Chapter 1: Back from the Dead

Ten years after my death, the system brought me back to life.

The stale motel air and sharp tang of disinfectant hit the back of my throat, an immediate reminder that I’d been dropped into a life I didn’t remember. My hands shook, and outside the smeared window, the world spun on, treating me like a ghost nobody noticed on the curb.

It wants me to save the villain who’s already gone off the deep end.

But I’ve lost all my memories.

So when I first saw the villain from a distance, before I could even get close, his security detail chased me off.

My teeth rattled as I hit the concrete, and for a split second, I hated how familiar pain already felt. Then a flurry of live-chat comments flickered across my vision.

[Here we go again. I’ve lost count of how many people have come to “save” the villain.]

[Over the years, the system’s sent in countless stand-ins to keep the villain stable, terrified he’ll burn everything down.]

[Some look like his late wife, some act like her, some even come with her memories...]

[But every single one of them has failed.]

[How many days will this one, so painfully average, last?]

A cold wind bit through my thrift-store jacket, and I hugged myself tighter, trying not to shiver under the harsh glow of the streetlights. The digital voices in my head felt both unreal and way too close—like being heckled at a high school football game, everyone in the bleachers convinced they know your next play.