How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 14

[Upon success, the goal location will be revealed.]

I headed toward the table and called the two of them over.

Both came willingly.

I sat them down in chairs and placed a mug into each of their hands.

“If you hold these mugs without putting them down and talk to me for ten minutes, I’ll travel with you.”

Of course, I might still run away halfway through.

But I didn’t say that.

If I did, they might throw the mugs away immediately.

“Are you joking?”

“If it looks like a joke, you can go ahead without me.”

“…….”

Werner released a deep sigh and held the mug.

Moran also accepted the one I handed her without arguing.

Apparently, they were willing to do what I wanted for now.

But what exactly were we supposed to ‘calmly converse’ about?

The topic probably didn’t matter, right?

If it did, the system would’ve told me.

“Sir Werner, Moran said you were with Cletta. Why are you alone?”

“A group of monsters appeared, so we naturally became separated. May I ask you a question as well?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you barefoot?”

I looked down at my feet.

I had been running barefoot across broken marble.

There was no way they could possibly be fine.

I had stepped on all kinds of debris scattered across the floor too, leaving them in horrible condition.

The instant I consciously noticed them, the pain seemed to arrive all at once.

The soles of my feet throbbed.

“I lost my slippers.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“Well……. It’s not as though this amount of bleeding is going to kill me.”

“Fine, forget your feet. Why is your entire body covered in blood?”

“Because I rolled around in a pool of Friedel’s blood.”

“M-Miss Evelyn.”

Moran pretended to fidget anxiously while checking Werner’s expression.

Werner gave me a peculiar once-over.

“You’re very different from how you were before entering the hotel.”

“You can think of it as resignation. Or perhaps I’ve experienced such extreme fear that I’ve changed.”

Apparently my unusually calm attitude made my explanation sound more credible.

Werner nodded easily, looking as though he understood.

“That seems likely.”

I wondered why he believed it so easily, but considering my behavior until now, perhaps he had no choice.

First I had been the quiet Evelyn.

Then after becoming stranded on the island, I transformed into the crying, whining nuisance Evelyn.

Now I had suddenly become calm and indifferent.

When someone changed personality several times in such a short period, I supposed there was little to do except accept it.

Moran started lowering her mug.

I urgently stopped her.

“Keep holding it!”

Moran flinched at my sudden shout, then obediently wrapped both hands tightly around the mug.

“May I leave for a moment?”

“No. You need to hold that for ten minutes while talking to me.”

“Please explain why.”

“I just feel like doing this. We’ve been running around frantically, so I wanted to spend at least ten minutes talking without worrying about anything.”

Only then did Werner quietly close his mouth.

Holloway, however, tugged my sleeve.

“Am I not enough?”

“I guess I wanted to talk to people I could rely on.”

“Adults?”

“Yeah. You’re young, Holloway, so I can’t act weak in front of you.”

“You’ve already done plenty of that.”

Shut up, punk.

There was only about one minute left.

We continued exchanging completely meaningless conversation.

Holloway apparently became bored and eventually rested his head on the table without moving.

When approximately thirty seconds remained—

[Holloway is bored. He has decided to kill Moran and Werner.]

……All of a sudden?

I’m relieved I’m not the target, but……

[You decide to calm Holloway’s desire to kill and relieve his boredom.]

I do?

No, I don’t……

Why would I deliberately entertain the final boss?

As usual, the window mercilessly ignored my complaints.

[➤What should you do?

1. Hit Holloway hard on the head while he is lying down.]

And then I die?

The very first option was already insane.

[2. Pull Holloway’s hair while he is lying down.

1. Bite Holloway hard on the head while he is lying down.]

At this point, it seemed like the system had some kind of grudge against Holloway’s head.

Or maybe it simply wanted me dead……

There wasn’t a single better option.

“This is fucking insane.”

“Miss Evelyn?”

Don’t call me……

I feel like crying.

Doing any one of those three seemed like it would send me straight to the afterlife.

No.

He had at least a little affection for me now, so perhaps he wouldn’t kill me immediately.

Holding the mug in one hand, I clutched my head with the other and agonized over the choices.

Then the cooperative quest completion notification appeared.

[The goal location will now be revealed.]

[The map will disappear once you locate the goal.]

Bzzzzzt―.

A map of the third floor appeared before my eyes, marking the goal.

