Chapter 2
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Fine, let’s admit it.
This was a stalemate.
I stood up as if nothing were wrong despite the awkward atmosphere.
Werner no longer even spared me a glance. In the game’s setting, Werner had once harbored an unrequited love for Evelyn, that is, me, but after we were stranded on the island, those feelings had gone cold. In particular, once we entered the hotel, his attitude went beyond dislike and into outright contempt.
It was only fair. There were more than just one or two people who died because of Evelyn’s nuisance antics.
Of course, that’s not the real problem right now.
Given the dire situation and the fact that I had memories of a past life, the others hating me was not the main issue. What mattered was the choice window. In the game, you had to choose your answers carefully. Depending on your choices, the direction of the story would change.
There were seven characters, but you could not select and pursue them all. You could only choose one character to play as, either the female protagonist or the male protagonist. That meant no one knew what kind of choices Evelyn’s route would present.
Just looking at the very first set of options, it already reeked of failure, but...
Werner, flustered by my absurd question of what fed-up meant, weakly gestured for us to go inside, and the group followed him. Watching their backs, I wanted to ask them seriously.
Why doesn’t anyone question whether what I said was a joke?
Instead of asking, I cautiously stepped backward, keeping an eye on their retreating figures. Just as I was desperately hoping they would forget about me and enter the hotel, my gaze collided head-on with that of the male protagonist, Cleta.
Why are you looking at me like that? Not going to look away?
Cleta failed to catch the meaning behind my menacing, curse-filled glare and instead smiled gently.
“Evelyn, don’t be scared. It’s okay, come over here.”
Cleta and I were childhood friends, and I had once admired him. You could call it a first love from adolescence. Now it was nothing more than a faded memory of a first love.
Someone I was never meant to be with anyway, and an ending that was bound to be tragic.
“I’m not going.”
At my firm refusal, Werner rubbed his temple as if he had a headache. Cleta, the one who had actually been rejected, remained silent, yet Werner shot me a murderous glare.
“Ha, Miss Evelyn. Please do not disappoint me any further!”
I really did not understand why he kept trying to drag me along when he could have just left me behind.
“I said I don’t want to!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs, and everyone flinched and turned to look at me at the resounding cry. It was because I had never once raised my voice in my life.
Before my memories of my past life resurfaced, I had been calm and quiet, the very image of a noble lady. Consumed by anxiety and fear, I had become a nuisance character in the horror game, but still, there had been quite a few nobles who liked me.
Even Cleta, the male protagonist, had had a crush on me when we were young.
Just because I had been reincarnated here and regained memories of my past life did not mean that the Evelyn from childhood had ceased to be me. My personality had changed somewhat, but the fact remained that the Evelyn standing here now was me.
“Whether you’re disappointed or not, I don’t care. I will absolutely not go into that hotel. Cough, cough.”
As my body trembled and I started coughing, Werner shouted in a voice blazing with anger.
“This is not the time to be stubborn!”
Looking at my current physical condition, Werner was right.
With the rain pouring down, there was no way a body pampered like precious gold and jade could endure all this. The others at least had basic stamina, but the Evelyn in the game was, quite literally, pathetically fragile.
Her stats were abysmally low, and in the game, she would collapse at every opportunity, forcing the protagonist to struggle while dragging her along and fleeing from demons. And I, too, possessed a body no different from that Evelyn’s.
I had been born frail and had never exercised properly, even once.
“Go into the hotel and warm yourself up first. I refuse to argue any further.”
If I went in there, I would literally melt to death.
No matter what, dying from a cold would be better.
I decided to stay calm. I wanted to tell them the truth, but this was not an atmosphere where anyone would believe me. Still, I intended to try everything I could.
Either way, herding them into the hotel made me uneasy. I was just about to open my mouth, intending to speak in circles and do my best to stop them from entering.
That was when pain surged up from deep inside me, and I suddenly vomited blood.
“Cough…!”
“Kyaa, Miss Evelyn! Blood…!”
And as if it had been waiting for this moment, a warning message appeared.
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[※If you disclose any game-related information, every human present here will meet a horrific death.]
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[You are required to remain silent until you escape the island.]
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Does that mean it’s fine to talk after escaping…?
So, escaping is possible?
At this point, it was no longer a request but a threat. And it was not over yet. Another warning window popped up.
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[※If you prevent them from entering the hotel, you will reach the original work’s “Bad Ending: Limb Severance”.]
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…Ha.
In the end, I could not say a single word and merely bit my lip hard. It was telling me that I would be forced into the limb severance ending I desperately wanted to avoid.
Still, there was one sliver of hope. The warning did not say what would happen if I ran away.
Then doesn’t that mean I’m allowed to bolt?
Sorry, but at least I need to survive on my own. I did not share a strong bond with them. Unlike the protagonists, I felt no responsibility or obligation to save them.
I cannot be a good person.
Pushing away Cleta and Moran, who were checking on me in shock after seeing me cough up blood, I looked at Werner. When he saw the blood at the corner of my mouth, his face went pale.
“I’ll wait outside and keep an eye on things. If you’re going in, go on ahead.”
But as soon as he processed what I said, his face scrunched up.
“What are you waiting for now! Do you seriously think that makes sense?! Have you seen even a single ship pass near this island so far?”
