Chapter 34
. I Know What You Did Last Time at the Water Play
In the pervasive dampness, tangled human body parts, a shattered glass bottle, and fresh blood were scattered everywhere.
Even the flamethrower was utterly destroyed, and the disassembled gun lay in pieces.
The giant eye monster had burst, its flesh scattered all around.
Degururu…
Suriel mercilessly crushed a piranha monster that had rolled to her feet.
Crunch!
The tremor started from her feet and soon spread throughout Suriel’s entire body.
Blood vessels bulged in her eyes, and her jaw clenched tightly. The uncontrollable rage emanating from her drew nearby monsters, who scurried away in confusion after catching the scent of blood.
“Who dares to touch my collection…?”
Her voice echoed coldly through the drained swimming pool.
“Is there really only one other person who had that gun?”
Someone walked up behind the furious Suriel.
Click-clack, click-clack.
Suriel turned around, reflexively furrowing her brow.
Long, straight gray hair floated in the air, untouched by any breeze.
Beneath long eyelashes, her faded gray pupils shifted as she lifted her eyelids.
“Just what on earth…”
A voice dripping with intense irritation slipped through her red lips.
“How can a mere human be causing such a delay?”
Suriel scowled, looking offended, but the answer came from Dilaf.
“Hey! She’s no mere human! She’s a fucking crazy bitch.”
A vivid memory of being slapped by Evelyn resurfaced.
Rubbing his cheek, Dilaf’s lips curved into a slight smirk. The demon, Selir, watched this with clear displeasure.
By now, three or four should have been dead. Yet, only one had died.
They had always intended to take it slow, to savor it, but no one had ever tested their patience for more than three days.
But now, it was well past three days. It had been quite some time since those humans had entered here.
On top of that, they seemed to be getting comfortable—sleeping, waking, eating, and washing on their own.
“As if it’s their own world. Right, Extenon?”
A man standing quietly behind Selir nodded.
His black hair was shaggy enough to cover his eyes, and he wore an iron muzzle over his mouth. His frame was twice as large as Selir’s.
“And she did all this? How?”
Suriel looked at him with disbelief.
Of course, when she was getting beaten with the nunchucks, she had briefly wondered if this wasn’t the strongest one…
‘Was her spatial jump to here? Just what is her identity…?’
Selir snapped her fingers in front of Suriel’s face.
“They’ve torn through this place as they please. Are you just going to let it slide?”
“But Halloway said…”
As Dilaf hesitated, Selir questioned him as if asking what the problem was.
“So, we shouldn’t kill her? It’s not that you don’t want to kill her, is it? Has that woman caught your pretty eye?”
When she pointed at his eye, Dilaf’s demeanor instantly turned fierce.
“Fuck, I told you not to spout that kind of shit.”
Anything related to his eyes made it difficult for Dilaf to control his emotions.
The murderous, discordant tension between the two made Extenon fidget nervously before he waved his hands, signaling them to stop.
But the two ignored Extenon as if he weren’t there, exchanging ferocious glares as if they were about to clash any second.
“If you don’t like it, then don’t interfere with what I do. Halloway wouldn’t care about one human dying. Besides, she might be someone sent by the Empress, right?”
If that’s the case, Halloway would never get angry, even if they killed her.
A cold, piercing madness revealed itself in Selir’s gray pupils.
“If you have no intention of killing her, I’ll handle it myself. Don’t get in my way.”
“……”
“Extenon, you’re with me, right? You’ll follow me?”
“Yeah.”
“Suriel, you?”
“As long as you give me the body intact.”
“Good.”
She didn’t need the corpse or anything else.
As long as she could kill Evelyn, who, for the first time in a long while, had gotten on her nerves since entering this hotel…
‘…She reminds me of that man. How irritating.’
Selir pushed past Dilaf, who was blocking her way. Dilaf then stepped in front of Suriel, who was following her.
“Are you really going to let her do this?”
“You know exactly what this is, yet you’re still like this?”
“No, I know, but… Honestly, it’s disgus—”
“Say one more word. What did you call my beautiful collection?”
“Disgusting.”
Thump!
“Argh!”
Suriel mercilessly stomped on Dilaf’s instep and walked past him.
She walked on, ignoring Dilaf, who was hopping around in a rage.
Selir thought about Dilaf and Halloway.
That single woman had already, without them realizing it, won over Dilaf and Halloway to the point where Dilaf was trying to stop them from killing her.
And before they even noticed it.
‘I must kill that woman who’s unsettling Halloway’s heart.’
Whether she’s the Empress’s person or not.
With every step of her high heels, they clicked against and then lifted off the marble floor. Extenon, following Selir, looked back at Dilaf.
Under his questioning gaze asking why he wasn’t following, Dilaf just shrugged his shoulders.
“From what I see, you guys won’t even be able to lay a finger on that crazy woman.”
“It seems she’s made quite an impression on you.”
How pathetic.
Selir’s contemptuous eyes scanned over Dilaf, but he didn’t care.
“Humans are the ones who should all die.”
Grind. A deeply buried, dark hatred, so profound it was unimaginable, flashed in Selir’s eyes as she gritted her teeth.
[To manipulate the hotel’s difficulty level, you must either increase Halloway’s favorability or placate the rage of the demon trying to kill you.]
Placate Suriel’s anger?
But how on earth am I supposed to placate that fussy bastard?
