fear that sent shivers through her body, the girl forced a soft, reassuring smile. She fought to keep her expression even, clinging to a semblance of composure as if the very act of maintaining control could shield her from the overwhelming darkness closing in, threatening to break her.

Suddenly, a mysterious boy appeared. In that instant, time seemed to slow, and everything within her stilled. Every ounce, every atom of her being was drawn to him, as if the very air between them hummed with an undeniable pull. In that fleeting moment, the hunger, the fear, and the biting cold faded into nothingness, leaving behind a warmth she had almost forgotten existed. The world, once cruel and unyielding, felt soft, tender, and inexplicably beautiful.