Midnight. I heard a faint meowing through the window. I was about to have a look when floating words appeared in front of me.

[Don't open the window! There isn't a cat outside! It's a serial killer!]

[I'm done. How could the side character be so dumb? I can already imagine how tragic her death will be.]

[Go and find the villain! He loves you so much! He will surely protect you!]

I quickly retracted my hand on the window latch…

Killer? What killer? What side character?

Were the floating words in front of me suggesting that a serial killer was hiding outside my window?

In the lounge, I looked at the words floating in front of me. I was half-convinced I was losing my mind.

I cautiously pulled the curtain open and looked out of the window through the dim moonlight.

Moonlight seeped in, spilling across the grounds below. The courtyard was vast and desolate, with not a soul in sight.

Something was very wrong.

This was no common hospital, but a high-end, luxurious one. The third ward, where I was, was for the more mentally fragile patients. For their protection, the lights would be kept on all night with security guards patrolling without fail.

The lounge was on the fourth floor. Through the glass window, I could see the entire layout of the courtyard. The entire place was smothered in darkness, with not a single patrolling guard in sight.

This was too eerie.

If there were a killer outside the window, the most probable place to conceal themselves would be the air-conditioning unit just beneath my window. They would be visible from downstairs.

I furrowed my brows and pressed the intercom button, summoning the guards. The only sounds that replied to me were the sound of static followed by a shrill tone.

Something was terribly wrong.

Right at that moment, a cat meowed outside, sending chills down my back. Upon a closer hearing, I realized that the meows had a constant rhythm. This was clearly a recording!

I wiped the cold sweat on my forehead and forced myself to calm down. Through the walls, I could hear a faint rustling sound of clothes outside the window. Someone had moved.

At that moment, I finally believed that the comments I just saw were true. There was someone trying to hurt me hiding outside the lounge.

I moved away from the window and returned inside, locking all doors and windows shut.

Then, I moved a huge drawer to the window, blocking it. I quickly called the cops.

At the same time, words started floating in front of me again.

[What? The side character didn't rescue the cat? I take back what I said about her being dumb.]

[Such astute observations, but I remembered that in the original story, she still died in the end. What a pity.]

[There's no choice. Her death is needed to stoke the conflict between the villain and hero.]

Cold dread coiled tightly in my chest. I had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, no one picked up my phone call. Suddenly, a deafening crash erupted from the window. Someone had struck the tempered glass with a hammer.

Shards rained as the window burst open.

I was so stunned I could barely react.

A shadow lurked outside the window. They kicked the drawer blocking the window.

Through the moonlight, I saw a man raising a blood-soaked axe in front of me. He was wearing a mask, but his gaze showed that he was gleaming maniacally.

I opened the door in terror and quickly ran, trying to flee from the place, yet the footsteps behind me got closer and closer.

Soon, he grabbed my ponytail and flung me to the floor. At the last moments of my life, I was still trying to fight for my life.

"Wait! Why do you want to kill me? At least, tell me the reason!"

The man said nothing but merely raised his axe. When the axe landed on me, pain exploded as blood seeped through my white coat.

Right before I lost all consciousness, I saw those strange floating words in front of me again.

[The side character has died such a tragic death. The villain will surely go crazy.]

[My god! How could they do that to my favorite villain pairing? They are so much more believable than the main characters!]

When I opened my eyes once more, the pain had completely vanished. I subconsciously looked at the clock on the wall.

Midnight.

Comments appeared in front of me again.

[Don't open the window! There's no cat outside! It's a serial killer!]

[I'm done. Why is she so dumb? I can already imagine how tragic her death will be.]

[Go and find the villain! He loves you so much! He will surely protect you!]

I quickly retracted my hand on the window latch and clutched my chest, breathing hard.

Had I…been given another chance?

That cruel man who killed me in my past life had not broken through the window yet.

Time was running short. He had an axe. Plus, he was much stronger and faster than I was.

Once he had lost his patience with toying with me, I was basically dead. I had to do something.

Luckily, I was not too high up in the building. If I tried my best, I might just survive it all.

The cat's meows came right at this moment, just like how it happened in my past life. The killer was about to barge through the window.

I immediately opened the door and ran out, following the memory I had from the last life, avoiding all the obstacles.

The entire building was in total darkness; the only thing lit was the green emergency exit lights.

The comments started appearing in front of me again.

[My God! She's quite smart. I can see she really wants to live, but it's too bad she won't get past this episode.]

[Yes. If she didn't die, why would the villain go mad and attack the main characters?]

[Yes. It's pointless even if she escaped the room. The main entrance had been locked by the killer.]

My heart sank as I read the comments. Could I not escape my fate?

No. As long as there was a slight possibility, I would live. My mind ran quickly, trying to think about the details in the past.

Who was the villain? If he could save me, where should I go to look for him?

When I was by the staircase, I heard a loud crash coming from the lounge. The killer had barged in.

I ran and quickly found a spot to hide. The entire building was in complete darkness, yet there were no movements from the patients or the medical staff on shift.

I had a bad feeling.

Sure enough. As I looked through a few rooms, there was not a soul in sight. There was no one. There were also no signs of the room being lived in. All the rooms were oddly clean and tidy.

How could this be possible?

The medical staff had greeted me with a smile at around 10:00 P.M. However, at this moment, the entire building seemed to be covered in darkness, waiting to swallow me whole.

