[The story ‘Secret of the Island’ has ended.]
[The ‘Secret of the Island’ fragments have been completed.]
The fragments, each containing a different image, merged into one.
The original pictures disappeared.
In their place appeared the abandoned hotel.
Not the luxurious hotel it had been in life—
but the ruined hotel as it existed now.
[The story will be shared with everyone, including you.]
[A gift has arrived for you, who have taken one step closer to this unfortunate and horrific story.]
[Restricted Room No. 5, Casino ‘How About a Game?’ has been unlocked!]
[Restricted Room No. 7, Room 102 ‘Shh, Hide (1)’ has been unlocked!]
[Restricted Room No. 27, Small Banquet Hall (1) ‘Enjoy the Festival’ has been unlocked!]
Dingdingdingding.
I finally lost my patience at the endless notifications.
“Stop! Let me be sad and shocked for a while!”
This is so fucking annoying!
Other novels and movies give people at least that much time!
Why are you in such a hurry?!
Being too impatient isn’t good for anyone!
Unable to withstand the endless alerts, I screamed.
Sniffling, I wiped away my tears.
But they didn’t stop easily.
It was the sort of hidden story common in horror games.
There was nothing especially surprising about that.
I had expected some major twist.
There wasn’t one.
It was simply—
horribly realistic.
That made it even more devastating.
Playing through a fictional tragedy inside a game was completely different from living in a world where that tragedy had actually happened.
The problem was that this had been someone’s real experience while they were alive.
Their despair from back then had been conveyed directly to me.
Maybe it was some ability of the game……
I breathed slowly until the trembling eased.
Only then did I look at the notification windows.
Maybe the victims of the island created this system itself.
I never imagined the fragment called ‘Existence’ meant the victims were still remaining on this island.
The victims wanted to escape the island through complete death.
I had felt that clearly.
Wanting to die even though they were already dead—
that meant their souls were still unable to escape.
Their bodies had been stolen by monsters.
Even their souls were bound.
And because of the island’s curse, they couldn’t even die the way they wanted.
They aren’t expecting me to do something for them, are they?
I don’t secretly possess that kind of power.
It’d be troublesome if they arbitrarily decided I was some hero and placed all their hope in me……
The pressure descending on me instantly erased my sadness.
My tears dried right up.
“Um, seriously. You don’t mean me, right? You don’t expect me to…… right?”
The system remained silent.
Damn it.
Why do you keep making me nervous?
I finished wiping my wet face.
Ah, my eyes sting……
I had learned the island’s secret.
But there were still many locked stories.
Probably stories about the people responsible for what happened here.
I felt miserable over cruelty that only humans could commit.
How many sacrifices were there……
No.
Calling them sacrifices was wrong.
They had simply become victims of human experimentation.
Now that I knew the secret, even the monsters seemed pitiful.
Because of human greed, they had died horribly.
Their bodies had been stolen.
And on top of that, they remained alive, unable even to die.
Looking at something like this makes it hard to believe there’s a god.
Temples existed in this world, and religion had considerable influence, but after seeing this……
I wasn’t sure anymore.
“Haa……”
A sigh escaped naturally.
The island’s story had supposedly been shared with everyone.
So I probably didn’t need to explain everything myself.
Even if I did, I doubt they would’ve believed me.
I pulled myself together.
The hotel was more dangerous now.
But at last, I knew the secret of the island.
Many rooms had been unlocked too.
I almost felt rich.
Unfortunately, what I had acquired was a wider variety of possible deaths.
So I wasn’t particularly happy.
I opened the map and checked my location.
Then I decided to visit the nearest newly unlocked room first.
“So…… the closest one is……”
Restricted Room No. 27.
The small banquet hall.
What does ‘Enjoy the Festival’ mean?
Don’t tell me monsters are inside having a festival.
I really didn’t want to go.
But putting it off wouldn’t help me……
I was currently on the third floor.
The small banquet hall was on the fourth.
There were two small banquet halls.
Presumably I had to go to the one labeled ‘Small Banquet Hall (1)’ on the map.
I had no weapon.
But I did have defensive equipment, so I felt extremely secure.
I held up the hand mirror.
Whatever appeared, I needed to already have the mirror in hand if I wanted to block it.
Creeeak……
The moment I stepped into the hallway, the atmosphere looked even more ominous, almost as though the hotel itself was announcing the increased difficulty.
Little noises came from everywhere, as if monsters were spread throughout the entire hotel.
There were so many that I couldn’t even tell where they were coming from.
I cautiously took one step into the corridor.
Then stepped right back inside and put on slippers.
These damn shoes.
They disappear every time anything happens.
I refuse to experience another disaster where I step on something squishy.
Once I was ready, I headed out with a confident heart.
My body, terrified out of its mind, ignored its owner and trembled freely.
“I’ve been here quite a while. Why haven’t I adjusted yet?”
Yeah.
I haven’t.
