Chapter 5
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Favorability…
I suspected that something had gone wrong with the system.
It was a perfectly reasonable suspicion.
This was very different from the system I knew.
There was no way it would notify me that favorability had increased by 0.1%, and besides, Halloway’s favorability could not be raised by even 0.001%.
No one had ever gained a single point of favorability from Halloway.
That was why everyone believed the final boss was an unconquerable character.
Seen that way, the meaning of 0.1% was enormous.
If I could use this well…
Wait a second…! There aren’t only three endings!
Only now did I remember.
The ending that exists in every game.
The hidden ending!
I racked my memory and gathered the very little information I knew about the hidden ending.
According to the developers, it was an ending related to Halloway, probably…
Come to think of it, there were more than a few questionable things about the developers as well.
The difficulty was hellish, to the point where it felt like they had designed it specifically so it could not be cleared.
Even though players were screaming in protest, they never adjusted the difficulty and did not properly provide hints.
Walkthroughs were useless.
The choice windows that appeared were different every time, and the story would abruptly change depending on them.
It even had a chilling quality, like talking to an actual person, which some people liked because it felt realistic.
That did not last long.
Soon, players started hurling insults at the developers, demanding at least some strategy hints, getting frustrated and pleading, but they never said a word.
Players said it felt like talking to a wall, and some almost developed anger management issues they never had before.
There were not many people playing, but reviews were still posted regularly and shared among them.
Yet in not a single review had I ever seen a post saying someone had raised Halloway’s favorability.
If there had been one, it would have caused an uproar. The fact that it was quiet meant there truly was none.
If that were the case, I would be the first player to raise the final boss’s favorability.
Should I be happy about that?
…No, there was no reason to be. At 0.1%, how long would it take to raise it any further?
It was probably a pure coincidence.
It might not increase anymore. I could just treat it as if it did not exist.
Besides, what I wanted was to escape, not some hidden ending with the boss.
When I stayed silent, Halloway tugged gently at my sleeve and carefully studied my expression.
“Sister, are you okay?”
“I might feel better if I rest a bit.”
I reflexively pulled the warm Halloway tightly into my arms.
Are demons normally this warm?
As I felt his warmth, my tension eased, and before I realized it, I was leaning against him.
Then I flinched.
I was hugging the final boss right now…
Anyone who saw this would be horrified, but once I got over this body ache, I planned to turn away without looking back and pretend nothing had happened.
He was so warm I just could not let go…
He was like a winter hot pack.
The fact that the final boss was right in front of me was important, but survival was the most pressing issue.
For survival, I was willing to use even the final boss.
“Then…”
Just as Halloway was about to say something, the door in front of us burst open, and Moran came out.
This was Moran’s room?
Since I didn’t know which room the others were in, my eyes widened in surprise.
Moran also seemed surprised that I was standing in front of the door and asked, “Miss Evelyn? Why are you here?”
The first thought that came to mind when I saw her was, Great timing.
I would not have to go out of my way to find her for the sub-quest.
To start acting in earnest, I spoke to Moran while choking up and pouring out the current situation.
“Th-this is bad, Moran!”
Moran could not hide her flustered expression as she looked at me, who was suddenly saying that something terrible had happened.
“Huh? Bad? What do you mean…? No, more importantly, Miss Evelyn, your face is far too red!”
No wonder even my head had been throbbing. It seemed my fever had shot up in the meantime.
I shook my head and shouted.
“That is not the problem right now! W-we can’t get out of this hotel!”
I pulled Halloway away from my arms and reached out toward Moran.
Moran took my hand and met my eye level. Carefully brushing away the strands of hair stuck to my forehead with cold sweat, she tried to calm me down.
“Miss Evelyn, what are you talking about? Calm down and explain it step by step.”
“The door that leads outside, the door won’t open!”
As she watched me, still unable to hide my agitation and pretending to cry, Moran looked like she had a lot to say, yet she could not say anything and only gazed at me with pity.
“Um, Miss Evelyn is sick right now…”
Her face clearly said that she could not grasp the situation.
I wanted to tell her that it was actually her, but I forced myself to hold it in.
“If you really don’t believe me, then try opening it! I’m telling you the truth!”
At my voice, shouting at the top of my lungs to make the situation known, doors began to open one by one as if the other members of the group had been staying in nearby rooms.
Everyone noticed Moran and me and came closer.
Cleta took off his outerwear after seeing my condition, but I refused.
He took his coat back and asked gently, “Evelyn, what happened this time?”
This time?!
It was true, though, so I had nothing to retort with, which only made me more irritable.
“The door won’t open!”
“What door?”
“The hotel’s main entrance!”
Even though I was being completely serious, they did not seem to believe me.
Well, it was understandable. Considering everything I had done so far.
With my terrible stamina and strength, it looked like they thought I was just some foolish human, assuming that if I could not open it, then no one else could either.
