HH Chapter 17

I’ve made up my mind.

“I’m an expert at raising affection.”

I decided to be more confident. In the game community, I was a user known by titles like “Dating Sim King” and “Chef.” If I put my mind to raising Haylan’s affection, he would fall for me in no time.

There was a reason why I was obsessed with raising NPC affection back then. Increasing a character’s affection not only bought time in chase sequences, but sometimes also provided clues necessary for escape through conversations.

‘Huh? The dialogue is a little different from the last playthrough.’

I discovered the affection system purely by accident.

The only difference from the previous playthrough was that I had accidentally gave a gift to the wrong character. After discovering the affection system, I developed a strategy that focused on avoiding combat as much as possible while still allowing me to progress the story, rather than following the game’s intended path.

‘Although I couldn’t clear it in the end.’

There was a limit to shortcuts. I always ended up hitting a wall in terms of controls.

‘Still, making some characters my allies makes progress much smoother.’

Raising affection is never a wasted effort. I believed that.

‘And come to think of it, I’ve never really tried to raise Haylan’s affection before, have I?’

This time, I intended to properly capture Haylan. Making the surrounding characters friendly was easy, but it bothered me that I hadn’t seen Haylan’s maximum affection dialogue.

To achieve this, I pulled out every piece of information I could remember about Haylan.

First, he was the type who never leaves his room once he’s holed up inside. The way to lure him out was to investigate the mansion during unauthorized hours.

‘But that means he’ll chase after me to kill me.’

Every time you investigate, the ‘Suspicion Gauge’ accumulates, and once it reaches 80%, Haylan starts watching the player.

‘The problem is time….’

The main story of <Haunted House> progresses during the day. And the player can only gather clues at night, after the servants have all retreated to their rooms.

And this mansion…is a haunted house where ghosts appear at night!

I hadn’t seen the Suspicion Gauge yet. The Suspicion Gauge, which should be there, had disappeared, and a new Affection Gauge I had never seen before had appeared…. What does this symbolize?

‘Is it because I haven’t gone out at night yet?’

Even without rummaging through the mansion for clues, I roughly knew where everything was and how it was used. So, during the night, I stayed holed up in my safe room and didn’t come out.

No, actually, I’m scared of ghosts!

How dangerous is a being that can’t be touched yet can threaten me? They’re fun to encounter within the game, but I never dreamed I’d actually face them in real life.

If the gauge increases by 1 for every clue investigated, it increases by double that amount when the player comes into contact with a ghost. And the gauge decreases slightly if you safely make it through the night.

Therefore, managing the gauge was essential to clearing the game.

‘This is a problem….’

Honestly, I’m not confident I can stay sane if I encounter a ghost at night. I’d be lucky if I didn’t scream….

I sighed deeply.

‘Then how can I lure Haylan, who doesn’t yet perceive me as a threat, out of his room?’

I thought about it all night, but I couldn’t come up with a good solution.

‘Should I just go out at night?’

The main story only progresses when I find clues.

Since I hadn’t even started searching the mansion, let alone leaving my room at night, I was still at a stage where I hadn’t even completed the tutorial.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

I woke up hungry and went outside as the morning sun rose.

The mansion’s ghosts disappear when the sun rises. I wonder why I’m scared of ghosts….

“You’re up early.”

As I sat on the stairs, sighing deeply, I heard footsteps nearby. The head butler was standing on the first floor, looking up at me with a handheld lantern.

It’s a human! Overjoyed at not being alone, I jumped up and greeted him as I approached.

“Hello, good morning! I didn’t greet you properly before. You can call me Chahyun.”

“…….”

He nodded curtly with a hesitant expression as I, on the verge of dying from boredom, blurted out my words.

As a veteran lackey, I was an expert at recognizing the leader of the pack. As far as I knew, the head butler was second in command after Haylan in this house. He was in a position to manage the servants and even directly convey opinions to Haylan, so it wouldn’t hurt to get close to him.

However, getting on his good side wasn’t easy. I followed him around, asking if there was anything I could help with, but like a professional butler, he always flatly refused my offers, saying, “I can’t ask for a guest’s help.”

Still, I didn’t give up.

“I have nothing to do and I’m bored. Is there really nothing I can help with?”

“No.”

“Really nothing? Are you sure?”

“…We aren’t so short-staffed as to require help from a guest.”

Wow, is he serious…?

I wanted to grab his head and turn it towards the giant cobwebs above us. And the dust on the stair railings. Look at the state of this sunless house! Do they even ventilate this place daily? It’s a miracle that mold hasn’t grown in this environment. Even Christine made a face as soon as she entered the house.

‘There doesn’t seem to be a setting where vampires are weak to sunlight here.’

As proof, Odin, a half-vampire, walks around just fine during the day. Despite sunlight not being a weakness, they deliberately shut off the mansion completely from the outside world. I really didn’t like that there wasn’t a single window in this house that offered a view of the outside.

Morning has come, but it doesn’t feel like morning at all!

They should at least put up more lanterns. Are the people in this house really okay living like this?

“Guest, please return to your room. I’ll prepare breakfast for you.”

He wants me to be stuck in my room again?

People treat me like I’m practically invisible, and there’s nothing to do in the room, so I’m incredibly bored.

“You don’t have to. It’s enough that the owner of this house is cooped up in his r….”

I suddenly felt a chill and shut my mouth. I’d made a mistake. This is why people need to sleep. If you’re even slightly tired, words come out without going through your brain.

I immediately regretted my careless remark.

“I’m sorry. I meant… I didn’t want to trouble you. From now on, I’ll eat with everyone else in the dining room.”

“Is that so?”

“I feel awkward eating alone.”

I gave an awkward laugh.

“And since we’ll have to see each other whether we like it or not, I thought I’d get to know everyone here. It would be nice if Mr. Haylan came down too….”

The head butler stared at me strangely for a while as I rambled, trying to fix my mistake, then nodded slightly.

“Conversations shared during meals are precious.”

I wonder which part of my words triggered him. He suddenly began lecturing me about the importance of meals. He had values that placed importance on shared mealtimes.

He said the most important part of the day is mealtime. My late father was the same…. He hated it the most when I skipped meals.

Anyway, I continued the conversation, occasionally chiming in with the head butler’s words.

About thirty minutes later, the other servants started waking up and coming out. They were startled to see me with the head butler.

And somehow, the topic of letters came up…

“My colleagues don’t trust me very much, so I was wondering if its possible I could send them letters occasionally? Mr. Odin said he would deliver them if I sent them along with my reports.”

I decided to get permission in advance. I had to send a report to Odin anyway.

But what kind of report should I write….?

‘A friend report?’

That thought made me chuckle.

“I’ll have to discuss that with the Young Master.”

As expected, the head butler seemed troubled by my suggestion. Everything that goes in and out of this mansion requires his permission. I understand that it can’t be helped, given their situation.

At that moment, the woman who had been staring at me chuckled softly and said,

“Why don’t you get permission from him yourself?”

“……?”

Huh, should I? That’s genius!

I needed an excuse to talk to Haylan, and this could be it. Energized by having something to do, I jumped up and replied,

“I’ll be back!”

“……!”

I immediately dashed up the stairs three at a time, heading towards Haylan’s room. I heard someone call out, “Guest!” behind me and looked down, gripping the railing, to see everyone staring at me with wide eyes.

‘Why are they making that expression?’

I was puzzled. The head butler, representing the seemingly anxious group, spoke to me.

“While you’re at it, would you mind asking the Young Master how he would like his meal?”

Ah, so they want me to bring Haylan down, too.

That’s ea……sy, not really, but yes, I’ll try!