With my stomach still churning, I searched the unlocked room, but in the end, I found absolutely nothing.
Apparently it was simply one of the unlocked rooms, no different from the safe room.
There was nothing inside.
With this, I abandoned the assumption that every unlocked room contained a clue.
All I learned was that the system apparently wanted to make me suffer.
Then again, it might also have been because I hadn’t searched thoroughly enough.
I admitted that I’d been too scared to inspect every corner.
I didn’t want to stay for long in a room covered in flesh and blood.
My top priority was escaping.
If it really wanted to tell me another story, then surely a hint or quest would come looking for me eventually.
I could always return and search carefully later……
But that place is really fucking scary.
There’s still that criminal’s flesh and blood everywhere.
I never wanted to go back.
And I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the entire room was a trap.
It had genuinely been dangerous.
I had absolutely no idea whether that danger had been intentional……
Still, if I wanted to survive, I had to be cautious about everything.
Purple Princess is tired now.
***
At the end of the cold, dark corridor, all the faint noises disappeared.
A heavy silence settled over everything.
It was quiet enough that I felt I could hear a needle drop.
Step.
Step……
Our footsteps against the marble seemed unusually loud.
At this rate, aren’t all the monsters going to gather around us?
“Holloway, say something.”
Nothing worked better than conversation when you wanted to shake off fear.
“Big sis, watch your legs.”
“Huh? Don’t say things like that.”
When I asked you to talk, I didn’t mean scare me.
I tried to brush it off lightly.
But Holloway muttered,
“I’m not saying it for no reason……”
“Then…… Aagh!”
Something suddenly grabbed my ankle and yanked.
I fell hard on my face.
THUD!
I hit the floor properly.
I clutched my nose and groaned.
Holloway stroked the back of my head.
“I told you to watch your legs.”
“…….”
How was I supposed to know you were serious?
My nose hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes.
Whatever had grabbed my ankle had already disappeared.
Holloway frowned when he saw the blood running from my nose.
“Are you okay? Ah, look at that. Your nose is bleeding.”
[Holloway feels a small amount of regret, thinking, ‘Maybe I should’ve blocked it.’]
Even a tiny bit of regret is something……
Normally, he’d laugh even if blood poured from both nostrils.
The fact that he regretted it meant he’d improved a lot.
Earlier he said he didn’t care even if I got hurt.
Apparently his feelings had already changed again.
Then again, human emotions change dozens of times a day.
Why would a pleasure-seeking demon be any different?
Holloway helped me stagger upright.
Before I could fully straighten—
something grabbed both ankles and yanked again.
WHOOSH!
I fell forward once more.
“Ugh!”
“……Why is it doing that?”
A faint irritation entered Holloway’s voice.
―Kikik. Kikikik……
Who is laughing?
A warm sensation touched my ankles.
I whipped around.
A faint flame briefly rose from them before disappearing.
“W-What……”
―Come, come. Let’s take you.
“No, no. Go by yourself.”
“……Kgh.”
Holloway had been staring seriously.
Then his shoulders began trembling as he tried to suppress laughter.
Unfortunately, the monster didn’t possess enough patience to wait until Holloway finished laughing.
―Come!
The amusement vanished from Holloway’s face.
He reached toward the monster as though trying to grab it.
FWOOSH!
Flames erupted and attacked Holloway.
“…….”
Holloway lowered his eyes and carefully inspected the fire clinging to his hand.
Then our eyes met.
Immediately, he began frantically waving that hand.
“Fire……. Big sis!”
“C-Come here!”
I tried removing my cardigan to smother the flames on Holloway’s hand.
But because the monster was still dragging me by the ankles, I couldn’t properly take it off.
Instead—
Holloway only got farther away.
“Damn it, Holloway! Get to the nearest bathro—”
I shouted desperately.
Then suddenly realized something was wrong and froze with my mouth open.
That monster……
attacked Holloway.
Even when monsters were merely pretending for appearances, not once had any of them actually attacked Holloway in front of me.
But this one had clearly thrown fire at him.
Maybe because it couldn’t see him properly, it got confused……
Was it a mistake?
It had to be a mistake.
There was no way a monster would attack Holloway.
Monsters couldn’t harm the demons, Holloway included.
That was the one rule they followed.
Before I could properly understand what was happening—
hot flames erupted beneath my feet.
In a single instant, they dragged me downward.
The smooth marble floor had nothing I could grab to stop myself from being pulled away.
“Holl—! Aaaaaagh!”
“Big sis!”
