Adventure Short Stories & Novels

I've bought an old DVD online for 1.50 dollars. When I play it, I start trembling. The bride on the screen looks exactly like me. But I've never been married.

My billionaire wife had just given birth when I was abducted and trapped in a sick, underground survival game. While I was sprinting through the woods with our newborn strapped to my back, Scarlett’s best friend’s voice boomed through the PA speakers. “Shouldn’t you be at home with your newborn and Damian? What are you doing here? Is your lover boy starting drama again?” Scarlett chuckled, her voice full of resigned affection. “Yeah. Jayden demanded some real entertainment. Damian thinks I have urgent work to take care of at the office, so he practically pushed me out the door while the kid was having surgery. He’s a sweet, naive idiot.” I tapped against the security camera lens, desperate to get Scarlett’s attention, but Jayden’s terrified scream distracted her into hitting the shock button on her remote control. The high-voltage electricity ran through me, and our newborn choked up blood, staining the earth. I curled around our son, sobbing in despair. As footsteps crunched closer, the high-rollers raised their stakes. It was a bet to see who would survive to the very end.

Global supernatural horrors descended upon the world, and everyone had to clear horror-game instances to earn a slim chance at survival. In my previous life, my fiancée refused to use her item to open the exit because she wanted to wait for her first love to clear the instance. But this was the final escape point in the instance, and our only chance to survive. With only three minutes left, I had no choice but to knock her unconscious and use her item to force the exit open. Her first love was ultimately left behind in the horror realm, where the horrors devoured him. However, I cleared the instance successfully and used the generous score rewards to build a happy life with my girlfriend at the survivor base. During the final instance, just as I was about to lead humanity in defeating the supernatural boss, my girlfriend injected me with an anesthetic, deliberately destroyed my item, and threw me into the horror realm. The horrors swallowed me whole, tearing my soul apart while I was still alive. Meanwhile, she watched from the safe house, sneering at me. “If you hadn’t been so afraid to die and abandoned Finn back then, he could have made it out alive.” “You must pay for everything Finn suffered!” When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my girlfriend stubbornly refused to use her item. Since she wanted so badly to live and die alongside her first love, the two of them could become nourishment for the horrors together.

I am the envy of every girl at Belmont Academy. The boys I grew up with—Brooks, Carter, and Harrison—have treated me like royalty since we were kids, spoiling me completely. No matter what I wanted, even if it was a lot of trouble, they always handed it to me on a silver platter. When I casually complained that prom was boring, they rented out an entire yacht for me. When my legs were sore after cheer practice and I didn't want to walk, they gave me piggyback rides across the football field. I was their princess. I was the one they pampered and spoiled, the one they adored. Naturally, I loved them just as much. I naively thought my senior prom date would simply be one of them. Until a transfer student named Nova arrived. Her beauty was striking and undeniable. During her first week, she boldly announced that she would become the center of attention on campus, stealing the spotlight from all the popular kids—especially me. Gradually, Brooks started to find me too whiny. One day during a heavy downpour, he left me alone by the field to hold an umbrella for Nova. The other two stood up for me. "Brooks, you chose this! Don't regret it later!" But not long after, Carter gravitated toward Nova as well. When Nova told the other girls to dump trash into my locker and I got angry, Carter just thought I was making a fuss over nothing. At Homecoming, I looked at Harrison, the only one left, and tears pricked my eyes. "Harrison, tell me, am I the one in the wrong?" He ruffled my hair. "Don't overthink it. They're just stupid. They don't know how to appreciate you." But later, I saw him rig the Homecoming Queen vote. He gave Nova the crown that was supposed to be mine. Just to earn a smile from her. With red eyes, I knocked on the door of my brother's downtown office. "Oliver, about that wildlife conservation project in Arca. I want to leave in three days."