This system, giving me such an insane quest, is going to make me lose my mind.
I’ve barely been awake for any time at all, and I’m already facing a life-threatening crisis.
Stop it… At this rate, I’ll be the one who dies…!
If I just don’t meet them…
No, that’s not it.
Originally, since the danger level has risen, it means my life is threatened no matter where I go.
…Should I rest a bit and think about it?
I’m short on blood.
Just as I was about to lie down again, something glinted from the ceiling.
Reflexively, I pulled Halloway into my arms and dodged to the left.
In sync with my movement, a large axe fell right where I had been, shattering the bed.
KABOOM!
“……”
“……”
Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words, perhaps because it was their first time seeing such a large axe.
“Noona.”
“Y-yeah… Are you hurt?”
“…No.”
[Halloway’s feelings become complicated as he sees you worrying about him even in this situation.]
[Affection has increased by 0.01%.]
Hey, damn it, cut it out!
I couldn’t help but swear at the measly affection increase. Cleta, startled, grabbed me and helped me up.
“Evelyn, are you hurt?!”
“For now.”
Even the guest room wasn’t safe. Now, every step I took was like stepping on a landmine.
I held Halloway tightly. He had definitely said he would protect me, even unconsciously.
I don’t care if he pushes me away unconsciously, as long as he protects me.
As the hotel’s danger level adjusted, it grew darker and a more sinister atmosphere settled in.
Feeling the change, Moran began to sniffle.
“Doesn’t it feel dangerous here? Let’s look for another room.”
“Evelyn, eat the porridge first. Your face right now…”
Before Cleta could finish, Moran hurriedly brought the porridge and placed it in front of me.
“Eat it quickly. Miss Evelyn, your face doesn’t look good at all.”
Why does Moran keep subtly pointing out my face?
Even after seeing my determined face before the dance, she asked why I looked like that.
Defiantly, I shoveled half the porridge into my mouth.
I fed half to Halloway and half to Moran, then reverently placed the empty bowl in Cleta’s hands.
“…What about me?”
“Now, let’s go. Moran.”
It’s time for us to go now.
Holding Halloway, I declared with grim determination. Halloway, nestled obediently in my arms, looked at Cleta and smirked triumphantly.
“You’re good at pissing off a kid.”
It’s not like you, a dwarf shit-bag who gets pissed off, can do anything about it, so just let it be.
My whole body ached, and with every step, pain shot through my butt, but I had to keep walking.
“Miss Evelyn, you look like you’re in pain. I’ll carry Halloway for you.”
“Really? Then, may I link arms with Moran?”
Anyway, if I stay close to Halloway, I should be able to avoid death, right?
“I’d rather just walk on my own and hold your hand, Noona.”
“You’d rather that?”
You should have done that from the start.
Even though I’m the one who held him first, I love myself too much to blame myself.
Halloway got down from my embrace and tightly held my hand. I had no weapons left, but I had Halloway.
With Halloway, who was essentially my lifeline, in tow, we strolled down the corridor.
Moran stuck close to me, trembling slightly.
“…Doesn’t it seem a bit darker?”
“Has your eyesight gotten blurry?”
“No!”
Even in the game, when the hotel’s difficulty increased or danger approached, the hotel’s atmosphere would change drastically.
The only small mercy was that there was no BGM here to drive people insane.
[Shall I play BGM?]
Oh, no.
[Playing BGM now.]
I said no!
[Squeeeak… Squk… ♬♪]
Someone please tell this socially inept system that just adding musical notes doesn’t turn monster sounds into a song.
Thanks to the pointless noise, I walked forward with the bizarre BGM commonly found in horror games playing.
The clear sound of the music began to intensify more and more.
This, this kind of melody… it means something is coming soon.
Holding onto my fear, I stared straight ahead.
Ding, ding, ding—.
“Gasp!”
My, my heart must have dropped. Someone check the floor!
My heart plummeted at the sudden sound of an alarm clock.
“Wh-what was that?”
“The sound of an alarm clock, Noona.”
“Thanks for the kind explanation…”
It’s not like I asked because I didn’t know.
Then, from the darkness, click-clack, click-clack, the sound of dress shoes echoed.
Damn, is it Suriel?
I hugged Halloway tightly.
“I can’t breathe.”
Sorry, but I can’t let go.
Cleta stood still for a moment, then spread her arms and said to me,
“Evelyn, come here.”
Halloway, as if he thought I might actually go, tightly wrapped his arms around my waist and changed his tune.
“I can breathe.”
“……”
What are you doing?
I wasn’t even thinking of going.
Moran, who had been rolling her eyes, looked genuinely curious and asked me.
“…Um, but why aren’t we running away?”
“Because we hear sounds from both sides.”
“Ah….”
Moran now clung tightly to my entire body, not just my arm.
A voice echoed from the end of the corridor.
—So, so… (소, 소…)
“Moo, cows go moo.”
“Tch.”
I could hear Cleta and Halloway stifling their laughter.
Moran buried her head in my shoulder and trembled.
I’ve never seen kids who laugh as easily as these guys.
—Gues… st… (손… 님…)
Aha. Guest!
Is an employee of this hotel coming…?
Thud, thud, thud…
The steady sound of footsteps continued, and their shadows emerged from the darkness.
I quietly tried to open the door in front of me and go inside.[The room door is locked.]
[The room door is locked.]
