If You’re Obsessed, You’re Doomed

What happened was like a bolt from the blue.

That day, she experienced a traumatic emotional shock.

***

On the first day, she woke up in an old room with turquoise wallpaper.

Walls decorated with elegant sculptures, thick and soft to the touch carpet, wooden floors, an elaborately carved antique table and cabinets, etc.

The room, which combined perfection, splendor, grace, and elegance, resembled the Renaissance style.

‘What am I doing here? Is this a model house? …A film set?’

Eyes, quickly looking around, caught something strange.

“If this is a film set, there should be a camera here…”

But it’s not there.

“Then the TV?”

Not there either.

A curious place. There were no household items familiar to her among the heavy-looking wooden furniture.

‘An abandoned house can’t be so clean… Apparently, a lot has been invested in it. Then why is there nothing here?’

An absence of familiar items made her think.

“Where am I? When I came here…”

She realized that something absurd had happened to her.

‘First of all, why am I here?’

The sharp question arose, to which her mind was trying to find an answer.

‘First of all, I need to focus on the last memory. Where I was going, what I was doing…’

When she tried to remember, she was attacked by a severe headache. After all, only fragments of memories could be seen.

A road illuminated by the sun. A city reflected in the walls of the building. A moment of friendly conversation with someone.

Short scenes in seconds.

“Ah!”

Suddenly someone’s voice rang out.

“Ah! Ah! Go! Faster!”

Along with the headache, powerful auditory and even visual hallucinations appeared.

She saw someone’s rough hand. Something clicked in her head, and she reached for that hand, despite the fact that it was just a memory. She had to reach for it. She had to grab onto something so precious.

‘Before it disappears!’

She waved her arms in an attempt to grab the hallucination and stumbled.

Boom!

She grabbed onto the table in front of her, avoiding falling.

Her head was buzzing. And her heart was breaking. She thought desperately about what she had missed.

At that moment, the memories broke into even smaller fragments.

A road illuminated by the sun. A city reflected in the walls of the building. A moment of friendly conversation with someone.

Someone’s desperate voice.

“…A close person?”

She couldn’t remember them, no matter how hard she tried. They seemed so important that she had to grab onto them. She had to go back to them. But she didn’t know who they were.

The more she tried to remember, the more her mind clouded.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Her heart began to beat faster, and her body broke out in a cold sweat.

‘It’s hard to think about specific situations. If so…’

Fear awakened her rational thinking. She tried to think about universal things.

At first…

“Elementary school!”

She tried to remember something about the elementary school she attended. However, what came to mind was not what she expected.

Honorative, literature, geometric figures, fractions, decimals, government agencies, and world culture.

She was completely confused.

‘I need to think about something simpler.’

Home, family, friends… Nothing came to mind.

“What… is my name?”

She didn’t even know that.

On the other hand, she remembered in detail the grammar of the Korean language and various arithmetic operations in English. She even retained historical knowledge about world wars, revolution, democracy, and neoliberalism.

In addition, various electronic devices came to mind, such as a TV and an air conditioner. She could even imagine using them exactly.

But she didn’t know anything about herself. Even the name.

And it scared her.

There was nowhere to run but overcome with fear, she slowly backed away.

And at the moment when her heel hit the furniture…

Bzzzz— Bzzzz—

She jerked her head up when she heard a familiar vibration. With a hopeful heart, she turned her head towards the sound.

And saw it lying on the table…

“Mobile phone.”

The numb hand involuntarily reached out and took the white device, unlocking the screen with a familiar gesture, as if this thing belonged to her.

Then a white system window with black text popped up.

「Hello, player!

Welcome to a special world created especially for you!」

Her eyes trembled slightly as she looked at the bright screen.

“A player?”

Did it want her to play a game?

It was absurd, but she calmly tapped on the system window that appeared on the screen.

「The world I have prepared for you! The event is just for you!

Increasing sympathy of the targets to advance the story and achieve a special ending.

If you see a special ending within 3 years, you will succeed!

Your memory will be restored immediately, and you will return to the original world.」

The screen changed and the content was similar to the beginning of the game.

A game with words such as target, sympathy, and ending reminded her of…  a romantic simulation game.

She tried to calm the confusion of feelings and looked at one sentence.

‘A special ending within three years…’

As the system window reported, that’s when everything will return to normal.

As if out of the blue.

She had heard of such games but had never played. And that complicated everything.

“…Are you kidding me?”

Rational thinking suddenly refused to accept this fact.

‘I’ll just call 112… the police will arrive with an ambulance, and I’ll describe the situation to them.’

With a trembling finger, she tapped on the screen to find the emergency call button, but the phone did not react.

System window, game announcement, target, sympathy, special ending, 3 years.

Wherever she tapped, the contents of the screen did not change.

Instead, the phone wrote the following phrase:

「The condition is not met. You can’t get out. Please meet the condition.

*Condition — special ending (not met)」

Disappointment was followed by despair.

“I can’t believe it…”

Her hands trembled even more. She dropped the phone and put her head in her hands.

“Why should I do this… Why me? Why in this situation… Why?!”

She screamed, unable to accept reality. The voice of fear echoed through the room.

“Why…”

No matter how many times she asked, the only answer was the phone lying on the floor.

Nothing else.

She looked at the phone, bit her lip, and slowly closed her eyes to calm down a little.

“Against the background of this senseless situation… the game… doesn’t seem so strange,” she muttered in despair.

With a straight face, she reached for the fallen phone.

‘Hardly… I have another choice.’

She shook her head while holding the phone.

At that moment, she belatedly noticed that she was wearing a white dress that looked like a nightgown.

