Maria Lucetti

{Author's Note: I recommend reading this chapter after the second chapter of the main novel "The game begins!". It will make this chapter less confusing for you.}

The first morning rays instantly shimmered in Maria Lucetti's silken strands, sparking with each individual hair. These locks were her crown and undeniable pride.

Dark sapphire, long and straight, they cascaded to her waist. Maria's pink eyes tenderly admired her reflection.

With a gentle stroke of her comb, she would arrange her hair, cherishing every moment.

Hair… Yes, Maria was a matchless beauty. She knew it and took pride in her good looks – her delicate, captivating face, a graceful figure, and a modest breast size…

However, she acknowledged that outdoing Chloe from the neighboring group in appearance was a challenge.

But her hair… It was her true ornament. Maria firmly believed her tresses were the most beautiful and mesmerizing in the entire world, unparalleled in their splendor. And it wasn't like she was too far from the truth.

Maria was the style icon of her university. Glossy magazines, trends, fashion novelties—she was always up-to-date.

That's why Leo, a boy from a parallel group, caught her attention. Stylish, handsome, elegant, radiating confidence and masculinity – he was everything Maria looked for in a man. She would've made him hers if Leo had been single.

But learning that Leo was dating two girls, Maria lost interest. She wasn't into polygamous relationships, especially since she was possessive by nature.

Besides, her best friend Su had been infatuated with Leo since their freshman year but was too timid to approach him due to her lack of confidence.

There were also two other boys in her group, but Maria saw them as far from ideal. One had mediocre looks, an annoying gaze, a protruding belly, and that awful ponytail which didn't suit him at all, not to mention his hair always seemed greasy.

The other looked a bit better externally, at least having a decent physique, but his sly facial expression and suspicious eyes always irked Maria. He was clearly slippery. To make things worse, his fashion sense was horrendous. Sometimes he wore mismatched socks, or sported a tracksuit over a shirt, and even combined yellow with orange! She couldn't stand him. And that hipster beard of his? Maria despised beards, but on this guy, it looked particularly awful. He might've been more popular with girls had he shaved that ridiculous beard off!

This day was no different than any other for Maria. As her annoying professor, who looked like a rat, rambled on, Maria carelessly groomed her hair.

For some reason, on this day, Maria didn't think of Leo, nor the other two guys in her group. In fact, she felt like there were no boys in her class at all.

Suddenly, the comb in Maria's hand vanished. The professor disappeared. Her classmates were gone. Everything vanished! Instead of the lecture hall, Maria found herself floating above an island.

Suddenly, messages popped up before her eyes.

[Game: "Paradise Island".]

[Description and Objective of the Game.]

[Game Difficulty Level: 1.]

[Task: Find and eliminate the traitor who caused you to be on this island.]

"Eliminate the traitor?" Maria whispered in confusion. "What traitor? Where am I? Bring me back right now! Do you know who my father is?! If this is a joke, I, Maria Lucetti, won't tolerate such humor. We'll settle this in court! Bring me back at once!"

[Time Limit: Find the traitor before the volcano erupts.]

[Punishment: In case of losing the game, players will either die from the volcano or any player can choose the second option - to become the traitor's slave until the end of the player's life. To do this, the player must kneel down and loudly and clearly say, 'From this moment on, I belong to you.']

"Belong to you?! Maria Lucetti belongs to no one!!" she exclaimed indignantly.

[After that, the player can return to the real world as the traitor's slave. Following this event, players who have opted to become slaves will no longer engage in active participation within the game. Instead, they will take on the form of ghosts, relegated to mere observation of the ongoing gameplay. In the event of the traitor's death, the slaves shall also meet their demise. Should the traitor emerge victorious, the slaves will be bound to serve the traitor for the remainder of their lives, both within the context of the game and in the real world.]

"A volcano? A slave?! I'd rather work at Burger Queen than become someone's slave! You'll be kneeling before me when this drawn-out prank ends!"

[Warning: Death, physical harm, or mental damage in the game will affect players in the real world. For instance, if players lose a limb or get a scar in the game, they will return to the real world with those injuries. If the traitor dies, his servants die too.]

Maria went a shade paler. Her irritated expression turned slightly tense.

"This can't be real..."

[Hint: The traitor is one of the five invited male players. These five are the suspects. Suspects can defend themselves and explain why they aren't the traitor. However, they can neither confirm nor deny their status as the traitor.]

"Please, just take me home."

[Location preparation...]

[Level generating…]

[Safe Zones generating…]

[Architectural landscape creation...]

[Water bodies creation...]

[Generating living creatures...]

[Monster generation...]

Her eyes widened in shock, and she started trembling.

[Generating enemies...]

"Return me right now, you dumb jerks! This... this is a sick joke!"

Tears filled Maria's eyes.

[Generating neutral creatures...]

[Generating items...]

[Assigning items to creatures...]

[Unlocking player status...]

[Player status unlocked!]

"I don't want this... Stop it," she mumbled, shaking her head.

[Generating player bodies according to status...]

[Bodies generated!]

[Player Maria Luchetti will be transported to a random point on the island.]

"NO! Please don't! I want to go home!" Maria cried out.

[Countdown starting: 30…29…28…]

Suddenly, her hysteria turned to panic.

"What am I even supposed to do? Tell me! What should I do?"

[Hint: To summon status window, say "Status."]

Trying to utter the word "status", tears and snot covered her face, smudging her makeup. Her continuous sobbing made her speech barely audible:

"S-stat…S-stat…Sta-a...," the girl sobbed again, "…us."

[3…2…1…]

[Game begins!]

"Sta...t-tus," said Maria, finding herself naked in the middle of a tropical forest. She didn't even pay attention to that, her scared and lost gaze fixed on her status, hoping it might somehow help her get out of here.

Name: Maria Lucetti.

Age: 20.

Level: 1.

Class: Undefined.

Health: 100.

Energy: 100.

Strength: 14.

Build: 17.

Agility: 13.

Reflex: 14.

Mastery: 10.

Intelligence: 9.

Accuracy: 9.

Luck: 15.

Wisdom: 9.

Willpower: 9.

Skills:

Active: [Martial Arts Master.]

Passive: ___

Condition: [Hairless.]

Fetish: [Inferiority.]

Sense of Hunger: 3%

Sense of Thirst: 1%

Sense of Desire: 0%

Sense of Cold: 2%

Sense of Heat: 9%

Bleeding: 0%.

Many things puzzled Maria about this status, but the 'condition' line scared her the most.

Maria slowly reached for her head, but instead of her luxurious hair, she felt smooth skin.

Shock and horror overtook Maria. Her eyes widened so much they seemed they'd pop out. She tried to say something, her lips barely moving. Nothing in life scared Maria more than the idea of losing her hair, even death wasn't as terrifying.

"My hair... Hair... Aaah...aaah...aaaaah...AAAAAAAAAA!" Her heartbreaking scream echoed throughout the island.