Surviving as a Crazy Evil Spirit in a Horror Game Chapter 31

“I trusted you from the very beginning.”

 

Maybe because it had been a while since we’d last met, Evan’s behavior felt oddly awkward. His hands trembled slightly, as if he were nervous, and even the way he looked at me seemed cautious.

 

“…Okay. But is there something else you wanted to say to me?”

 

“Hm? Like what?”

 

I could feel him getting flustered. I looked straight into Evan’s eyes—those large, clear brown eyes were still the same. He was definitely hiding something.

 

“Hm. You know…”

 

As I stepped closer, Evan took a small step back, moving cautiously.

 

“Do you like me?”

 

“….” 

 

Evan didn’t answer the question at all, only avoiding my gaze.

 

“I’d noticed the signs for a while now. You’re always proactive and pretty bold. So why? Does it make you uncomfortable when I ask you directly?”

 

“….”

 

Evan’s lips twitched as if he were about to speak, but in the end, no words came out. I prefer straightforward answers—reactions like this were, honestly, a bit frustrating.

 

“Well… if you haven’t sorted out your feelings yet, you can tell me later. I’m leaving.”

 

It was a bit of an uncomfortable question, so maybe it was hard for him to answer right away.

 

‘Since it’s come to this, I should probably excuse myself.’

 

Just as I turned to head elsewhere, Evan suddenly stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

 

“Don’t go.”

 

His head was lowered, so I couldn’t see his expression.

 

“You’re right. I think I really do like you.”

 

If I could look at Evan for who he truly was, I probably wouldn’t feel this sick to my stomach.

 

‘What if all of this is a lie?’

 

In a situation where I was already suspicious of all the survivors, I couldn’t accept this confession at face value. And among the four survivors, Evan was the one who made me feel the most uneasy.

 

“But you know… I can’t help wondering if there was ever a situation that would make you like me in the first place.”

 

As soon as I finished speaking, Evan lifted his head and looked at me.

 

“That felt strange to me too. My heart started racing the moment I saw you—almost like love at first sight. But that was because we’d met before.”

 

“What?”

 

“…The way I remember you is this.”

 

Evan began to speak carefully, searching through his memories. What he described were things I’d experienced myself, and they surfaced vividly in my mind as well. The previous game. Back when we went around searching for the survivors while helping Basileon.

 

* * *

 

Not long after I had become possessed by an evil spirit. In the very early stages, when I helped Basileon with his ‘human hunt.’ Because humans had to be offered up to Basileon, the survivors and I were inevitably forced into opposition.

 

“Puhaha! Stupid human!”

 

When I startled Evan, he recoiled in terror and fell backward.

 

“Ugh, get away from me!”

 

[Evan Martinez]

 

◇ Speed ☆★★★★

◇ Agility ★★★★★

◇ Mental Strength ☆★★★★

◇ Endurance ☆☆★★★

 

Overall, Evan was a playable character with solid stats. If you could choose a survivor in the game, he would’ve been my top pick without question. At least back then, Evan was absolutely terrified of me.

 

Thud!

 

‘Huh? This is….’

 

Evan threw a flour bomb at me.

 

‘Trying to block my vision and get out of this mess, huh? I used that trick all the time myself. Funny how it feels different seeing it from the other side.’

 

“Hm? A new toy?”

 

‘Poor Evan. Of all people, he had to run into me.’

 

But in the end, this was all happening inside a game anyway. So I didn’t place much meaning on capturing the survivors—after all, it wasn’t reality.

 

“Aaah!”

 

“Ehehehe!”

 

I easily dodged the flour bomb, then suddenly popped up behind Evan and startled him. I’d played this game countless times—being possessed by an evil spirit or not, a veteran player like me wouldn’t struggle with something as simple as a flour bomb. Then, at some point, our eyes met. Evan’s shimmering platinum-blond hair trembled slightly. His large brown eyes were now brimming with tears.

 

“P-please… spare me….”

 

‘Huh… he’s not the type of character who cries easily. Did I go too far?’

