Chapter 6
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Can I just leave if you don’t like this?
It was when we were exchanging meaningless glances—
Ding!
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[Halloway thinks, ‘Aren’t there too many people?’]
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…Hm?
Why all of a sudden…?
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[Halloway decides it's time for a little cleanup!]
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The notification window instantly turned red and began flashing like an emergency light, making my head spin.
W-what is this? What’s going on?
A moment later, along with the screams of the group on the first floor, the roar of a monster rang out.
“Aaaah!”
“A monster, a m-monster!”
―“Graaaargh!”
Boom! Crash!
Even without seeing it, it was obvious the lobby had already descended into absolute chaos.
The screams of people fleeing and the thunderous sound of the monster smashing through everything in its path were deafening.
“…?”
I looked at Halloway with a flustered expression.
He had his back to me, looking down the opposite hallway, so I couldn’t see his face.
When he slowly turned his head to look at me, his face was filled with fear.
It was a face that stirred protective instincts so strongly that no one would think this child was the final boss.
Glistening tears welled up in Halloway’s eyes.
“S-sister… They say a monster appeared. Are you going to leave me behind?”
You’re the one who called it…
I was quite flustered by how quickly the monster had appeared, but for now, I decided to get off the second floor and look for a place to hide.
“Sister.”
When I didn’t answer, Halloway called me again. Reluctantly, against every fiber of my better judgment, I reached down and took his small hand in mine.
His little hand wriggled inside mine.
Ah, seriously! Why does he have to look like a child of all things?
Feeling the warmth from his squirming hand, I couldn’t bring myself to let go.
If he were an adult, I would have just kicked him and told him to survive on his own…
Maybe because he looked like a child, even if it was just on the outside, I couldn’t bring myself to be cruel.
And it didn’t seem like he had any intention of letting me go either.
There was no choice.
Now that a monster had appeared, the safest place was right next to Halloway.
More than anything, I had a feeling that if I left him behind, I'd be the one to get killed first…
“Let’s avoid the monster first. It’s dangerous.”
“Aren’t you going to help them?”
It's unsettling hearing those words come out of your mouth, you know.
“Do I look like someone who's in a position to help anyone? Or do I look like someone who needs to be helped?”
With a body that hadn’t fully recovered, it would be a relief if I didn’t just become a burden by stepping in to help.
Besides, even without me stepping in, everyone down there was probably already running for their lives in a blind panic. If I suddenly showed up saying I would help, Cleta and Werner would end up grumbling but still step in to protect me and might even get hurt.
That was exactly how it went in the game.
So rather than rushing to save others, it was better to focus on keeping myself alive.
Especially since this was still the very beginning of the game, no one should be dying yet.
…Right? They shouldn’t, right?
I’d never seen a monster appear this early before, so there was a small knot of unease sitting in my chest...
Just then, breaking through my anxious thoughts, Halloway’s lively voice rang out.
“You look like you’re about to die any second!”
You know.
Just because you say it with a bright smile doesn’t mean I won’t feel bad, you damn devil.
Halloway clearly believed that as long as he smiled sweetly, everyone would mistake him for just an innocent child and never suspect a thing.
I grabbed Halloway’s hand as he muttered eerie remarks that sounded almost like a prophecy, and forced my tears back.
Even so, I couldn’t stop them from falling.
“Sister, are you crying?”
“Because I’m scared…”
Because I’m scared of you, the one who unleashed the monster.
I roughly wiped my eyes with my arm.
There was no time for idle chatter.
If things were already diverging this far from the very beginning of the game, there was no telling what else might change.
For now, it was better to wait until my body had fully recovered in two hours before doing anything else.
There was no truly safe place here, but as I was about to head upstairs to get as far away from the monster as possible—
“A-aaaagh! S-save me!”
I ran straight into Friedel, who was rushing up the stairs, completely terrified.
Why is he so fast?!
The moment he spotted me, Friedel spread his arms wide as if welcoming me.
“L-Lady Evelyn!”
Friedel was one of the villains in the original horror game.
Insufferable didn't even begin to cover it. He did absolutely nothing useful while complaining more than anyone else.
He was also the type who would use any means necessary to survive.
In the game, he repeatedly put Moran in danger to save himself, and nearly got killed by an enraged Cleta because of it.
Right now, it was a dangerous situation, and that kind of guy had spotted me and was running toward me. What did that mean?
“P-please save me, Lady Evelyn!”
It meant he was trying to use me as bait!
I’d seen how well he shoved Moran aside while crying like that!
Just as I grabbed Halloway’s hand and was about to run in the opposite direction from him—
―“Kieee…”
The monster Halloway had summoned appeared just a few steps ahead.
From its hollow, pitch-black eyes, some kind of unidentifiable liquid dripped down.
Its legs and arms were abnormally long, and its body bent at grotesque angles.
As if it had no bones, the arms and legs supporting its body folded in a crooked, unstable way.
The monster lurched toward us in a slow, shambling gait that was somehow more terrifying for how unhurried it seemed.
At its unimaginably grotesque appearance, Friedel practically had a seizure.
“U-uwaaahhhh!”
Honestly, a part of me desperately wanted to scream right alongside Friedel.
But I couldn’t, so I clamped my hand over my mouth as tightly as I could to stop the scream from escaping.
I knew very well how sensitive the monsters in this hotel were to sound.
In general, in dark places, hearing tends to be more developed than sight.
…That was the game’s setting, anyway.
In short, it meant we absolutely couldn’t scream like that.
I took a cautious step back.
