How does it feel to step into a B-grade horror game? - 36

36.

#2. Breakup

It was vivid. He felt something sharp piercing through the middle of his heart. The feeling of blood gushing out of his pierced heart. Hakan’s face and Isota’s face were all vivid, covered with despair even more than the end of the world.

As soon as his heart was pierced, he fell forward and could not take any action. I couldn’t lift a hand, all I could do was feel the blood rushing around my body.

There was no sound in his blank ears. I could feel the warmth of Hakan, and I could feel Isota’s comfortable embrace as he snatched me away. He tried to keep his eyes shut, taking a look at Isota. My only family. At that time, the only thing that came to mind was death.

‘Horse… I have to… I’m going to come back to life…’

The words that hovered around his mouth didn’t come out as if something was interrupting him. Eventually, before he could say what he desperately wanted to say, Fidelis closed his eyes.

And again….

“…!”

Fidelis opened his eyes and saw a large empty hall. True to the description of the game, she came back to life despite being killed. He fumbled near his heart and looked downward, his blood-soaked nightgown and fingernails pierced his heart, unscathed as the first.

That wasn’t all. His feet were scarred from running wildly, his hands were hurt when he tried to break down the front door to get out, and his pajamas had ripped off the hem of his pants for Russell, all of them were the same as they had been when he first arrived.

“… Did you wake up right after you died?”

He didn’t know how much time had passed. It was still dark outside, and he was still inside the mansion.

I rummaged through my pockets and found that everything was gone, except for one hint from the event. It didn’t matter anyway, since I knew almost all of the hints’ answers, but it took the blood of Sarha that I got when I died. I had her blood in the test kit, but I didn’t want to go back there.

“… I’m scared.”

The pain was still sharp and vivid, and Fidelis pulled his knees together and buried his face. For a while, I couldn’t move from the spot. The horrible sensation that pierced his heart again and again was vivid. Her hands trembled on her knees, and tears fell from her eyes.

Fidelis gritted her teeth, wiped away her tears, and buried her face in her lap again. He tried to organize his thoughts to shake it off. Crying and fearing like this was just to do what Pecua wanted. I didn’t like that.

“I’m better….”

It was in Hakan. Fidelis smiled faintly, his face buried. If it had been in my hands, it would have been destroyed.

‘Will the skills stay?’

She lifted her face and clenched and loosened her still trembling fists. Then he looked around as if looking for something. Seeing the old cupboard, she stepped over to it and took a moment to catch her breath in front of it. Fidelis stared at the closet and clenched his fists and slammed it hard.

Bang!

Fidelis breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the wreckage of the closet that was broken helplessly in her hands. His skills hadn’t gone away, so he wouldn’t die easily. Slowly, as I checked everything I needed, I felt the desperate shyness of Hakan and Isota, the last time I saw them.

“… I should have told you and closed my eyes.”

Regret swept in. I’m just going to tell you everything before then. Even if he wanted to go see him, if the paths diverged, he couldn’t meet and had to break the curse alone. It doesn’t matter, but seeing the two of them grieving made Fidelis blur his vision. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and Fidelis wiped them away.

That was then.

“So what’s the difference?”

Pecua, who had been there for some time, stared at Fidelis with a sneer. Fidelis frowned reflexively, and Pecua spoke as he moved closer to her.

“You’re done anyway. There’s no way I’m going to let you go so easily.”

“… What do you mean? The end is determined?”

Pecua pursed the corners of her mouth as she rose, and didn’t answer her question as usual. An unpleasant sensation crept up.

“I decide where I’m done. I’m going to break the curse on this place and get out of here.”

As she came out and spoke firmly, Pecua gently grabbed her long hair and pressed it to her lips. Then, with a strange smile, he gave a strange warning and disappeared.

“Struggle, even if the curse is lifted, you won’t be able to do anything about it.”

There was no time to shout at her that she was already gone. For some reason, Pecua seemed to be looking toward the end. As he bit his nails in anxiety, he heard a mechanical voice.

“After I died, everything went back to the beginning. The item “Fatigue Reliever (Allless)” that I ate has also disappeared. Current health, 98%. 」

“Oh.”

There was a sad gasp. As I experienced in the beginning, physical fitness was a very important part of it. If he ran recklessly, he would run out of energy and not be able to get up, and he might die again. I had to use it as sparingly as I could.

I decided to put Pecua aside for a while. First, he had to meet Hakan and Isota. The meaning of Pecua’s words could be interpreted afterwards. Since the emphasis was on the end, it was likely that he would have been watching quietly until then. Then, just as I thought it was over, I heard the sound of the machine again.

