HH Chapter 10

‘This place should be safe.’

I confirmed that this passage wasn’t under any spells. This was a secret entrance used by those authorized to enter and exit the mansion discreetly. The mansion staff used it to procure food, exchange letters, and even summon a doctor from outside if necessary.

However, if you enter through the main gate instead of this entrance, you can’t leave on your own accord!

If I weren’t a player who had played this game countless times, I wouldn’t have known in my wildest dreams that there was a separate entrance like this.

“Who are you? How do you know about this passage?”

“…….”

I broke out in a cold sweat, seeing the gun barrel pressed close to my temple.

‘Maybe I should have stuck to the standard route.’

I was planning to put Christine’s necklace, a sign that Haylan needed to know about Christine’s reincarnation and death, in the mailbox and run away. But I didn’t expect to be caught red-handed like this the moment I opened the mailbox….

While I was searching for an excuse, a woman rushed out from inside and whispered something to the man confronting me.

“You said to bring him inside?”

The woman nodded and stepped back. She, too, was looking at me with disapproval.

‘I’m screwed.’

I tried to use a shortcut to avoid being trapped in this house, but this is what happened…. What is the flow of the original story, anyway?

‘Is it that no matter what I do, it will eventually flow according to the original storyline?’

I swallowed a sigh and followed the wary people into the mansion.

The inside of the mansion was very dark and chilly.

‘It really lives up to its nickname, ‘Haunted House.’

In fact, in the game, a ghost actually appeared in this house after midnight. Well, the game’s title itself is ‘Haunted House,’ so what did I expect?

‘Is it cold because of the ghostly energy?’ 

Lost in frivolous thoughts, I sat in the gloomy room, lit by only a few candles, waiting for someone.

And there were still people warily aiming their guns at me from behind.

“Excuse me….”

As I spoke, the distinct sound of a gun being loaded echoed in my ears.

“I’m a little thirsty. Could I have some water?”

“…….”

It was just a request for a glass of water, but the people exchanged glances as if they were in a serious strategic meeting, whispering amongst themselves in voices I couldn’t hear. It felt like I was being ostracized, which wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

After a short while, a glass of water was placed in front of me. It was barely a sip, but it was better than nothing, so I drank it all in one gulp.

“Phew….”

I felt alive after wetting my throat.

Everyone here was wary of me.

‘I can’t blame them. They’re not here by choice.’

These people were hiding here with the owner of the house, who is also the protagonist of the game. So, naturally, they wouldn’t welcome an outsider like me who might disrupt their peace.

‘Haylan.’

I muttered the name of the owner of this house under my breath. He was a little boy who was bitten by a vampire around the age of six and was cursed to live eternally in that form.

And my client, Christine, is Haylan’s younger sister. Well… from his first life, not this one.

“I’ll get right to it, as I’m in a bit of a hurry. By any chance, can you perform tracking magic?”

It was true that Christine didn’t have much time left.

As a reincarnator, Christine recalls all her past lives whenever she faces death.

In this life, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness and remembered Haylan, but since Haylan wasn’t at his usual residence, she sought me out to find him.

‘Of all the places to hide, he chooses this place.’

I grumbled inwardly. This house is a terrible place. It was so dark that it made chase scenes difficult, and if you didn’t periodically stand by the fireplace, the “Cold” debuff would gradually chip away at the player’s health.

Moreover, all the windows were covered with black sheets, so no sunlight entered unless you opened the door.

People need to see some sunlight and go for a walk to live.

Anyway, this place was a typical ‘vampire mansion.’

‘Well, still… if he’s hiding here, no one will ever find him.’

Haylan was being hunted by vampires.

‘Fighting amongst themselves….’

Why couldn’t they just help each other out? I couldn’t understand it at all and shook my head inwardly.

Vampires are beings that inject poison into human skin through bites, causing addiction. Those who survive this poisoning become immortal, just like the Pureblood vampire, and these beings that are created are called ‘familiars.’

