Chapter 1

After my family and I are dragged into a roguelike horror simulation, they favor my cousin, Julian Clark, over me.

In a lobby of blood-soaked players, he always manages to stay spotless, earning their praise as someone who has "kept his humanity".

He's unlike me, the brute who willingly throws himself into melee combat and hacks down monsters just to keep everyone else alive.

During one dungeon run, a terrifying entity targets my younger sister, Millie Larsson. I draw my blade and move in for the kill, but Julian stops me with a sorrowful smile.

"Every creature has a soul. Gabriel, if you kill it, you'll only enrage it and burden Millie with the sin of bloodshed."

Millie believes all the nonsense he says and begins resenting me for interfering.

Later, when a veteran player steals Julian's life-saving loot drop, I nearly die reclaiming it for him.

Instead of thanking me, he takes pity on the woman robbing him and hands the item back to her. He condemns me for being too ruthless, claiming I know nothing about showing mercy to women.

Then comes the advanced raid. Cornered by the final boss, I beg Julian to activate the high-tier talisman I've given him, buying me just one second to escape.

He recoils from my bloodstained hand in disgust and turns to my parents instead. "Gabriel provoked the boss himself. He's too violent. I can't risk wiping the whole party just to save him."

In the end, I die in the boss' jaws.

Julian steps over my shattered bones and blood to clear the raid, eventually becoming the server's most celebrated player for being the Untainted Saint.

But fate grants me a second chance. I awaken once more in the game's central lobby, right before everything begins.

This time, I want to see how long their precious humanity lasts in a world overrun by horrors when the blood-soaked blade that always carries their party is no longer there to protect them.

Chapter 1

I shot awake, blinded by a searing white light. Was I not… dead?

Gasping for air, I reached for my neck. There was no foul slime from the boss, no torn flesh or agonizing pain from having my throat ripped apart.

"Don't be afraid, Millie. Every creature has a soul. As long as we hold kindness in our hearts, those poor spirits won't hurt us," said Julian Clark, my cousin.

He stood there in a spotless white shirt, gently patting my sister, Millie Larsson, on the shoulder. He looked like some saintly priest offering salvation.

Hearing that prompted a scoff out of me. I had actually been reborn back to the day our family had just cleared the tutorial phase and entered the Safe Zone.

In my previous life, it all started here.

During the tutorial instance, Millie couldn't keep her hands to herself and looted an item from a corpse. That was enough for a low-level Wraith to mark her for death.

I grabbed my cleaver, ready to hunt down the wandering Wraith before it could make its move, but Julian had stopped me with those exact self-righteous words.

Thinking back to our life before the game, I couldn't help but laugh. In the real world, I worked three backbreaking jobs to pay for Millie's education and keep the whole family fed.

Every night, I came home reeking of engine grease and sweat, so exhausted I could barely straighten my back.

And what did Julian, the relative our family had taken in, do?

He spent the money I earned through blood, sweat, and tears on expensive art supplies so he could study painting. He frequented upscale restaurants, sipping afternoon tea with socialites.

He called it "pursuing spiritual fulfillment". How charming.

The incident that angered me most happened a year before we entered the game.

I was hauling cement at a construction site during a storm. The scaffolding slipped, and I crashed to the ground, tearing open my legs.

I limped all the way up six flights of stairs before finally scraping together the 700 dollars Millie needed for her tutoring classes.

In the end, Julian donated every penny to an animal rescue shelter.

He looked at me with that same saintly expression and said, "Money is tainted by worldly greed, but life is priceless. Gabriel, you should really expand your perspective."

I was so furious that I nearly lost my mind. I demanded to know what gave him the right, but Mom and Dad immediately rushed out and condemned me.

"Why are you so materialistic?"

"Julian is doing a good deed! Look at yourself, covered in mud and screaming your head off like some street thug!"

Even Millie pinched her nose in disgust. "You're so embarrassing, Gabe. All my friends think Julian is what a real gentleman is supposed to be."

That was my wonderful family.

The money I nearly killed myself earning wasn't worth as much as a single word of Julian's fake compassion. It was no different in this endless horror game when monstrous creatures roamed every map.

I had wiped the blood from my blade and escorted them through one instance after another, yet all they ever saw was how crude I was.

My ruthlessness, forced by circumstances, was a stain on my humanity, while Julian's nobility was the epitome of moral superiority.

"Gabe, what are you spacing out for?"

Millie's complaining tone snapped me out of my thoughts. She pointed toward the dark silhouette flickering outside the door, her voice trembling. "The monster's back! Hurry up and kill it already!"

She barked the order as if I had been born to be her personal bodyguard.

My eyes drifted to the black handprint on her shoulder—the Wraith's Mark. The Wraith would come to claim her life tonight.

In my previous life, I had nearly died fighting that Wraith to save her. Meanwhile, Julian accused me of piling up unnecessary bloodshed.

This time, I simply lowered my cleaver and put it away. I pulled over a chair, sat down comfortably, and coldly replied, "I'm not doing it."

