“…Huh?”
Ectenron was bewildered by Evelin’s sudden disappearance in front of him.
W-Where…
She wasn’t there even when he looked around. How could she suddenly disappear right in front of him?
Holloway was right. Evelin was the strangest person in this hotel.
The basement is dangerous.
It’s a terrible place, that’s why he absolutely forbade her from going there, yet…
Evelin’s face, smiling brightly even at him, who almost killed her, came to his mind, and Ectenron’s palms became sweaty with anxiety.
Even though she was a person who treated him kindly…
The moment he clenched and unclenched his fists, showing signs of anxiety, an eerie aura enveloped his entire body, and Ectenron looked at the basement door.
‘…My item.’
The item he lost.
He felt the item he couldn’t find.
And it was in the basement.
‘Is this… Evelin?’
Evelin’s aura was certain. She had his item now.
‘How come?’
Although bewildered, Ectenron swallowed dry saliva.
The moment he grabbed the handle of the cold iron door, goosebumps ran through his body. However, Ectenron didn’t let go of his hand and slowly turned the handle to open the door.
The darkness was beckoning him to come in.
He hesitated. At that moment, feeling Evelin’s aura once more, he closed his eyes tightly and stepped inside.
‘I have to find the item.’
The item Evelin had.
When Ectenron, who was descending endlessly into the darkness, was out of sight, someone grabbed the closing underground door.
***
[Remaining Footsteps (2)
Characteristics: Someone’s precious necklace. The owner of the lost necklace can roughly know the location of the person who picks this up if someone finds this. The owner would be really grateful if you could find them.]
I opened the pendant. Inside was a black and white portrait.
It was a group of girls and boys who looked like they weren’t yet adults, smiling brightly.
They usually put family photos in, though…
“But don’t they look like someone?”
I looked closely and saw a familiar face. It was Holloway’s childhood image from the past.
“So he can smile like this.”
His bright face was different from the face of despair I had seen from the past. A smile spread across my lips without me realizing it at the sight of his innocent smile.
[Synchronization with the corresponding character for smooth story progression.]
[Synchronization in 3 seconds]
[Synchronization in 2 seconds]
[Synchronization in 1 second]
[Starting the story.]
***
《XXX’s Personal Information》
【The boy’s characteristics: He’s big, yet he’s timid despite his size.
He looks gloomy.
His parents, his father especially, hates that side of him.
However, he has considerable mana.
He’s suitable for this experiment.】
《XXX’s Observation Journal》
【The boy and his family came to the hotel to play.
Judging from his hesitation, the ‘timidity’ in the personal information I received in advance seemed to be a bit extreme.
He didn’t shed tears even though he was constantly being bullied by his father. He might be quite strong-willed.
I overheard them having a secret conversation.】
▶Conversation Log (Conversation Partner: Boy, Boy’s Parents)
[A grown boy… He’s about to become an adult, but he’s so scared. He doesn’t even know how to speak properly!]
[…]
[Other families’ young lords can talk so well, so what’s so hard about that for you?!]
[I heard that Her Imperial Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince are visiting the newly opened resort. How about getting to know His Highness the Crown Prince while you’re at it?]
[I-If Mother says so…]
[What good will it do to become friends with a prince who doesn’t even receive favor from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor…]
[Honey!]
▶Log Stopped
《XXX’s Observation Journal》
[The father was very displeased with the prince who is currently at the hotel.
He didn’t seem to know that there were quite a few nobles who wanted to make the current prince the crown prince, even though he wasn’t favored by the Emperor.
(This footnote will be deleted later.)
The boy seemed to like the affectionate prince quite a bit.
No, he seemed to be in love with him. Well, I felt the same way when I first saw the boy’s face.
(Let’s delete this footnote as well.)】
▶Conversation Log (Conversation Partner: Boy, Prince)
[Nice to meet you.]
[S-So glad to meet you.]
[I have some people I want to introduce to you. Can you come with me?]
[C-Can I do that?]
[Of course.]
[Thank you…]
[Is your father giving you a hard time?]
[Oh, um, t-that…]
[Mine too.]
▶Log Stopped
《XXX’s Observation Journal》
[When the boy stuttered at a simple greeting, his father’s eyes turned fierce. The prince seemed to sense that and took him away. The boy was very grateful.
(Is it okay to write this down? They told me to write everything down first. I can just delete it later.)】
《XXX’s Observation Journal》
【The gloomy boy started to brighten up. It seemed to be because he made a friend.
The boy no longer heard the words, “You’re so big, why are you so timid?” that he used to hear every day.
The boy looked very happy. He seemed to love his friend a lot.
His mind became healthier, so his mana started to flow more actively.
It’s time to go into action.
One of the boy’s friends was kidnapped.
As expected, he followed them underground to save his friend. He was knocked out at that moment.
Now, finally, let’s start the experiment!】
《XXX’s Experiment Journal》
【The boy opened his eyes.
The boy was bewildered by the screams heard everywhere. At that moment, he seemed to be very bewildered by the screams of his friend next to him.
No, was he sad?
(I’ll organize it and upload it later, so this much is okay.)】
《XXX’s Experimental Journal》
【The boy looked extremely helpless. His confidence dropped sharply. Fortunately, his smooth mana remained intact.
He continued to blame himself.
He kept telling himself that his father’s words were right. He cried and blamed himself, saying that his large body was useless. He also said that he was a fool who couldn’t be saved by anyone.
The boy started screaming.】
▶Conversation Log (Boy)
[Let go! Don’t touch my friends!]
[Don’t, don’t!]
[Is anyone there?! Mother, Father!]