The extremely tight, unfamiliar clothes terrified her.

“It’s all real…”

She knew absolutely nothing about this world, she didn’t even leave the room, but at that moment, like an auditory hallucination, a voice in her head said that there was no other way.

She stared at the system window, forcing her breath.

‘What will be waiting for me? Where should I start?’

First of all, it was necessary to find out who the target is, how to increase their sympathy, and what the conditions are for a special ending. And nowhere without sanity.

In the current situation, she could only rely on this mysterious mobile phone.

‘I… need more information.’

She tapped on the system window with her index finger.

And as if responding to her thoughts, the contents changed.

「Download the necessary information to continue?」

「Yes」

It didn’t even offer “no” as a choice.

As if following a set path was all she could do.

Eventually, she obeyed and tapped on the screen.

「The information necessary to complete the story is loading»»»」

The moment a new phrase appeared, it was like an electric shock.

The fingers of the hand holding the phone trembled.

“Ah!”

A startled cry escaped from her closed lips.

The phone slipped out of her trembling hand and fell back to the floor.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Before she knew it, her whole body was numb.

‘Don’t tell me I’m going to die…’

Even so, she felt powerless. And left her body to the mercy of fate.

Her eyes went dark, and her consciousness turned off.

***

She woke up in the evening a day later.

In the same room she fainted in.

The doctor checked her condition and left with the words “take care of yourself” or something like that. She didn’t remember exactly.

All this time, she was in a kind of prostration.

“Miss, I have prepared water for washing.”

“…”

“I’ll help you wash up.”

Cold water was splashed on her face, without even waiting for an answer.

“Close your eyes and hold your breath for a moment.”

The maid stubbornly washed her face. Soaped, massaged, rinsed with water, and dried with a towel.

“I will take my leave, Miss.”

The maid left.

She wasn’t angry at this behavior because she was used to it.

All because of her new memories.

The head that cleared up in the process of washing was full of previously unknown information.

Her body was named “Ariel Huckleberry” — the only daughter of a very rich count.

This situation… was from a series of obsessions.

However, thanks to the memories of her childhood in this world, it was more like reincarnation than an obsession.

And she would have believed that she was reincarnated, if not for a strange feeling of detachment as if she was watching someone else’s memories.

The past of her new body was rather monotonous.

Indifferent parents. An extremely silent person who does not even utter a word of greeting. A lonely life in which a person is locked in a room with no friends or hobbies.

The lack of interpersonal relationships and routine seemed creepy to her.

It was like renting a soulless doll.

As if this body had been created and was waiting for her…

「The world I have prepared for you! The event is just for you!」

The system window with its creepy phrases instantly filled her head.

A world that seemed to be waiting for her arrival. Hints that she was known and watched for a long time.

“S-seriously?”

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand when she felt a cold sweat break out. The hand wiping the sweat was shaking.

‘I hope no one is watching me now?’

The moment she looked around…

*Knock-knock*

The door opened with a knock.

“Miss, I brought you dinner.”

A maid entered the room with a wooden tray. Without waiting for permission, she habitually began to set the table.

The maid took apart the cluttered table in a matter of seconds and began to lay out the cutlery. She, apparently, did not expect an answer, knowing the character of the silent girl.

It didn’t take her long to get everything ready.

The plate was covered with a cloche to prevent the dish from cooling down if the host is inclined to postpone the meal.

— I brought potato stew with minced meat to make it easier for you to eat. Although the doctor said that you are all right, for a while, I will cook easily digestible food for you.

Although it sounded like a memorized script, the maid was clearly concerned. She felt sorry for her lonely miss. But even such a small gesture of goodwill in this hopeless situation warmed her.

“Thank you for your concern.”

The maid immediately froze with her eyes wide open, as if she had seen a ghost.

“Miss?”

“Ah… I just…

She belatedly covered her mouth with her hand when she realized how inappropriate her unconscious words were.

Ariel Huckleberry was a silent person.

‘I should keep my head down to avoid glances…’

It was natural for her.

But thinking about it, she suddenly realized.

‘Is it worth continuing to live like a dead man, like Ariel in the past?’

Even though she took over Ariel Huckleberry’s body, in the end, they are two different personalities.

Even if she wasn’t very active, she would definitely go crazy from such a boring life. Ariel’s past was terribly static: she never left the room and only nodded or shook her head.

‘But I may not live like this, right?’

She decided to change a little, rather than stick to old habits.

In addition, in order to regain lost memories and get out of this world…

「Increasing sympathy of the targets to advance the story and achieve a special ending.

If you see a special ending within 3 years, you will succeed!」

‘The deadline is in three years.’

She started to get nervous.

At first glance, the three-year period seemed long, but it is not.

During these three years, she had to meet with a target, build a relationship and achieve this damn “special ending”.

It is logical that living like Ariel in the past, she will not get far. To be more precise, she won’t budge at all.

To end this doll life, she at least had to start responding normally. Only then could the Count give her the opportunity to talk to other people.

‘Otherwise, I won’t be able to meet the target.’

Ariel had to change. Gradually. To begin with, it was enough to establish communication.

For the sake of coming back. To remember herself.

She, Ariel, looking at the frightened maid, calmly said.

“I won’t be able to call for help if I don’t talk…”

The maid nodded in solidarity.

The silent lady, who had lost consciousness, was not found immediately. If this happens again and she turns out to be ill, there is no guarantee that she will survive.

The risk of death was reason enough to change a person.

“From now on, at least I’ll start talking. I will change.”

The maid’s face brightened a little when Ariel firmly stated her desire to change. It would be much easier for her to take care of a person who could talk.