Chapter 14: Static in the Head

The live-chat started “critiquing” me again, calling me clueless and useless.

[I’m done...]

[She really is the most hopeless strategist I’ve ever seen.]

[She lucked into such a good opportunity and didn’t even know how to use it?]

[She just left?]

[Shouldn’t she have stayed to comfort and care for the villain?]

[She finally gets a chance to be alone with him, and she just leaves?]

[What is she even doing?]

Some even egged me on, suggesting I should just throw myself at James, use whatever means necessary to seduce him. Either way, I was doomed—someone like me could never finish the mission.

They couldn’t wait for me to anger James and die, so a new, more capable strategist could take my place.

If I died, they’d just move on to the next one.

The comments flickered angrily, like static on an old TV. I pressed my hands over my ears, even though the voices were all in my head. It felt like high school all over again—trying to disappear in a cafeteria full of whispers, everyone waiting for you to trip.