How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 6

If he didn’t want to, could I just leave?

We were in the middle of exchanging another utterly pointless stare when—

Ding!

[Holloway thinks, ‘Aren’t there too many people?’]

……Hm?

Why all of a sudden……?

[Holloway has decided it’s cleaning time!]

The notification window instantly turned red and began flashing frantically like an emergency light.

W-What? What’s happening?

Immediately afterward, screams from the group on the first floor rang out along with the roar of a monster.

“Aaaah!”

“A monster! M-Monster!”

―Graaaaargh!

Boom! Bang!

Even though I couldn’t see it, I could tell that the lobby had descended into chaos.

The sounds of the suddenly appearing monster smashing things here and there were deafening.

“……?”

I looked at Holloway in bewilderment.

His back was turned to me as he looked down the corridor in the opposite direction, so I couldn’t see his face.

Holloway leisurely turned his head.

When he looked at me, his shameless little face was filled with fear.

His expression stirred such a protective instinct that no one would ever imagine this child was the final boss.

Transparent tears glimmered at the corners of Holloway’s eyes.

“B-Big sis…… they said a monster appeared. Are you going to leave me all alone?”

You’re the one who called it…….

I was extremely flustered by the monster appearing much earlier than expected, but for now, I decided to get off the second floor and find somewhere to hide.

“Big sis.”

When I didn’t answer, Holloway called me again.

“Big siiiis.”

Unable to resist the pitiful child pleading for sympathy, I reluctantly took his small hand.

Holloway’s tiny fingers wriggled inside my palm.

‘Seriously! Why did he have to take the form of a child?’

Feeling that small wriggling hand and its warmth made me afraid to let go.

If he looked like an adult, I could’ve kicked him in the ass and told him to survive on his own…….

Even if it was only his appearance, he looked like a child, so I couldn’t bring myself to treat him cruelly.

And he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go either.

It couldn’t be helped.

I’d have to take him with me.

Now that a monster had appeared, there was no place safer than right beside Holloway.

More importantly, I had a feeling he’d get rid of me first if I abandoned him…….

“Let’s avoid the monster first. It’s dangerous.”

“Aren’t we going to help them?”

Hearing something like that from you is pretty confusing.

“Do I look like I’m in any condition to help someone? Or like I’m in any condition to be helped?”

With my body still not fully recovered, I’d be lucky if I didn’t become a burden after unnecessarily stepping forward to help.

Even without me, they were probably already running around in a panic.

Imagine if I suddenly appeared saying I would help.

Cletta and Werner might complain but still try to protect me and get hurt in the process.

That was what happened in the game too.

So rather than trying to save other people, it was better to take care of myself and avoid becoming someone who needed saving.

Since we were still at the very beginning of the game, no one would die yet.

……Right.

They wouldn’t, right?

I was a little uneasy because I had never seen a monster appear this early before…….

Holloway, who had no way of knowing my anxiety, said cheerfully,

“You look like you’re about to die any second!”

Listen.

Just because you say that with a bright smile doesn’t mean I’m not offended, you damn demon.

Holloway clearly believed that if he smiled sweetly enough, everyone would mistake him for an ordinary child and never suspect a thing.

Holding Holloway’s hand as he casually made what sounded like a horrifying prophecy, I desperately held back my tears.

Still, I couldn’t stop a few from falling.

“Big sis, are you crying?”

“Because I’m scared…….”

Because I’m scared of you, the bastard who unleashed the monster.

I scrubbed my eyes with my arm.

There was no time to stand around chatting.

If things had already changed this much from the very beginning of the game, there was no telling what else might be different.

It would be better to do something after my body completely recovered in two hours.

There was nowhere truly safe here, but I was about to head upstairs to put some distance between us and the monster when—

“A-Aaaah! S-Save me!”

I came face-to-face with Friedel, who was practically crawling up the stairs in terror.

Why is he so fast?!

The moment Friedel saw me, he spread his arms as though welcoming a savior.

“L-Lady Evelyn!”

Friedel was one of the villains in the original horror game.

He was unbelievably frustrating—he did absolutely nothing useful while complaining more than anyone else.

He was also the kind of bastard who would use any means necessary if it meant surviving.

In the game, he had repeatedly thrown Moran into dangerous situations to save himself and had nearly been killed by an enraged Cletta because of it.

We were currently in a dangerous situation.

And a bastard like that had spotted me and was running straight toward me.

What did that mean?

“S-Save me, Lady Evelyn!”

He intended to use me as bait!

For someone who cried that much, he’d been surprisingly good at shoving Moran aside!

I immediately grabbed Holloway’s hand and was about to run in the opposite direction when—

―Kieeeeh…….

A few steps ahead of us, the monster Holloway had summoned appeared.

An unknown watery liquid flowed from its deeply sunken black eyes.

Its arms and legs were abnormally long, and its body was twisted at bizarre angles.

As though it had no bones, the limbs supporting it against the floor bent crookedly.

The monster slowly approached us with a grotesque gait.

Its appearance was so bizarre beyond imagination that Friedel nearly had a seizure.

“U-Uaaaaaaagh!”

Honestly, I wanted to scream just like Friedel.

But I couldn’t.

I bit down as hard as possible to keep the scream from escaping.

I knew how sensitive the monsters in this hotel were to sound.

Generally speaking, creatures in dark places tended to develop more sensitive hearing than eyesight.

……At least, that was the game’s setting.

In other words, screaming like that was the absolute worst thing to do.

Still holding Holloway’s hand, I cautiously stepped backward.

We couldn’t provoke that monster.

“Big…….”

“Shh.”

“M-Monster……!”

―Grrrk!

