The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 1

The greatest hardship for Jade after possessing a character in a horror game wasn’t the monsters that appeared from time to time, nor the paranormal phenomena within the mansion, nor even the food shortage.

“Jade.”

It was the small, young boy who followed him around all day like a shadow. He was Jade’s biggest headache these days.

Compared to others his age, the boy was small in stature and possessed ethereal, fairy-like features. There was a sorrowful air about him that naturally stirred one’s protective instincts, yet he was so prickly and cold that parts of him didn’t seem like a child at all.

Jade considered that a relief. When the time eventually came to leave the mansion, he wouldn’t have to waste unnecessary emotion, and the child wouldn’t have a hard time either.

Jade knew all too well just how cruel the angel-faced child before him would eventually become. Which is to say, he hadn’t the slightest intention of getting this close.

“Can’t I sleep with you?”

But since when had it been? The moment he and Ian had become so inseparable.

In the beginning, Ian had been busy ignoring Jade’s kindness. Even thinking back carefully, it was hard to find a clear turning point.

“Where in the world does a nobleman sleep with a servant? You cannot.”

Jade rejected Ian’s proposal quite coldly. At that, the boy’s shoulders slumped, and he rolled his round eyes with a dejected expression. Perhaps anxious, he even nibbled on his small, plump lips.

“Then I’ll be a servant too. I—I want to tumble around on the bed with Jade….”

Ian pointed toward the bed with a small, pale hand. Every time he pouted, his white, chubby cheeks moved along with his lips.

Jade was about to scold him, telling him that “tumbling around” wasn’t a phrase to be used lightly, but he held back after seeing that angelic face. The once cold and mature Ian had been acting quite like a child lately.

“Sigh….”

As Jade reluctantly nodded, Ian smiled as brightly as a flower and hopped onto the bed. He then lay down beside Jade and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist.

“I want to sleep with Jade forever.”

Jade didn’t give the boy an answer. It was because his day of departure wasn’t far off.

However, despite his cute face, this little master had a persistent streak. When met with silence, he whispered once more in a low voice.

“…I want to sleep with you forever. Together.”

“Yes, yes. Whatever you say.”

Feeling bothered, Jade gave him the answer he wanted to hear, and the child fell asleep with his eyes curving beautifully. At that time, Jade did not know. He had no idea what kind of repercussions this answer would bring later on.

He didn’t think it was a mistake to leave after lying to him. At the time, it had been the best option. He felt uneasy about leaving Ian alone, but wasn’t life ultimately about fending for oneself?

But if he had known that the boy would appear before him now, ten years later, he might have acted a little less heartless.

“I can forgive you for disappearing overnight. Jade.”

The Ian he met again was still beautiful and shone like an angel. While he never used to smile as a child, he now even smiled with his eyes curving softly.

“Since that was the last chance you would ever have to abandon me anyway.”

Ian was still beautiful, but the low, whispering voice carrying a fishy smile was incredibly foreign.

“I’m not going anywhere. I promise, okay?”

“Then try opening your mouth. Maybe then I can believe you?”

Ian whispered kindly. In contrast to his gentle tone, his rough grip grabbed Jade’s chin and forced it open. Within those clear blue eyes that looked like embedded jewels, there was no such thing as trust toward Jade.

“Do you resent me that much? Just because I left you behind?”

“I don’t resent you for leaving me behind.”

A thick passion flickered over his eyes, which had been as calm as a lake. His low, husky voice was uniquely damp. It was difficult to find any trace of his gentle childhood self in that face.

“I have no idea what you actually want.”

“Pity me.”

Clearly, Ian had been mocking Jade to his heart’s content with vulgar language until just last night. Yet now, he leaned against Jade’s knees and shed thick tears like a puppy about to be abandoned.

“If even that is too hard for you, then at least pretend to like me.”

Ian cupped Jade’s cheeks with his large hands and forced him to look at him. Jade’s neck hurt from being tilted to the side.

“Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll feel like letting you go.”

But contrary to his sweet voice, his grip was full of strength. As if he would never, ever let Jade go.

Chapter 1. Healing in a Horror Game Mansion

Yoon Jaemin. The man who had become Jade moments ago stood on land where a blizzard was raging, staring at a mansion that was no different from a haunted house.

