Eliza Morgan had never expected to become the
protagonist of her own LitRPG. She was just the
postmistress of Willowbrook, a sleepy village
where the biggest drama was whether the bakery
would run out of scones before noon. That
changed when she opened an old, dustcovered box
from the town archives and found a glowing USB
stick marked LitRPG: The Quest for Willowbrook.
The moment she plugged it in, the world shifted.
Her phone screen flickered with a notification:
Welcome to the Game. Your stats are low. Choose
your class: Hunter, Healer, or Werewolf. Eliza
chose Healer — mostly because it sounded less
dangerous. But the game didn’t take kindly to
passive choices.
The next morning, the village square was overrun
by shadowy figures with glowing runes etched
into their skin. A man in a tailored suit
stepped forward, his tie perfectly knotted
despite the chaos. “You’re Eliza Morgan,” he
said, eyes sharp. “I’m Thomas Vale. You’ve just
triggered the first quest: Defeat the Werewolf
of Willowbrook.”
Thomas was a billionaire investor who’d bought
up half the town’s land under the guise of
“development.” His presence was a hard rule — no
one could leave Willowbrook without his
permission. Another hard rule: the game’s events
were real. If the werewolf killed someone, they
died.
The werewolf in question was called Kael. He
lived on the edge of the forest, avoiding the
town like a ghost. But the game had made him a
boss, and Eliza’s stats were too low to fight
him. So she did what any sensible Healer would
do — she went to the one person who might help:
Thomas.
She found him at the local pub, arguing with a
woman named Clara Hartley. Clara was a local
teacher, kind and sharptongued, with a quiet
confidence that made Eliza uneasy. Thomas
stopped midargument when Eliza approached, his
expression unreadable. “You want my help?” he
asked. “That’s not how this works.”
Eliza wasn’t deterred. She told him about the
game, about the werewolf, about the rules.
Thomas listened, then smirked. “You think I’d
let a game decide the fate of my investment? No.
I’ll help you — but only if you agree to a
second quest.”
The new quest appeared on her phone: Romance the
Heroine. Options: Thomas Vale or Clara Hartley.
Eliza blinked. Romance? She wasn’t sure she
wanted to play that card, but the alternative
was dying.
Kael attacked that night. The forest was alive
with his howls, and the villagers cowered in
their homes. Eliza, armed with nothing but a
makeshift staff and a handful of healing potions,
followed the trail. She found Kael in the ruins
of an old chapel, his form shifting between
human and beast.
“You don’t belong here,” he growled, fangs bared.
“This is my home.”
“I know,” Eliza said. “But the game says you’re
the enemy.”
Kael laughed, a sound like broken glass. “Then
the game is wrong.”
Before she could react, Thomas appeared behind
her, flanked by two men in black suits. “You’re
not going to save him, Eliza,” he said. “He’s a
monster.”
Clara arrived next, stepping between them both.
“He’s not a monster,” she said. “He’s just
trying to survive.”
The three of them stood in a tense triangle, the
air thick with unspoken words. Eliza looked at
Thomas, then at Clara, then back at Kael. The
game had given her a choice, but it wasn’t clear
which path would lead to victory.
In the end, she chose Clara. Not because of love,
but because she believed in the right thing. She
offered Kael a deal: if he left Willowbrook, she
would use her healing powers to erase the game’s
mark from him. He agreed, and as dawn broke, the
forest was silent once more.
Thomas left soon after, his expression
unreadable. Clara stayed, helping Eliza rebuild
the town. The game had ended, but the rules
remained — and for the first time, Willowbrook
felt like a place worth saving.
