An enormous chill swept through the room.
Every breath came out white.
Frost spread across the floor.
It froze rapidly.
Even through my slippers, the cold against my soles became unbearable.
With no other option, I picked up the collapsed Holloway and climbed onto the criminal’s body.
Maybe I had whipped him too hard because I was so angry.
The inhuman bastard could do nothing but move his mouth while lying completely flat on the floor.
Even the blood he had spilled was frozen.
And his body quickly began sticking to the floor.
Apparently the cold wasn’t something we could simply laugh off.
No.
That’s not what matters.
“Holloway, is your stomach okay? What do I do……”
I should’ve protected you sooner.
……No.
I have no obligation to do that.
Looking like a child is seriously cheating.
He’s probably healthier than anyone here.
Holloway pulled together the torn fabric of my clothes and frowned.
It looked like something about the sight displeased him.
“I’ve never seen big sis that angry before.”
“How could I not be angry? He kicked a child hard enough to send him flying!”
Die!
Die!
My rage exploded again.
I viciously stomped the bastard’s face.
“You bitch! Get your foot off!”
“No, no!”
“Get off!”
“No!”
“I’m definitely going to—”
“Touch Holloway one more time! No, I’ll destroy you right now! Where’s the belt?!”
When I searched for the belt, the bastard went pale and shut his mouth.
I need to start turning everything I can hold into a weapon.
The sight of Holloway’s small body flying helplessly kept replaying in my mind.
I hugged him tightly.
Holloway froze briefly.
Then wrapped his arms around my neck and buried his face against my shoulder.
[Trust increased by 20%.]
[Affection increased by 1%.]
[Attachment increased by 1%.]
Nice.
[Holloway feels a sense of security in your arms for the first time in a very long while.]
……A very long while?
Why do you have to sound so pitiful?
Still hugging me, Holloway whispered quietly,
“I wish big sis wouldn’t go anywhere.”
Without realizing it, I hesitated.
Terrible loneliness stained Holloway’s voice.
[Trust has reached 30%!]
[Because Trust reached 30%, new routes will now be created only when the gap between Attachment and Possessiveness reaches 20% or more.]
Th-Thank goodness……!
[Obsession has exceeded 55%!]
[Holloway’s desire toward you has strengthened. Be careful, or you may fall into his grasp and never escape.]
[If you prioritize anyone other than Holloway, he may use any means necessary to confine you. (70% probability)]
[Be careful not to get confined!]
[(＾◇^)/(＾◇^)/~(＾◇^)/]
[(＾◇^)/(＾◇^)/~(＾◇^)/]
[(＾◇^)/(＾◇^)/~(＾◇^)/]
You want me confined more desperately than anyone.
“Holloway……”
I can’t promise not to go anywhere.
I have a home too.
I want to go home.
But I couldn’t destroy the warm mood.
So I only held him and patted him.
If I couldn’t give a definite promise—
it was better to say nothing.
For him.
And for me.
Promises exist to be kept.
If I said yes, I felt like I would genuinely want to keep that promise somehow.
“You really refuse to answer until the end……”
He murmured quietly.
[Possessiveness increased by 1.5%.]
[Obsession increased by 2%.]
Is refusing to answer really that serious a crime?
“I asked whether you were hurt too.”
“It hurts.”
He whined and leaned against me.
While I comforted Holloway—
the tips of my feet began stinging.
“……This is bad.”
The thin ice climbing up the bastard’s body had finally reached my feet too.
I lifted Holloway slightly higher.
“What do we do?”
“Ghk……. P-Please save me……”
I was dumbfounded.
How could he ask me to save him with his own mouth?
“You brought this on yourself.”
The bastard, grinding his teeth, suddenly laughed like he had lost his mind.
“Kh, khkh……. Khkhkhkh…… Hahahaha! That’s rich coming from a serial killer!”
“…….”
Thank God Holloway is the only one who witnessed this dark history.
Crack.
Cr-crack……
The man violently twisted his body.
Apparently he didn’t care what happened to the skin frozen against the floor.
Because I was standing on top of him, I lost my balance and swayed.
“N-No.”
“Hah……. So this is how all those people died. What the hell is this phenomenon…….”
He kept muttering while struggling.
The sound of dragging cloth, which had gone completely silent—
started again.
Ssshk.
Sssshhk……
What the hell is crawling around?
I didn’t even want to think about the soft thing I hadn’t been able to see properly because of the darkness.
This was also confusing because unlocked rooms had never been this dangerous before.
I came because I thought there might be a clue.
Instead it felt like a trap……
Ah.
Wait.
Could it actually be a trap?
Have I trusted the system too much?
I’d already felt uneasy when it told me to kill Cynthia……
But because the penalty for refusing to kill Cynthia wasn’t death, I hadn’t thought deeply about it.
