How a Nuisance Character Survives in a Horror Game Chapter 44

 

“Save—save me!”

 

Meanwhile, Alholf’s screams continued.

 

The strange thing was that the sound could now be heard from all directions. I’m going crazy, really.

 

I’ll just choose the recommended one and go back if he’s not there.

 

I pressed number 2.

 

[You chose number 2 ‘Go to the left. (Recommended (b˙◁˙ )b)’!]

 

“No, let’s go to the left. You said you can hear it on the left.”

 

[All emotional levels ​​increased by 0.5%.]

 

[Holloway is happy that you believed in him.]

 

[The belief between Holloway and you increases.]

 

[Belief is opened.]

 

[‘Future Conqueror of this World’ Holloway’s emotional levels!

 

Favorability: 33%

 

Attachment: 35%

 

Possessiveness: 40%]

 

[‘Future Conqueror of this World’ Holloway’s ★★!

 

Jealousy: 5%

 

Anxiety symptoms: 10%

 

(=connected emotion: possessiveness)

 

Obsession: 42%

 

Belief: 11%]

 

So not all of them are bad things.

 

That’s a relief. There’s also such a thing as belief.

 

Even if there were dozens of such items, it was very welcome.

 

If I just raise it, I will gain trust and he won’t have unnecessary doubts.

 

Anyway, I held hands with Holloway while almost running to the left.

 

“Sir Alholf! Are you there?!”

 

“M-Miss Evelin? Miss Evelin!”

 

What… Did he really tell me where Alholf is?

 

Then why did he disturb my hearing?

 

“Miss Evelin! W-Where are you?”

 

His voice was clearly heard nearby, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Sir Alholf!”

 

“W-Where…! Please appear! H-Her Highness is…!”

 

Her Highness? Cynthia?

 

“Her Highness?”

 

“Huh? Holloway, what did you say?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

I kept running, yet it felt like I was standing still. I turned on the map and checked my location.

 

So now I… am in front of the small banquet hall on the 4th floor.

 

Although the map looked neat and small, this hotel was actually huge.

 

So even if you were in a hallway, you couldn’t even see clearly in a hallway that relied on a few candles.

 

It looked that way because the hallway itself was long and wide.

 

I’m right in the middle right now, but where on earth am I?

 

“Please, please…! Miss Evelin! Her Highness is dying…!”

 

“Holloway, let’s find them quickly!”

 

“Who is ‘Her Highness’, though?”

 

“That…”

 

C-Can I tell him?

 

Should I tell him?

 

But for some reason, my mouth didn’t open.

 

“Miss Evelin!”

 

When Alholf called again, I took my eyes off Holloway and turned my back, spoke.

 

“Sir Alholf! Holloway, hurry!”

 

“…”

 

When I ran, Holloway had no choice but to run too. Anyway, if we kept moving forward, we would meet.

 

However, it was strange.

 

“Huft, huft…”

 

“Miss Evelin!”

 

Am I possessed?

 

I walked around the entire 4th floor.

 

I definitely heard it in the hallway, so I went back and forth several times, yet I didn’t see Alholf.

 

When I reached the end, I heard a voice from somewhere else.

 

He’s not in a room.. Obviously in the hallway…

 

Wait, it said he disrupted my hearing.

 

Then maybe in a room?

 

He might be closer than expected.

 

I opened the door right in front of me.

 

—…Grrrk.

 

I made eye contact with the monster.

 

—KEUAAAGH!

 

“Uaaaagh! Save me!”

 

“…M-Miss Evelin?!”

 

I picked up Holloway, running straight away. Then we went into the small banquet hall and locked the door.

 

—Hiss… Whoosh…

 

The sound of the monster’s heavy breathing lingered nearby, but as soon as it was quiet, it passed right by.

 

I-I lived.

 

As I was holding my breath, Alholf suddenly appeared and hugged me tightly.

 

“Evelin!”

 

“Sir Alholf! You were here?!”

 

“N-No… I kept hearing Miss Evelin’s voice in the room, so I went in and out repeatedly…! We finally met!”

 

He hugged me with all his strength.

 

“I can’t breathe…”

 

“I missed you. Miss Evelin…”

 

Not me.

 

I tried to shake him off, yet he held me so tightly it was hard to get away.

 

Now that I think about it, there’s blood on Alholf’s face…

 

“Sir Alholf, the blood on your face….”

 

I was about to touch the blood on his face when Holloway grabbed my hand and stopped me.

 

“Until there.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Don’t reach any further than that.”

 

Then, he grabbed Alholf by the back and threw him back away from me. 

 

Thud!

 

Alholf, who had fallen away from me, was in a daze.

 

“H-How did he…”

 

“What should you do with a body that loses even to children?”

 

“…”

 

Don’t doubt Holloway just yet. Then you’ll die too.

 

First of all, saving Cynthia came first.

 

Before I knew it, I left Holloway holding my waist and moved my lips.

 

Alholf, coming to his senses, shook his head and shouted at me.

 

“I-I… No, Miss Cynthia! Miss Cynthia is in danger!”

 

“Guide me right away!”

 

If it was Friedel, it might be okay, but if it was Cynthia, she had to be rescued.

 

I don’t know why Alholf came out alone and screamed for help, but I’ll ask him after I save Cynthia.

