Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Translator: Yonnee

—

As Penny continued to live only in that moment, in her eyes, Dietrich both her ‘father’ and ‘Johannes’—the two people who made the girl shed tears.

—The ring!!

Penny shouted and rushed towards Dietrich’s hand.

With a different momentum than before, Penny attacked Dietrich.

Bang! Bang!

As the thick hands swung around, a rough gust blew in all directions.

In the wind, sharp as a blade, Dietrich’s cheek was cut.

Dietrich clenched his teeth and avoided Penny’s fist. However, this time, Penny was faster.

She aimed for the hand wearing the ring.

Dietrich bit down on it and cut Penny’s arm, which was grabbing his arm.

Slash!

Cotton burst out as the fabric tore.

But Penny, undeterred, continued to charge at Dietrich.

In the midst of their confrontation, Dietrich took off the ring that was on his hand as if he understood that this needed to be done.

“Do you want this?”

And he asked Penny.

Flinch.

Penny, who was charging, momentarily stopped and looked at Dietrich. Then she slowly nodded.

Dietrich, exhaling a disheveled breath, threw the ring into the fireplace.

—!

“Then take it.”

—My ring!

The ring that Penny desperately wanted fell into the flames.

And, right after the ring, Penny stuffed her large body into the fireplace.

It was an unexpected and astonishing sight.

—Aaah! The ring!

Fire engulfed Penny as if using her stuffing as fuel.

The small teddy bears panicked, running immediately to pour their buckets of water into the fire. After all the buckets were emptied, they all ran out to get more.

However, it would take too much time to traverse the large mansion. Before they could even come back, Penny would die.

‘No…’

[ Steel Mentality is being implemented. ]

It’s a complete disaster.

What kind of ring do you think that is!

It’s an item that could save a life, but how could you throw it away like that?

As expected, the system window appeared.

[ The Vengeance of the Dead Doll has been invoked. ]

But Penny isn’t dead yet! Why did it get invoked!

[ Time remaining until ignition: 00:04:59 ]

Is it saying Penny will die in five minutes?

I looked at Dietrich with a face soaked in a sense of defeat. Strangely, instead of being pleased that he had taken down Penny, there was an uneasy expression on his face.

—…The ring. I can’t find the ring.

As if the result was not what he wanted.

This is not the time for this.

I hurriedly approached and grabbed Dietrich’s arm.

His violet eyes, mixed with caution, looked at me. Probably because of what I did a little while ago.

“Dietrich.”

Was it okay to tell him?

Either,

Quickly pick up the ring.

Or…

You need to get away. As far away from here as possible.

Even if he started running now, the entire first floor would be engulfed in flames.

But still, if he’s lucky…

I recalled the room where I took Furball earlier. The farthest place from here.

If he rushed there now…

If luck was on his side…

“Let go.”

At that moment, Dietrich coldly shook off my hand.

But as my grip continued to hold fast, gaze rose from my hand to my eyes. He was frowning.

[ Time remaining until ignition: 00:03:00 ]

I can’t help you this way.

Should I ignore the penalty and tell him to pick up the ring now?

But I’m afraid of the impending penalty. I don’t think I can endure that same pain again.

The reason I’ve been trying to help Dietrich so far is because it was annoying to deal with him after he came in, and I didn’t like the idea of watching someone die in front of me.

It was a trivial hypocrisy because it was a light-hearted feeling.

Just a feather-light weight if there is weight to help.

But…

Before I knew it, I discovered myself trying my best.

At the end of this realization, a lingering discomfort remained.

[ Steel Mentality is being implemented. ]

I lowered my rejected hand.

To be honest, I was uncertain. Even if I managed to persuade Dietrich to pick up the ring luckily, would he really survive after going up to the second floor?

‘I don’t know.’

I wasn’t able to clear this game either.

Even after dozens of attempts.

Maybe I’ve been wasting my time all this time.

[ Time remaining until ignition: 00:02:31 ]

I’ll stop.

There’s no guarantee that Dietrich will safely reach the Room of Truth even if I manage to persuade him here.

There will be numerous crises and penalties ahead.

Even if I endured everything and continued to help him, how would I feel if he died?

With the ‘steel mentality,’ all emotions were washed away, but I had a feeling that his death might not be so easily shaken off.

‘Let’s stop before getting too attached.’

It was a relatively quick surrender considering the effort I put into helping him.