How a Nuisance Character Survives in a Horror Game Chapter 42

 

—Keuuugh… Keugh…

 

Was this a surprise key that brought out a ghost like this?

 

That wasn’t a clue?

 

I was bewildered because I didn’t know there would be a zonk like this, but anyway, the ghost was stuck in the drawer and couldn’t come out, just struggling with its hand.

 

“I wondered if there was something, and it seems like there was a monster.”

 

I grabbed Holloway with my free hand and dragged him behind me.

 

“Shall we go out?”

 

No window popping up telling me to do anything.

 

I started collecting pieces of paper.

 

“Sister, what are you doing?”

 

“I’m going to collect some paper, maybe there’s a clue to get out.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

No. Probably not.

 

I’m planning to use it as my enhancing material.

 

First, I collected all the papers in the infirmary.

 

I turned on the map, pretending to look at it as it had become quite thick, and clicked the enhance button.

 

At the same time, all the papers in my hands disappeared.

 

“…the paper is gone.”

 

First, pretend to be surprised.

 

“What is really here…”

 

After reaching the final peak, I looked at the hammer in front of me.

 

[Begin enhancing ‘Map’.]

 

[Strengthening success probability 100%]

 

[⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang!

⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang!

⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ⬛━━◟(` ^ ´ ◟ )Clang! ]

 

The hammer was pounding hard on the map.

 

Then it stopped hammering and a bunch of excited emoticons appeared on the map.

 

[₍₍ ◝ (・ ω ・ ◝) ⁾⁾ ₍₍ (◟ ・ ω ・) ◟ ₍₍ ◝ (・ ω ・ ◝) ⁾⁾ ₍₍ ₍₍

[₍₍ ◝ (・ ω ・ ◝) ⁾⁾ ₍₍ (◟ ・ ω ・) ◟ ₍₍ ◝ (・ ω ・ ◝) ⁾⁾ ₍₍ ₍₍

 

[Enhancing success! Dance with excitement!

 

₍₍ ◝(・ω・ ◝) ⁾⁾ ₍₍ (◟ ・ω・)◟ ⁾⁾]

 

[Map (lv. 1) → Map (lv. 2)]

 

[Level up!]

 

[Unfortunately, there are no added features. It looks like you need to try harder.]

 

[(° ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) ‧º (° ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) ‧º (° ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) ‧º ]

 

This bastard…

 

You took my paper in a pile and only went up 1 level?!

 

It was to the point where I was even annoyed by the fantastic balance.

 

[Sudden quest!]

 

Don’t wanna.

 

[There is a note inside the drawer monster’s face. Let’s read it.]

 

If you tell me not to do anything suspicious but only ask me to do suspicious things, what should I do?

 

[You are already recognized as a strange person, so you will not be suspected.]

 

That just feels bad the way it is.

 

By the way, it’s in its face?

 

I looked at the monster with a weak body that couldn’t stand properly and approached it.

 

“Sister, it’s dangerous!”

 

“But I’m afraid it might come out if we leave it like this.”

 

“It’s not coming out.”

 

“Nothing is certain, Holloway. There is nothing I can do if it’s for your safety and mine.”

 

“So what are you going to do?”

 

Like this.

 

I beat the ghost in the face with my foot.

 

Bugh!

 

The head flew off and hit the wall with the sound of bones breaking.

 

A note was visible among the sticky drippings.

 

…Usually I’m not this kind of person, though.

 

Now I had no hesitation in kicking monsters.

 

Being in the hotel, even me myself was getting weirder, but I knew I had to do this to survive.

 

I swallowed my sigh and opened the note, pretending to be surprised.

 

[You got ‘Unfortunate Us’ note.]

 

When I opened the note, I saw something written by a crooked child.

 

[You will die eventually.]

 

Why is it so scary?

 

“…What does this mean?”

 

“…”

 

Holloway said nothing. Instead, his hand holding my sleeve was shaking.

 

[Please comfort Holloway.]

 

… ?

 

It was the system that put out a window like that without saying anything.

 

I first hugged Holloway. There’s nothing better than a hug for comfort.

 

“…”

 

“Are you surprised? I’m sorry.”

 

“No.”

 

And then he snuggled into my arms.

 

[Sudden quest success!]

 

[Story fragments collected!]

 

[Collected fragments of ‘Numerous Humans’.]

 

[Collected fragments of ‘Peaceful Land’.]

 

[Collected fragments of ‘Underground Screams’.]

 

I patted Holloway’s back with one hand and stared at the drawings on the pieces to interpret the collected pieces.

 

‘Numerous Humans’ was truly a picture of many people shedding bloody tears.

 

‘Peaceful Land’ and ‘Screaming Underground’ were the only paintings that were connected.

 

The ‘Peaceful Land’ depicted above depicts people enjoying a resort, and the ‘Screaming Basement’ depicts screaming humans.

 

This won’t be ordinary, as this island and hotel became the cornerstone of the horror game in the first place.

 

There’s only one thing that can be inferred from looking at those three pictures.

 

‘Sacrifice.’

 

As I looked at words that could be interpreted relatively easily, I intuitively recognized them.

 

This sistem, which tried to kill me by pretending to help me, certainly wanted something from me.

 

The reason it keeps giving me hints, unlike in the horror game, is because they most likely want me to find out the secrets of this island.

 

Wait, when explaining the background of the horror game in the beginning, it said that biological experiments took place there.

 

‘What if the screams in the basement were caused by biological experiments? The picture itself looks like that too.’

 

So it wasn’t set up as the theme of a typical horror game story, but something that actually happened?

 

Strangely, my stomach became cold. As my shoulders stiffened, Holloway noticed the small change and rubbed his face against my shoulder.