Does it simultaneously want to save her and want to kill her?
Does the system seriously possess emotions?
I bit my lip.
“Aagh! D-Damn it! What is this……?!”
The criminal screamed in horror.
“W-What? Something soft is grabbing my leg……”
“Your leg?”
“Fuck! Get off!”
He thrashed, trying to remove something invisible.
Unable to maintain my position on top of him, I slipped and fell.
“Ugh!”
I need to get up quickly!
Before I could—
my butt and legs suddenly became completely stuck to the floor.
I immediately lifted Holloway.
“Holloway, hurry! Step onto my shoulders!”
“But……”
“Just—mmph!”
SLAP!
Something flew directly onto my face.
The soft thing completely blocked my vision.
I couldn’t even breathe.
Even then, I struggled to raise Holloway onto my shoulders.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
I-I can’t breathe……!
[3 minutes until death by suffocation.]
N-No……
Please climb up, Holloway!
Then I can remove this thing from my face……!
Slip!
While hurriedly trying to lift him onto my shoulder, my hand slipped.
I dropped Holloway.
“Mh! Hhup!”
Holloway!
Damn it!
Where……
My oxygen disappeared.
My head began turning white.
Then—
the freezing floor slowly began to thaw.
The soft thing wrapped tightly around my face was ripped away.
“Haaah……!”
As I desperately gulped the air that had been blocked at my throat—
a large hand covered my eyes.
Another arm wrapped around my waist.
Someone behind me pulled me upright.
“You’re in danger of dying if I look away for even a moment.”
“…….”
Holloway.
“I……”
“I don’t exactly feel like I want to protect you from even a single scratch……. But I don’t want to let you die either.”
He murmured.
His arm tightened around my waist.
He rested his forehead lightly against the back of my head.
“What is this contradictory feeling supposed to be?”
“……Maybe you’re simply an asshole?”
“At times like this, bowing down is your safest choice.”
“Ah, sorry……”
“You’re adorable.”
His low laughter stirred my hair.
The arm around my waist loosened.
Then his hand spread across my stomach.
He slowly stroked it.
My stomach instantly tightened.
He didn’t care.
“Your stomach hurts, right?”
“W-Well. I can’t say it doesn’t.”
“Hmm……”
He seemed to think.
Then withdrew the hand covering my eyes.
Somehow, a bandage had appeared around them instead.
His presence, previously behind me, moved forward.
His hands gripped my waist.
It felt as though his hand position lowered.
Maybe Holloway had knelt in front of me.
“……Excuse me?”
“You said it hurt.”
“……?”
Something soft and warm pressed against my stomach.
……That feels like lips.
“E-Excuse me……!”
“Stay still.”
Through the thin negligee, I could clearly feel his lips moving.
The heat of Holloway’s breath slipping through his closed lips was unbearable.
Unable to endure the sensation, I stepped backward.
He didn’t bother stopping me.
“Done. It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
“How could one kiss possibly……”
It doesn’t hurt.
“Doesn’t hurt, right?”
His voice sounded teasing.
Then he stepped away.
As though remembering something, he gave a small exclamation.
“And this.”
Snap!
He snapped his fingers.
The bandage covering my sight came undone too.
When I looked down—
Holloway was hugging my waist in his child form and staring blankly up at me.
As though asking me to recognize who he was.
“Holloway, when did you get here……”
Before I could finish—
the dark banquet hall suddenly flooded with light.
My eyes couldn’t adjust to the sudden brightness.
I squeezed them shut.
There was a rustling sound.
Once my eyes adjusted, I slowly opened them.
The first thing I saw was the dark-red substance plastered all over the criminal’s body.
The man was floating in the air.
His eyes rolled around frantically with terror.
“S-Sav—”
POP!
Before he could finish, the dark-red substance exploded.
His body exploded along with it.
Blood and pieces of flesh sprayed all the way toward me.
Splatter!
[1 person’s body has exploded. Survivors decrease to 19.]
“…….”
I couldn’t say anything after witnessing something that gruesome.
That stuff had been on my face too.
If Holloway hadn’t removed it……
Shudder.
A terrifying chill passed over my entire body.
“B-Big sis, I’m scared……”
If I pass out here, am I going to explode too?
Holloway’s earlier words floated through my head.
That even though he saved me, he didn’t particularly care whether I got hurt.
Regardless of whether I was terrified, Holloway buried himself into me and sniffled.
“Big siiis……”
Y-You evil bastard……
His Affection is already this high and it still isn’t enough?
“Stop calling me……. I’m scared too!”
You’re scarier than anything else here because you play with my life.
[Holloway says he feels a strange sense of peace whenever you shout.]
You really like my booming voice that much?
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