Cold.
That was Lynn’s first sensation as he regained consciousness.
A metallic sensation pressed against his wrists.
He moved instinctively, and a crisp clink echoed through the silent room.
He opened his eyes.
What met his gaze was an impossibly magnificent ceiling, adorned with murals of angels and Holy Light.
The air was thick with a faint, peculiar scent — a mixture of high-grade incense and disinfectant.
This wasn’t his rented apartment.
Lynn bolted upright, but a massive force yanked his wrists back, slamming his body back onto the soft bed.
Only then did he see it.
Both of his wrists were shackled by exquisite Silver Chains.
The other ends of the chains were firmly fixed to the bedposts, which were carved with intricate patterns.
‘Is this… a kidnapping?’
“Are you awake?”
A woman’s voice, as gentle as a hymn, drifted from the side of the bed.
Lynn turned his head stiffly.
Sunlight poured in through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a sacred halo over the figure sitting by the bed.
She was a girl so beautiful she seemed unreal.
Her dazzling blonde hair looked like molten gold, and her azure eyes were as clear as a mirror of the sky.
She wore the pure white robes of a cleric, with a delicate Silver Holy Emblem hanging at her chest.
Her entire being radiated an aura of holiness and purity.
The Imperial Saint, Alicia.
Lynn’s pupils constricted suddenly.
That name, that face — there was no way he could mistake them.
She was the most popular heroine from Eden’s Dawn, the game project he had been in charge of before transmigrating.
‘So, I really transmigrated? And I’m inside the very game I developed?’
Alicia didn’t seem to notice Lynn’s dazed state.
She merely offered a gentle smile and softly lifted Lynn’s shackled left hand.
Her fingertips were slightly cold, but her movements were incredibly tender.
Under Lynn’s wary and uncertain gaze, Alicia picked up a pair of… small, gemstone-encrusted silver scissors from a nearby tray.
“Snip.”
A soft sound rang out.
Lynn watched helplessly as one of his fingernails was clipped, falling onto the snow-white sheets.
“Your nails are getting a bit long; they might hide filth otherwise,” Alicia’s voice was full of concern, as if she were doing something perfectly normal.
“As a treasure bestowed upon me by God, every part of your body must maintain the most perfect cleanliness.”
Lynn’s mind went blank.
He remembered.
He remembered that mod he had stupidly installed.
In pursuit of what he called “extreme contrast appeal,” he had modified the data of every female character in the game, adding a hidden attribute — Maximum Possessiveness.
As for the Imperial Saint Alicia before him, she had been a primary focus of his “care.”
At the time, he seemed to… likely… almost certainly… have maxed out her blackening tendency.
Right then, a translucent blue box abruptly appeared in the center of Lynn’s vision.
**[Danger Perception System Activated]**
**[Scanning target…]**
**[Target: Imperial Saint · Alicia]**
**[Blackening Value: 99%]**
**[Current Status: Extremely Dangerous (Imprisonment Tendency, Purification Tendency)]**
**[System Hint: If the Blackening Value reaches 100%, it will trigger the instant-death ending ‘Nice Boat.’]**
Lynn’s breathing hitched.
Ninety-nine percent?
Just one point away from one hundred?
The blood in his entire body felt frozen.
A chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
He now fully understood what “Purification Tendency” meant.
“Snip.”
Alicia clipped another nail.
She studied Lynn’s fingers with intense focus, a hint of near-obsessive fanaticism flickering in her eyes.
“Your fingers are also born so perfectly. Every knuckle looks like the most outstanding creation of the gods.”
Her voice was soft, yet it made Lynn’s scalp tingle with fear.
“I was thinking… if I clipped them off one by one and soaked them in Holy Water to make specimens, would I be able to keep this beauty forever?”
‘Clip… clip them off?’
Lynn shook with terror, his hand instinctively trying to recoil.
The chains rattled, ruthlessly terminating his movement.
“Don’t move.”
Alicia’s tone remained gentle, but the strength with which she gripped his wrist suddenly increased.