The red dot indicated my current location.

The white dot showed where I needed to go.

“You can put the mugs down now. Thank you.”

Should I say goodbye too?

Before the tagger appeared, I needed to quickly choose one option and head toward the goal.

With tears in my eyes, I carefully inspected the hopeless choices.

Then I noticed one small difference.

The first and third options both contained the word ‘hard.’

The second didn’t say anything about pulling ‘hard.’

Then maybe it would be gentle?

That seemed better than doing it hard.

It was a gamble, but number 2!

I pressed option 2.

My hand began moving toward Holloway on its own.

My heart pounded.

I desperately tried to keep my hand from violently grabbing his hair, but it made little difference.

“Miss Evelyn, your expression looks strange.”

Mind your business.

My hand reached Holloway’s hair.

I swallowed dryly.

My fingers closed around it.

I-Isn’t that way too much hair?

Holloway lifted his head from the table.

“Why, big sis?”

Please pull gently.

Please.

The option didn’t say ‘hard.’

Please.

Perhaps my desperation reached the heavens, because my hand very gently tugged Holloway’s hair.

“Big sis?”

He called me again.

Maybe it was the relief of realizing I had survived, but I answered with a huge smile.

“Ah, we need to go now. Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go, then!”

I held out my hand.

Holloway happily took it.

[Holloway’s murderous impulse and boredom have subsided.]

I released a deep breath of relief.

Keeping my eyes on the translucent map in front of me, I quickly walked toward the goal.

Of course, I didn’t forget to glance around and pretend I was keeping watch for the tagger so no one would suspect anything.

“Where are you going?”

“Where could I possibly go? I’m just searching for clues that might help us escape. Do you have somewhere else to go, Sir Werner?”

When I turned the question back on him, Werner couldn’t answer.

Of course he couldn’t.

Where could any of us go inside a hotel we were trapped in?

All we could do was wander wherever our feet took us while searching for clues to escape.

Then Werner grabbed me and stopped me.

“Let’s find you shoes first.”

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

When I repeatedly refused, Werner stepped in front of me.

“Then get on my back until we find some.”

“There’s no need to be that kind.”

“If your injuries get worse, you’ll suffer later when we have to move around. If you start crying because it hurts afterward, the rest of us will suffer too. Don’t refuse.”

Should I let him carry me?

But if I accepted his help now, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to ignore him later if he ended up in danger.

For that reason, I decided to reject his offer.

“I’m fine. I’ll take care of myself. What you did for me outside the hotel was already enough.”

I pushed past him and continued walking.

Holloway held my hand and swung it.

“By the way, big sis, when we were hiding in that wardrobe……”

“Can we not talk about that?”

There was no way Holloway would honor such an earnest request.

“Why were you dancing?”

I knew he’d ask eventually.

Moran apparently wanted to know too, because she subtly moved closer and perked up her ears.

I forced a smile.

“It was just……”

“I was shocked because you’re really bad at dancing.”

And now I’m shocked that you said it that openly.

Holloway was so irritating that I pinched his cheek.

That dance was the result of my desperate struggle to get us out safely!

“Is that really what you say to the person who put her entire soul into getting us safely out of that wardrobe? You rotten little brat!”

With his cheek still pinched, Holloway grinned.

“We were safe because big sis danced?”

Ah.

Oops……

I slowly released Holloway’s cheek and vaguely covered for myself.

“When I occasionally lose my mind, I overcome fear by dancing.”

Maybe my strange behavior until now actually helped.

“I see.”

Fortunately, he believed me without suspicion.

Werner, who had been listening from beside us, questioned,

“Dancing?”

I ignored him.

Fortunately, Moran and Holloway didn’t explain anything to the curious man either.

***

Here.

I took a deep breath and released it.

The tagger had chased us on the way to the goal, but one way or another, we had arrived safely.

Werner kept looking at my feet with a deepening frown.

“Miss Evelyn, the wounds on your feet are getting wors—”

“Slippers will only slow me down when I need to run away. They’re my feet, so stop worrying.”

They hurt.

But I could endure it.

Without hesitation, I opened the door.

At the far end of what appeared to be a small banquet hall stood a doll shaped like the tagger.

Found it.

―Found you!

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

The words were identical to mine, yet carried a completely different meaning.

I had no choice but to turn around.

