How a Nuisance Character Survives in a Horror Game

 

“Sister, are your feet okay?”

 

“Ah.”

 

It was only then that I realized I was barefoot.

 

Friedel’s blood was all over my body, including my feet.

 

I felt a stinging sensation, perhaps because I had stepped on the remains of the wall that the monster had destroyed, but I didn’t show it.

 

In fact, I felt even more uncomfortable because I was covered in blood.

 

“It doesn’t hurt.”

 

I had no problem with walking.

 

If the pain persisted, all I had to do was find some slippers and wear them.

 

If not, it would be better to find a potion.

 

In the game, many devices were used to prevent humans from dying easily, and potions were one of them.

 

I don’t know if that’s the case here too, but since there’s even a system window, there can’t be none.

 

So, if I got hurt, I could treat it with a potion.

 

Although it was a small amount, it was enough to heal the wound on the sole of my foot.

 

If I can’t find it, the system will give it to me. It gave me medicine to help with body aches, so I wonder if it would give me other quests as well.

 

It was when I continued to accompany Holloway and went up to the third floor.

 

[The 5th ‘You Are the Tagger’ story begins.]

 

(tagger: the one who plays the role of finding hidden others in the game of tag)

 

I was scared by the story that suddenly appeared and tried to go down the stairs, but I hit my head in the air and fell backwards.

 

Holloway asked as he looked at me lying down in the hallway as if it were a bed.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“…”

 

What do you think I’m doing?

 

I shyly got up and reached for the stairs.

 

But my hand was blocked by something.

 

When I looked closely, I saw a translucent barrier between the stairs leading down and where I was now.

 

In short, I’m now in a situation where I can’t go anywhere.

 

Is it just me?

 

I looked at Holloway and pointed to the stairs leading down.

 

“Holloway, can you come down the stairs?”

 

As if asking something strange, instead of answering, Holloway went down the stairs and came back up.

 

But even if I pushed in with my head, kicked with my legs, or stretched out my hand, I couldn’t get there.

 

Holloway, who was watching the live crazy show from the side, clapped his hands in admiration.

 

“Wow, what is that? You’re really good at acting like there’s a wall!”

 

“…”

 

Didn’t it look like I was desperately trying to escape?

 

A window opened in front of me as I resigned myself to knowing that I couldn’t go down.

 

[Goal: Find the goal and shout before the tagger catches you.]

 

[‘Now I’m the tagger!’

 

If you shout like that, you will win.

 

If the tagger touches your body, you become the tagger.]

 

[※Never be the tagger.]

 

[Clear reward: Revolver]

 

Revolver…? Pistol?!

 

It was a moment of joy at the unprecedented supply of weapons.

 

But monsters find us by hearing…

 

No, no. Maybe. I don’t have enough to keep prepared.

 

[Death in case of failure.]

 

F*ck, these are all extreme!

 

It’s not like I can’t say I don’t want to!

 

It was a quest that didn’t give me a choice whether to accept it or not.

 

In case of failure, one finger,

wouldn’t it better to do that! Then, since I have ten fingers, doesn’t that mean I have ten lives?

 

My scream couldn’t be let out and was swallowed inside.

 

And the story began like in a game.

 

[Bob is coming.]

 

Even the faintly flickering candle flame went out.

 

I flinched for a moment and pulled Holloway who was next to me into a tight hug.

 

[The tagger is standing at the end of the long hallway on the third floor.]

 

…At the end of the hallway on the third floor?

 

[The tagger starts wandering around looking for someone to play with. You get up slowly to find the goal spot.]

 

I’m getting up quickly, you know?

 

I jumped up.

 

Contrary to such behavior, I held Holloway’s hand and walked quietly down the hallway.

 

“Sister, your hands are sweaty.”

 

“So you don’t want to hold it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay.”

 

As I said that, I held Holloway’s hand even tighter.

 

“I told you I didn’t want to hold it.”

 

“I want to!”

 

“My hand?”

 

“Right. I really want to hold it.”

 

“…Is that so.”

 

The silence in front really bothers me.

 

I didn’t know if it was just me who was trapped on the third floor, or if the whole group here was included as well.

 

Since Holloway is the final boss, he may be able to roam around as he pleases.

 

As I was walking in silence, Holloway suddenly asked me.

 

“Sister, how did you come here?”

 

“We were having a party on board when we got hit by a typhoon. What about you?”

 

“I got caught up while working on that ship.”

 

Holloway, who lies shamelessly, suddenly started bombarding me with questions.

 

“Then Sister is also from the Vallone Empire?”

 

“Huh? That’s right. How did you know?”

 

“I told you I was in the same boat as you.”

 

…You weren’t though. I think this jerk is tripping.

 

“Then they’re all nobles of the Vallone Empire, right? Sister is probably one of those nobles too.”

 

Since it was a shipboard party, of course everyone was noble.

 

He could tell just by looking at the clothes we were wearing when he first saw us, but I was suspicious of him strangely urging me to answer.

 

I’ve never had a conversation like this in the game before, so I couldn’t infer what he was thinking.

 

I decided to lightly skip over this topic for now.

 

“I don’t look like that, that much?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I was speechless as I watched Holloway brightly affirm without a single moment of hesitation.

