How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 5

‘Affection…….’

I began wondering whether there was something wrong with the system.

That was a perfectly reasonable suspicion.

It was significantly different from the game system I remembered.

The original system would never bother announcing that affection had increased by 0.1%.

More importantly, raising Holloway’s affection even by 0.001% had been impossible.

Nobody had ever gained Holloway’s affection at all.

That was why everyone assumed the final boss was a character who couldn’t be pursued.

Thinking about it that way, 0.1% was actually extremely significant.

If I could somehow use this properly…….

‘Wait……! There aren’t only three endings!’

I had finally remembered.

An ending that existed in almost every game.

A hidden ending!

I searched my memories and gathered the very limited information I knew about the hidden ending.

According to the developers, it was somehow related to Holloway.

Probably…….

Come to think of it, there had been more than one suspicious thing about those developers.

The difficulty was so hellish that people wondered whether the game had deliberately been created so nobody could clear it.

Even when players complained endlessly, they never adjusted the difficulty or provided proper hints.

The available choices changed constantly, and the story shifted dramatically depending upon them, making walkthroughs practically useless.

It produced such an unsettling sense that you were genuinely having a conversation with another person that some players had actually praised the realism.

That enthusiasm didn’t last long.

Players cursed at the developers, complained, begged them to provide even the slightest hint for clearing the game—

and the developers never said anything.

People claimed it felt like talking to a wall, and even players who had never previously struggled with anger nearly developed anger-management problems.

There weren’t many people playing the game, but reviews still appeared fairly often, and players shared information with one another.

However, I had never once seen a post saying someone had increased Holloway’s affection.

If that had happened, the community would have exploded.

Considering how quiet everything remained, I was certain no one had succeeded.

Which meant I had become the first player ever to raise the final boss’s affection.

Was that something I should be happy about?

……No.

There was no reason to celebrate.

If it increased by only 0.1% at a time, how long would it take to raise his affection properly?

It was probably a coincidence.

Perhaps it would never increase again.

So I should simply pretend that number didn’t exist.

More importantly, what I wanted was escape.

I had no interest in some hidden ending together with the boss.

When I remained silent, Holloway tugged at my sleeve and studied my exhausted complexion.

“Big sis, are you okay?”

“I might feel better after resting a little.”

I burrowed even deeper into the warm Holloway.

Were demons normally this warm?

His body heat gradually drove away the cold.

The warmth loosened my tension, allowing me to lean comfortably against him.

Then I flinched.

I’m hugging the final boss…….

Anyone who saw this would probably faint.

But once this illness completely disappeared, I planned to abandon him without even looking back and pretend I knew nothing.

He’s so warm that I can’t let go…….

He’s basically a winter heat pack.

Having the final boss right in front of me was obviously important, but survival was my greatest concern.

And for survival, I was willing to use even the final boss.

“Then…….”

Just as Holloway was about to continue, the door in front of us opened and Moran stepped out.

Moran’s room was here?

I didn’t know where the others had been placed, so my eyes widened.

Moran apparently hadn’t expected me to be standing directly outside her door either.

She asked in surprise,

“Miss Evelyn? Why are you here?”

The first thought that came to mind upon seeing her was—

‘Perfect.’

I no longer needed to deliberately search for someone in order to complete the sub quest.

Before beginning my performance properly, I first forced some tears into my eyes.

Once my eyes became moist, I poured out the current situation to Moran.

“M-Moran, something terrible happened!”

The sudden declaration made Moran visibly flustered.

“What? Something terrible……? More importantly, Miss Evelyn! Your face is so red!”

No wonder my head had started throbbing.

Apparently my fever had risen considerably in the meantime.

I shook my head and shouted,

“That isn’t the problem! We c-can’t get out of this hotel!”

I released Holloway and reached toward Moran.

Moran took my hand and lowered herself to my eye level.

With a gentle touch, she brushed away the hair stuck to my forehead with sweat and tried to calm me.

“Miss Evelyn, what are you talking about? Calm down and explain it slowly.”

“The door leading outside—the door won’t open!”

When I continued acting agitated, Moran looked like she had many things she wanted to say.

Instead of speaking, however, she merely looked at me with pity.

What’s with that look?

“Um…… Miss Evelyn, you’re sick, so……”

Her face clearly said she wanted to tell me that I wasn’t properly understanding the situation.

I wanted to tell her that she was the one who didn’t understand, but I swallowed the words.

“If you really don’t believe me, try opening the door yourself! I’m telling you, it really won’t open!”

My loud shouting as I explained the situation caused doors to open one after another, and people gradually emerged into the hallway.

Apparently they had been resting in nearby rooms.

Everyone approached after noticing Moran and me.

Cletta looked at my condition, apparently decided I looked terrible, and removed his outer coat to give it to me.

I refused.

He took the coat back and asked gently,

“Evelyn, what happened this time?”

This time?!

He wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t immediately think of an argument and became even more irritated.

“I said the door won’t open!”

“What door?”

“The hotel entrance!”

I was speaking sincerely, but they clearly didn’t believe me.

Well.

That was understandable.

Considering everything I had done until now.