The tagger was charging toward us with excited steps.

I practically stumbled into the banquet hall.

At the center, I shouted at the top of my lungs,

“Now I’m it!”

Everyone stared at me strangely.

But my eyes met those of the tagger, which had just reached the banquet-hall entrance.

―…….

Without saying a word, the tagger glared at me as though it wanted me dead.

Looking into those eyes filled solely with murderous intent caused all the strength to leave my legs.

Werner caught me just before I fell.

I saw Holloway reach toward me, then withdraw his hand as though baffled by his own action.

“Are you all right? Let’s run first!”

Before I could answer, Werner lifted me into his arms.

“Ah!”

Ignoring my short cry, Werner ran toward the door at the back of the banquet hall.

I kept my eyes fixed on the tagger.

After standing still for a moment, it threw both hands into the air and shouted,

―So annoying! I could’ve killed you!

Stomping furiously, the tagger quickly ran away from the banquet hall.

Werner and Moran stopped running and watched it leave with confused expressions.

“Did it leave because you said you were ‘it’?”

Moran looked at me.

I shrugged.

“It seemed like a child who wanted to play, so I tried saying it. Looks like it worked.”

[5th ‘You’re It’ Story Complete!]

[The revolver is located at the end of the hall.]

A sparkling hologram appeared at the far end of the banquet hall.

I struggled in Werner’s arms.

“Put me down!”

“I’ll put you down after we find shoes.”

His tone was firm.

I changed tactics and tried coaxing him.

Considering Werner’s strict personality, no amount of stubbornness would make him release me.

“Just for a moment. Afterward I’ll let you carry me again. That’s fine, right?”

“Only for a moment.”

You actually believe that?!

“Yes, yes.”

Though suspicious, he carefully lowered me after seeing how obediently I agreed.

Holloway approached and tried taking my hand.

But the revolver came first, so I ran toward the sparkling light.

There was a shoulder holster beside the revolver.

[Obtained ‘Revolver’!]

[Revolver

Feature: Powerful.]

I had grown accustomed to these useless descriptions and simply ignored it.

I put on the shoulder holster and checked the revolver’s ammunition.

Only six rounds.

That was disappointing, but still better than nothing.

“A gun?”

“It’s a gun! Miss Evelyn, how did you find it?”

“I just saw it.”

I probably looked ridiculous wearing a negligee, cardigan, and shoulder holster together, but it still made me feel secure.

A sword and a gun.

At this rate I’m going to become a weapons collector.

“You’ve finished what you needed to do, so I’ll carry you again.”

“No need. I have a weapon now.”

“You still don’t have shoes.”

“Oh, come on. Why are you so obsessed with my shoes?!”

When I snapped, Werner shouted right back.

“Because I’m worried about you!”

“Kind Sir Werner, please direct that concern toward anyone other than me.”

I rejected him firmly and took Holloway’s hand.

“You said you would let me carry you again after you finished.”

That sounds weird when you say it like that.

“I lied.”

“Then people won’t trust you.”

Why does he phrase ‘keep your promise’ like that?

“Everyone already distrusts me.”

Do you think I care if I lose even more trust at this point?

I became irritated with Werner’s constant interference and quietly muttered so I could check the location of the unlocked room again.

“Unlocked room.”

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

Room 205 meant the second floor.

‘I need to go down.’

If it was supposed to be safe, I needed to find out whether that meant safe from monsters only or safe from demons too.

Dealing with monsters and demons was draining my stamina badly.

Having at least one safe place would be useful.

And since the room had been unlocked, it presumably meant I should go there.

There might even be a clue about where to find the gate.

After the story began, the transparent barrier had prevented me from traveling either up or down.

But now that I had cleared it, the barrier had disappeared as though it had never existed.

I could descend without any obstruction.

Holloway watched me walk lightly down the stairs and asked,

“Big sis, aren’t you going to do that?”

He was referring to my earlier pantomime in front of the invisible barrier.

“No.”

Like hell I am.

Moran followed me down the stairs and asked curiously,

“Why are we going down instead of farther up?”

“There might be other members of the group downstairs.”

“You say you dislike them, but you still work quite hard to look after everyone.”

That’s just the only excuse I could think of.

For once, Werner and Moran didn’t complain further.

They quietly followed behind me.

Anyway—

one story cleared.