Familiars exist solely to serve the original vampire and are incapable of disobeying their master’s commands, no matter the circumstance. Since they are created by giving away a portion of their power, they become servants and playthings of the Pureblood vampire.

However, this game added the setting that unintentional defects can occur in the vampire reproductive process.

‘Mutants.’

That’s what Haylan, the half-vampire, is.

Half-vampires, incomplete beings who are neither human nor vampire due to the incomplete transformation, are called ‘half-vampires.’

They also live forever, but they don’t possess the immense power of the Pureblood vampire or their familiars. Closer to ordinary humans than vampires, the only similarity is the troublesome need to consume blood regularly.

Not only Haylan but also Odin, the client’s husband, was a half-vampire. He’s portrayed as a devoted lover who waits for his beloved’s reincarnation in each lifetime.

‘What is love…? ’

Out of sheer boredom, I fell into philosophical contemplation.

How can someone look at only one person for hundreds of years? I thought about the hypothetical being, ‘girlfriend¹,’ that supposedly appears automatically when you go to college. 

‘Hmm…. I don’t think I could do it.’

Maybe it’s easy to say since I haven’t experienced it yet, but I don’t really understand what love is.

In any case, these “half-vampires,” these mutant fragments created from a portion of a vampire’s power but not fully under their control, were considered a disgrace among their kind. Pureblood vampires utterly loathed and discriminated against half-vampires.

‘Taking sides, huh?’

The game doesn’t explain the detailed reasons, but those who hate someone are usually bad people. They are probably racist-like people who discriminate and take sides simply because someone is different from them!

At that moment, I heard footsteps outside the door. 

Thud, thud. 

Faint but steady, the footsteps grew closer with time.

Listening to the sound, I naturally focused on the door, and what entered from beyond the opened door was….

‘Huh?’

What? I can’t see anything…

I blinked stupidly, then lowered my head, finally noticing something brown down below.

‘Whoa, I almost missed him because he’s so small.’

He was so tiny that the table had obscured him from view. The child parted his lips and spoke to me first.

“Hello.”

“…Hello.”

Haylan, the protagonist of this game, finally appeared, and he was really….

“It’s the first time an uninvited guest has come to this house.”

Even more adorable in person than I thought!

‘He’s really pretty.’

I was surprised. I’ve always liked children, but this was the first time I’d seen a child who looked like a doll. His pale face, with his lips being the only touch of color, moved around so cutely.

Haylan let out a small groan and practically climbed onto a chair too big for him.

‘Aw, so cute.’

I almost jumped up from my seat and lifted him onto the chair. If it weren’t for the guns pointed at me from behind… I might have tried.

“Why are you here?”

“I came here on a request. Someone asked me to find you, Mr. Haylan.”

Actually, Christine hadn’t mentioned Haylan’s name, but I made up a lie. Haylan tilted his head, feigning ignorance.

“Why would they look for that person here?”

I felt a strange sense of dissonance in his innocent tone. Only then did finally understood why Haylan was speaking in such a childish manner, unlike the character I knew.

‘Is he… pretending not to be Haylan right now?’

His small hands placed something on the table. The room was too dark to see what it was. I blinked a few times before recognizing it as Christine’s necklace, the one I was trying to put in the mailbox.

“Give this back to her and tell her that you have the wrong person.”

So, you’re saying you’re not him?

I stared blankly at Haylan before speaking.

“I think I’ve found the right person.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

I felt an observant gaze in the child’s eyes as he looked at me. There’s no need to beat around the bush when I’ve got no time in my hands. And so, I also went straight to the point.

“I’m a mercenary hired by Miss Christine. You’re Mr. Haylan, right?”

“…….”

[‘Haylan’ has been added to the Character Encyclopedia.]

At my words, his round eyes stared at me intently as if testing me. Haylan stared at me silently for a long time, then slightly lifted the corners of his lips.

[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]

I involuntarily gasped at the system window that popped up before my eyes.

‘What? But affection points aren’t supposed to be a thing…?’

So the memory of people pointed fingers at me, calling me a guy who plays dating sims in a horror game because my strategy guide included information about increasing character affection, came flooding back.