With a Melancholy Persona, I Strayed Into a Horror Survival Game

Chapter 3: The Ghost Pressing Her Face Against Mine

A faint, sorrowful weeping drifted from deep inside the orphanage, intermittent and piercing.

I froze abruptly, my fingers clutching the mask in my pocket so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

What was waiting for me this time?

The cold seeped into my collar like ice water, spreading under my skin and into my bones.

Half-open doors lined the hallway, like empty eye sockets, silently staring at the intruders.

Every step on the rotting floorboards let out a long, sharp creak, amplified horribly in the dead silence.

I kept my head lowered, my face pale, my expression distant and broken, firmly holding onto my “melancholic muse” persona.

But only I knew the truth —

I wasn’t calm. I was petrified.

I wasn’t strong. I was too scared to move.

I was just an ordinary girl obsessed with fictional couples, soft and fragile deep down.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs, each beat threatening to burst out of my throat.

The weeping grew closer.

At almost the same moment —

Shrill, tearing screams exploded from both sides of the hallway.

All the ghosts in the orphanage had started hunting at once.

Not just one. All of them.

Every player was running for their lives.

Inside a room on the left, a male player turned his head, only to be yanked into the darkness by a bony hand emerging from the shadows.

His scream was cut off instantly.

Around the corner, a female player sprinted wildly, only to be pinned against the wall by an invisible force.

Her body twitched twice, then went completely still.

Panic spread like wildfire through the hallway.

New players sobbed, fled, and trampled over each other.

Veteran players watched coldly, even shoving others aside to use as bait.

Bloodshed, chaos, and despair washed over everything.

Players nearby huddled in the corner, trembling violently:

“What the hell is in there? Someone just died!”

“Don’t go near it! You’ll get dragged away!”

“Why is she still standing? Isn’t she scared?!”

[Live Stream Comments]

The whole building is killing people! This isn’t a game — it’s a m******e!

Lila’s calm is unnatural. Who is she, really?

Everyone else is losing their minds, but she’s acting like nothing’s wrong…

I closed my eyes during that last kill, but she’s still standing.

I swear something is protecting her.

I didn’t move — not out of bravery, but because my legs refused to obey.

The second I saw the ghosts slaughtering players, I lowered my head deeper into the shadows, keeping my melancholic, distant expression.

My fingernails dug painfully into my palms, using physical pain to hold back my snapping nerves.

Then —

A bone-chilling aura, damp and rotten, wrapped around me without warning.

It felt like a bucket of ice water poured straight over my head.

My entire body stiffened.

Slowly… very slowly… I lifted my head.

And I saw her.

The Weeping Bride stood right in front of me, so close that our noses nearly touched.

Her face was as pale as paper, her eye sockets hollow black pits with no pupils, only endless darkness.

Her lips were split open in a hideous gash from ear to ear, the wound dark red and black, edges raw and curled.

Every breath carried a cold, fishy stench.

She pressed her face against mine, staring at me motionlessly.

[Inner monologue — slow, despairing, like a final testament:

It’s over.

Really over.

I’m going to die here.

I’ll never ship another couple again.

When they find my body, they’ll go through my things.

The second drawer of my nightstand…

The things that kept me company when I was lonely…

They’ll find them.

My whole life…

All my personas…

Gone forever.]

My heart pounded so loudly I was terrified it would give me away.

The pain in my palms could barely contain my collapsing panic.

Yet on the surface, I remained pale, melancholic, and completely still — not even my eyelashes trembled.

In that suffocating moment, the bride spoke, her voice cold, wet, and broken, right next to my ear:

“Are you… afraid of me too?”

I survived on pure instinct, screaming inside my head —

I can’t die! I can’t be exposed!

To protect my last shred of dignity, to keep my secrets hidden, I forced myself to speak.

My voice was soft, gentle, and steady, filled with just the right amount of melancholy and compassion:

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“I know you don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The bride’s hollow eye sockets shifted slightly, her face still pressed against mine.