I suppressed the fear in me and quickly swept through the room, scanning for a place to hide.

The cabinets? Under the bed? Behind the couch?

No. Those options were far too conspicuous.

I quickened my steps. Just when the man upstairs started coming downstairs, I finally found a place to hide.

The second room on the left on the second floor used to be a counseling room. Yet, it was also in utter silence at that moment.

So many people had vanished in the third ward. There must be more than one killer.

Although I was not too high up, I was not sure if I could successfully survive a jump from the window. I avoided all of the possible danger, so choosing to hide was my best option.

I entered the counselling room, careful not to leave any footprints behind. Then, I quickly found an abandoned vent behind the shelf and burrowed myself inside.

No one knew about this place other than some medical staff. I tried to breathe slowly while trying to come up with a survival strategy in the dark.

If this world truly revolved around the duel between the villain and the hero, then for someone like me, the so-called side character mentioned in those strange comments, survival meant that I had to choose a side.

I was a little uncertain about the hero's stance. I did not know what the comments meant by a villain pairing, but from their words, I was on the same side as the villain for the time being.

According to the story, no matter where I hid, being killed by the killer was just a matter of time.

Only by getting the villain involved and joining forces with him could I have a chance of survival.

However, who on earth was the villain?

In the darkness, I heard a flurry of footsteps coming downstairs. The killer had fallen for it.

He thought I had gone downstairs, so he went after me. However, I knew that I did not have much time. He would soon find out that he had been played.

Sure enough, not long later, heavy footsteps rang out in the corridor.

The killer was back!

I waited with bated breath as the footsteps approached me.

[My God! I shouldn't watch this in the middle of the night. I hope she survives.]

[Look for the villain! He wants to protect her so eagerly!]

[I don't dare to watch this at all! The killing is too cruel! Even if he had a grudge against the side character, he didn't need to make it so creepy, right?]

[Haha! We're in beta testing. Surely there'd be bugs.]

[The villain is at his home, which is close to the hospital. If only she could go and ask him for help.]

[If only she could send him a message. He would surely be able to save her!]

Beta testing? What kind of test?

My attention was soon focused on a certain comment. I quickly scanned them all to get the gist of it.

So, the villain stayed near the hospital? I had a good friend, too?

Right at that moment, the footsteps stopped right outside the counseling room door. I was hidden in the vent with a huge shelf blocking me, but my heart was still pounding hard.

Luckily, he only entered and scanned around before leaving again.

[The side character is smart. If she's not killed in this story, perhaps she can join forces with the villain to get rid of the main character.]

[Dude, come on. Where are your morals? The side character and the villain are evil people!]

[Besides that, the story's focus is on the greatness of the hero! Don't compare the villain to the hero.]

I disregarded the comments and quickly looked at my phone, going through who I thought could fit the description of the villain.

I did not have many contacts. In a short while, I managed to shortlist two candidates.

One was a blind date that my aunt had set me up with, and the man's name was Jason Lou. The other was Quince Chant, my colleague in the second ward as well as my college mate.

I was stunned for a while. I was not familiar with them, but I soon sent them a message.

According to the comments, the villain liked me. If he knew I was in danger, he would be the only one who could help me solve the problem the quickest.

Soon, my phone vibrated.

Jason had sent me a message.

[Stay where you are. I'll come find you right away.]

Quince also sent a message.

[Leave that place at once! The killer is checking every room! Not every room on the left side has a vent. Once he finds out the existence of the vents, you'll be in danger. Run!]

They replied to me at the same time, but their messages were completely different.

Who was the villain I could trust?

I looked up, wanting to see the comments floating in front of me, but there was nothing.

Just when I was hesitating, another scurry of footsteps rang out.

Was that Quince?

No. No way. Quince was on shift at the second ward. He would not be able to get here so soon after seeing the message.

It must be the killer! He must have returned!

The footsteps stopped right outside the counseling room once more. My heart was pounding wildly.

I did not know Jason or Quince very well. I could not decide who the villain was.

Right at that moment, words floated in front of me again.

[Wow! She actually asked the villain for help! I really ship them!]

[She asked two people for help at the same time. Who is the other guy?]

[There's hope for her after all! Our villain won't be alone!]

[I really want to see the villain's handsome face again! They're truly a match made in heaven! I ship them both!]

Handsome?

I thought about it. In my memories, Jason and Quince were both good-looking. Well, since one of them was the villain, their characters would probably reflect that.

At the thought of how Jason once ran a red light to help an old woman, I was determined that he was the villain.

I chose to believe him and stayed in the same spot.

My heart hung in suspense as the footsteps stopped right in front of me.

"Sarah, are you in there?"

It was Jason!

I showed myself and looked at that handsome face.

Jason was catching his breath with a baseball bat in his hand, scanning around in caution.

"On my way here, I noticed that there was no one in the third ward. This is really creepy, but don't be afraid. I'll take you away right now."

Before Jason could finish his sentence, I suddenly realized something was off. The comments said that the villain was at home.

The hospital was in the suburbs, but the nearest neighborhood was at least 15 minutes away by car.

Jason arrived in less than 10 minutes from the moment I sent him the message. I did not care how he could arrive so quickly. All I noticed was one thing: he was not the one I needed. He could not save me.

A cold chill ran down my back.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out behind Jason.