The Third Cycle

After leaning in Tony's arms for a while, Natalie finally calmed down.

"But… there really were so many people watching, and the tips were pouring in…" she murmured, still wiping her eyes.

She hadn't expected this.

In the world of live streaming, impact was everything, and just during those few terrifying minutes, Natalie had felt like she was at the absolute peak of her streaming career. The donation count had skyrocketed.

"It's true, I checked, your stream shot to the top of the gaming category. Number one." Tony nodded. 

"Seriously?" Natalie was stunned.

She'd been so immersed in the game that she hadn't paid attention to anything else.

For most of her career, she'd only been considered a solid second tier streamer. There was still a big gap between her and mega-streamers like Saya or NeasJ.

But now, her stream had blown past everyone else and taken the top spot!

"It's fine, soon we'll be making money. Once the games go live and start selling, you won't even need to stream anymore. Just enjoy life." Tony said softly. 

He was being honest. With how well his games were coming together, big earnings were inevitable.

"Hmph… Forget that, I'm going back in!"

Natalie clearly wasn't listening. She was still thinking about her skyrocketing viewer count.

As a seasoned streamer, she knew exactly what that kind of momentum meant.

Hearing about her record breaking viewercount made her heart race with excitement.

"Just be careful, alright. Don't push yourself." Tony warned her.

"It's fine! It's all fake anyway. No matter how scary that ghost looks, it can't actually hurt me!"

She took a deep breath, then spun around and headed back toward her streaming setup.

"I'm continuing the stream!"

Seeing how determined she was, Tony could only sigh and follow along.

Natalie dabbed the remaining tears from her cheeks and sat back down in front of the camera.

"I'm really sorry, everyone. I had to step away for a bit, I didn't even have time to clean up. I was really scared just now."

"No blame this time, this game's too scary!"

"I nearly peed myself just watching it!"

"Even though I feel bad for her, I really hope she keeps going!"

"The realism is insane!"

"Let's send some rockets to help her power through the fear!"

Suddenly, the live chat exploded again with a barrage of gifts.

Natalie glanced at her stream stats and was completely stunned, 300,000 live viewers, and climbing fast!

Even a top-tier streamer like NeasJ only peaked at a few hundred thousand on an average day. This was insane.

The shock quickly turned into confidence.

"Alright! Since everyone's so hyped, I'm continuing!"

She grinned proudly, stood up, and walked to the VR platform again.

After putting on her extra sensory suit and taking a deep breath, she slid the VR headset over her eyes.

Swish!

The world changed in an instant. She was back in the dim, eerie corridor. The same nightmare.

Her character hadn't died, she was still standing outside the bathroom. The door remained shut.

Remembering what had happened just moments ago, Natalie immediately took a few steps back to get away from the door.

Now that she knew the ghost was in there, she didn't dare go near it again.

'Maybe I should check the front door again?'

With that in mind, she slowly crept toward the entrance and reached out to gently twist the handle.

To her surprise, the front door opened easily this time.

"What the hell, so it was locked before just to force me to check the bathroom? What a damn troll move!"

She cursed under her breath.

"Wait, did you notice the ghost in the bathroom looked like a little girl?"

"Yeah! She was pretty small, right?"

"Sounded young too…"

The chat lit up with observations.

"You guys are right, she did seem like a little girl." Natalie thought back carefully.

She'd gotten the clearest view of anyone, but in the moment, she'd been too terrified to think about the details.

Now that she replayed it in her mind, the ghost had definitely been smaller than her. And the eerie giggle, it had sounded just like a young girl's.

Her face, though, had been horribly disfigured.

If the game was drawing from the murder case she'd read about, then the girl was likely the daughter who was shot in the head by her father.

That would explain the face.

Natalie fell silent, feeling a bit of pity for the little ghost.

Killed by her own father… then trapped here, doomed to haunt this place forever.

With that thought echoing in her mind, she stepped forward and pushed the front door open again.

Bang!

The door slammed shut behind her, all on its own.

Startled, she reached for the handle, it was already locked.

She was back.

Back in the corridor where this nightmare began.

The third cycle has started.

822 Words.