Chapter 806: The Protagonist’s Love Story (Part 13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 806: The Protagonist’s Love Story (Part 13)
Ariel’s eyes lit up.
She had thought this haunted house adventure was over, but it seemed Muen had hidden a "special event" at the very end.
It fit his clever, slightly mischievous personality perfectly.
Interesting.
Ariel decided not to head back for him just yet. She crept forward, her footsteps light and cautious. No more ghosts or ghouls appeared along the way, and no mechanical traps were triggered. It was as if she were walking down an ordinary corridor.
But in a place like this, the more uneventful it was, the higher one’s heart climbed into their throat.
Soon, Ariel came to a halt again.
Unsurprisingly, as the mist thinned slightly and the horror atmosphere reached its crescendo, a figure blocked her path out of nowhere.
It appeared to be a woman, dressed in the corseted, voluminous skirts popular among the nobility centuries ago. Her hands, so pale they lacked even a hint of blood, were folded over her lower abdomen in the perfect poise of a noble lady.
However, she was unnervingly tall. Her head was practically pressed against the ceiling, forcing her to hunch over in a grotesque posture as she silently stared down at the relatively petite Ariel.
"Wow."
Ariel couldn't help but marvel. "This prop is incredibly lifelike."
The previous monsters—whether they were living corpses, zombies, ghosts, werewolves, or pig-headed men—all shared one glaring flaw: they couldn't escape the physical proportions of a "human body."
Think about it—is it really logical for every single monster to be roughly the same size?
Of course not.
Therefore, no matter how realistic they looked, it was easy to tell they were fakes.
But this "Final Boss" before her had somehow achieved such height. Both the realism and the sense of pressure were on a completely different level.
Even Ariel had to admit that for a split second when the woman appeared, her heart actually skipped a beat.
"So, you're the vengeful noble lady from the story, I take it?"
Ariel cracked her knuckles.
"I'm busy right now and don't have time to play through a hidden ending with you. So, do me a favor and just go down like the rest of them. Remember to send the medical bill to the blonde bastard."
With that, the decisive Ariel threw a sharp straight punch, aiming squarely at the knee hidden beneath the noble lady’s voluminous skirts.
She thought one hit would be enough...
But the skirts barely fluttered. The noble lady didn't budge an inch.
"Huh?"
The excited smile on Ariel’s face gradually faded.
"This feeling..."
The sensation was entirely different from the NPCs she’d encountered earlier. There was no firmness of muscle, no softness of fat, and certainly no solid impact of hitting a human knee.
If she had to describe it... it felt as if an ordinary human girl had punched a mountain. All her strength vanished into an abyss, failing to provoke even the slightest reaction.
So... this was the real deal?
Ariel looked up stiffly. The noble lady smiled at her, revealing a mouth full of hideous, jagged fangs.
"Human... you look... delicious..."
"...Dammit," Ariel muttered expressionlessly. "How long has it been since you brushed your teeth? Your breath is foul."
Without a moment's hesitation, spurred by the Death Premonition screaming in her mind, Ariel nimbly ducked.
A gale of death swept over her head. Jagged cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the wall, stretching from one end to the other.
Ariel’s eyes narrowed. At some point, the noble lady’s slender, tapering fingers had transformed into sharp, beast-like talons. With just a slight flick of those claws, the entire wall had been nearly shredded.
"Looks like things are getting troublesome..."
Despite successfully dodging the "Noble Lady’s" surprise attack, Ariel felt no joy.
She knew she hadn't dodged because her power had returned, but rather through a stroke of luck aided by her honed Death Premonition.
With her current strength, she absolutely wouldn't be able to dodge a second time.
Thinking of this, Ariel didn't hesitate or waste words. She turned and bolted.
Behind her, the "Noble Lady" acted like a true aristocrat, using her razor-sharp claws to delicately pinch the hem of her skirt. With a grin that split her face from ear to ear, she followed Ariel with elegant, graceful strides.
In a single heartbeat, Ariel’s role had undergone a total reversal. She had gone from the hunter to the hunted.
The difference was that earlier, it had been a role-playing game. Now... it was clearly for real.
Bang!
A door appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the corridor, slamming shut and blocking Ariel’s path.
Ariel spun around, intending to escape through a window, only to find that the previously open window was now being held shut by dozens of overlapping hands pressing against the glass from the outside.
She took a deep breath. Being powerless was truly a state of helplessness; she couldn't even discern the nature of her opponent's moves, let alone tell if this was all an illusion.
As the "Noble Lady" drew closer, Ariel could only slowly back away.
Soon, her back hit the door that blocked her escape. There was nowhere left to run.