Mom and Dad were stunned. Millie's eyes widened, as though she had heard something unbelievable.

She screamed, "Are you crazy? You're trying to watch me get torn apart, aren't you?"

I whipped my head at Julian, who was still putting on his holier-than-thou act. "Didn't he just say every creature has a soul? Since he's so noble, tonight's Wraith is all yours to cleanse. Go touch its soul with yours."

A mocking smile spread across my face. "And whatever you do, don't let a bloodstained brute like me offend your sense of ethics again."

Chapter 2

"What nonsense are you spouting, you ingrate?" Mom screamed, slamming her palm against the table. "Julian can't even bring himself to kill a chicken, and you expect him to fight a monster? How vicious can you be?"

Dad frowned in obvious disapproval. "It's one thing for you to act like a brute every day, but when your sister's life is on the line, you're throwing a tantrum? Pick up your damn blade and get out there now!"

It was a blatant show of favoritism, yet for the first time, I felt absolutely nothing. I had already died for them once. Whatever debt I owed them had been repaid with my life.

"I told you I'm not doing it." I rose and walked straight toward my tiny room. "Millie brought that monster on herself. If you're so worried about her, you kill it."

With that, I slammed the door shut behind me. Outside, Millie's sobs intertwined with Mom and Dad's furious curses. Then came Julian's fake calm voice as he played the peacemaker.

"Uncle Sam, Aunt Elaine, don't be angry. Gabriel's probably just exhausted. It's fine. I have a Manual of Cultivation that I bought from the Shop for ten points. As long as I recite its teachings to that spirit, I'm sure it'll sense my goodwill and inner peace."

I almost burst out laughing. In this death game, where monsters could tear anyone apart without leaving a trace, he actually thought he could reason with a Wraith. He truly was asking for it.

I pulled out a pair of high-quality noise-canceling earplugs and shoved them firmly into my ears. Then I sat down on the edge of my bed and casually took out a whetstone to carefully maintain my cleaver.

Under the dim light, the blade gleamed with a bloodthirsty chill. It was the only thing in this world I could trust.

At midnight, when the countdown reached zero, an eerie scratching sound came from outside. It was none other than the Wraith's sharp claws dragging across the metal door.

The temperature dropped rapidly. The air carried a thick stench of decay.

I removed one earplug and listened to what was happening outside. To my surprise, Julian was actually reciting from that stupid book he bought and chanting at the Wraith, trembling despite his attempt to sound composed.

"Dear lost soul, please let go of the hatred in your heart… Was it because Millie did something wrong in her past life that she angered you? I ask for your forgiveness, as I am willing to offer my peaceful soul and pray for you…"

A deafening crash shook the room. The already flimsy security door shattered under a single strike from the Wraith.

Julian let out a muffled groan.

The Wraith had gone berserk. It couldn't understand a single word of his useless prayers. All it could sense was the scent of fresh human blood.

With one violent swing, it sent Julian flying. He slammed hard into the wall, pain shooting through his back as he curled up on the floor, unable to get up. "Help! Help me!"

Meanwhile, Millie was so terrified that she scrambled backward into the corner. Unfortunately, the Wraith had already locked onto the mark on her shoulder.

Lunging forward, it clamped its jaws down on Millie's arm, tearing it apart. A horrifying shredding sound filled the room.

"Fuck! My arm!" Millie howled, her voice ripping from her throat.

The Wraith had mercilessly torn off half of her arm. Blood oozed and splattered all over the ground.

Mom fainted on the spot, while Dad crawled backward in panic, grabbing a broken chair to swing at the Wraith.

Once the Wraith had taken the marked flesh it wanted, it had no reason to stay. Letting out a piercing shriek, it dissolved into a cloud of black mist before vanishing into the void.

Chapter 3

The living room was a horrifying mess.

Millie clutched her severed arm, rolling around on the ground and screaming in agony. Dad's eyes were bloodshot as he frantically tried to stop the bleeding.

I opened the door and stared at the scene stoically.

"You worthless bastard! Why didn't you come out and save your sister?" Dad barked at me furiously.

I gazed at him coldly. "I already told you I'd let Julian cleanse its soul. What's the matter? Was his soul not pure enough?"

Dad was speechless. Instead of arguing, he turned around and checked our family's remaining points. To save Millie's life, he spent the last 50 points the family had left on the cheapest healing potion available from the Shop.

The moment the powder scattered over the wound, Millie let out another piercing scream. The bleeding finally stopped, but her arm was beyond saving.

At that moment, Julian pushed himself up from the ground, using the wall for support.

Aside from his once-pristine white shirt being slightly dirty and a small cut at the corner of his mouth, he was unharmed. The Wraith had ignored him because he had no mark, so it had never intended to kill him anyway.

"Uncle Sam, Aunt Elaine, I'm sorry… I couldn't stop it."

Julian clutched his chest, putting on an expression of deep sorrow. "It was about to be moved by my sincerity, but Millie's screams were too loud. She must've provoked it."

