WDHTBT 1

Prologue

“Phew….”

The intruder in black, leaning against the wall, let out a sigh of relief.

Today’s quest was a success as well.

[Quest 1–1 Success (7/10)]

‘It’s really almost over.’

She quietly left the room. She planned to hide in a pre-scouted location until the day passed.

However, a sudden sound from her stomach forced her to stop dead in her tracks.

*Growl.*

“…….”

‘Was the last thing I ate three days ago?’

Even that was just a small piece of bread, so it was questionable whether it could even be called eating.

‘Since my stomach might growl and give me away… this can’t be helped.’

Having rationalized it that way, she stole food from the kitchen and arrived at her hideout.

The food she brought was cake. Since the homeowner disliked sweets, only desserts like this were always left over.

‘Taking what’s left over makes me feel less guilty.’

Inside the dark room, the only light was the blue moonlight from outside the window.

The intruder plopped down on the floor near the relatively bright window and began eating the cake.

She had taken a few bites when—

*Bang!*

There hadn’t been a sound, not even an ant’s footsteps, yet the door suddenly flew open.

The one who opened the door should have been asleep…

‘The homeowner!’

“Sh—!”

She reacted immediately and tried to flee, but the homeowner’s movements were faster.

He closed the distance in an instant, easily subdued her, and asked,

‘Ugh…!’

“Miss Mouse, how many days this time?”

His low voice was leisurely. A peculiar weight and noble air flowed from his voice and tone like a fragrance.

The intruder, who had turned to run, had her cheek pressed against the wall as she was pushed back.

Her mask, half-removed from eating, had been taken off at some point—her bare face was exposed.

‘Damn… this is humiliating….’

She struggled with all her might to shake off the hold on both her arms, but it was useless as expected.

She quickly gave up and, mimicking the homeowner, spoke with an air of composure.

“Could you stop calling a person a mouse?”

“I can’t very well call a lady a rat.”

“Ha. Lady, my foot….”

A laugh swirled at the banter that didn’t suit the situation.

The homeowner, wearing a faint smile, urged her to answer in a soft voice.

“So, how many days?”

“Seven.”

“It keeps increasing.”

Having said something that could be either praise or admiration, he moved while gripping both her wrists with one hand.

When they reached the window, the night wind gusted over them.

Her blue hair scattered as if to pierce his murky blue eyes.

As the homeowner thrust his hand forward, her restrained upper body tilted out the window.

“Any last words?”

The intruder let out a scoff, just as she had when she heard the absurd word “lady,” and turned her head.

Her expression was as calm as if she didn’t realize what situation she was in.

“You know it’s not the last time.”

The homeowner, who had smirked at the expected answer, let go of her hand just like that.

She fell from the third floor, but the intruder landed as if it were natural and stood up unscathed.

“Ha….”

Looking around, the homeowner’s knights were approaching.

The intruder, having foreseen what was to come, gave up on running and looked up at the third floor.

“Could you pretend you didn’t see me? I really just needed to hold out a little longer.”

Even as the knights lifted her limbs one by one and carried her away, the brazen frown on her face didn’t ease.

Just as her emotional expressions weren’t intense, the homeowner only lowered his eyes indifferently despite her forced fault-finding.

While putting the cake she had been eating into his mouth—when had he even noticed it?

‘He hates sweets, yet he eats it on purpose.’

Why were those lips, pressed firmly together as he chewed the dense cheese cake, so infuriating?

She glared up at him with deeply furrowed eyes and spoke mockingly.

“Does a Grand Duke have no dignity, using a fork someone else was using?”

But despite her sneer, he brazenly twirled the small fork in his hand.

“Ah, that pisses me off.”

The homeowner, smiling as if he’d landed a blow, muttered,

“See you again, Miss Mouse.”

—

“Damn it… Why is that man like that again? ‘See you again’—if you’re going to say that, don’t throw me out!”

Thrown out of the mansion, I kicked every stone I saw as I headed home.

By now, breaking in and getting chased out had become so familiar that my heart didn’t pound as much as before.

‘……Being used to breaking and entering—that’s a bit unpleasant.’

It seemed my sense of caution was dulling over time. I need to pull myself together.

‘Honestly, the homeowner chasing out a trespasser is only natural. It’s not his fault.’

The one I should really blame is the system.

I glared at the system window I had floating as a substitute for a lantern.

[Quest: Chapter 1–1 Ainsworth Manor Main Building, 1st Floor Corridor]

It only showed the address, but this was telling me to break into that house I’d just been chased out of.