He had been sucked into this game about ten minutes ago, and at the same time, he was given the new name Jade.

“Horror game, my foot. My life is the real horror.”

A man cursed with such misfortune that if he fell backward, he’d break his nose, and if he dropped something, it would fall straight into a sewer. That was him. Seeing as he woke up inside a game the moment he died, it seemed his bad luck hadn’t ended even in death.

“The afterlife would be better than this.”

But for it to be the afterlife, the family crest attached to the mansion was far too familiar. It was definitely a section from the final stage of the horror game he had played before dying, Bloody Night.

The mansion of Duke Ian Linwood, a place associated with all sorts of eerie titles. Yoon Jaemin—that is, Jade—had died in this section every single time.

“Is it after the game ended?”

Jade muttered as he paced in front of the mansion. From what he remembered, the mansion in the game was magnificent and the grounds were vast, as if boasting of Ian’s reputation. Aside from the main building, there were several annexes, making it fun to admire the game’s illustrations.

However, the mansion before him was small and utterly desolate. He wondered where all those annexes and rear gardens had gone; there was only one building, and it looked so poorly maintained that it might collapse if he gave it a kick.

The exterior was gloomy as if scorched black, and even the moss growing up the building had faded in color. It looked like the kind of place even a petty thief would avoid.

“It’s definitely the Linwood Ducal mansion, though.”

Since he had always died without even making it past the front gate, he remembered the crest on the gate vividly. Two swords crossed, with two snakes coiling up the blades.

[ >> System << ]

The Linwood Ducal Villa

As if to help the puzzled Jade, a system window popped up before his eyes. The system was informing him that this was indeed a Linwood property.

“This is weird, too,” Jade muttered, looking at the system window.

If it were a game, shouldn’t there be quests or a status window? At the very least, giving an item was basic manners.

Furthermore, this was a horror game where the goal was to survive various horror elements. It was famous for being impossible to clear without the help of a status window.

But since entering this game, the system window had appeared only twice: the window informing him that he was inside a game and the current notification.

There were no instructions related to gameplay. Because he had been pulled into the game so abruptly, he thought he had become the player, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Actually, it’s better this way. Ugh, it’s cold.”

He didn’t want to be a player in a horror game without a single ray of hope. He’d obviously die. It was a game he had failed numerous times while alive; there was no way he’d succeed now.

“I should go inside first.”

Jade, shivering in the northern cold, entered the mansion that looked like a ghost could pop out at any second. He was naturally a person with little fear, but more importantly, he had no choice right now.

Jade, who had woken up here ten minutes ago, had been lying alone in the snow in front of the mansion, and all he was wearing was a tunic and trousers.

To drop someone in the freezing north without even a coat or warm fur boots—it was a truly atrocious game.

‘Better to go inside anywhere than freeze to death.’

Judging by the state of the mansion, which looked ready to crumble, it seemed no one lived there anyway. The exterior looked as if at least ten years had passed since the game ended.

For Jade, who had nowhere to go and was on the verge of freezing, this was actually for the best. What better place to take shelter than an empty mansion?

Without further thought, he crossed the withered garden and arrived at the mansion’s front door. As expected, there wasn’t a single ant to be seen, let alone a gatekeeper.

“Ahem, is anyone home?”

He knocked a couple of times out of politeness and checked for signs of life, but there was no reaction. Jade gave one side of the heavy door a slight push. Along with the creeeak characteristic of old doors, a musty smell wafted out.

“Tch, why is it so pitch black?”

Though it was clearly daytime, not a single speck of light entered the mansion. It felt like a different world, detached from the outside.

Jade couldn’t bring himself to enter easily even after opening the door. He hesitated for a long time before finally being pushed into the mansion by the biting northern wind.

Thud—

The sound of the heavy door closing echoed loudly like a death warning. It was already dark, but with the door shut, it became so black he couldn’t see an inch in front of him. Still, as time passed, his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness so he wouldn’t trip.

“Man, doesn’t this place even have lights?”

Grumbling, he felt along the wall until his hand caught something. It was a lamp. In a fit of desperation, Jade blindly turned the lamp’s knob.

“Oh.”

He hadn’t expected much, but fortunately, the surroundings brightened. And at the same time the lantern turned on, the system window appeared once more.

[ >> System << ]

You are Ian Linwood’s servant.