She was hurt.

She had expected dogs and animals to welcome her unreservedly like when she was young… but while she expected them to mostly lick her, she never thought they would bite.

Even if it didn’t hurt… her heart was definitely wounded!

Lee Haneul stared at the retreating figures of the dogs in the distance and thought.

The dogs kept glancing back at where Haneul was standing…

It almost seemed like they were checking if she was okay after biting her, or looking back because they were sad to part, but that couldn’t be right.

They probably just wanted to bite and tear at her more. Like a dog chew.

The corners of Haneul’s mouth drooped.

‘Maybe I’ve become someone who can no longer get close to anyone.’

The huge pile of debt her parents left behind.

Since the day she was practically forced out of her original home, Haneul had lived moving between cramped goshiwons and shabby one-room apartments, with nowhere to settle her heart.

Always looking toward the goal of someday having her own sanctuary.

But even after paying off all her debt and even buying a house… perhaps… while her wallet had become more abundant, her heart had become poorer and more barren than before.

Around Haneul, who had been running toward the single massive goal of owning her own home, there was now no one left.

Not even dogs.

‘Sob.’

Even dogs, which were said to have evolved to be human’s friends, were desperate to eat her.

“…Will I ever be loved by someone?”

I have a house, but no one to invite over.

With her hands in her pockets, walking desolately, Haneul’s eyes suddenly caught a game advertisement hanging on the building across the street.

[A world in danger eagerly awaits you!]

It was a virtual reality game poster.

The virtual reality gaming field had made truly remarkable growth in the past few years.

These days, many people installed virtual reality capsules in their homes to play games.

It was certainly mainstream, to the point where news often featured stories about people who completely avoided relationships with those around them and immersed themselves in virtual reality, conducting all their social activities only within that space.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Haneul.

As she was about to turn her head away, flashing letters that seemed to want to hold her gaze entered her vision again.

Blink. Blink.

[You’ve worked hard! Isn’t it time for you to rest? A world in danger eagerly awaits you!]

‘That text… was that the message earlier too?’

Strange.

Scratching her chin absent-mindedly, Haneul froze for a moment when she saw the next image displayed in the advertisement.

[There is joy at the end of hardship.]

[This price is unbeatable! Order now and receive direct delivery with a virtual reality capsule within an hour! Also perfect as an interior decoration for your empty house!]

[Save the world while comfortably lying in your own home, and mingle with handsome men too!]

[“Please, let me love you, miss. You deserve to be overwhelmed with our love.”]

‘He’s handsome.’

Behind the text were drawn eye-catchingly handsome men, implemented in a way that made one wonder how they did it.

Half-n*ked handsome men of various races in a fantasy setting.

‘They’re big.’

It was enough to make her drool.

Unable to take her eyes off the enormous chests in the advertisement, Haneul muttered in a trance-like state.

“Since I’m lonely, should I… play a game?”

As the ad said, there’s joy at the end of hardship.

In the past, she would have thought such messages were just vile marketing aimed at fleecing foolish consumers who outsourced their thinking to mob psychology.

But now that her living situation had changed, she suddenly felt there was something resonant about those words.

She had worked hard, so it was time to rest. With handsome men. It was the perfect motto for her.

‘It’s much cheaper than I thought. This is fine.’

And it’s just a game pack, but they’re giving a virtual reality capsule too?

Her house was extremely barren right now.

She had sold all her appliances and even disposable chopsticks to pay the balance, so there was nothing in the house except a blanket.

The capsule would be perfect there.

Without realizing it, Haneul used her old watch to pay for the adult game advertised… and as if entranced, she also charged the expensive game capsule.

It was a movement without regret or hesitation, as if she had been waiting a long time for this game to be released and for this moment to make the payment.

It was a process so natural, like flowing water, that an observer would be amazed.

Of course, it was an extremely impulsive purchase.

But…

‘I’m lonely. So lonely.’

After seeing the game advertisement and the images drawn there, her thought process rolled in an abnormal direction.

Suddenly, everything except the house felt inadequate, and she felt like crying from the injustice of having missed out on so many things.

Especially romance.

‘That’s right! I can practice social life… that is, dating practice while playing the game! Looking at it now, it seems like I can raise animals in the game too? That’s a win-win.’

Had she completely forgotten that just a moment ago she was thinking about the social problem of people living immersed in virtual reality?

Haneul installed the capsule that was delivered to her home at super-speed, inserted the game pack, got inside, and even created a character.

It was all done at lightning speed.

And now.

“…”

What is this?

What is this?

It’s exactly as stated on the status screen.

Lee Haneul, who bought and quickly played the game, game player name ‘Haniel,’ met a swift death from acute myocardial infarction caused by a malfunction in the virtual reality game capsule pack.

In the house she finally bought after working all her life until her back bent, while playing an adult game.

Could there be another life like this?

‘Why is my life really like this?’

Her lifeless eyes stared blankly at the status screen.

What made it more frustrating was that she had just created her character and hadn’t actually played the game at all.

What new world, what handsome men, what nonsense—she hadn’t seen any of it.

‘Is it okay to meet such an unfair and absurd death?’

Wait a minute.

‘Haniel’ blinked her eyes as she looked at the status screen that had just appeared in front of her.

“W-what is this now? A status screen?”

I definitely died, didn’t I?

I clearly felt the sensation of my breath stopping and my heart ceasing.

When she came to her senses, a status window was flashing in front of her in a space completely wrapped in darkness.

Just like the game she had been playing until now!

Even the font was the same as that game.

“Don’t tell me my death was because of you…!”

“Uh… well…”