“They call me cursed… they left me… I lost my baby. I have nothing left.”

As her words ended, the black water around her erupted violently.

Her split mouth stretched wider, the hideous wound nearly tearing down to her jaw.

Dark blood trickled from the cracks.

Despair and rage boiled in her empty sockets.

Her entire face turned terrifyingly ghastly, as if she would devour me whole in the next second.

At that moment, the air turned to stone.

[Live Stream Comments]

…She’s so close.

I can’t breathe.

Don’t speak… don’t make her angry.

Can she survive this time?

I’m holding my breath.

I stood frozen, breathing as lightly as possible, and spoke in a calm, empathetic tone:

“I see you.”

“You’re just in so much pain… so lonely.”

“Your baby would never want you to be trapped here.”

The bride’s body stiffened.

She slowly pulled back from me.

The black water surrounding her gradually calmed down.

The grotesque look on her face slowly softened.

“You… you really see me?”

“Yes.” I nodded gently, my voice sincere and steady. “I see your pain.”

As I finished speaking, I stepped forward slowly, opened my arms, and hugged her quietly.

No fear. No avoidance. Only pure understanding and warmth.

In that instant, the entire world stood still.

The black water stopped churning.

The weeping vanished completely.

Even the cold in the air faded away.

Time felt like it had been paused.

[Live Stream Comments]

(Completely silent)

Seconds later, soft white light began to pour from her body.

Her tattered wedding dress dissolved into glowing specks.

The black water receded slowly.

She bowed slightly to me, then faded away entirely.

A silver bell fell to the floor, ringing clear and peaceful.

[System Notice]

Player Lila Voss has successfully calmed the spirit: The Weeping Bride.

Obtained item: Tracking Bell (detects spirits and nearby malice).

Followers: 1,050,000 | Heat: 800,000 | Bonus: $1,100,000.

[Live Stream Comments]

1.05 MILLION FOLLOWERS!!

She… she hugged the ghost!!

Is she an angel…?

This scene actually made me cry.

The veterans must be furious.

I picked up the bell, my fingers still ice-cold.

My face remained calm and melancholic, but inside I was shaking with relief.

Just then, the veteran leader and two of his men approached me with dark expressions.

“Hand over the bell,” he snarled, his eyes cold and predatory, his voice piercing.

I lifted my gaze and stared at him coldly, saying nothing.

In the next second, the protective aura Ethan left on me tried to surface —

but the once-powerful dark energy flickered weakly, like a candle in the wind, then faded almost completely.

My heart sank heavily.

[I realized clearly: his power was fading fast.

Every time it protected me, it burned through what little remained.

This protection wouldn’t last much longer.

One or two more uses, and it would be gone forever.]

The veterans saw it too.

The leader let out a cruel, vicious laugh, his voice low but sharp:

“I see it clearly. Whatever’s protecting you won’t last.”

“The moment it’s gone, you won’t live to take anything else.”

“We’ll even offer you as a sacrifice to the ghosts.”

He spat the threat, glared at me one last time, then turned and vanished into the shadows of the hallway.

I squeezed the bell tightly, cold sweat breaking out on my back.

Staying out in the open was suicide.

Ghosts were hunting everywhere.

Veterans were waiting for my protection to fail.

There was no safety here at all.

I had to hide inside a room, at least temporarily.

I scanned the hallway quickly, pushed open the nearest closed door, stepped inside, and shut it softly.

Finally, the screaming, bloodshed, and malice outside were shut out.

But the second the door clicked shut —

From the next room, a sharp, static TV noise burst out.

Bzzzt — shhh —

The eerie sound of a black-and-white screen with no signal.

One second later,

A telephone rang sharply and coldly from the next room.

Ring — ring — ring —

Loud and clear in the deadly silence, making my blood run cold.

I knew that sound

all too well.