If I refuse the quest—

[Death if not attempted within 47 hours, 30 minutes, 46 seconds]

How did I end up possessing such a ridiculous game…

Chapter 1

[Have these bastards gone crazy]

[At this point, I should ask for a refund]

[I’m just going to delete it.]

My phone, which I hadn’t looked at in over ten hours, was full of messages from my game friends.

“What’s going on now.”

Today was the final chapter update day for <Great.Thief.Run!>, the mobile game that everyone in this open chat room—myself included—was crazy about.

For people in a chat room who always complained about the game anyway, an update was just another event that gave them more to complain about.

I ignored the messages as usual and updated the game. Then I thought as I trudged along.

‘It’s 10 o’clock. I have to wake up at 5 tomorrow, so… how many hours can I game?’

I’d taken on too many part-time shifts because of what was coming up, so I was short on sleep, but I couldn’t give up gaming.

Besides, this update completed the story.

Which meant it was the perfect timing for a user like me—who’d only ever enjoyed character customization—to seriously play the story mode.

‘Ah. The update’s done.’

I was hurrying to log in when—

*Vroooom!*

A sudden, violent engine roar made me look up, and I saw a car hurtling straight toward me.

“……?!”

I should have run, but my body froze stiff, and I couldn’t even scream.

‘Fuck. So this is how I die!’

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the pain—but the noisy engine sound cut off oddly.

In the stillness, as if severed from reality, I came to my senses.

‘……What?’

I couldn’t see well because of the blinding headlights, but the car had stopped dead in its tracks, still in the posture of charging at me.

Not because it had hit the brakes—it was as if time itself had stopped.

I tried to scramble out of the way now, but for some reason my legs wouldn’t listen.

I rolled the only part of me I could move—my eyes—and the phone in my right hand caught my gaze.

Through the screen, which alone was flashing in a world where everything had stopped, something popped out.

—*Boing!*

‘That’s….’

It was the mascot of <Great.Thief.Run!>—a two-head-tall thief character dressed in black with a mask.

‘To be precise, the one the game company pushed as a cute mascot but was ambiguously ugly so nobody wanted it—the one that explains the tutorial.’

—Hey! Is that really what you want to focus on right now?!

The mascot, its mask holes stretching wide as if they were eyes and a mouth, flew closer in indignation.

—Ahem, that’s not it. You’re going to die if you stay like this—want me to help? You just have to agree.

‘Agree?’

I didn’t understand anything.

Why had time stopped, how had that mascot appeared, and agree to what?

But whatever it was, it must mean it would help me get out of this situation.

‘……I’ll do it.’

—Huh?! What? No, that fast?

The mascot, despite having made the offer, was the one flustered.

Right. Normally, a person would bombard it with questions about what it meant.

But what mattered to me right now was only one thing: avoiding the accident.

As long as I didn’t get hit by the car, I could do anything.

To be clear, this is absolutely not PTSD.

I rode in cars just fine, and I could watch traffic accident scenes in media without issue.

This feeling is, well… revulsion.

A sense of conviction—that at the very least, I must not die this way.

—You’re not going to change your mind, right? Really?

‘Yes. I agree. Whatever it is.’

When I confirmed again, a board suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[Great.Thief.Run! Terms of Service]

“……Terms?”

—*Fwaaaah*

“Ugh! What the—suddenly…!”

Tiny text rushed and moved across a blindingly white background, covering my vision.

[Agree □]

The agree box at the bottom of the terms was checked, and then—

“……Huh?”

I had fallen into a space I’d never seen before.

A small studio-style room, a wooden bed, a wardrobe—it was full of unfamiliar things.

—Congratulations! You’ve possessed the 21st century’s greatest game, <Great.Thief.Run!>!

……This is a development I did not see coming.

I grabbed the mascot, who was bouncing around in joy, and brought it close to my face.

—Eek! Let go!

“Possessed?”

—Yeah! I possessed you here to save you!

I immediately checked the full-length mirror in the corner.

“What the….”

Unrealistically blue hair and aquamarine-colored, limited-edition design eyes.

It was my character, the one I’d spent a month obsessively customizing at the start.

Me, looking exactly as I had every day on my phone, was wearing the same black jumpsuit as the mascot.

The outfit you’re given by default when you first start the game.

That settled it. I had possessed my game character.

“……

I set the squirming mascot down and plopped onto the bed.

‘Then what happened to my body? My life?’

—Does that matter~? You’re alive, aren’t you!

“…….”

It’s not that I have no attachment to life.

But it’s not to the point where I’d say there’s no meaning in living if it’s not my original life.