That kind of power was not something a seemingly frail Saintess should possess.
Her smile didn’t waver, but the scissors in her other hand slowly aimed for the tip of Lynn’s index finger.
The cold metallic sensation made every hair on Lynn’s body stand on end.
He was going to die!
He was really going to die here!
‘No, I can’t panic!’
Lynn forced himself to calm down, his brain working at an unprecedented speed.
‘Fight back?’
“Impossible.”
He was currently a defenseless ordinary person locked to a bed, while his opponent was a Saintess, one of the peak powerhouses of this world.
‘Beg for mercy?’
Given her 99% Blackening Value, begging would only make her feel that “unclean words” were defiling him.
It might even push the value straight to 100%.
‘I have to save myself!’
As the developer of the game, he knew Alicia’s character design better than anyone.
He wrote it!
Every background story, every childhood trauma, every personality flaw — he had typed them out word by word!
He remembered that the root of Alicia’s yandere nature came from her experience of being abandoned at a monastery as a child.
She had an extreme fear of “being abandoned” and “impurity,” which was why she was driven by a frantic desire to “purify” and “possess” the things she deemed precious.
To lower her Blackening Value, he had to start at the root.
He had to perform psychological counseling!
“Alicia…”
Lynn took a deep breath, trying his best to make his voice sound less shaky.
Alicia looked up, her sapphire-like eyes quietly watching him, waiting for him to continue.
The tip of the scissors remained steadily poised against his fingertip.
“Your hands are very cold.”
Lynn didn’t look at the lethal scissors.
Instead, he looked directly into her eyes, speaking in the softest tone he could muster.
Alicia’s movements paused.
“Is the treasure bestowed by my Lord… concerned about me?”
A hint of confusion appeared on her face, but it was quickly replaced by an inexpressible joy.
The fanaticism in her eyes seemed to fade slightly.
‘It’s working!’
Lynn felt a surge of hope and decided to double down.
“You look very tired. Have you not had a good rest in a long time?”
As he spoke, he carefully observed the system panel in his vision.
**[Blackening Value: 98%]**
It dropped!
It actually dropped!
Lynn felt as though he had grabbed a literal lifeline while dangling over a cliff.
“To prepare for your arrival, I haven’t closed my eyes for three days,” Alicia replied softly, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible grievance.
“I had to pray constantly to ensure every inch of air here was pure. I couldn’t let any filth near you.”
“Fool.”
The word slipped out of Lynn’s mouth almost reflexively.
Alicia’s body visibly stiffened.
Lynn’s heart leaped into his throat.
‘I’ll bet everything on this!’
“Alicia, look at me.”
Lynn’s voice became softer than ever before.
“You don’t need to work that hard, because… I won’t leave you.”
Those words acted like a magic spell, accurately striking the softest part of Alicia’s heart.
Mist began to gather in her azure eyes.
“Is… Is that true?”
“It’s true.”
Lynn nodded with absolute certainty.
At the same time, he used his other shackled hand to gently cover the back of her hand holding the scissors.
“So, take a rest first, okay? Seeing you like this… it breaks my heart.”
**[Blackening Value: 95%]**
**[Blackening Value: 92%]**
**[Blackening Value: 88%]**
The Blackening Value plummeted like it was diving off a cliff.
Alicia’s gaze gradually shifted from fanaticism and obsession to confusion and dependence.
The strength in her hand relaxed, and the lethal scissors fell onto the carpet with a clang.
“I…”
She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
Lynn pressed his advantage, softly humming a melody.
It was a lullaby.
It was a lullaby he had specifically written for Alicia’s character — one that only existed in her lore, sung to her by her mother.
The moment the song began, Alicia froze completely.
The last trace of madness in her eyes vanished, replaced by endless vulnerability and longing.
She slowly let go of Lynn’s hand and lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong.
“I’m sorry… I was just… too scared…”
**[Blackening Value: 80%]**
Watching the value finally drop below the safety line, Lynn let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
His back was completely soaked in cold sweat.
He had survived.
For now.