I hadn’t.
When I failed to respond, Werner jerked his chin, signaling to stop this and go inside.
“You’re coughing up blood. Stop forcing yourself already. I’m telling you to quit these reckless actions. Be aware that you’re being a nuisance to everyone.”
I took a deep breath in, then let it out.
If I stopped resisting and went in, it would be the start of a slaughter party.
Since words were not getting through, I decided to show them with my actions. That I would absolutely not travel with them. Worried someone might try to grab me as I ran, I earnestly pleaded.
“Please respect my choice.”
Then, fearing someone would stop me, I did not look back once and sprinted into the forest.
“Evelyn!”
“Miss Evelyn!”
Behind the voices calling out to me, I heard an irritated, high-pitched voice.
“Leave her be. If she has nowhere to go, she’ll come back on her own. She’s not a child. How long are you planning to keep indulging her?”
I knew immediately just from hearing that cold voice.
It was Cynthia, the villainess of the horror game, who had a crush on the male protagonist.
This was one of the few storylines in ⟨The Child’s Secret⟩ that had been worth watching. The romance between the female and male protagonists, and the villainess who grew jealous and resentful and drove the female protagonist into danger, had been fairly entertaining. It gained popularity early on, but as I mentioned before, it vanished like smoke due to its brutal difficulty… the rest omitted.
"B-but…"
Alhulf, who was even more cowardly than I was, tried to argue, but no further words followed. He had clearly shut his mouth under Cynthia’s sharp glare.
Leaving that exchange behind, I ran with all my might. I planned to go anywhere, organize the situation first, then carefully devise an escape plan step by step.
At least, that was the plan, but…
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[The player has left the game area. “Original Work Coercive Force” is activated.]
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…Wasn’t that only supposed to apply to them?
As I stood there flustered, another window popped up in front of me.
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[The effect will not disappear until the player enters the hotel.]
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So that’s why it didn’t warn me at the beginning!
As if it had no intention of calming my agitation, the system window appeared again.
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[There is a stone ahead!]
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At the completely random message, I twisted my body to avoid the stone.
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[You have to go and trip on it!]
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No, no!
My body suddenly moved on its own and charged straight toward the stone.
“You crazy system!”
Before I could even process the absurdity of this suddenly appearing effect, I quite literally tripped over the stone, tumbled, and rolled across the ground. After rolling about ten adult steps, my body finally came to a stop.
“…F*ck, world.”
Such a cruel world.
I had no strength left in my body. Soaked by the rain, my limbs felt limp, and the onset of chills crept up on me. My body shivered, and coughs kept bursting out.
“Yeah, cough cough! Maybe dying like this would actually be better.”
I would rather die than be dismembered.
Scenes of Evelyn dying over and over in the game replayed continuously in my head. Fear was something I could endure if I had to. But pain was something I truly hated.
The screams Evelyn let out just before dying in the game echoed in my ears, and in the end, I could not hold it in any longer and burst into tears.
Thinking there was no one around, I bawled my eyes out, snot and all, when a clear, distinct voice rang out beside my ear.
“Sister, are you okay? Your nose is…”
“Ack!”
That scared me!
“Sister?”
“……”
I was so startled by the child who suddenly appeared that my earlier fear vanished, replaced by a wave of embarrassment. The child was not even crying, yet here I was, an adult, bawling my eyes out. Feeling embarrassed for no good reason, I blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Do you have a handkerchief?”
“Shouldn’t you ask who I am first in a situation like this?”
“You’re smart…”
At that moment, my body stiffened rigidly.
…A child?
With half-unfocused eyes, I barely managed to open them properly and look at the child squatting in front of me. Silver hair close to white, pale skin, white eyelashes, and red lips. The little boy, with an appearance so angelic he could have been mistaken for a doll, met my gaze, took my hand, and broke into a bright smile.
“Thank goodness. There really was someone here!”
“……”
Looking at that pretty little boy smiling brightly in front of me, I could only gape silently. Because, because… that boy was—
Ding.
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[“Future Conqueror of This World” Halloway has caught you while you were fleeing.]
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[He has approached you while concealing his identity.]
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[Be careful not to appear suspicious!
※If you act suspiciously or disclose any game-related information, Halloway’s desire to kill may surge.]
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Because he was the final boss of the horror game.
That man took on the appearance of a child to lower the guard of the humans who entered the hotel and made them complacent. The demons, in need of entertainment, pretended to give them hope, played with them to their heart’s content, and then slaughtered them brutally.
Halloway was the only one who could command those reckless demons.
As I trembled, unsure whether it was from fear or from the cold, a choice window appeared.
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[Halloway is staring intently at you.]
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[➤What should you say in that situation?
1. Do I look like a human to you?
((ಠ_ಠ))
2. A child? I hate that!
(T_T)
3. Get the hell away from me!
((╬▔皿▔)╯)]
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F*ck. What a bunch of shitty choices.
Holding back tears, I reluctantly pressed the only slightly less terrible option, number 1. As if something like that even made sense in this situation.
“Do I look like a human to you?”
“Sister… Why are you being so scary?”
The final boss, Halloway, who had been smiling just moments ago, now sniffled because he found just this much frightening and tightened his grip on my hand.
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