Before Sa-rang could sink any deeper into her thoughts, her mother's voice drifted upstairs.

"Sa-rang! Dinner's ready!"

She flinched.

For a moment, she had completely forgotten that the rest of the world still existed.

"Coming," she called back automatically.

The word felt strange leaving her mouth.

Like she was speaking from very far away.

Downstairs, dinner was already laid out on the table. Her father was laughing at something on television while her mother complained that he was watching the same old shows again.

Normally, Sa-rang would have joined in.

Tonight, she couldn't.

She sat down and picked at her food.

A bite of rice.

A sip of water.

Another bite.

The conversation around her blurred into meaningless noise.

Every few seconds, her mind returned to the same image.

Joo-kyung smiling beside Min-jae.

The comments calling them a couple.

Neither of them correcting anyone.

Her chest tightened.

Had she misunderstood?

Or had she been the one who understood too late?

"Sa-rang?"

She looked up.

Her mother was staring at her.

"Hm?"

"You haven't said a word all evening."

"Oh."

Sa-rang forced a smile.

"I'm just tired."

Her parents exchanged a glance.

Fortunately, neither pushed the issue.

After finishing what little food she could manage, she excused herself and returned to her room.

The moment the door closed behind her, the smile vanished.

She collapsed onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

The room was dark except for the faint glow of streetlights outside.

Her thoughts drifted in circles.

Joo-kyung.

Min-jae.

The hate values.

The giant red arrow.

The world's most hated person.

Nothing made sense.

At some point she rolled onto her side and buried her face in a pillow.

Maybe tomorrow things would be clearer.

Maybe—

Ding.

The sound cut through the silence.

Sa-rang froze.

Slowly, she lifted her head.

The red flip phone was glowing on her bedside table.

A new notification blinked across the screen.

For some reason, dread immediately settled in her stomach.

She reached for it.

Her fingers felt cold.

The phone opened by itself.

A message filled the screen.

SYSTEM NOTICE

The letters were bright red.

Sa-rang swallowed.

Then she began reading.

Current Status: World's Most Hated Individual

Objective Assigned

To survive, the user must complete one of the following conditions:

Condition 1: Reduce your total Hate Value below the survival threshold.

Condition 2: Identify the individual who hates you the most and raise their Hate Value to the maximum possible limit.

Failure to satisfy either condition will result in termination.

For several seconds, Sa-rang simply stared.

The words didn't register.

Then she read them again.

And again.

And again.

Her heartbeat quickened.

Termination?

What kind of termination?

The answer appeared before she could even ask.

A new line formed beneath the message.

Termination = Death

The phone slipped from her hands.

It hit the blanket and bounced onto the mattress.

Sa-rang, meanwhile, scrambled backward so suddenly that she fell off the bed.

"Ow!"

The impact barely registered.

She sat on the floor staring at the glowing screen.

No.

No, no, no.

This had crossed the line.

Seeing strange arrows was one thing.

Being told she was the most hated person in the world was another.

But this?

This was insane.

"This isn't real."

Her voice sounded weak.

"It can't be real."

The phone remained silent.

The message stayed exactly where it was.

Death.

The word kept repeating in her head.

Death.

Death.

Death.

She hugged her knees to her chest.

A laugh escaped her.

Small.

Nervous.

Almost hysterical.

"This is a dream."

It had to be.

People didn't wake up one day and discover they could see hatred.

People didn't receive magical phones.

People definitely didn't get life-or-death missions from fairy systems.

Right?

Her eyes drifted back to the screen.

The message hadn't disappeared.

Neither had the timer that had suddenly appeared beneath it.

Sa-rang's breath caught.

A countdown.

The numbers were already ticking downward.

One second at a time.

As if whatever had sent the message wasn't joking.

As if it fully expected her to obey.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too quiet.

Too real.

And for the first time since all of this had started, genuine fear settled into her chest.

Not confusion.

Not curiosity.

Fear.

Because if the system was telling the truth...

Then somewhere out there was a person who hated her more than anyone else in the world.

And her life might depend on finding them before time ran out.