[Please save me!]
[Please, anyone…!]
▶Log Stopped
《XXX’s Experimental Journal》
【His voice was quite loud. It was so loud that my ears were about to tear. At that point I thought it would go up to even my stomach.
Let’s start by covering that mouth.】
▶Conversation Log (Researcher)
[If even a little bit of voice leaks out of your mouth, I won’t let your friends off easy!]
▶Log Stopped
《XXX’s Experimental Journal》
【★Weak to blackmail using friends!
He’s a vicious boy who won’t even groan under severe torture if you threaten him using his friends, even if he’s wronged and angry.
It seemed that the threat that his friends would be tortured less worked very well.
The boy even held his breath. I was a little surprised.
Even so, the boy couldn’t protect anything anyway.】
《XXX’s Experimental Journal》
【The ground started to shake.
It seemed like an earthquake was happening.
I had a premonition of death.
Aah…
Turns out I died, and the boy survived.】
[The journal ended normally!]
[The boy’s last thoughts will be told.]
One of the shadows next to Holloway, who was left alone after going berserk, faded.
The boy, Ectenron, who was unusually large, was revealed.
He met friends he thought he would never see again.
[The boy became afraid.]
He was afraid of losing these kids again. He couldn’t say that he was happy to see them, even though he was happy. Ectenron hesitated, touching his neck.
‘I’m scared to talk.’
His lips that had been trembling closed.
***
[Synchronization is canceled.]
I finally understood why Ectenron had the gag. If he didn’t keep quiet, his friends would suffer instead.
My heart ached as he thought about Ectenron, who had been tortured so severely that he didn’t scream even once.
But after being with his friends for a thousand years, he was finally able to speak.
He couldn’t bear to take the gag off…
It seemed that he was afraid that if he made a lot of noise, his friends would get hurt again.
[LOADING=(໑ •̀ д •́ ໑)… ]
[Completing ‘Ectenron’s Past’=(໑ •̀ д •́ ໑)… ]
[‘Ectenron’s Past’ thoughts complete!(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ]
At that moment, my eyes opened wide.
“Huft…”
I saw Ectenron crouching down and shivering.
He seemed to be unconsciously trying to hold back his voice, but it seemed he couldn’t completely block out the occasional sobs.
W-Why is he crying?
[Ectenron is tormented by the memory of that day.]
With what happened in the basement?
But how did he get here?
A selection window appeared in front of me, confused.
[Would you like to share ‘Ectenron’s Past’ with others?]
[Yes] / [No]
I quickly pressed ‘No’ and approached Ectenron as if I was crouching down.
[Lab 10, the room containing Ectenron’s past.]
I gently patted Ectenron’s back as he crouched down and trembled.
He then raised his head slightly and looked at me.
His face was so frightened, his pupils shaking, my heart ached.
I held his hand as he trembled silently, and he immediately hugged me tightly.
“Ah!”
“…”
I couldn’t push him away as he trembled so much that it was pitiful, so I just patted his back.
I thought I would die from being crushed by Ectenron who was hugging me tightly.
“Y-Your strength…”
“Ugh…”
I’m sorry, just keep holding me like that.
I was patting Ectenron’s back until his trembling stopped.
Someone grabbed my nape and pulled me back. I escaped Ectenron’s arms with such force that I thought I might fall backwards.
“Oh, my!”
“Keugh.”
When I was no longer in his arms, Ectenron curled up again and trembled.
What should I do? I guess he was still very sad and in pain.
No, more than that.
I turned my head toward someone who was grabbing my nape and dragging me away from Ectenron, shouting.
“Stop pulling!”
Then I stopped when I saw his face.
I saw Holloway’s real face looking down at me with cold, sunken eyes.
“Huh? When did you come?”
“Don’t hug him.”
My question was met with cruelty.
“Why?”
“Don’t hug him, I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
Holloway laughed viciously, even though I had the same revenge.
Ah, geez. I have to stop.
As I closed my mouth, trying to calm my quivering lips, Holloway put his hand on my arm and lifted me up gently.
“By the way, do one thing. Use formal or informal language.”
“Hey.”
Holloway became serious. I called his name quietly.
“Holloway.”
“…”
“Hiiic…”
Ectenron began to sob profusely.
What should I do…
“He must be really sad.”
I struggled away from Holloway and knelt down in front of Ectenron to pat his back, yet a window popped up.
[Ectenron is laughing so hard at you, the ‘Crazy Comedian’ that Dilaph mentioned.]
Go die.
***
[Story Collection (3/7)]
[A hint about escape is given.]
[Hint: Complete the main quest <Don’t Be Sad> without fail. Otherwise, you will never find the escape gate.]
In short, it was like saying that you can’t escape even if you find the escape gate before completing it.
This is a threat, not a hint.
The system was somehow trying to tell me all the secrets of this island.
The quest will guide me, so I have to clear it as quickly as possible.
After Ectenron, it’s Dila… no, Suri…
…Fuck, I hate both of them. They’re both so annoying.
First of all, let’s just make them laugh. They’re guys who get crazy at something funny, so they’ll like me more.
And the journals and diaries from Holloway’s past… are they just one of the horror game devices?
To make it scarier…
It’s a little awkward, but if I need to find out about it, the system will tell me.
So I’ll leave that for last and start collecting stories.
Right now, there were more pressing things than trying to figure out that journal.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
Holloway pressed my cheek.
You want me to bite you?
“Nothing.”
“You saw it…?”
Ectenron asked cautiously, and I nodded.
“H-How?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have done this.”
He was speechless at my twisted answer.
this chapter is sponsored by NoodLover (1/10)
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