 

“You… Youuuu…”

 

You were really bad…

 

“The nobles and emperor of the Vallone Empire have never really changed, right?”

 

Holloway asked, completely ignoring my upset, and I thought carefully about the story in the game.

 

Holloway, who kept asking questions, was suspicious.

 

Holloway approached the players in the form of children, and when they let down their guard, he alerted the demonl to torment them.

 

It would have been possible for them to become close friends as they spent time together, yet Holloway never once harbored any feelings of sympathy, pity, or closeness towards them.

 

Even when they died, he didn’t blink an eye.

 

That’s why he didn’t even mix words to make it known.

 

Above all, he had never asked these questions…

 

Since he’s the final boss, his identity is revealed too late. He was a quiet child…

 

“Sister.”

 

[Holloway presses for an answer. The longer the answer is delayed, the more his desire to kill you rises.]

 

Doesn’t this damn demon have any patience?! I’m about to die because of that guy’s desire to kill.

 

“As far as I know? As it’s an empire with a long history, the nobles and emperors who have been with it since its founding are continuing the legacy.”

 

I thought about lying, but seeing as the demons living on the island knows about the Vallone Empire, there might be a separate source of information.

 

Since they were demons, I didn’t know anything about them, so I couldn’t deduce anything.

 

“I see… Ah, but the guy who tried to kill us earlier. I heard he’s called Akrotic. He’s from a viscount family, right?”

 

Holloway seemed to know that I was suspicious of him, so he acted excessively bright.

 

“Actually, this is my first time seeing a noble! The reason I got on the ship was because I was offered a lot of money by chance.”

 

He’s very prone to saying things without even asking.

 

But I shouldn’t show any sign of doubting him here.

 

Because…

 

[※Warning. ※]

 

I hate that, don’t do that.

 

[If you are caught suspecting Holloway, the ‘Future Conqueror of this World’, doing anything suspicious, you will face the ‘Bad Ending: the Pain of Being Burned.’]

 

There is nothing I can do about such a harsh warning.

 

I looked at Holloway, who was openly acting suspiciously, without any suspicion.

 

“I’m in big trouble because I didn’t even get the money.”

 

“Us being unable to go back itself is a big deal.”

 

[The danger gauge has increased by 2.]

 

…

 

F*ck.

 

“It’s surprising that I’m with nobles right now. Then what kind of family do you and the others belong to? As far as I know, nobles are called by their family’s last name, yet here everyone is called by their first names!”

 

Instead of answering right away, I hesitated.

 

This is because, before entering the hotel, Cynthia and Cleta asked us to call them by their first names, not their family surnames or titles based on rank, in case of an unexpected situation.

 

Cynthia said that since only the most powerful people in the Empire fell on this island, someone might have done this on purpose to target us, and that it was best to keep our identities hidden as much as possible.

 

Even in <A Child’s Secret>, they always called first names.

 

…When I think about it that way, one strange thing comes to mind.

 

In the game, it was often revealed that Cynthia was a princess due to someone’s slip of the tongue, and when that happened, the demons had a fit.

 

When they found out that Cynthia was a princess, rather than play with her, they brutally killed her.

 

For some reason, I was reluctant to reveal the last names of the group, including myself.

 

If I lied, but later Holloway heard someone else say, ‘That’s not my family name, though?’ and my lie is discovered, I will die.

 

So it’s right to be silent.

 

“It’s a secret. But you’re curious about this?”

 

Moreover, since the quest had begun, I was anxious to explain such a story step by step, as I didn’t know when the tagger would come.

 

“Yes. It’s interesting! Because I admire nobles. I’m a commoner so I don’t have a last name. It’s not common to get this close to a noble!”

 

“Is it?”

 

“Yes. When we go out, won’t you take care of me?”

 

“I see…”

 

After that, when he finished speaking, Holloway tilted his head.

 

“Can’t you tell me more?”

 

 “Mmhm!”

 

I answered brightly, just like Holloway did.

 

“If you keep wondering, we will be together for long, won’t we.”

 

So if you want to hear the backstory, you’ll have to kill me last.

 

Of course, people other than me would know our last names, but…

 

It seemed unlikely that Holloway would ask other people to find out our last names now.

 

It could have been because just having a conversation with me like this raised my favorability level by a small amount.

 

In the game, Holloway had never asked anyone this question.

 

As Holloway’s favorability increased, the story, which was almost similar at the beginning, changed completely, yet the basics were all the same.

 

The personalities of the characters and the final boss, Holloway, appeared in the form of a child. Monsters in an abandoned hotel and not being able to leave, and so on.

 

And seeing as whenever I said something, his desire to kill soared, it seemed like not much had changed for Holloway either.

 

Even though he’s acting like a human child, the fact that he’s fundamentally a demon hasn’t changed.

 

Even in the game, he behaved so humanely and had no qualms about killing humans.

 

“For long?”

 

“Right.”

 

While I find the escape gate!

 

“With me?”

 

“Right!”

 

Holloway held my hand tighter.

 

Then he slowly widened his lips and looked up at me.

 

Somehow I felt a little cold.

 

“Alight, let’s spend a long time together.”

 

…Excuse me, I apologize.

 

I think my meaning was misrepresented.