Chapter 3: First load

"Host's vital signs have stopped, host has been confirmed to be dead."

"The host will now be loaded from the last save point."

"Load complete. Loads remaining: 2/3."

With a flash of light, Lin Fan was thrown back into the world.

When Lin Fan opened his eyes, he found that he was back in his apartment.

Looking up at the time, he found that it was still in the afternoon. Then looking at the date on his computer, he found that it had been the same day that he had just lived.

Somehow, he had been thrown back in time.

The first thing Lin Fan did was immediately look down at his own chest. When he saw that there was no longer a knife sticking out of it, he let out a sigh of relief as his legs crumpled under him and he fell to the floor.

As the wave of relief washed over him, Lin Fan couldn't help saying out loud to himself, "Was that all just a dream?"

At that point, the system cut in, "Host, that was not a dream. You have used up one of your three saves just now because you have died."

Lin Fan was stunned when he heard these words, but then he remembered the existence of the system.

Lin Fan was filled with rage the moment he remembered the system as he roared out, "What was that? Why did she kill me?! Weren't you supposed to be a dating system!"

But the system's response was, "Host, you do not have enough authority to obtain the answer to these questions yet. Please work hard to unlock more authority."

Lin Fan was choked up with rage when he heard this. He wanted to strangle the system's non-existent neck, but there was nothing he could do since it didn't exist.

Lin Fan tried to force himself to calm down, but every time he remembered what had happened that night, he couldn't stop his body from trembling.

That feeling of having the knife being plunged into his chest, that sensation of losing all his strength, and then finally losing all sensation in his body as his consciousness faded. He had experience death and it was not something that he could easily get over.

As he tried to calm himself down, his breathing became faster and faster until it reached the point where he almost felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. It took him quite a while before he was finally able to calm down.

Once he was finally calm, Lin Fan looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was close to when he had met Chu Chu in the store.

Just remembering that was enough to trigger the memories that he had tried so hard to suppress.

Lin Fan immediately picked up the closest thing to him and threw it at the clock on the wall.

What he had picked up was the cup that was on the table beside him and once that cup hit the clock, it shattered to pieces. As for the clock, the glass that was covering the face of the clock also shattered before it fell to the ground.

There was the sound of his neighbours shouting at him, but Lin Fan didn't hear any of it.

He did feel the hunger in his stomach from the growling of his stomach, but there was no way that he could take a single step outside now. The fear in his heart had basically crushed his spirit.

For once, Lin Fan didn't care how much it would cost him and how it would reduce his game fund, so he decided to order takeout and enjoy himself. After all, it could be his last meal at any minute.

It was at this time that the system suddenly chimed in, "Host, please be aware that your mission is still currently active. Please actively go and capture your target."

Lin Fan was once again filled with rage when he heard the system's notification as he roared out, "You want me to go back to that crazy girl again?! I don't have enough lives to capture her or whatever you want me to do!"

Lin Fan didn't care about the banging on the walls at all as he just stood there panting in rage, but the answer from the system never came.

The system chose to remain silent and let Lin Fan do what he wanted to do.

After all, in the end, what would come would come.

…

Lin Fan saw that the system was silent, so he went and ordered a bunch of junk food without caring for the price.

He bought burgers, wings, and pizza, having a large feast.

It was only when he was eating and numbing himself with his games that he could forget that sensation and his fear. It was only when he distracted himself that he could feel alive again.

As time passed, the time that would have been his date had long gone past and it was soon past midnight.

Even with how late it was and how tired he was, Lin Fan still felt like he couldn't sleep. He tried to drown himself out with games for as long as possible, but eventually he still did fall asleep, letting his Switch fall onto his face.

Falling deeper and deeper into the land of dreams, Lin Fan became less and less aware of his surroundings. He never noticed the tiny click that came from his door suddenly being unlocked and the slight creek that came from it as it slowly opened.

There was a slender hooded figure that moved through his house with a knife in hand, moving towards his bedroom ever so slightly.

As that figure went through the apartment, it also looked at the various different things that were strewn all over the place with a smile on their lips. It was almost like a mother that was walking through their son's apartment for the first time after the son had moved out.

Finally, the hooded figure reached the door to Lin Fan's bedroom and slowly pushed open the door to reveal sprawled in his bed.

That hooded figure revealed an even wider smile as it moved over to the bed and softly came up beside it. The hooded figure reached out and brushed a bit of loose hair that was on Lin Fan's face out of the way. Then the hooded figure came forward to lean on Lin Fan's bed with both hands holding their cheeks as they looked at Lin Fan's face while he slept.

Finally, when they had their fill of watching over Lin Fan, they crawled onto the bed. Making sure not to wake up Lin Fan, they got on top of him with both legs around him, almost sitting on him, but still making sure not to touch him.

When they were in position, the hand with the knife came up above their head before coming right down to stab Lin Fan's chest.

The knife didn't stop as it pierced right through Lin Fan's clothes and right into his chest muscles.

Lin Fan felt a sharp pain as he suddenly woke up and when he opened his eyes in shock, the face that met his gaze was Chu Chu.

She had the same smile as she did the last time that she stabbed him, looking at him like he was just prey to hunt.

As soon as Chu Chu saw that Lin Fan was awake, her smile became even wider as she said, "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

The way she asked it was like there was nothing wrong, even though she had just driven a knife right into Lin Fan's chest.

The moment Lin Fan heard this, he felt the chill run down his heart. He realized just how insane this girl really was. He realized what kind of thing he had gotten himself into. Most importantly, he realized there was no escape.

But that was when Lin Fan suddenly had an epiphany.

It was very simple, he didn't want to die.

Lin Fan gathered all his strength to push her off him which was actually quite easy since she went along with it, allowing him to easily push her off.

But that was the end of his struggle since he had lost all his strength at that moment.

There was the same feeling as last time as his body began turning cold and his arms lost all strength.

He tried to say something, say anything, but his body just wouldn't let him. As his lips moved, all that came out was blood that had come up from his lungs and filled his throat. As he tried to make any sound, all that came out was the sound of the blood inside his throat gurgling.

It was at this moment that Chu Chu squatted down beside the bed and leaned in to look over his face.

With a smile on her face, she said, "What's wrong? Isn't there anything you want to say?"

Then she continued without even waiting for his response, "You really are cute like this, but you aren't my type just yet. I'll make it so you can never leave and then you'll be my type, forever."

Lin Fan could tell just how unstable this girl was, but he didn't have time to think about that now.

As his consciousness began to fade, the last thoughts in his mind were simple.

He wasn't willing, he wasn't willing, he wasn't willing!

No matter who it was, no one would be willing to die…

As he lost consciousness, the familiar voice of the system sounded again.

"Host, you have died."