Chapter 159: Not Dead in Vain

Officer Tristan Tanner thought for a moment, then said to the paramedic, "She fell from the seventh floor with another man. When they landed, he was underneath her, so he probably acted as a cushion... The man was pronounced dead at the scene."

The doctor nodded thoughtfully after hearing this. ’In a special case like that... well, I suppose it’s possible...’

He couldn’t offer a better explanation; he could only say that the world is full of miracles.

Since all her vitals were normal, Brianna White bypassed the ICU entirely. After leaving the emergency room, doctors transferred her directly to a standard ward.

Melody Summers and the other two sat vigil in the hospital room. Before long, the anesthetic wore off, and Brianna White slowly stirred awake.

As soon as she woke, she saw the three of them by her hospital bed.

She seemed stunned for a moment, murmuring, "...Where am I? It’s so bright... Is this... heaven?"

It was clear she was meant to be a streamer. Even though Brianna White looked haggard, her hair a mess, you could still see she had delicate, pretty features.

Seeing her dazed expression, they couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.

Melody Summers rushed forward to comfort her. "You’re in the hospital. Don’t be afraid. Everything is over now."

Sophie Thorne and Officer Tristan Tanner also came forward to console Brianna.

Once Brianna White had calmed down, Officer Tristan Tanner began to question her patiently, and she recounted the events leading up to her fall:

"Some time ago, people started calling and messaging me nonstop, asking me why I wasn’t dead yet..."

"Others told me they had already contacted gangsters, that gangsters would come to my door soon, strip me naked, and tie me up on the street..."

"No one would listen to me. They just kept screaming at me to pay them back, but—but I don’t owe anyone any money!"

"Ever since the long night began, I’ve felt more and more depressed. I’d get so anxious for no reason every day that I couldn’t sleep. The only way I could calm down was by chatting with everyone in my stream..."

"Then this suddenly happened. For the past few days, I’ve often felt like I can’t breathe, like someone’s gripping my heart and making it twitch. I couldn’t even think straight..."

"I stared at my door all day, terrified that any second someone would burst in, strip me, and throw me outside..."

"I didn’t even dare go out to collect sand vine cakes. I was afraid if anyone saw me, they’d curse at me, just like the people online..."

"Last night, I thought about it all night, and I decided I should just jump. It would be a clean break. I wouldn’t have to hear anyone curse me again, and I wouldn’t have to struggle to survive this catastrophe anymore..."

"Life is so exhausting..."

"But as I stood on the balcony looking down, I suddenly thought, ’Why should I be the one to die? I haven’t done anything wrong.’"

"Right at that moment, he came knocking on my door again."

"He said if I agreed to be his girlfriend, he’d make them stop the online harassment."

"For a second, I actually thought about agreeing to it..."

"Because if I just said yes, they would finally leave me alone..."

"So I told him... I was willing..."

"The moment I said that, he lunged at me, forcing his mouth on mine. He shoved his hands under my shirt, bit my neck, and started tearing at my clothes..."

"The moment he touched me, I regretted it. I thought, ’I’d rather die than let this happen...’"

"But then I thought, ’All I did was take a fever reducer from him and turn him down. Why should I have to die for that?’"

"I thought, ’If I’m not even afraid to die, what else is there to be scared of? Why can’t I get my revenge?!’"

"I slowly backed away, leading him to the balcony..."

"I had already planned to jump, and the balcony door was open. While he was distracted, I grabbed onto him and jumped."

"I thought, ’Finally, it’ll all be over.’"

"I didn’t want to live anymore, but if I could take the man who destroyed me down with me, at least my death wouldn’t be for nothing!"

"You... why did you save me?!"

With that, Brianna White buried her face in the blankets and began to sob, her cries low and anguished.

Her sobs were filled with despair, completely devoid of the joy one would expect from a survivor.

The three of them looked at one another, momentarily at a loss for how to comfort her.

Just then, Yuri Walsh came in. He went straight to Brianna and gave her an injection, and she promptly passed out.

Noticing their surprised gazes, Yuri Walsh explained, "She can’t handle extreme emotional distress in her current state. You mustn’t agitate her."

Hearing this, Officer Tristan Tanner sighed and frowned. "I was too hasty. The Emergency Response Office keeps hounding me for the cause of death of the resident in 801. I needed to get Brianna White’s statement as quickly as possible..."

"The online fallout from this has been huge, and it’s still blowing up. We need to get to the bottom of this quickly and issue a public notice."

Yuri Walsh nodded in understanding, then added, "Aside from her physical injuries, her emotional state is clearly unstable. We recommend she undergo psychological therapy while she’s here."

In response to Officer Tristan Tanner’s puzzled expression, Yuri Walsh explained, "With the prolonged absence of sunlight and inadequate nutrition, many people are developing vitamin deficiencies that lead to psychological issues like depression. You’re aware of this, aren’t you? Cases of people jumping to their deaths are happening constantly now."

It was a sudden realization for Sophie Thorne. "Brianna’s attitude about this has been so negative, and she even considered jumping to end it all. Could it be she already had mental health issues before the cyberbullying started? She did just say she was already feeling down and used her streams to distract herself by talking to her viewers."

This smear campaign and the resulting online mob had taken a poor soul, one already struggling to pull herself out of a spiral of negativity, and pushed her right off a cliff.

Sophie Thorne said furiously, "She was already trying so hard to live! The people who started these rumors should die! They’re all murderers!"

Melody Summers had a similar realization. She’d been wondering why a simple smear campaign had escalated into such massive online harassment, to the point where a bounty was offered. It was nothing less than an attempt to hound someone to death before the truth could even come out.

It seemed the prolonged darkness was making everyone increasingly agitated.

When negative emotions build up to a certain point, they have to explode somewhere. These people were desperate for an outlet, a target they could vent on with impunity, regardless of the truth of the matter.

Given an outlet and cloaked in the anonymity of the internet, they began to attack a complete stranger without any restraint.

Yuri Walsh continued, "We might as well keep her here for a few days of observation. She has multiple scrapes that need tending to, and we can conduct therapy at the same time."

Officer Tristan Tanner hesitated. He knew this private hospital was expensive. The emergency care, inpatient stay, and psychological therapy would add up to hundreds of thousands—a sum Brianna White clearly couldn’t afford.

Just as he was wondering if he could apply to the department for aid, Sophie Thorne preempted him, offering to cover all of Brianna’s medical expenses.

The day’s events had shaken her deeply. She suddenly recalled what she had told Melody Summers, and for a moment, she began to question her entire worldview.

She no longer knew if she had been right or wrong.

She had told Melody Summers that these days, things like sex work were always consensual, that there was no such thing as coercion. She’d told Melody not to worry about those people.

But now she realized her worldview had been far too simplistic. After all, a single rumor was all it took to drive someone to their death.

Stagchaser was just a regular guy, and he had nearly broken Brianna, making her "willing" with nothing but a rumor. What chance did anyone have against men with real power and influence?

When the choice was between "agreeing" and dying, what right did she have to claim it was ever voluntary?

For the first time in her life, Sophie Thorne regretted her own arrogance.