The conclusion came quickly.

I’ll live, even like this. I avoided the traffic accident, and that’s enough.

—Yeah yeah! Let’s think positively!

—You’re so grateful I saved you, right? You’re just dying to repay me, right?

“No. Not really—”

—You can repay me. How? Right here, right now~

—Clear <Great.Thief.Run!> to the final chapter!

“See the game ending?”

My mouth fell open in disbelief.

I mean, this game’s concept is a thief robbing noble houses!

Telling me to clear the game means telling me to steal?

“And if I refuse?”

Instead of the mascot answering, a board—no, a system window—popped up.

[Quest Refusal Penalty: Death]

“Death? What, are you going to send me back to that situation from earlier?”

—Oh! Thanks for the idea!

“…….”

Why are you telling me to see the ending, why did you possess me—there’d be no end to the questions, but let me ask the most important one.

If you have the power to make possession possible…

“Don’t tell me you caused that accident earlier? To possess me and make me see the ending?”

—Kyaa! How can you say such scary things?! Absolutely not!

‘I can’t trust that.’

While I was suspicious, the mascot nodded as if whispering with someone. Then it pointed at the system window.

[Coins awarded even on mid-quest failure]

“What’s this.”

Seeing it present something that was already in the original game as if it were a perk, it seemed coins could be used.

—That’s right~!

[Exchange]

[1 coin → 10,000 bells]

—You can exchange them for money in this world!

Money. Good.

I don’t like it enough to get into crime for it, but money matters.

Judging by the state of this room, my character seems to be struggling financially too.

And there’s no other option anyway, plus they’re dangling a carrot like that, so there’s no helping it.

“Ha…. Fine. I’ll do it.”

—Great! I’ll tell you your first quest~

[Quest: Chapter 1 Ainsworth Manor]

[Death if not attempted within 1 hour, 36 minutes, 28 seconds]

“……Hey. You should give me time to breathe.”

—Hmm? Why would that be necessary~?

—

I reached the Chapter 1 location and hid in the forest in front of it.

‘You never said I had to do the breaking in myself.’

—What a obvious thing to say. Then what, you’d just teleport in with a *boing*?

‘That’s how it was in the game.’

The mascot spun around and snapped.

—You haven’t even properly played the game, so stop acting like you know! I was originally just going to get your consent and leave, but you know so little that I’m spending today educating you like a tutorial!

‘Ah. Shut—’

—You’re the only one who hasn’t cleared Chapter 1 in over a year, you lazy brat! It’s a running game—what were you doing just dressing up your character and undressing them?!

‘Is that wrong? Then you should have possessed someone who knows the game well.’

—Uwaaaah!

I ignored the mascot’s roar and looked at the mansion’s front gate.

Perhaps because it was close to midnight, the gatekeepers were dozing off standing up.

Now was the time to go.

‘Wait, how am I supposed to go like this. At least give me something to cover my face.’

The mascot let out a deep sigh as if annoyed.

—This frustrating idiot. When you call the system window, this comes up. Figure at least this much out yourself!

[Exchange]

[Wardrobe]

When I selected the wardrobe, a screen identical to the game interface appeared.

‘All the outfits I bought are here too.’

Having to wear the ugliest one when all these pretty clothes are right here.

With a sorrowful heart, I put on the thief mask that looked exactly like the mascot’s face.

‘It must look really ugly, right? No mirror? Let me see just once.’

—Just go!

At the mascot’s scolding, I quietly moved and climbed over the mansion’s wall.

‘This works?’

I didn’t get caught. Beginner’s luck, I suppose.

Not a single person was visible inside the mansion, but I walked while staying alert to my surroundings.

Soon I arrived at a corridor lined with rooms on both sides.

[Quest: Chapter 1–1 Ainsworth Manor Main Building, 1st Floor Corridor]

[How to play: Complete the run for ten days without being caught by anyone]

‘Huh?’

The how-to-play was different from the actual game.

—This is the possessor’s version.

Let me review the conditions I need to follow from the how-to-play.

1. Without being caught by anyone

2. For ten days

3. Complete the run

Number 1 is just basic thief posture, so pass.

“Complete the run for ten days” probably doesn’t mean run around for all ten days.

It says “complete the run,” so running from start to finish once should do it.

—Oh. Exactly!

That means the quest is effectively not “complete the run” but “survive for ten days.”

—That’s right~ Start now.

‘Unbelievable. Is the difficulty insane? Where did ten days suddenly come from?’

—Why so many complaints~!

—Hiyah!

[GAME START]

[RUN!]

‘Hey, you bastard!’