 

Alholf tried to get up, yet his legs seemed to give out and he fell down again.

 

It’s not funny at all.

 

“That kind of joke isn’t fun.”

 

“…It’s not a joke.”

 

I urged Alholf to get up quickly. He seemed to know that Cynthia was in danger and got up.

 

What’s a little strange is that instead of running away, he try to guide me to where Cynthia is.

 

It was surprising because he was a person who would have run away if he was left alone like this.

 

Could it be a trap, I wonder.

 

Perhaps sensing my contemptuous gaze, Alholf opened his mouth with a tearful expression on his face.

 

“I-I realized something after listening to Miss Evelin’s nagging.”

 

“What?”

 

“I-I’m afraid that if I run away like this, I’ll get that look from Miss Evelin again…”

 

Are you saying you hate my gaze more than death?

 

Either way, all I had to do was save Cynthia. I ran after him and there was nothing there.

 

“M-Miss Cynthia…? She was d-definitely here…”

 

I looked down at the floor, looking at Alholf who was embarrassed.

 

Clear blood stains continued beyond the hallway. It was a sign of being dragged.

 

“I-I didn’t lie. Miss Evelin!”

 

“I know.”

 

I sat down, swiping the blood from the floor with my finger. It stuck on my hands like freshly shed blood.

 

“Hiiiik…!”

 

It hasn’t solidified yet.

 

Then…

 

[Sub Quest <Check whether Her Highness the Princess is Alive or Dead!>]

 

[Objective: Follow the blood trail and check whether Her Highness the Princess is alive or dead.

 

If she is still alive, please let her go in peace.

 

If she is dead, please quietly pray for her soul.]

 

…Huh?

 

I frowned, wondering if I had read something wrong, yet the writing didn’t change.

 

If she’s still alive, please let her go in peace, it says…

 

What does this mean all of a sudden?

 

Is it telling me to kill Cynthia if she’s alive? With my own hands?

 

There had been no quest this extreme, so the moment I saw that sentence, my heart pounded as if it was hit by a bat.

 

Before I knew it, my hands, clenched into fists, were covered in sweat.

 

[Clear reward: Gain the demon’s trust and increase your chances of survival.

 

If you fail, your location will be moved and the difficulty level of the current hotel will be adjusted upward.]

 

As long as I don’t die, it’s okay.

 

It took a while for the hotel difficulty to increase, but saving people came first.

 

For some reason, the system wanted Cynthia dead.

 

No, does it not want her to die?

 

The penalty wasn’t that bad.

 

It could be a mixture of wanting her to die and hoping her not die.

 

“I’ll have to follow her first.”

 

“Y-Yes?”

 

Alholf hesitated as I opened my mouth, moving forward without looking back.

 

“Sir Alholf, you don’t have to come along.”

 

Because I didn’t expect it.

 

There was no sound of Alholf following me at all.

 

***

 

“Ugh, cough…”

 

The blood filling Cynthia’s throat continued to prevent her from breathing properly.

 

As she was placed on the hard bed, she spat out blood that had accumulated in her mouth.

 

The blood running down the side of her face was soaking from her neck to her shoulders.

 

The scars from her shoulders to her stomach were uneven, as if the saw blade hadn’t cut well.

 

‘…I guess this is the end.’

 

Cynthia’s body twitched like an animal facing her death.

 

Her unfocused eyes stared at the red light in the distance.

 

She couldn’t lift a finger. She had never been this in pain in her life.

 

A single tear rolled down the side of Cynthia’s eye.

 

“You’re crying.”

 

Suriel came over and sat down on the bed.

 

“Cry.”

 

He muttered, wiping away her flowing tears with his elegant fingers.

 

“How warm.”

 

“…Ugh, w-what, on earth… your, i-identity…”

 

“Identity, identity…”

 

Suriel thought over those words several times.

 

He tilted his head as he lifted a dagger from its sheath.

 

“A monster you created?”

 

Cynthia narrowed her eyes at those meaningful words.

 

She had a hunch as she saw the dagger held high.

 

‘It’s the end.’

 

The place where he stabbed the dagger with all his might was none other than Cynthia’s palm.

 

“KEUAAAAGH!”

 

Suriel took the dagger out of her hand. Blood poured out.

 

“I can’t kill you easily.”

 

Gently lifting Cynthia’s pierced, trembling hand, the dagger touched her index finger.

 

“Scream.”

 

Just like I did.

 

Suriel’s sunken eyes showed no trace of laughter.

 

The dagger moves slowly, very slowly.

 

It dug into Cynthia’s index finger.

 

‘…F*cking bastard.’

 

I should have tried swearing coolly like Evelin.

 

I guess I’ll try my best and act my way.

 

I’m going to shave off all that man’s hair… !

 

SLAM!

 

It was then.

 

“Heya bastard! Y-Y-Y-You… you bastard with a single sword!”

 

Evelin rushed over with a frying pan that no one knew where she got it from and swung it at Suriel’s head.

 

CLANG—!

 

A cheerful sound was heard, and…

 

“Pffft.”

 

Holloway burst out laughing.

 

Suriel stared at Evelin in bewilderment rather than feeling dizzy.

 

There was no blood.

 

Evelin didn’t fall down, yet instead faced the gaze that was looking at her with black eyes and a straight face.

 

“Save me.”

 

Only my life, please.