The monster immediately reacted to Friedel’s voice and twisted its head.

Crack. Cr-crack.

Bones popped from its half-turned neck.

Friedel jumped in fright.

“W-What is that thing?! What the hell is it?!”

“Please be quiet! I think this monster reacts to sound!”

Unable to hold back, I snapped at Friedel.

But he completely ignored me and continued shrieking.

“Who cares?! Reacts to sound or not, does that thing look like something anyone could stay calm around?!”

You were so happy to see me a second ago, and now you’re getting angry?

―Graaaaargh!

Because Friedel kept screaming, the monster opened its mouth wide and roared.

Its mouth, which contained not a single tooth, was pitch black.

When it stopped roaring, the monster stared directly at us.

I held my breath and tried to slowly move away when—

―Kieeek!

The monster kicked off the ground and began running in an abnormal way, its entire body flailing so wildly that it was impossible to describe in words.

“U-Uaaaaaagh!”

Please!

That mouth of his!

Friedel reacted to every movement of the monster like some kind of audience member at a live show.

I desperately ran while dragging Holloway along.

The monster had already noticed us.

Because of that damn Friedel!

Bang, bang, bang!

Heavy footsteps thundered behind us while the monster’s long arms whipped around like lashes and smashed into the walls.

Fragments of the walls it destroyed rolled all the way in front of me.

I stepped on them with my bare feet, leaving my soles increasingly torn up.

The monster’s rope-like arm drew closer.

At this rate, it’ll catch us!

The terror behind me felt like it would swallow me whole at any moment, yet I couldn’t run any faster.

Holloway was too slow.

Meanwhile, the monster seemed to gather momentum and grew faster with every step.

The distance shrank until it could have easily passed us and grabbed Friedel.

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

If that hand swung one more time, my back would undoubtedly be torn apart.

This won’t do.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Pardon?”

Rather than explain the situation to Holloway, who looked at me questioningly, I slipped my hands under his arms and lifted him up.

“Big sis?”

“Sorry. You’re too slow.”

He was heavy, but I could run much faster this way.

My body still hadn’t completely recovered, so it was difficult, but I clenched my teeth and endured.

Friedel, who was running ahead, glanced backward.

His eyes met mine as I followed closely behind him.

As we ran while panting heavily, a strange gleam flashed through Friedel’s eyes.

A sense of unease crept up from beneath my feet and slowly tightened around my throat.

That bastard, don’t tell me—

I warned Friedel murderously.

“Just try it!”

Because I won’t stay quiet either!

Despite my warning, Friedel gave a contemptuous sneer.

Without warning, he spun toward us and, before I had any chance to defend myself, shoved me violently while I was holding Holloway.

Even as I fell backward, I instinctively pulled Holloway tightly against me so he wouldn’t get hurt.

“Ugh!”

“Big sis!”

My head struck the floor.

Thud!

My vision went dark and my head spun.

I couldn’t get my bearings.

Then Friedel shouted like a madman.

“Do you think I, Friedel Acrotic, am going to die here?! I absolutely won’t die! I refuse!”

That lunatic…….

“Big sis! Big sis!”

Holloway shook me urgently.

I bit my lip and glared at Friedel as though I wanted to kill him.

“You……!”

“It’s better for me to survive than you! I just became the heir! There’s no way I’m dying now!”

So because I’m not an heir, I should drop dead?

The monster slowed when it spotted us, giving Friedel the chance to quickly flee.

“That fucking bastard!”

The profanity came out automatically.

I staggered to my feet.

There was no time to argue.

I had to survive.

Somehow.

If I wanted to save myself, I needed to leave the final boss behind.

He was the final boss.

That monster might die, but there was no way Holloway would.

Perhaps he sensed my conflict.

“Big sis!”

When I saw Holloway reaching desperately toward me with tears in his eyes, all thought disappeared from my mind.

The monster’s hand stretched toward us as though it intended to snatch us up.

Instinctively, I wrapped myself around Holloway and pressed as low to the floor as possible.

At that moment, he truly looked like a child……

I couldn’t think of him as the final boss of this game.

……Damn it!

I’m going to die because of this useless sympathy!

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the pain that should have come.

But something was strange.

There wasn’t a single pain anywhere in my body.

Slowly opening my eyes, I found myself staring directly at Holloway.

For some reason, he was smiling.

Even in this serious situation, seeing that smooth, pretty face made harsh words fly out before I could stop them.

“You laughing?”

“Pfft!”

Holloway burst into laughter and hugged me tightly.

“No. I was just relieved…….”

Too late.

I slowly raised my lowered head to see what had happened.

The monster had passed us completely and was now attacking Friedel.

Was it because of the noise?

Or because I was holding the final boss?

‘I don’t know what happened, but we survived…….’

Some of my tension eased.

I needed to escape while I had the chance, but my trembling legs refused to cooperate.

When I staggered, Holloway finally took pity on me and supported me.

With his help, I barely managed to stand.

My head was still ringing.

Friedel, the cause of all this, had been caught by the monster and was struggling to escape its grip.

When he saw that I had gotten up unharmed, Friedel shouted desperately.

Unlike the contemptible bastard from moments earlier, he was now humiliating himself while begging for his life.

“S-Save me, Lady Evelyn! Save me!”

He had already been caught, and I didn’t even have a weapon.

There was no way to defeat the monster, which was exactly why Friedel had shoved Holloway and me to use us as bait and escape.

And now he wanted someone like me, whose combat power was basically zero, to save him?

“……How?”

When I asked blankly, Friedel looked utterly dumbfounded even while trapped in the monster’s hand.

……No, I really asked because I didn’t know.