Chapter 1
The theater glowed.
Warm lights, laughter, applause in the background. It was the perfect night.
Everyone was there: her mother, her older sisters, her classmates, the teachers, her best friend who always supported her.
She was on stage, just behind the curtain, holding the rope she had to cut to release the confetti at the end of the show.
—"That's all,"—she whispered to herself with a nervous smile.—"Just cut the rope and end with style…"
But her fingers trembled.
Her heart was pounding so loud, she could barely hear the applause.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a second… and cut.
The world shattered.
A deep crack. The sound of something tearing apart.
A dark shadow swept across the stage. Screams. First of surprise… then of horror.
A metal structure fell.
Then another. The ceiling began to collapse.
The curtain tore with a screech, as if the theater itself was screaming. The wood groaned. The lights burst.
—NO! —she screamed, running to the edge of the stage— NO, NO, NO!
Too late.
The confetti never fell.
Only blood.
Only trapped bodies.
Only faces twisted by fear, by pain… by the final silence.
Her mother.
Her sister.
Her friends.
All of them.
Her knees hit the floor. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.
The voices around her faded, but the screams kept echoing inside her.
Like an eternal echo tearing at her soul.
—It was my fault… —she whispered— It was me! IT WAS ME!
And then…
A voice, unfamiliar, cut through the chaos.
Dimensional Emotional Points System activated.
Loading connection… established.
Welcome, Host 001.
The pain was so great, so pure, she didn't even react.
And then she screamed.
A scream that no longer sounded human.
It was an explosion—like her soul being torn apart from the inside.
As if her throat bled rage, regret, and madness.
She cried, but not tears.
She cried blood, falling like rain and staining the floor red.
Her vision turned scarlet. Her nails dug deep into her face.
Her body trembled. She wished it were all a lie—just a wicked hallucination, a nightmare.
But it was her cruel reality.
And then… black. Her eyelids closed, and everything became darkness.
She awoke.
No theater. No bodies. Only a white void stretching endlessly in every direction.
No floor. No ceiling.
And yet, she stood. As if suspended in nothingness.
—Am I dead? —she murmured, her voice raw.
Then a male voice echoed, soft and mysterious, as if it came from inside her own mind:
—Do you want to change everything?
Her eyes opened.
The voice was strangely calm. Almost sweet.
—All you have to do is accept the job.
Naturally, they will all live.
She didn't answer.
Her breathing grew heavy. The memory… the cracking… the screams… her mother… her sisters…
—Just say "yes," —the voice urged— and you'll have them back.
But she wasn't listening.
She was screaming. Drowning in her own suffering, unable to focus.
Screaming as if her soul was burning.
—GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!!! —she shrieked, clawing at the air, collapsing to her knees— LET ME DIE WITH THEM!!
The voice faded, leaving her alone.
Alone, until she stopped drowning in her pain and chose to do something.
And so, she was alone.
Time didn't exist there.
No sun. No moon. Only white. Only silence.
The memory replaying in her mind, over and over again.
She didn't know if days, months, or years had passed.
But her mind began to crack.
—I'm not real, —she'd whisper sometimes— The theater doesn't exist… it was all a dream, right? Right?
She tried to convince herself it was all a cruel dream, and that she'd wake up soon.
Other times she laughed to herself. Talked to her sisters, to her mother.
Begged them for forgiveness.
She cried, slept, screamed…
Until one day, she cried no more.
Her eyes were hollow. Her voice was flat.
And when the voice returned, years later, she said just one word:
—I accept.
At those words, a bell rang—marking the beginning of her story.
End of Chapter