How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 10

“Big sis, are you seriously going to sit there and listen to that nonsense?”

I’d rather do exactly that…….

I covered my face with both hands and sniffled while Moran gently but firmly lectured Holloway.

“Holloway. You’re still a child, so you may not understand. But no matter how badly someone behaved, you must never treat a person’s life lightly.”

Saying something like that to the irredeemable final boss was probably pointless.

As I despaired, the window began flashing, warning me that time was nearly up and ordering me to choose quickly.

With tears in my eyes, I decided on option 1, the least terrible one.

If I chose option 2, Holloway might throw me into a monster’s den and silently watch me die.

And option 3 might make him beat me with a club even more terrifying than a goblin’s for daring to scold him……

……Life really isn’t easy.

Reluctantly, I pressed option 1.

My shoulders straightened automatically.

Then my hand moved by itself and thumped proudly against my chest.

“That’s exactly the kind of person I am!”

My answer came rather late, but there was no way either of them could fail to understand what question I was answering.

At that single declaration, the surroundings became painfully silent.

Moran released an obvious, heavy sigh.

Looking as though she had encountered a child even more troublesome than Holloway, Moran sternly scolded me.

“……Miss Evelyn, this isn’t a joke.”

“Moran, I don’t have enough mental energy to sit here listening to your sermon.”

I forced the humiliation to the back of my mind and stood.

“I’m going, even if I have to go alone.”

“Miss Evelyn, you seem different…….”

“People change when they’re pushed into situations this extreme.”

I grabbed the handle and opened the door to leave.

As expected, Holloway naturally started following me.

Moran caught him and stopped him.

“Let go!”

Ignoring Holloway’s struggling, Moran held him tightly and shouted at me almost accusingly.

“You’re going to leave both of us behind?”

Yes!

I answered enthusiastically inside my head but didn’t show it.

Moran changed tactics and tried reasoning with me.

“Miss Evelyn, pointless stubbornness won’t help anyone. I won’t tell the others about this, so please stop.”

I don’t really care if you tell them.

No matter what Moran said, there was no way I would miss an opportunity to get away from Holloway.

“Someone stable like Moran would be better for him than someone unstable like me. Moran, please protect Holloway.”

I gave Holloway one tender look before stepping outside the room and closing the door.

I needed to at least pretend I was doing it for his sake so he wouldn’t think I had abandoned him merely because I wanted to.

The empty hallway was silent.

Finally.

Time alone.

Without wasting another second, I immediately ran down the corridor.

First, I need to find the exit and obtain the revolver!

***

Holloway tried to follow Evelyn outside, but Moran refused to release him.

Moran grabbed Holloway by the shoulders and turned him toward herself.

She was trembling slightly.

Despite pretending otherwise, she was clearly frightened by the current situation.

Even so, Moran firmly reasoned with Holloway.

“Holloway, she already left us behind, so wouldn’t it be better not to follow her? I will never leave you behind.”

Her firm demeanor was fairly reassuring.

But Holloway felt nothing.

If anything, something about her words irritated him.

She made it sound as though Evelyn had deliberately abandoned him and left.

Yet Moran’s gentle smile and kind touch made that unpleasant implication difficult to notice.

“…….”

Someone else might have missed it.

But Holloway had lived many times longer than any human.

There was no way he could fail to notice something that obvious.

No emotion appeared on his face as he looked at Moran.

It was eerie enough that another person might have grown suspicious, yet Moran sensed nothing strange and continued holding onto him.

‘Annoying.’

Evelyn wasn’t here.

There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with simply killing Moran.

‘Before that.’

Without letting Moran see, Holloway snapped his fingers.

Black smoke gathered at his fingertips.

Then, outside the previously silent room, a tremendous crashing sound rang out as though something had suddenly fallen.

He traced a small circle with his index finger.

As though his task were complete, the black smoke surrounding his fingertips quietly disappeared.

Holloway had just begun reaching toward Moran with murderous intent when—

Bang!

“Hah, hah……!”

Evelyn burst back into the room, her face completely pale.

Moran’s cheek twitched slightly.

Holloway lowered the hand he had raised.

Shaking off Moran, Holloway ran to Evelyn and hugged her.

“Big sis!”

She had returned much earlier than expected, but Holloway welcomed her happily.

Still trying to catch her breath, Evelyn instinctively hugged Holloway back when he suddenly threw himself into her arms.

Without even glancing at Moran’s complicated expression, Evelyn screamed internally.

The moment she tried escaping, the tagger appeared in the direction she was running.

She had tried fleeing in the opposite direction, but the floor suddenly opened up, preventing her from going that way either.

She tried entering another guest room instead of returning to the original one, but every single one was locked.

In the end, Evelyn’s only choice had been to return here.

‘Why, why are all the guest-room doors locked?!’

Evelyn screamed internally.

