HH Chapter 14
by Geli CakeI, too, am a terminally ill transmigrator in a way. Destined to see the True Ending of a horror game that no one in the world has ever cleared…. So, I’m in no position to envy or pity anyone.
“Besides, I don’t really want to live that long.”
“…….”
For some reason, after hearing my rambling explanation, Christine’s eyes began to sparkle. Then she suddenly burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.
“Mr. Chahyun, your way of thinking is unique. You have no biases, or perhaps, too few.”
That was Christine’s assessment of me. It didn’t sound like a compliment, but it wasn’t exactly an insult either, so I just shrugged it off.
The two of them continued their boring conversation about their current situations, excluding me again.
‘Ah… I want fried chicken.’
I was staring into space, lost in thought, when I looked up at Christine’s voice calling my name.
“Are you free next week? I’d like you to come to my funeral.”
“……Are you joking?”
This was a rather novel experience. Would anyone else personally invite someone to their own funeral? Especially in such a casual tone.
“Haylan, you come too.”
“Ugh…. Why do I have to?”
He looked incredibly annoyed, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse outright. Christine seemed to be taking advantage of Haylan’s soft spot for her.
“Can’t you grant your little sister’s last wish?”
“…….”
[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]
‘Hey, why me again?!’
What did I even do?
Having become the target of his misplaced anger, I looked at Haylan with a look of injustice. Haylan didn’t even glance in my direction, as if I hadn’t done anything wrong.
That’s so unfair. I grumbled inwardly and pouted.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
‘Wait, I’m allowed to leave?’
So, here I am, at the client’s funeral.
In the original story, there was only one sentence mentioning her death, and then I was stuck in that haunted house…. Bu the system didn’t stop me from walking out of the house on my own two feet.
‘Is this also a branching point?’
When I played the game, I never saw Christine’s funeral scene. When an unfamiliar scene appears, I always think of my given quest first.
‘What is the True Ending, anyway….’
Am I on the right track? Even though I know the general flow of the main story, not knowing the ending makes me feel like I’m being dragged along by the original storyline.
‘The story is already changing, is this okay?’
Anyway, as soon as I returned to the mercenary group, I got chewed out by the guys. No one praised me for successfully completing the request. Seriously, what did I do so wrong?
Then, a week later, I received a message from Odin and attended Christine’s funeral. Haylan was sitting in the back row, his hood pulled down to the tip of his nose, trying not to stand out.
The ceremony proceeded quickly. About an hour passed. As the funeral ended, people started to leave one by one. Odin sat in the front row, staring blankly into space.
Only after everyone had left did he stand up and spoke to Haylan and me.
“Shall we move elsewhere? There’s a separate, real will.”
“Christine left a will for this guy too?”
Haylan glanced at me and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“She’s still so thoughtless. Trusting someone with an unknown identity….”
[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]
Go ahead and dislike me all you want. Anyway, this person with an unknown identity will be returning to your haunted house…. See you there?
‘In my opinion, the ending closest to the True Ending is…’
The ending that people called the ‘Fake True Ending.’ To see even that, I had to survive in that house for at least a year without dying.
‘But is that even possible?’
My middle school self gave up on the game because I couldn’t do it.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that <Haunted House> contained every possible way to die.
Death by falling from a window. Poisoning. Excessive bleeding…
‘Oh, wait….’
I suddenly stopped at a thought.
Most of those were caused by….
“What are you looking at?”
This kid was the cause…?
“Stop looking down at me like that. It’s creepy.”
With Christine gone, his words became prickly again.
‘So sharp tongued despite his cute face….’
Should I look up at you then, even when you’re down there? I looked down at Haylan and unconsciously reached out to remove a loose thread from his hair.
[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]
Slap!
A small hand swatted mine away, quite painfully.
“There was something on your hair.”
“…….”
Haylan stared at me silently. I avoided his gaze, which seemed to say, “I’m going to kill you,” and thought,
‘So, if I avoid this kid, I’m already halfway there, right?’
There was a reason this kid was called the Grim Reaper. The only ending where he killed even the servants was the ‘Fake True Ending,’ but the player was killed by Haylan countless times.
‘First of all, he’s too suspicious.’
The servants eventually accepted the player as a guest, but Haylan, until the very end, suspected the player of being ‘the Pureblood Vampire’s Pawn.’
Haylan firmly believed that it wasn’t a coincidence that the player found this place and that the player would reveal his location if they left the mansion. That suspicion became the mansion’s curse and shackles, binding the player’s ankles.
‘He still hasn’t fully dispelled his suspicions of me.’
Even after hearing the whole story from Christine, I really couldn’t understand why Haylan still disliked me.
We moved to a different location and heard Christine’s real will from Odin.
「Just as birth is a law of nature, death is also a natural process, so please don’t grieve too much. Especially you, Odin, you know better than anyone that I’ll return someday. Don’t be sad.」
The will, which began with gentle words of comfort, was written more like a casual letter than a stiff, formal document.
「…Even when I’m reborn and die, returning to dust, the two people I love will remain the same. You probably won’t be able to die either unless you find and resolve the source of the curse.
So, I want to take this opportunity to give you one last request. Mr. Chahyun, will you become Haylan’s precious person?」
“What?”
“What?!”
Haylan and I simultaneously uttered the same line and looked at each other.
「Haylan needs a friend to confide in. Someone to exchange greetings with, share joyful moments, and sometimes cry together.
I find you quite interesting, Mr. Chahyun. I would feel at ease if someone like you stayed by Haylan’s side. Haylan, don’t you dare object to my decision! This is what I want from you.」
“…….”
[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]
Haylan glared at me with wide eyes.
What am I supposed to do, kid? I’m flustered too.
「Just as your time has stopped forever, my repeated reincarnations might also be a kind of curse. But I’m somewhat grateful for this curse. Because it allows me to meet my loved ones again and again.
I was really, truly happy in this life as well. I sincerely wish from the bottom of my heart that you two will be well while I’m gone. Goodbye!」
As I listened to the will in a daze, I suddenly realized a breakthrough.
‘A friend?’
It made sense when I thought about it.
- Haylan is the cause of most bad endings.
- Therefore, if I just avoid being killed directly by this little Grim Reaper, I can relax a little.
- If I can safely reach the branching point for the True Ending without dying,
- I can return to my real home.
‘So, I just have to make sure Haylan doesn’t think of killing me!’
Simply put, there was a chance to completely eliminate the bad endings that hindered achieving the True Ending.
‘Becoming friends… why didn’t I think of this simple solution earlier?’
I glanced at the being more terrifying than a time bomb and wiggled my fingers.
‘What should I do… where do I start? Increase his affection? Give him gifts?’
Fortunately, I knew more about Haylan than others. His tastes, little habits, favorite scents, and so on.
And since the client asked me to become Haylan’s friend, I now had a legitimate reason to approach him.
‘The problem is… he has to listen to me before we can even have a conversation.’
That kid was so arrogant; he ignored me when I talk to him, ignored my greetings, nd keeps his door locked, refusing to come out… Ignoring me was his daily routine.
This time too, I tried to make eye contact with Haylan and smiled, but he just scoffed at my effort.
[Haylan’s affection points have decreased. -1]
“…….”
I suddenly thought that not making eye contact might be better for increasing his affection.