Maybe the fact that I was just screaming at the top of my lungs made it even harder to believe.
This time, I stopped shouting and lowered my voice and spoke seriously.
“Go out and check it yourselves. Whether the door opens or not.”
I filled my eyes with sincerity.
Watching me like that, Cynthia clicked her tongue.
“If it doesn’t open, can’t we just break a window?”
Cynthia argued back, and I glanced toward the window with a grave expression.
It meant she should try breaking one.
Cynthia slightly narrowed her brows at that.
Werner, who was beside her, let out a sigh and walked toward the window.
It looked like he knew I would keep making a fuss unless he checked, so he was calmly going along with what I wanted.
Werner struck the window hard with the hilt of his sword.
And then…
Thud!
The sword hilt bounced straight back as if it had hit a transparent barrier.
In an instant, everyone’s faces stiffened.
A heavy silence settled, and no one could bring themselves to move.
“……”
“S-Sir Werner! P-please try again!”
As Alhulf spoke while trembling, Werner struck the window once more.
But it only continued to bounce back, blocked by some kind of barrier.
Cleta also raised his hand to draw his sword, then hesitated.
“…The aura is blocked.”
Werner checked again, saying that could not be possible, but there was not a single trace of energy coming out.
“Damn it!”
In the end, Werner stomped his foot on the floor in anger.
This hotel was the demon’s domain, so neither magic nor aura, nothing could be used.
That was why they had died so helplessly at the hands of demons.
Even if they could use it, there was no guarantee they could defeat demons anyway.
“For now, we need to go down!”
As Moran shouted while clutching her trembling hands together, everyone hurried down to the lobby.
Cleta, who had been about to follow after them, hesitated when he saw Halloway and me staying put.
I waved my hand at him as if telling him to go on.
“Go. I’ll stay with Halloway. Go check it out.”
I was not lying.
At those words, Cleta’s pupils wavered slightly.
As if he did not quite trust it, he twitched a few times, then let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll be back soon, so stay right here.”
“Can you just go without ordering me around?”
Where I stay is my choice.
Despite my extremely prickly reply, Cleta somehow looked amused.
It was ridiculous.
The group all rushed down to the first floor, leaving only Halloway and me in the corridor.
A meaningless exchange of glances took place. I widened my eyes out of sheer stubbornness, refusing to lose.
“Sister, your eyes are bloodshot.”
F*ck.
I quietly closed my eyes.
To lose even a staring contest.
My attempt to win at least one thing crumbled this quickly and mercilessly.
That was when it happened.
Just a few minutes later, Alhulf screamed in terror.
“Aaagh! T-try opening it with more force! There’s no way it won’t open!”
He was shouting so loudly that I could clearly hear it even up here on the upper floor.
At the same time, a quest success window popped up.
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[Sub Quest ⟨We’re Trapped in Here!⟩ Completed!]
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[You have obtained “A Panacea That Will Thoroughly Cure Your Staggering Condition!”]
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At the same time, a pill entered my mouth. I obediently accepted it and swallowed.
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[You will be fully healed in about two hours.]
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Perhaps to match that timing, the recovery speed was fast.
My chills eased, and my body felt a bit lighter. The throbbing headache had also lessened considerably.
At this level, moving around would not be a problem.
Only after confirming that did I move away from Halloway.
When I pulled back, Halloway looked up at me with a bewildered expression.
His pretty face was full of questions.
“Why? You said you were cold, Sister.”
“I think my condition is getting better little by little. It’s thanks to you, Halloway.”
I said something vague like that, thanked him, and stood up.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah.”
I am not much help, but they are not much help either.
Since I know the game, I am a bit better off than others. Maybe I can survive longer and find an escape route?
The hotel is huge and sprawling, so it will take time, but from the presence of a sub-quest and the way items were being given according to the situation, things didn’t seem entirely hopeless.
Besides, I did not want to be stuck with Cleta’s group only for another choice window to pop up and make me blurt something ridiculous like ‘F-fed-up…? What does that mean?’ again.
I am not stupid.
I do not want to become a nuisance character unintentionally because of messed-up choices.
It would be me dying of frustration, not the other person.
“Can I go with you?”
Are you crazy?
Of course, instead of saying that outright, I tried to gently talk him out of it, and then a choice window appeared.
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[Halloway looks at you with expectant eyes.]
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[➤What should you say?
1. Why would you come with me?
((⊙_⊙)？)
2. Stay here and go around with those damn bastards.
(（＾∀＾●）)
3. Let’s play rock-paper-scissors, and if I win, I go alone.
(=￣ω￣=)]
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…Why are Evelyn’s choices like this?
Is this a bug, or were they always this shitty?!
There was not a single normal option.
At least rock-paper-scissors seemed like the best one.
I pressed number 3 and clenched my fist, mimicking that playful, mischievous emoticon.
“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors, and if I win, I go alone.”
“I don’t want to.”
…Huh? He says he doesn’t want to?
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