Was this also part of the game?

Having no idea that everything had been Holloway’s doing, Evelyn wept rivers inside.

***

“Miss Evelyn, didn’t you leave?”

It was embarrassing, but I didn’t have the composure to answer.

I pressed my index finger to my lips.

“Shh. There’s a monster outside.”

“What?”

The instant Moran questioned me—

BANG!

A wall nearby shattered, and I faintly heard the tagger’s voice.

―Not here!

―Not here, not here!

The pitch was so unnaturally high that it almost sounded like a child.

At that eerie voice, Moran and I silently exchanged looks.

Moran’s voice trembled faintly as she called me.

“Miss Evelyn…….”

I didn’t push away Moran when she pressed herself against me.

Instead, I searched the room.

I knew from trying to escape that all the nearby guest rooms were locked.

That meant even if we opened the door and ran, the monster would catch us almost immediately.

So we needed somewhere to hide inside this room.

There was nowhere to hide in the bathroom.

There was a possibility we’d be found beneath the bed.

There was a wardrobe, but hiding there was almost as likely to get us caught as hiding under the bed!

No matter where we hid, there was a good chance of being found.

If we couldn’t escape, then we could hide in the wardrobe and run the instant the monster opened it.

It wouldn’t be easy, but that was the best option we had.

I flung open the wardrobe.

There were quite a lot of clothes inside.

That was at least fortunate.

We could use them to conceal ourselves.

I tried to put Holloway in first, but he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and shook his head.

“I want to go in with big sis.”

“Fine. Then Moran, you go in first. Hurry.”

“Y-Yes!”

When it came to human lives, Moran could become endlessly strict.

But when that wasn’t involved, she was her usual gentle, angelic self.

And she listened well.

Moran was cowardly, but she was also strong enough to sacrifice herself for others.

Even in the game, Evelyn’s nuisance behavior repeatedly placed Moran in deadly danger, but she never once abandoned Evelyn.

Looking at it that way, Moran was probably the most dependable ally here.

Moran settled into one corner.

Holloway went in next.

I entered last and positioned myself in the middle.

The instant I closed the wardrobe, the wall of the room beside us collapsed.

The vibration traveled all the way into the wardrobe.

Apparently terrified because the monster was so close, Moran grabbed my sleeve with desperate strength.

“M-Miss Evelyn……. I-If something happens, are you going to leave me behind?”

“Yes.”

That’s the kind of person I am.

Moran’s lips moved soundlessly as though my perfectly immediate answer had rendered her speechless.

As though he had been waiting for his turn, Holloway asked,

“Big sis, what about me?”

“No.”

Because if I leave you behind, I feel like I won’t be able to handle what happens afterward…….

I needed to separate from Holloway only when a natural situation forced us apart.

“Why?”

For some reason, Holloway sounded delighted by the question.

“Because you’re a child who deserves to be protected.”

“So you’ll protect me? Not that woman. Just me?”

“Yeah.”

Moran, who had been quietly listening, cautiously asked,

“……Miss Evelyn, were you very upset because of what happened earlier?”

“Yes.”

I’m fucking sulking.

I answered grumpily.

Then—

♥♡

♥

♥♡

Hearts suddenly began popping into existence.

……What is this?

The holographic hearts were floating upward in little pops from directly above Holloway’s head.

[Congratulations! Holloway’s Affection has reached 2%!]

[Affection: 2%]

Reached 2%……

Holloway’s affection increased again?

My eyes widened at the unexpected development.

[Restricted Room No. 22, Room 205 ‘This Room Is Very Safe!’ has been unlocked!]

A room was unlocked just because his affection reached 2%.

I already knew raising Holloway’s affection was supposed to be that difficult.

That was why I had planned to give up on it early……

But of all things, it unlocked a room.

That had definitely never existed in <The Child’s Secret>.

In the game, you simply passed by locked rooms and investigated the ones that were already open……

A room?

Could the escape gate be inside one of the rooms that haven’t been unlocked yet?

The instant that thought occurred to me, every hair on my body stood up.

The hotel was enormous, so naturally it had a basement.

But whenever players tried going underground in the game—

a [GAME OVER] window always appeared and returned them to the beginning.

It didn’t matter how much you had improved your stats.

Whether you entered early in the game or late in the game, it always ended immediately.

The game never even explained how you died.

The screen simply turned dark red the instant you entered the basement.

As though warning you never to go there.

‘Don’t tell me I also needed to raise Holloway’s affection before entering the basement?’

Was that why every player who entered without raising his affection died immediately?

Given this kind of game design……

Given this ridiculous level of difficulty……

the escape gate was almost certainly underground.

“Big sis?”

I stared blankly at Holloway when he called me.

Then I……

In order to escape this abandoned hotel—

was I supposed to seduce the final boss with everything I had while he innocently smiled and pretended not to know anything?!