 

◇ Fear: 87%

 

Evan was a character I’d played many times in the game, so he felt familiar. His character description labeled him a ‘righteous hero,’ and he lived up to it with his strong sense of justice and solid stats—the kind of character who wouldn’t easily break down, even under an evil spirit’s torment.

 

But somehow, in that moment, what I felt from Evan was something else entirely—human warmth. He felt like an ordinary person from the real world, and that unfamiliarity was what made it all the more unsettling.

 

That was the first time I felt a twinge of guilt toward Evan and the other survivors. Back then, I honestly thought I’d escape the game and return to reality before long. So I figured getting emotionally invested in mere game characters was kind of ridiculous. I was sure that was how I felt.

 

Maybe it was because I sensed something genuinely human in Evan, but I remember saying something unnecessary.

 

“I’m not doing this because I want to, either.”

 

I didn’t need to say something like that. Why did I even do it?

 

“Don’t say ridiculous things. Just get lost. Get lost! Go away!”

 

Evan’s words caught me off guard. Back then, my expression must’ve looked like that of someone deeply hurt—it couldn’t be helped. They were words I’d heard countless times in a dark past.

 

“Who do you think you are, making that face? You’re nothing but a murderous evil spirit, just like the Duke!”

 

“I’m sorry….”

 

I apologized without thinking. I couldn’t bear the look in his eyes—as if he were staring at something utterly repulsive.

 

‘…Conversations like this are mentally exhausting.’

 

After thinking that, I wanted to end the conversation, so I possessed Evan instead.

 

You have used ⟨Possession⟩ on Evan Martinez.

 

The possession skill could be used when the target’s fear level was high. Entering a human body again after so long, I could smell that familiar, long-missed human scent up close.

 

Sniff, sniff.

 

‘The scent of soap….’

 

It was a pleasant smell that suited Evan’s neat personality. With an uneasy feeling, I offered Evan up to Basileon. After all the survivors died, the game reset back to the beginning. Up until then, I continued carrying out the evil spirit’s duties faithfully. Until I came to understand the true ending, I deliberately avoided Evan.

 

Basileon disliked Evan and had told me not to possess male humans. Even so, the biggest reason was that I felt guilty every time I saw Evan. There was even a time when I deliberately let him go.

 

“Hey, evil spirit.”

 

After I did that, Evan no longer feared me—the evil spirit. He must have realized that I wasn’t trying to terrify him anymore.

 

“Why?”’

 

“Why do you help me?”

 

It was a difficult question. And the truth was, I wasn’t really helping him—I was just feeling uncomfortable and pretending not to notice. In the end, he would die at Basileon’s hands someday anyway, no matter how much I avoided him. 

 

“Just… whenever I look at you, I feel strangely guilty.”

 

Evan blinked his brown eyes at my words.

 

“…There isn’t some other motive, is there?”

 

“Well. If I did have another motive, you’d already have been taken by Basileon Ravenwood.”

 

“Well. I guess that’s true.”

 

Even after saying all that, it didn’t mean I could stop Basileon from killing him. After that conversation, there were no longer any private talks between Evan and me. That was everything I remembered about Evan Martinez.

 

* * *

 

Evan remembered all of it.

 

“I ended up understanding Lilith. Everything I’d been through came flooding back—every time I died, went back, and died again… all of it.”

 

Was that why Evan had seemed different than usual? Realizing you’re trapped in a repeating world would be utterly shocking.

 

“But just because of something like that, you say you like me?” 

 

I still couldn’t understand, so I asked again. There was nothing romantic about that story at all. When I looked at him in disbelief, Evan slowly curved his lips into a faint smile.

 

“I think there’s something you’re forgetting.”

 

“What are you talking about? I remember everything you mentioned.”

 

“There’s something I didn’t tell you—and since I didn’t, you can’t remember it. So… I’ll tell you later.”

 

“What are you even saying…?”

 

No matter how I dug through my memories, nothing surfaced.

 

“There’s no need to overthink it. You’ll understand someday.”

 

Evan gave a meaningful smile.