Chapter 34: Facing the Zombie Bride Again... But This Time, It’s Not a Game.

He stepped past the playground, following the mission line, until the treeline thinned. Concrete poked through the dirt, then more, until cracked streets appeared underfoot. He reached the edge of the forest and finally stopped.

There, looming in front of him, stood the cathedral. Its spires were broken, vines crawling up the stone walls, but even in ruin it stood tall... an unshakable landmark. The blue exclamation still pulsed faintly above its roof.

The sight dragged him backward in time, back to his old setup at home. He could almost feel the weight of the headset on his head, the ache in his wrist from hours gripping the mouse, the way his fingers flew over the keyboard.

His avatar... the polished, cocky version of himself, stood where he now stood, mowing down endless waves of zombies. He remembered the blur of headshots, the satisfying crunch of skulls bursting pixel by pixel, and the sound of his fans cheering through the stream chat.

For nearly a month, he had tried. Night after night, the runs ended the same. The zombie bunny bride. Always waiting at the top of the cathedral steps, her pale figure framed against the ruin. No matter how skilled he was, no matter how many waves he cut through, he froze the moment he saw her.

And every time he froze, the world made sure he paid for it. Memes flooded the net, edits twisting the moment into a joke, endless bashes tearing him apart. It didn’t matter that he cleared the hardest waves, or that no one else even came close...

What they remembered was him failing in front of her. And worst of all, they branded him with a title he never asked for, never wanted: Sid the Necrophilia.

"No, Not this time. I’m ending this, once and for all."

He stepped forward, the cathedral growing larger with every footfall. It wasn’t just a ruin. Even half-devoured by vines, with spires cracked and windows broken, it still looked divine. It was the kind of structure that silenced you, the kind that made you understand why people once believed in miracles.

The cathedral was wide, its sheer size enough to dominate the whole plaza. Sid could see how, before the fall, it must have been the centerpiece of the city. The landmark everyone knew, the meeting point for life, faith, and hope.

A few zombies staggered aimlessly across the plaza, their moans low. Sid glanced at them but didn’t raise his weapon. They weren’t the point. Not today. His eyes stayed locked on the giant wooden doors ahead.

When he reached them, he stopped. He adjusted his grip on the shotgun, lifted his chin, and exhaled slowly. Every nerve in his body told him to be ready. This was it. He made sure his stance was firm, his mind composed.

"This is it... you wasted your life once; don’t let one damned zombie define you."

And then, with his hand on the door, Sid stood before the cathedral, prepared to face the zombie bunny bride.

The heavy wooden doors groaned as Sid pushed them open, their echo rolling through the cathedral. Dust swirled in the shafts of colored light that poured from the stained glass, painting the cracked marble floor in broken rainbows. His HUD flickered, and the glowing blue exclamation mark appeared at the far end of the hall. It hovered above her.

There she was.

The Zombie Bunny Bride stood at the altar, her back turned to him. That damned back. The same image that had haunted him for years. Her black veil flowed down her shoulders, her fluffy cotton tail unbelievably clean, impossibly white, still bouncing softly with every faint movement. She hadn’t changed. Not at all.

Sid’s sneakers clicked against the cracked marble floor as he moved forward. One zombie reached weakly from the ground, its broken jaw snapping at his ankle. Without breaking stride, Sid ground his heel down hard, crushing its skull with a wet crack. His jaw was tight, his body stiff, every step an effort to keep his composure.

Another shadow lunged from the side, fast and snarling. Sid didn’t even glance. His hand moved by instinct, pocket knife flashing out, burying itself into the skull. The body dropped, and he pulled the blade free in one smooth motion. His pace never faltered. His eyes never left the bride.

When he reached the stairs leading to the altar, the sunlight burst through the high glass windows, flooding the space. It lit him from behind, painting his figure in gold, casting a spotlight across both hunter and prey. Sid clenched his fists, his voice erupting.

"HEY! You—YOU ROTTING ZOMBIE!"

He forced himself to breathe, trying not to lose composure. He needed to focus, to do what the system demanded: confront her.

"Do you know what you did to me? I was ridiculed, mocked, dragged through the dirt because of you. My name, my career, my reputation—it all died because of you. Because I couldn’t kill you when everyone was watching."

His jaw tightened. He stepped up another stair, pointing at her with his knife hand.

"I don’t know why I couldn’t do it. I don’t know what the hell happened inside me back then. My hands froze, my mind locked up, and I... I couldn’t pull the trigger. Do you have any idea what that cost me? What the world called me because of it? Necrophilia! Like I wanted you, like I was sick!"

His voice cracked, but he pushed on, louder now, echoing through the cathedral’s vast ceiling.

"But now, I’m not controlling some avatar, not sitting in a gaming chair watching you on a screen. I’m here now. I died trying before, but this time I won’t. So get ready, and don’t you dare turn around... this—this will be quick."

Sid’s breath came heavy, and about to get the shotgun that was sling in his shoulder. But then, she moved.

The Zombie Bunny Bride slowly rotated, her veil brushing the floor as she turned to face him. Her long white bunny ears twitched with the motion, bouncing lightly. Sunlight caught in her silver white hair... And for the first time, Sid looked directly into her eyes.

He froze.