Answering my own question, I searched for the staircase leading to the fourth floor.
More importantly—
if I learned the identity of the terrible human who killed people for his ambition, would I finally be able to escape?
Or could I escape first if I found the gate?
I didn’t know.
What if I found the escape gate but couldn’t use it until I collected every story?
There was no reason to leave that uncertainty unresolved.
So I decided to collect stories while searching for the escape gate whenever possible.
And if a difficult quest appeared—
maybe I could, you know.
Avoid it just a little.
I want to choose my quests too.
I want to accept only easy ones.
I wish the system understood my fierce desires.
***
Cursing my nonexistent stamina, I finally climbed to the fourth floor while panting.
Am I more exhausted than I thought?
Why is climbing stairs this hard……
“Big sis?”
Do I smell or something?
He finds me even better than my family’s delinquent dog.
Anyway, joy immediately surged through me when I saw the person most capable of protecting me here.
Even if he only protected me unconsciously—
that was still better than nothing.
“Holloway!”
I picked him up and spun once.
“I told you not to do this……”
Holloway stopped mid-sentence and cupped my cheeks with both hands.
His expression suddenly looked serious.
Did I spin too hard?
That was supposed to show how happy I was to see him.
“Were you crying?”
So that’s what it was.
Thank goodness.
“A little.”
“That isn’t a little.”
“A lot.”
“…….”
Holloway’s gaze remained on my cheeks.
Unable to withstand his silent stare, I finally confessed honestly.
“I squeezed out every tear and drop of snot I had.”
He stroked beneath my eye and furrowed one brow.
“Because you learned about the island?”
“Yeah……”
I answered dejectedly.
Then my eyes suddenly widened like a rabbit’s and my mouth fell half-open.
I almost forgot I was supposed to be acting.
“You saw it too?”
“Yes. Why are you crying over someone else’s problem?”
“I naturally have outstanding empathy.”
“…….”
He silently stroked my swollen eyelids.
“Getting swept away by useless emotions.”
From a demon like Holloway’s perspective, I suppose it would look that way.
Honestly, if I hadn’t experienced it directly, even I probably wouldn’t have been this upset.
I would’ve sympathized the way someone does while listening to another person’s story.
And moved on.
But I had seen it with my own eyes.
That horrifying scene.
“If I didn’t know, that’d be different. But now that I do, I can’t just laugh.”
“Would you be sad even if it happened to someone else?”
“Yes. That wouldn’t change anything.”
At my unwavering answer, Holloway stared into my eyes.
Then his expression softened.
“You’re kind.”
“I hear that a lot.”
[Holloway regains emotional stability thanks to your kind heart.]
[Affection increased by 2%.]
[Attachment increased by 1%.]
[Possessiveness increased by 2%.]
[Obsession increased by 3%.]
[Obsession has reached 50%. Whatever you do from now on, Holloway will begin nurturing his desire toward you.]
I didn’t just plant a flag with Extenron.
I drove one straight through Holloway too.
This is fine, right?
I was a little nervous.
Obsession……
Having a handsome, tall man obsessed with you normally sounds nice.
But being obsessed over by the final boss of a horror game made it difficult to enjoy without thinking.
“Where were you going, big sis?”
Holloway asked as though nothing had happened.
“To find Holloway.”
“You found me now, so that’s enough! Right?”
“Now I’m going to look around for anything useful. Since we know the island’s secret now, maybe something else has changed. And I need a weapon.”
I answered seriously.
Holloway asked something completely unrelated.
“Do you like anyone as long as they’re handsome?”
What is he suddenly talking about?
Although confused, I answered properly.
“More or less.”
Wait.
Have I ever openly shown how much I care about looks here?
“What else do you prefer?”
“Why are you suddenly asking?”
“I became interested.”
How aggressive.
‘What else……’
I thought seriously before answering.
“Broad shoulders. Tall enough that I’d never once think he looked small……”
“Mm-hm, mm-hm. And?”
“Kind. Doesn’t threaten to kill me……”
“Hmm……”
[Holloway decides to reduce how often he says, ‘I’ll kill you.’]
Stop saying it entirely.
I didn’t ask you to reduce it.
“Funny……”
“Big sis is already funny, so we can skip that.”
Why are you skipping things on your own?
“You’ll skip it?”
“I’ll flexibly let that one pass.”
Even though I’d become more comfortable with him, it wasn’t like I stopped being afraid.
A demon could still kill me if something displeased him.
Until his affection toward me was completely full, I couldn’t lower my guard.
But……
Was it okay for me to gain a demon’s heart just because I wanted to survive?
Yes.
It’s fine.
Look at how much I suffered because of him in the beginning.
He can regret it a little.
If he had always treated me well, I would’ve felt guilty for using him.
But considering what he did, let’s call it even.
I stamped that agreement inside my heart.
[Someone has invaded the hotel. The number of people inside increases to 22.]
Someone else entered.
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