“I’ve acquired a skill, a sense. 」

“… Sensation? Suddenly?”

This time, the skill was obtained even though he did nothing.

‘Is it a skill that came from dying once?’

It was nice to get the skill for whatever reason, but I couldn’t help but wonder what “sense” was. However, as with other skills, there was no explanation for those skills.

Fidelis pressed his back to the wall to avoid the wreckage of the broken closet. She slumped to the ground, trying to think about it after a sober analysis of the situation, but she still missed Hakan and Isota. I missed you so much. I wanted to drop everything and search for them.

He didn’t want to give up, even if the paths diverged, and he wanted to find them first, but Pecua wouldn’t let it go. Then I thought of the test kit again. The place where he died, the place where Hakan and Isota were.

Fidelis jumped to her feet. I don’t know where this place is or how much time has passed, but I could quickly figure it out and go to the place where Sarha came out and meet him. Even if you can’t see them, you can bring a test kit and check it against your blood.

I didn’t want to go back because I was scared, but more than that, I wanted to meet Hakan and Isota. I wanted to see Edu and Essie chasing after each other eagerly, and Shion smiling brightly. He wanted to meet those who would be very sad because they thought he was dead, and he wanted to tell them everything he knew. I wanted to reassure him.

Fidelis jerked his head to find the window and looked out.

Looking out with a furrowed brow, Fidelis began to deduce what floor Sarha had been. In the room where I went to retrieve the test kit, I caught a glimpse of the balcony through the transparent glass door.

“The tree is obvious….”

I could tell the size of the tree, which was bare and without a leaf, without comparing it to the tree I had seen in the room where I found the test kit. This was on the first floor.

“And where Sarha is, it’s almost the middle floor….”

It was bleak to think of a large and complex mansion, but all I had to do was find the stairs leading up. Then, when it matched the scene he had seen, he could find where Sarha was.

Fidelis tried to think as positively as possible. He thought of Isota and Hakan, who must have a much harder time than he did. They might not be left in the place if they did, but they needed the test kit to break the curse.

“It’s okay to be scared.”

It’s okay if you just keep moving forward. There will be Hakan and Isota. Fidelis steeled himself and walked toward the hall door, taking a deep breath. Slowly opening the closed door, the mansion was filled with eerily black darkness, just as it had been when it first landed.

Fidelis grabbed a candle next to him. I felt like I was starting the game all over again, and my heart was pounding ominously. He said the game wouldn’t be reset, so there was no need to worry about Hakan and Isota disappearing, and there was no way Russell, who had been immortalized, would return.

And the dreaded monsters wouldn’t come out again, so Fidelis was relieved. Fidelis stepped out of the door slowly and carefully closed the door. An eerily quiet silence filled the hallway.

After taking a deep breath, Fidelis took a step, neither fast nor slow. I wanted to run, but it was obvious that my energy would drip every handful as soon as I did. As a way to replenish his energy by walking slowly when he fell a little, Fidelis kept going.

The description of the game said that minimizing movement would restore energy, so it didn’t matter if I slowed down my pace. I was too caught off guard at first, but it wasn’t the first time. I had a clear purpose.

As I was walking around, I saw a staircase leading up. Fidelis stepped on something slippery and nearly fell backwards.

“What, what?”

With a candle shining beneath her feet, Fidelis almost flopped to the floor. He gasped for breath as he forced his hand to block the screams that were about to come out.

Bright red blood dripped from above and soaked the stairs. I couldn’t even get a sense of how much blood it was. Just by looking at the blood, I could tell there was something very dangerous upstairs. For a moment, I felt a chill in my stomach.

Fidelis stepped back and turned without hesitation. It would have been nice to go up the stairs above, but if he was killed by something or had his stamina drained on dealing with it, it might have delayed him even more.

It’s a pity, but I had to look for another way. It was time to give up and move on.

[…….]

There was a murmur at the end of the hallway. It’s also at the end of the hallway on either side. A strange murmur began to grow louder and louder. Maybe it was something above, but I didn’t feel too much of a fear, but I still had a fear of the unknown.

[… Turn off, turn it off…….]

This time, it was clear to Fidelis’ ears. A groan of pain rang out in Fidelis’ ears, and in the distance there were many faint red lights.

“There’s something…!”

Fidelis’ face instantly turned pale as he muttered softly. Fidelis forced to move her rigid body and backwards, but when she turned her face in the opposite direction, she stiffened.

On the other side, an equal number of red lights were swaying and getting closer. My bones went cold and my pupils trembled nervously. I had to hide somewhere, but there was nowhere to go. There were stairs to climb, but something above it seemed more dangerous than something I didn’t know why was coming from either side now.