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The 100th death was different. As the monster's jaws closed around me, I felt a strange sensation, like my consciousness was being pulled apart and put back together again.
When I woke up, I wasn't in the gray void. I was back on Earth, standing in the middle of a crowded street. People bustled around me, oblivious to my presence.
But something was wrong. The world seemed... off. Colors were muted, sounds were distant, and everything felt like a dream.
I stumbled through the crowd, trying to make sense of what was happening. But every face I saw was a stranger's. I had no memory of who I was or how I got there.
And then, I saw it. A figure watching me from across the street. The monster, but different. It had a face now, a twisted mockery of my own.
I knew then that I wasn't free. The cycle had just changed. The game had evolved.
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