Our fingertips missed each other by barely the length of one finger joint.
Then I was sucked straight downward.
It happened before I could even resist.
***
When I opened my eyes to a burning pain, I saw clear handprints around my ankles.
They felt hot, as though burned.
But the injuries didn’t seem particularly severe.
My ankles throbbed from how tightly something had gripped them.
When I staggered upright—
flames suddenly flared near my neck.
“Aagh!”
Startled, I backed away.
Then tripped over something and fell hard onto my butt.
THUD!
“Ugh!”
It was already dark.
Yet an even darker shadow swallowed the space in front of me.
I didn’t dare look up at the enormous, shapeless presence.
Plop.
Splat.
Something fell directly across my knees.
……That thing.
Something like melted flesh slid helplessly down my knees before falling onto the floor.
Plop.
Plop.
More pieces continued dropping until they nearly covered my legs.
I swallowed dryly.
The number-one rule in a horror movie:
‘……Don’t get curious.’
Don’t wonder what this is.
Don’t wonder what’s above your head.
I began inching backward.
A hand with strips of flesh clinging to it, white bone visible beneath, suddenly seized my wrist.
Before I could resist—
I was dragged flat onto my back.
I came face-to-face with the monster looming above me.
Its badly burned skin was melting.
Between its red flesh and dripping chunks of meat, white bone showed clearly.
―Kikik……. Kik……
Between lips stretched almost all the way to its ears, a long tongue appeared.
The monster flicked it out.
Then slowly licked my cheek from bottom to top.
“Hiiik……!”
I could vividly feel every rough bump along its tongue.
The monster laughed at my terror.
Its voice sounded like metal scraping against metal.
―You. It was you, right? Fire on my body…… Kikik……
Its body trembled because it couldn’t stop laughing.
Chunks of flesh rained onto my face.
My lips quivered at the warm, soft pieces.
“N-No……”
―Hot……. It was so hot……
“D-Don’t say ‘and that’s how I ended up like this’……”
―…….
[‘Burned Vengeful Spirit’ has unexpectedly taken damage from your words!]
How could I resist?
It was saying the most cliché line imaginable.
And more importantly—
can a monster really take damage just because I stole the line it was supposed to say?
If so, I could trash-talk this thing all day.
[‘Burned Vengeful Spirit’ is incapacitated for approximately 10 seconds.]
I had experienced things like this countless times during the early game.
Especially after coming back from the brink of death over and over, I no longer remained paralyzed by fear for very long.
My heart may have been shouting hallelujah—
but my legs were already running faithfully away from the spirit.
“Hah, hah……”
[‘Burned Vengeful Spirit’ returns to normal.]
[=͟͞=͟͞ﾍ( ´Д`)ﾉ DANGER!!]
[It has spotted you and begun pursuing you! Hurry and hide inside a nearby room!]
A-A nearby room?
I opened the hotel map.
That monster had dragged me all the way to the first-floor lobby.
More precisely—
I was underneath the ornate staircase that split into three directions.
Directly under the landing of the middle staircase.
“A room where I can hide……”
On the map, a red dot beneath the landing flashed rapidly.
There was a door symbol there.
But the red color seemed ominous.
I began turning toward another room instead.
Splat.
A piece of flesh dropped directly beside me.
I stopped running and backed away.
The monster’s voice split into three tones.
―You can’t escape! Hihik! Hihihik!
―My flesh melted…… It needs to disappear. Yours too!
―Disappear!
ROOOAR!
A shriek like tearing metal and compressed air shot directly toward me.
WHOOOSH―! THUD!
For one instant, the pain was so intense that my breath stopped.
My mind went blank.
“Ugh!”
The shockwave launched me through the air and into the wall.
No—
it would be more accurate to say I flew through the door directly behind me.
My body didn’t stop there.
I tumbled down a staircase.
Every part of my body screamed for mercy.
I kept rolling without stopping.
―M-Must…… escape!
I heard the spirit’s terrified voice.
Through my blurred vision, I vaguely saw the shattered door regenerate.
Maybe because the space below was even darker than the hotel.
The newly restored door slammed shut.
THUD!
The faint light from above disappeared.
Everything became pitch-black.
My tumbling body finally struck a wall.
Only then did I stop.
My consciousness faded.
Strength drained from every limb.
Ah……
How many times have I fainted now?
Through my blood-red vision, I saw a child.
If there’s a child here……
“……Holloway?”
Maybe he couldn’t hear my fading voice.
The child moved farther away from me.
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