My stamina and physical strength were terrible, so perhaps they assumed that simply because I couldn’t open it, I had foolishly concluded that no one else could either.

And since I was doing nothing but shouting, I probably looked even less trustworthy.

I stopped raising my voice and lowered it seriously.

“Go down to the lobby and check yourselves. See whether the door opens or not.”

I filled my eyes with sincerity.

Cynthia clicked her tongue and objected.

“If it won’t open, can’t we simply break a window?”

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

I gave the window a serious look.

The meaning was clear.

Go ahead and try breaking one.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly.

Werner, standing beside her, sighed and walked toward the window.

It seemed he had realized I would continue making a scene until someone checked, so he was simply going to smash it like I wanted.

Werner struck the glass violently with the hilt of his sword.

And then……

Thump!

The sword hilt bounced straight back from an invisible barrier.

Everyone’s faces instantly hardened.

A heavy silence descended.

No one could move.

“…….”

“S-Sir Werner! T-Try it again!”

Alhulf shouted with a deathly pale face.

Werner struck the window again.

But it merely bounced repeatedly from the invisible barrier.

Cletta placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Before he could even draw it, frustration appeared on his face.

“……My aura is blocked.”

Werner said that couldn’t possibly be true and tried himself.

Nothing appeared.

“Damn it!”

Werner stomped the floor furiously.

This hotel was the demons’ domain.

Magic, aura—

none of it could be used here.

That was why humans had been slaughtered so helplessly by the demons.

Although even if they could use their powers, there was no guarantee they could defeat the demons.

“We should go to the lobby first and check whether the door opens!”

Moran clasped her trembling hands and shouted.

Everyone immediately headed downstairs toward the lobby.

Cletta started to follow them, then stopped when he noticed Holloway and me standing there embracing each other.

I waved my hand at him as though telling him to hurry up and get lost.

“Go. I’m fine as long as I’m with Holloway. Check it yourself.”

I wasn’t lying.

Cletta’s pupils wavered slightly at my words.

Apparently unconvinced, he shifted repeatedly as though debating whether to leave.

Eventually he sighed deeply.

“I’ll be right back, so stay here.”

“Could you stop ordering me around and just go?”

I can stand wherever I want.

Despite my prickly answer, Cletta looked strangely amused.

Ridiculous.

Once Cletta also went downstairs, only Holloway and I remained in the hallway.

We exchanged a meaningless stare.

Determined not to lose, I opened my eyes as wide as possible.

“Big sis, there are blood vessels showing in your eyes.”

Fuck.

I quietly closed them.

I even lost a staring contest.

My plan to defeat him in at least one thing collapsed miserably.

Not even a few minutes passed before Alhulf’s terrified scream echoed throughout the hotel.

“Aaaah! T-Try harder! Open it! There’s no way we can’t leave!”

He was screaming so loudly that even from the upper floor I could hear him clearly.

[Sub Quest <We’re Trapped in Here!> Complete!]

[Obtained ‘A Miraculous Cure-All That Will Completely Heal Your Staggering Body!’]

A pill entered my mouth.

I obediently swallowed it.

[You will be completely healed in approximately two hours.]

Apparently designed to match that timeframe, the recovery began quickly.

My shivering body already felt somewhat refreshed.

The pounding headache had weakened significantly too.

At this point, moving around should be no problem.

Only after checking my physical condition did I separate myself from Holloway.

When I moved away, Holloway looked up at me in confusion.

His pretty face was filled with questions.

“Why? You said you were cold.”

“I think I’m gradually feeling better. It’s thanks to you, Holloway.”

I casually thanked him and stood.

“Where are you going?”

“Yeah.”

I wouldn’t be much help to the others.

But they wouldn’t be much help to me either.

Since I knew the game, I was at least somewhat better off than them.

If I survived long enough, perhaps I could eventually find the exit.

The hotel was enormous, so it would probably take a long time.

Still, there were sub quests, and judging by how the system provided items appropriate to the situation, my circumstances weren’t entirely hopeless.

More importantly, I had no desire to stay with Cletta’s group and have another selection window appear, forcing me to say garbage like, ‘W-What does “sick and tired” mean?’

I am not stupid.

I also didn’t want the terrible choices to force me into becoming a nuisance character against my will.

I’d be the one dying of frustration.

“Can I come with you?”

Are you insane?

Of course, instead of saying that aloud, I was about to gently persuade him otherwise.

[Holloway is looking at you expectantly.]

[➤What should you say?

1. Why would you come with me?

(( _ ) ⊙ ⊙ ？)

1. You stay here and travel with those goddamn bastards.

(（＾∀＾●）)

1. We’ll play rock-paper-scissors. If I win, I go alone.

(=￣ω￣=)]

……Why are Evelyn’s choices like this?

Is there an error?

Or were they always this awful?!

There wasn’t a single normal option.

Rock-paper-scissors was probably the least terrible.

I selected option 3.

Making the same mischievous expression as the emoticon, I clenched my fist.

“We’ll play rock-paper-scissors. If I win, I go alone.”

“I don’t want to.”

……Huh?

He said no?