What a way to twist the truth. I almost laughed out loud. Was poor Millie supposed to stay quiet after having half her arm ripped off?

For some reason, Mom felt the need to pat Julian's back and comfort him. "It's not your fault, Julian. You did everything you could. You're a good child."

Millie, her face pale from the agony, forced herself to agree. "Yeah, Julian. Thank you for taking the hit for me, albeit just a little."

They looked like a picture-perfect family, full of warmth and harmony. How touching.

Meanwhile, I stood aside like an outsider who never belonged.

I opened my System panel and found the option labeled "Family Party Link". Without any hesitation, I pressed "Unlink".

A cold alert echoed through the living room. "Player Gabriel has left the Family Party."

Dad snapped his head up, staring at me in disbelief. "What are you doing? Have you lost your goddamn mind? How are you supposed to survive in this game without a party?"

I closed the System panel and looked at them coldly.

"From now on, you don't have to worry about my life or death. Yours will have nothing to do with me either. Now, march on with the noble and saintly Julian and save the world with your precious compassion."

I turned around and walked out of that suffocating Safe House without looking back.

Chapter 4

A few days later, I was grinding monsters nonstop in the Public Exploration Zone. With the experience I had accumulated from my previous life and my enchanted cleaver in hand, I cleared everything by myself.

In the end, I slaughtered more than a dozen low-level creatures alone, earning a massive amount of points and valuable loot.

When I returned to the Safe Zone plaza carrying a bag full of spoils, I happened to see Julian surrounded by a crowd. He had apparently hit the jackpot today.

Inside an old, abandoned chest in the Public Exploration Zone, he had found a High-Tier Healing Scroll, a rare item capable of restoring severed limbs.

The surrounding players were drooling with envy, but I knew better—Julian could never keep something like that.

Just as I expected, a powerful female player walked over.

She had a face covered in scars, a massive greatsword strapped to her back, and a reputation as one of the Safe Zone's most notorious veteran bullies. Everyone called her Scarface.

"Well, well. Aren't you lucky, handsome?"

Scarface's gaze shamelessly swept over Julian's handsome face. "You can't protect something like this with your current strength. Why don't you give it to me instead? In return, you'll have my protection in future instances."

I stood outside the crowd, watching quietly.

In my previous life, Julian had also obtained this scroll. To win over Scarface, a powerful veteran player, he had voluntarily given it to her.

He even dressed it up as some noble gesture, saying, "A treasured blade belongs in the hands of a true heroine."

After returning to the Safe House, however, he sighed in front of Mom and Dad and claimed that Scarface had forcibly taken the scroll from him.

With Millie's severed arm still weighing on their minds, they pressured me to get it back.

I fought Scarface with my life on the line. I was nearly cleaved in half by her greatsword before I finally managed to reclaim the scroll.

In the end, Julian gave the scroll right back to her. He blamed me for being too violent and said I didn't know how to respect powerful women.

This time, I wanted to see how he would perform.

Facing Scarface's intimidation, Julian didn't even flinch. Instead, he wore a calm, charming smile.

"You've got quite a sense of humor, Scarface. This scroll would only go to waste in the hands of someone like me, who can't even fight. Since you want it, I'll gladly give it to you."

As he spoke, he gracefully handed the scroll over to her. His slender fingers deliberately brushed across the rough back of her hand. The look in his eyes practically screamed flirtation.

Scarface burst into laughter and gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder. "Now that's a smart kid! From now on, if anyone gives you trouble in the Safe Zone, just say my name!"

Julian proudly glanced around at the jealous male players around them. That smug expression of his, seemingly acting as if he could live off his looks, was absolutely nauseating.

I scoffed and quietly browsed the Shop. I spent ten points to purchase the surveillance recording of the Public Exploration Zone from earlier, then turned around and headed toward the Safe House, where my family was.

With one kick, I sent the broken door flying open. Inside, Mom and Dad were gathered around Millie, sighing helplessly.

The moment Mom saw me, her expression turned harsh. "You've got quite the nerve to show up here. How could you turn a blind eye when your sister lost an arm? You're nothing but an ungrateful bastard!"

I ignored her and grabbed a chair to sit down. A few minutes later, Julian walked in with a grim expression. "Uncle Sam, Aunt Elaine!"

To start his performance, he let out a heavy sigh with a look of immense guilt.

"I found a High-Tier Healing Scroll out there just now. I was going to bring it back to heal Millie's arm, but… A female bully called Scarface stole it!"

The moment Millie heard there was hope of saving her arm, her eyes lit up. "What? It could heal my arm?"

Dad shot to his feet, furious. "Is there zero sense of civility around here?"

He turned to me and immediately barked his orders, "What are you sitting there for? We can finally do something about Millie's arm! Grab your blade and get that scroll back. Now!"

Mom chimed in. "Exactly. Aren't you so good at fighting? Now is your chance to be useful. Hurry up!"