We couldn’t provoke that monster.
“Sis—”
“Shh.”
“M-monster…!”
―“Grrrk!”
As if reacting to Friedel’s voice, the monster tilted its head. The sound of cracking and snapping echoed from its half-bent neck.
Friedel jumped in fright, nearly convulsing.
“W-what is that thing?! What in the world?!"
“Please be quiet! It seems this monster reacts to sound!”
Unable to hold back, I snapped at Friedel, but he paid no attention and kept yelling like a lunatic.
“Who cares about that! Reaction or not, does this look like a situation where I can stay quiet?!”
You were all smiles a moment ago, and now you’re throwing a fit?
―“Graaaargh!”
Thanks to Friedel's squawking, the monster threw its head back and let out a full roar, mouth stretched impossibly wide.
The inside of its mouth, devoid of a single tooth, was pitch-black.
As if that were the signal, the monster began charging at us, its body writhing in a way that couldn’t even be described with words.
With every movement the monster made, Friedel reacted like an over-the-top spectator.
“U-uaaahhhh!”
Please! Someone shut that mouth of his!
I grabbed Halloway’s hand and broke into a run. The monster had already noticed our presence.
All because of that damned Friedel!
Thump, thump, thump!
Heavy footfalls thundered behind us as the monster's impossibly long arm cracked through the air like a whip and smashed clean through the wall.
Chunks of debris from the shattered wall rolled toward us, and as I stepped on them, the soles of my bare feet were quickly getting torn up.
But pain was the least of my problems right now.
What mattered was the monster's rope-like arm, drawing closer and closer with every passing second.
At this rate, it’s going to catch us!
I clenched my teeth and ran, but Halloway was too slow, and in contrast, the monster was getting faster and faster.
The gap between us was closing so quickly that it would blow right past us and reach Friedel in no time.
I could vividly feel the chilling presence of the monster right behind my back.
Cold sweat broke out all over my body.
If that arm swung one more time, my back would surely be torn to shreds.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
Rather than stopping to explain the situation to Halloway, I slipped my arm under his and swept him up off the ground.
“Sister?”
“I’m sorry, you’re too slow.”
He was heavy, but my running speed picked up all the same. My body hadn’t fully recovered yet, so it was a bit difficult, but I clenched my teeth and endured it.
Friedel, who had been running ahead, glanced back, and our eyes met head-on as I stuck close behind him.
As he ran, breathing roughly, something strange flickered in Friedel’s eyes.
An uneasy sensation crept up from my feet, coiling around my throat.
That bastard, no way!
I threw out a warning without a second to lose.
“Don’t you dare!”
Because I won't just stand here and take it!
Even with that warning, Friedel let out a mocking sneer.
And then he shoved me hard, just as I was holding Halloway.
Even in that state, I instinctively pulled Halloway tightly into my arms so he wouldn’t get hurt.
“Ugh!”
“Sister!”
My body tilted backward, and I fell, my head slamming into the floor.
Thud!
For a moment, my vision went black, and my head spun. I couldn’t gather my senses.
Then, Friedel screamed like a man who had lost his mind.
“Do you think I, Friedel Akrotic, would die here?! I will never die! I cannot die!”
That insane bastard…
“Sister, Sister!”
Halloway shook me desperately, and I bit my lip hard as I glared at Friedel as if I would kill him.
“You…!”
“It’s better for me to live than you! I’ve just become the heir, there’s no way I can die!”
So, because I'm not the heir, I should be the one to die, is that it?
As the monster spotted us and slowed its approach, Friedel seized the opening to bolt.
“That f*cking bastard!”
The curse slipped out on its own, and I staggered as I got back to my feet. There was no time to argue.
I had to live, no matter what.
If I wanted to survive, I had to leave the final boss behind.
Anyway, he was the final boss, so that monster would die, not him.
As if he had sensed my conflict—
“Sister!”
The moment I saw Halloway reaching out to me with trembling arms, tears threatening to spill over, every thought in my head went silent.
The monster stretched its arm toward us, and instinctively, I wrapped my body around Halloway and crouched low to the ground.
At that moment, he really did look like just 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 pathetic sympathy!
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain that should come any second, but something felt off.
There wasn’t a single trace of pain in my body.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself staring directly into Halloway’s face, which, for some reason, was smiling.
Seeing that smooth face in a situation this dire, harsh words slipped out of me without me even realizing.
"The hell are you grinning at?"
“Pfft—Haha!”
Halloway burst into laughter and pulled me into a tight hug.
“No. I just felt relieved all of a sudden..."
Too late for that.
I slowly turned my head to figure out what had happened.
The monster had passed us and was now pouncing on Friedel.
Was it because of all the noise he made? Or was it because I was holding the final boss?
I didn’t know what it was, but I was alive…
Some of the tension left me. I steadied my trembling legs and helped Halloway up as well.
My head was still throbbing.
Friedel, the very cause of all this, was now caught in the monster’s grasp and was thrashing wildly to break free.
When he noticed that I had gotten up unharmed, Friedel cried out desperately.
Unlike his earlier vile behavior, now he was begging me for his life.
“P-please save me, Lady Evelyn! I’m begging you, save me!”
He was already captured, and I didn’t even have a weapon.
There was no way to defeat the monster, so he had shoved Halloway and me to use us as bait and escape.
And in that situation, he was asking me, who was practically useless in a fight, to save him?
“…How?”
I asked, genuinely baffled. Friedel stared back at me from the monster's clutches with an expression of pure disbelief.
...No, I was asking because I really didn't know.
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