 

“Why. Sister. Are you scared?”

 

“…Am not.”

 

I hugged him tightly.

 

So what are these demons in that bloody space of biological experimentation?

 

Could it be that they’re demons summoned to help with the biological experiment? Then they got trapped in reverse?

 

I forgot it when I was with Holloway, but these guys are evil.

 

Treating humans as less important than passing grass.

 

I was filled with thoughts of winning Holloway’s favor and escaping from this hotel, but…

 

At any moment, he might change and take my life.

 

If so, is it okay for me to keep going with Holloway?

 

My head was dizzy with confusion.

 

***

 

“It’s cumbersome.”

 

“…I-I apologize.”

 

“If it was no different from when you were injured, I shouldn’t have poured that precious potion on you.”

 

“…I really apologize.”

 

The harsh words that came one after another pierced Alholf’s heart.

 

In the end, Alholf’s eyes filled with tears. Cynthia saw those tears and frowned more.

 

“You’re crying again? I’m sick of it!”

 

“…Huwa.”

 

In the end, Alholf cried out loud. Evelin’s harsh words didn’t even fit into the harsh language category.

 

Cynthia’s tone was harsh, making Alholf collapse.

 

“Sniff…”

 

She missed Evelin.

 

Rather, Evelin was kind.

 

Cynthia touched her forehead as she looked at Alholf.

 

How could it be that she was left alone with such an indifferent man?

 

Of course, she knew she couldn’t be of any help here either. But Alholf was more useless than he.

 

“I have heard a lot about you. I heard that the ladies of noble families are very fond of you.”

 

Just before Alholf became a little shy at her praise.

 

“It was all a lie. If they see you now, they will regret everything about you.”

 

“W-Why do you keep saying hurtful things, Your Highness!”

 

“See!”

 

Cynthia shouted. This idiot ended up calling her by her title, which they were told not to call her.

 

“Didn’t I warn you not to use the word ‘Your Highness’ in your mouth?”

 

“Gasp!”

 

Alholf quickly covered his mouth in surprise.

 

“We’re not the only ones here.”

 

The Imperial Family is not safe outside the empire. In particular, she had to hide her identity on this secretive island.

 

‘The ship was shipwrecked and we ended up on this island?’

 

Cynthia was petrified. She didn’t think she was lucky that I landed on this island without dying.

 

She needed to consider all kinds of scenarios.

 

If the shipwreck wasn’t a coincidence and was the Empress’s intention, there was no need to reveal her true identity here.

 

Because there could be enemies everywhere.

 

That didn’t just apply to Cynthia.

 

So was everyone. As a noble, you have enemies.

 

In a place like this, there was no need to mention one’s title.

 

Even if one couldn’t hide that they were a noble, it wasn’t difficult to hide what family they belonged to.

 

And it was also to prepare for any unexpected situation.

 

Cynthia and any of her companions had never had their lives threatened only once or twice while living as a noble.

 

It was a caution that there is nothing bad about being careful.

 

“Be alert.”

 

“Y-Yes…!”

 

As the two slowly disappeared into the hallway, Suriel opened the guest room door, came out, and looked at the end of the hallway where the two had disappeared.

 

“She’s from the Imperial Family.”

 

‘If she’s called ‘Your Highness’…’

 

The door handle that Suriel was holding was broken.

 

“She must be a princess.”

 

Since Holloway said ‘Vallone Empire’, she must be the princess of that empire.

 

“As expected. There’s no way she came here by chance.”

 

His teeth suddenly cracked.

 

Suriel’s white pupils turned black due to anger, and his eyes flashed.

 

“What kind of trick is this.”

 

These people always made our stomachs twist.

 

Bright blue veins stood out along the tightly clenched fist, and Suriel’s face became stained with anger.

 

Tap.

 

Suriel took a step forward.

 

Tap, tap, tap.

 

The candles that illuminated the hallway went out one by one, creating thick darkness.

 

“H-Huh? The c-candles are all out!”

 

“Stop making a fuss!”

 

The two voices became closer and closer.

 

A heavily rusted saw appeared in Suriel’s hand.

 

A long saw dragged on the floor. The strides gradually became wider.

 

Skrrrrk… Skrrrrrrk…

 

His sunken pupils felt intense anger, yet were also somewhat empty.

 

“A-Aren’t you hearing some sound?”

 

Skrrrrk… Skrrrrrrk…

 

“Your, no, Miss C-Cynthia!”

 

“Shut your mouth.”

 

Cynthia’s entire body was drenched in sweat from the pressure she felt on her back.

 

She could feel the terrifying presence of bloodlust beyond that hallway.

 

“…Alholf.”

 

“Y-Yes?”

 

“When I say three, run.”

 

Something was coming at the moment.

 

Although she didn’t know who the exact target was, she had to run away.

 

“One, two…”

 

“…”

 

Alholf was very nervous and just stared at Cynthia’s mouth.

 

“Three!”

 

The two started running quickly and the sound suddenly stopped.

 

And soon.

 

Skrrrk, skrrrrrk!

 

The unidentifiable sound and the footsteps of someone running quickly caught up with the two.

 

“You call that running?”

 

A voice heard right behind them.

 

Alholf and Cynthia looked back without realizing it.

 

The moment they looked into Suriel’s eyes, the color disappeared from their faces.

 

Whoosh.

 

The candle was lit and a large shadow created by the backlight covered the two.

 

Strange black horns extending on both sides, a saw held high.

 

“Let’s end the joke.”

 

The saw was drawn in a straight line.

 

“KYAAAAKH!”

 

“S-Save m…!”

 

The two’s screams rang out in the hallway.