[Brain] / [Heart]
The screen stayed in front of me.
I didn't move.
My hands were shaking. My legs felt weak. My breathing was loud in my ears.
I didn't know what it wanted.
I didn't know what it meant.
I just knew that the last time I chose something, I died.
I stared at the words until my eyes hurt.
Nothing happened.
No countdown. No warning.
I felt like if I didn't choose, something worse would happen.
My mouth opened before my mind caught up.
"Brain," I said.
The word lit up.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then a new line appeared.
[SYSTEM]: Are you sure?
My heart started pounding harder.
I didn't know why it asked that.
I didn't know what would happen if I said no.
I didn't know what would happen if I said yes.
"Yes," I said.
[SYSTEM]: Confirmed.
[SYSTEM]: Removing the unwanted one.
I felt it immediately.
Something crushed inside my chest.
Not pain at first—pressure. Like my ribs were being forced inward.
Then pain exploded.
It felt like my heart was being squeezed until it burst.
Blood rushed up my throat.
I coughed, and it poured out of my mouth in thick, dark clumps.
My nose burned. Blood streamed down my face.
My vision blurred as red leaked from the corners of my eyes.
My ears rang, then went wet.
I dropped to my knees.
My chest caved inward.
Something ruptured inside me.
I felt my heart tear apart.
Then it stopped.
I fell forward.
———
[YOU DIED]
[AUTO-SAVE LOADED]
———
I was standing again.
Alive.
Breathing.
No blood.
No pain.
The screen was already there.
[SYSTEM]: What matters more to you?
[Brain] / [Heart]
I staggered backward.
My chest felt hollow.
Like something had been ripped out and put back wrong.
My breathing was uneven.
"Heart," I said.
The word lit up.
[SYSTEM]: Are you sure?
I nodded without thinking.
"Yes."
[SYSTEM]: Confirmed.
[SYSTEM]: Removing the unwanted one.
Pain slammed into my head.
It felt like my skull cracked open.
Pressure built behind my eyes, sharp and unbearable.
Then everything burst.
Blood sprayed from my nose and mouth.
My eyes burned as something ruptured behind them.
Warm liquid flooded down my face.
My ears screamed and then went silent.
I felt my brain split apart inside my head.
Thoughts disappeared.
There was a wet, crushing sensation—
Then nothing.
———
[YOU DIED]
[AUTO-SAVE LOADED]
———
I came back gasping.
My body jerked like I'd been shocked.
I couldn't stand straight.
My hands slipped on the counter as I tried to hold myself up.
My head felt wrong.
My chest felt wrong.
The screen was there again.
[SYSTEM]: What matters more to you?
[Brain] / [Heart]
I shook my head.
"No," I said.
I backed away.
"I won't."
The screen didn't change.
The air felt heavy.
Then pain hit everywhere at once.
My chest collapsed inward.
My skull split open.
Both at the same time.
Blood erupted from my mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
My body convulsed.
My heart shattered.
My brain tore itself apart.
I didn't fall.
I just stopped.
———
[YOU DIED]
[AUTO-SAVE LOADED]
———
I came back screaming.
My throat hurt.
My lungs burned.
I dropped to my knees, clutching my head.
My thoughts wouldn't line up.
Everything felt broken.
I didn't know where I was.
I didn't know what was happening.
The screen floated in front of me.
Waiting.
I stared at it, shaking.
My body remembered dying.
Even if the wounds were gone.
And I knew one thing clearly now.
No matter what I chose—
It was going to kill me.
I stayed on my knees.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking. My jaw hurt from clenching it too hard. I raised one hand and bit my nail without realizing it. Hard. Until it hurt.
Think.
I had to think.
The screen floated in front of me.
[Brain] / [Heart]
Every time I chose, something inside me was destroyed.
Every time I didn't choose, everything was destroyed.
I didn't understand why. I didn't understand the rules. I didn't even understand what the question really meant.
My breathing was uneven. My head felt tight, like it was packed full.
I bit my nail again.
Blood filled my mouth. I swallowed it.
"Think," I whispered.
Before, I answered by speaking. Saying the word out loud. Like I was being tested.
Say one—lose the other.
Say nothing—lose both.
My eyes stayed locked on the screen.
Then a thought came. Sudden. Quiet. Almost slipped past me.
What if I'm doing it wrong?
What if the problem wasn't which one I chose.
What if the problem was choosing at all.
My heart started pounding.
My hands lifted slowly. Fingers shaking so bad they barely obeyed me.
"What if…" I whispered, "…I don't pick one?"
I reached forward.
And pressed both options at the same time.
The screen froze.
My stomach dropped.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the text changed.
[SYSTEM]: Input detected.
[SYSTEM]: Dual selection confirmed.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Nothing hurt.
My chest didn't tighten.
My head didn't split open.
I waited for it.
It didn't come.
Another line appeared.
[SYSTEM]: Correct response.
[SYSTEM]: Conflict resolved.
My knees gave out and I slumped forward, catching myself on the counter. I was breathing too hard, like my body still expected to die.
But I didn't.
I was alive.
My chest hurt, but it was normal pain. My head throbbed, but my thoughts were still there.
The screen stayed for a second longer.
Then it vanished.
Something hit the floor beside me with a dull sound.
I flinched and looked down.
A notebook.
Old. Worn. Black cover, edges burned and curled like it had been too close to fire before.
I picked it up with shaking hands.
On the cover, written in faded ink, were two words.
"Black Dahlia"
My throat went dry.
I opened it.
Most of the pages were blank.
No drawings. No explanations. No instructions.
Just one page in the middle.
Two words, written hard enough that the paper was almost torn.
"Choose nothing"
I stared at it for a long time.
Then the page after it.
Blank.
The last page had one more line, written smaller.
"Burn the book at a bonfire."
My fingers tightened around the notebook.
"That's it?" I whispered. "That's all you give me?"
No answer.
No screen.
No voice.
Just the book in my hands and my own breathing in my ears.
I slid down until I was sitting on the floor, back against the counter. I pulled my knees up to my chest and held the notebook there.
My nails were torn raw. My mouth still tasted like blood.
I didn't understand the system.
I didn't understand the rules.
But I understood one thing now.
Choosing was a trap.
And whatever this thing was—
It didn't want my answer.
I closed the notebook slowly.
Somewhere out there, a bonfire was waiting, along with the black dahlia girl.
And for the first time since this started, I knew what I had to do next.