“Ah!”
The sudden, terrifying scene left us completely stunned.
We never expected that the already deceased Grace Parker would rise again.
And then, she walked to the center of the office, smiling and singing a nursery rhyme.
Almost everyone screamed in terror at this sight.
“Eek!”
I even saw a few of the braver female employees, who were so frightened they wet themselves, with their skirts damp.
Minutes passed before Grace’s singing finally ceased, and then, her body fell to the ground with a thud.
“No, no!”
Ryan rushed towards Grace, holding her and shouting.
Unfortunately, by then, Grace Parker had reverted to being a corpse, unable to respond to him.
The rest of us were on the brink of collapse, still immersed in the horrific atmosphere from moments earlier.
It took over ten minutes before we started to calm down.
Someone choked out, “How could this happen? What is this the Devouring Demon? How can it make a corpse come back to life and sing a nursery rhyme?”
“It’s too terrifying! I don’t want to play this devil’s game anymore. I don’t want to die.”
“I don’t want to play this game either. I want to leave, I want to quit the group.”
As everyone was in despair, someone suddenly screamed, “Ah, look! The the Devouring Demon has sent another message in the group!”
We pulled out our phones and checked the group chat. Sure enough, the demon had sent another message.
“Those who quit the group will face death as punishment.”
Seeing this message, those who wanted to leave were instantly too scared to quit.
At this moment, I gathered my courage and sent a message to the demon, asking, “the Devouring Demon, how can this game be ended?”
I thought the demon wouldn’t respond.
But to my surprise, not long after, the demon replied.
“There are only two ways to end the game.”
We all asked, “What are the two ways?”
The demon replied, “First, if everyone in the group dies, the game will end.”
“Second, if someone can complete 12 tasks without dying, they can leave the group.”
After sending these messages, the demon’s avatar went dark, and no matter how much we asked, it remained silent.
By then, it was lunchtime, but none of the eighty-odd people in the office had left.
Everyone gathered together as if in a meeting, discussing the demon’s game.
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“Waa, what should we do? The the Devouring Demon is too terrifying. One word can cause death. And it can even resurrect corpses and make them sing.”
“Yes, it’s terrifying. This is something no human could do.”
“If this continues, we will all die at its hands.”
In their fear, people spoke in trembling voices.
Just then, our beautiful CEO, Claire, stepped up and said loudly, “Everyone, calm down. The situation has happened, and being scared won’t help.”
“Waa, CEO, what should we do?” asked a braver girl, crying.
Claire Evans, being the CEO, was still able to think rationally even in such a situation. She thought for a moment and said, “We’ve already called the police, but even they can’t handle this. So now, we can’t rely on others anymore.”
“We have to rely on ourselves. Either we obey the demon’s orders and complete its tasks one by one. If we’re lucky enough to complete ten tasks without dying, we can leave the group and survive.”
“Or, we band together and investigate who the the Devouring Demon is. Find out who they are and end this game!”
After Claire’s words, everyone seemed to have found a sense of direction and began to calm down.
Then someone asked, “CEO, what if the the Devouring Demon is truly a ghost? Even if we investigate it, we might only end up dead.”
“Yes, we are no match for it. How can we end the game?”
Claire thought for a moment and said, “I’ll bring a priest tomorrow. If the the Devouring Demon is indeed a ghost, the priest will deal with it.”
“That’s great.”
“Only the CEO could come up with a solution.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Claire’s suggestion.
They looked at this beautiful and intelligent woman with admiration.
However, I hated her!
Claire is the CEO of HydraSkin, twenty-eight years old, with a devilish figure and a beauty surpassing that of celebrities.
Our company, HydraSkin, is in the cosmetics industry, and there are many beautiful women, but none compare to Claire Evans.
Even some top celebrities would struggle to match her beauty.
Yet, despite being a stunning beauty, she is extremely gentle with others.
But when it comes to me, her attitude is completely different. To me, she is a witch with a saintly appearance.
Aside from being the company’s CEO, Claire is also my sister-in-law.
When I was born, my biological mother passed away. A few years later, my father remarried a new wife, who was quite wealthy. Her entire family was well-known in our city.
I thought marrying such a rich girl would bring a good life, but my father, being poor and weak, had no say in the family.
I suffered various abuses from my stepbrother, Jack, who is my stepmother’s son. He often took advantage of my stepmother’s absence to beat and insult me, calling me a bastard and an unloved wretch.
He hit me, cursed me, and abused me, warning me not to tell my stepmother. He would even force me to do things, once even making me crawl under his pants. Although I fought back with a fruit knife and avoided that particular humiliation, the shame of it is forever etched in my mind!
When I was in school, my stepmother arranged for me to attend the same school as Jack, where I continued to suffer his bullying.
He even got local thugs to beat me up.
My entire childhood was spent under Jack’s abuse and bullying.
During that time, I even considered suicide, but then someone appeared, giving me a glimmer of hope in that dark period of my life.
Her name was Snow.
She was as beautiful as a flower, pure as snow.
She was Claire’s sister. Due to the relationship between my stepmother and Snow’s mother, Jack and I grew up alongside the Evans sisters, as childhood friends.
Snow was kind and always gave me warmth and care after Jack’s abuses.
In my darkest times, her beautiful smile brought light to my life and gave me the courage to continue.
But Jack, that beast, drugged Snow when she turned eighteen. Although he didn’t succeed in violating her, he falsely accused me.
I tried to explain, but my attempts were in vain.
Jack framed me and even produced fake evidence. Even Snow no longer believed me.
The world didn’t believe me either!!
From then on, I carried the identity of a rapist.
Though Snow didn’t press charges and didn’t put me in jail, she left the city with a cold gaze, deeply disappointed. Since then, I haven’t seen her again.
And I have lived with the identity of a rapist ever since.
Because of that incident, my father lost his position in the family, and even my stepmother, who had been relatively kind to me, became indifferent.
As for Jack and his family, they have continued to humiliate me.
My life has become darker than before, but I no longer feel the same despair.
In my heart, there has always been a belief that keeps me strong.
That is, one day, I will tell Snow that I did not drug her, and that I never intended to harm her. Even if I have to destroy the world, I would never harm her.
If possible, I would like to tell her “I love you” in this lifetime.
Until I achieve these things, even if I bear the label of a rapist, even if my own father and mother don’t believe me, even if the world doesn’t believe me, I will not choose to die but will remain strong and live on.