Sayaka yanked open the door to her tiny flat with more force than was required, the cheap wood quivering in its hinges as if it felt her tiredness. She didn't turn on the overhead light; instead, she let the city's muted neon paint her living room in restless red and blue stripes.
Her heels landed on the entryway mat with two powerful thunk.
Her blazer was next, dropped somewhere near the couch, then her stiff interview skirt, which pooled around her ankles. Only when she was reduced to a wrinkled blouse and pure tiredness did she breathe – a long, soul-weary sigh that felt scraped from her ribs.
Thirty.
Thirty interviews. 30 rejections.
Sayaka brushed a hand through her long black hair, pulling it back from a face described as "intimidating," "demon," and "unapproachable."
She could still hear today's panel whispering after they assumed she had left the building.
"She looked stern the entire time. I felt as if I were being reprimanded."
"Her look is so frigid; did you notice the smile? As if she were taunting us... crap she looked at us! Quick!"
She had not been mocking anyone. It was just her face. Sharp eyes under tidy brows, lips that curved slightly downward while she was contemplating. Even when she faked a grin, it appeared sly or condescending.
"No one wants to hire an ugly brat for their cheerful office team," she mumbled cruelly to herself, her shoulders sagging as she kicked a loose slipper away.
She was twenty-four, a job-seeking failure in a tight one-room flat, surviving on bargain convenience shop rice balls and worry. The only interviews she could get were for low-level administrative positions, and they never phoned back after seeing her in person.
Sayaka walked over, stripped down to her soft old T-shirt, and snuggled up under the covers like a hermit burrowing into its shell. When her head hit the pillow, a familiar murmur of relaxation echoed through her chest. She slid her hand under her pillow and retrieved her actual lifesaver.
With a simple touch, her phone came to life, and there, buried among app symbols for weather, employment sites, and bank balance checkers that only ridiculed her, was the bright pink heart of
"Mystic Love."
Her thumb remained on it for just a second, enjoying. Then she tapped it, and the world of monotonous rejections, forced polite laughs, and judging interviewers disappeared.
The start screen displayed a swirl of enchanted rose petals. Five heartbreakingly attractive guys stood against a painted dusk sky, their features a mix of blazing affection and concealed agony. Strings and a soothing piano played, greeting her like a secret lover.
Sayaka snorted, despite herself.
"God, this is embarrassing,"
She murmured, but her lips quirked into a genuine smile for the first time that day.
She needed it. She needed this world where she could pretend to be someone else — someone whose cold eyes and sharp visage didn't startle people, someone kind and kind, loved by everyone.
In Mystic Love, she was named Liora Maren by default, although she may change her name if she desired. Liora was a lowly commoner girl who was mocked by noble daughters for being poor and plain. Servants mocked at her shabby clothing. The stable guys jostled her out of the path. But within, she was like bright sunlight, always smiling sweetly and with eyes full of sympathy. A fantastic blank canvas for gamers to express themselves on.
And of course—
The Ice Queen herself:
Evelyn Serephielle Arloise.
The infamous Villainess. Pale aristocratic complexion, high cheekbones that gave her a chilly, judging stare, a lustful dark-obsidian her, and glacier-cut sapphire eyes. Her lips were frequently painted in a subtle sneer, as if to whisper: "Pathetic."
Sayaka always found Evelyn strangely entertaining to watch—the girl's lines were vicious, her wardrobe was impeccable, and her imminent demise somehow made the story taste sharper.
Then, in a fatal scenario, she grieved over a dying fawn in the woodland. Her tears flashed with divine light, a shimmering vine engraved into her skin, and the realm gained a new Saint.
The game takes place in the human realm of Elowen, which features marble castles and stained-glass temples. Its capital, Aetherys, was a tangle of gold-roofed towers, bustling trade streets, and dark alleys reeking of roasted chestnuts and old secrets. Elowen was surrounded by powerful and apprehensive neighbors.
Sylvalore's elves, graceful and long-lived, controlled woodlands filled with ancient enchantment. Beastkin tribes were fur and fang warriors that roamed the highlands, bound by rigorous honor and vengeance customs. And far beyond, the demon clans of the Nether Reaches, which once plagued the continent with curses and blood pacts before being sealed away by an earlier Saint's sacrifice.
Only Liora, with her luminous healing, could cleanse the taint and unite the other races in an alliance powerful enough to defeat the Demon King. At least that's how the game presented it. Sayaka smirked as she navigated through another brilliantly illustrated event.
"And all it takes is a bit of blushing, fainting, and accidentally falling into the hero's arms,"
She drawled. Even after thousands of hours of replaying each path, she was always amused by how easy it was to max up affection points.
Sayaka watched the familiar introduction sequence with a faint, hidden smirk, the kind that usually made job recruiters cringe, but no one could see her. There they were. Her stunning digital disasters… well get on that later~
Sayaka let out a long, satisfied sigh, still engrossed in the velvet world of pixelated princes and dramatic symphonic swells. Her thumb hesitated over the knight's last private scene, in which he tenderly held the heroine's cheek, his rough voice cracking on the words "I would guard even your tears with my life."
Sayaka heaved a long, indulgent sigh and sank further into her cushion. Her thumb hovered over the "Replay Scene" button, immensely fangirling. She wanted to see Gilbert's confession again, the scarred knight hesitantly reaching for her hand, his voice shaking with "Let me stand between you and every shadow."
God, she was hopeless. Then her phone vibrated with a real-world ringtone, the orchestral strings cutting off like a guillotine.
"Who dares interrupt my tragic pixel romance…"
She hadn't even completed her complaint when the caller ID made her lips twitch upward.
"Yo, Sayaka!"
Rika's loud, somewhat hoarse voice echoed from the speaker, quickly filling the small flat with warmth.
"Don't tell me you forgot. You've officially set a new personal world record for Most Job Interviews Without A Job — so I'm treating you to ramen. No arguments. Meet me at the station in twenty."
Sayaka's look softened, but her voice remained dry.
"Wow, you make me sound quite accomplished. Should I make a small award for that record?"
"Only if it's shaped like your scowling face. Now move it before I change my mind and spend the pork belly money on gachas again."
The call concluded with a happy beep. Sayaka remained sprawled on her bed for a while, squinting at the now-black phone screen. She let forth a faint, trembling laugh. Rika was noisy, irresponsible, and occasionally embarrassing in public. However, she was the only one who saw past Sayaka's stern expressions. The only one who didn't cringe at her awkward smiles or misinterpret her serious scowl as contempt. In a world that frequently misunderstood her looks, Rika was her only sanctuary.
As she pulled on her coat, Sayaka couldn't help but remark to herself with a sarcastic grin.
"Isn't it funny if I was isekai'd on the way there? Like, a truck comes around the corner, and the next thing I know, I'm in a corset, engaged to a prince, and everyone calls me a "villainess" because of my appearance. Textbook light novels are crap."
"Yeah. That would be my incredible luck.
Sayaka put her hands into her coat pockets, giggling under her breath at Rika's silly remarks. The frigid night air bit at her cheeks, and neon reflections shimmered in puddles on the cracked pavements. She hardly looked up as she stepped off the curb, her eyes fixed on her phone, checking the station timetable.
Then—
BEEP.
A short second later, a tremendous BOOM echoed through the air.
She never even turned her head.
It was just —
white, like a flash bang.