Death crept closer inch by inch. Ariel felt her heart racing faster and faster. Without her powers, she had no way to escape. It seemed she could only wait for death to claim her.
In that case, she would stop running.
The "Noble Lady" elegantly raised both claws. The slashes that could cut through anything were clearly about to descend upon Ariel.
But in that moment, Ariel suddenly closed her eyes.
She closed them with total peace of mind.
Just like in that peril-filled underground cave, facing the desperate pursuit of countless enemies, she was still able to fall asleep with a sense of security...
The cracks of death swept toward her.
Vroom—
The moment Ariel closed her eyes, a surge of brilliant light pierced the darkness, flooding the entire corridor.
The light was dazzling but not scorching. It wrapped around Ariel like the warm spring sun... and the "Noble Lady" as well.
The "Noble Lady" dithered for a moment. Simple light couldn't affect her, but she was confused. She had clearly struck out—why was this girl, who seemed like a mere human, still alive?
Finally, sensing something, she turned her head in a daze.
A hand suddenly hit the floor. Pitch-black blood erupted instantly.
The process was so natural that she remained stunned for a few seconds before she could even react.
"Go."
It wasn't just the "Noble Lady’s" hand that had been severed, but also the door blocking Ariel’s escape. As the blinding light dissipated, Ariel opened her eyes at the perfect moment. She saw Muen appearing right on time, as he always did. He grabbed her hand and turned to run.
"Is this another one of your routines, like the roller coaster?"
Ariel studied Muen’s profile as they ran and asked, "Saving the damsel in distress twice—are you trying to make me fall in love with you?"
"If I said both times were accidents—accidents caused by a certain inhuman bastard—would you believe me?"
Muen gave a bitter smile. "This thing wasn't supposed to be in the haunted house. In my experience, there shouldn't be anything real in a place like this."
"Oh, I see."
"You don't believe me?"
"I believe you."
Ariel tilted her head, her peripheral vision catching the "Noble Lady" chasing them in an obvious rage. "Aren't you going to deal with her?"
"Not yet. I'm afraid of involving the staff here."
"So you admit there are staff members."
"You must have realized that by now."
"Hmph." Ariel lifted her fair chin. "Did you really think that kind of disguise could fool me?"
"...But you seemed to be having a lot of fun."
"That was for your sake!"
"..."
A massive roar followed them like a shadow. The walls on either side of Muen shattered inch by inch at high speed.
Whether it was for the sake of her mood or some other reason, Muen no longer had the luxury of getting to the bottom of it.
The "Noble Lady"—a creature seemingly woven from evil spirits and some kind of monster—was closing in fast. Her furious roars were loud enough to tear eardrums. In the time it took for Muen and Ariel to exchange a few words, the distance between them had shrunk significantly.
This wasn't because Muen was slower than the monster, but because...
Muen glanced sideways at Ariel. Though he was pulling her along, she was clearly struggling to keep up.
Her steps were heavy, and she stumbled occasionally. It felt like he was dragging her, yet she continued to grit her teeth and persevere.
She could have just said something, but she remained as stubborn as ever.
Muen thought for a moment and said, "Ariel, can I be a little more... forward with you?"
"How forward?" Ariel looked up.
"More forward than before."
"..."
Ariel thought for a moment. "Is it more dangerous now than it was on the roller coaster?"
"Yes. The roller coaster was always under that jerk's control, but the thing chasing us doesn't look like it's going to be easy to manage."
"I see." Ariel nodded. "Alright then."
The two looked at each other and said in unison, "This is a matter of necessity."
Yes, necessity.
Then, they both laughed.
Muen suddenly crouched down. Just as Ariel thought he was going to give her a piggyback ride... Muen reached out, hooked one arm under her knees and the other around her neck, and lifted her directly into his arms.
A princess carry.
"Wh... Why this position?"
Suddenly being held like this, Ariel was instantly flustered, feeling a wave of intense shame.
She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would be carried like a princess... No, she had dreamed of it, but in her dreams, she was the one doing the carrying, walking proudly through a flower-strewn cathedral with her beloved beautiful girl in her arms.
Dreams really were unreliable.
"It's too dangerous to have you behind me," Muen explained. "Right now we just need to run. This is better."
"Oh..."
Ariel thought about it. True, the logic was sound and reliable.
He probably didn't have any ulterior motives.
So, Ariel completely shifted her weight into Muen’s strong arms, curling her body slightly and burying her head against his chest.
Like a quiet little cat.
"Can you run faster now?"
"Of course."
Muen gazed at the quiet Ariel in his arms, watching her long eyelashes flutter softly. In that moment, the sound of the wind, the roars, the vibrations, the footsteps... all sound seemed to vanish from his world.
He heard only his own heart, thumping loudly.
"Faster than ever."