Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead - Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Translator: Yonnee
—
When there was about a minute left until the explosion of the first floor, Dietrich approached the bucket he had brought.
Dietrich had been watching the burning Penny with a displeased expression on his face.
It was then that I realized.
He had no intention of simply watching Penny perish in such a horrific manner.
Dietrich suddenly moved as if he had made up his mind.
What is he planning to do?
How many buckets are there, anyway?
I was surprised by the sheer number he had brought.
But then, Dietrich picked up a bucket and approached the furnace, where Penny was dying.
‘Is he going to pour it on her?’
Adding oil to an already burning fire?
Was he trying to make sure she was dead?
It seemed crueler than I thought.
But then.
Crackle—
As he tilted the bucket, a clear liquid extinguished the flames.
Dietrich didn’t stop. He brought even more buckets.
‘Could it be water…?’
And he poured more of the liquid, presumably water, onto it.
Were all those buckets not filled with oil after all?
Why was he pouring water?
The fiercely burning flame wilted like a dying old man, and with the last bucket poured, it hissed—deflated—and extinguished.
The fire was out, but Penny was almost completely burned.
—Cold…?
A frail voice.
Penny, her body almost entirely burned, couldn’t resist.
Dietrich pulled her from the stove.
Then he crouched and entered the stove himself. It was a series of impulsive actions.
What on earth is he doing?
“Found it.”
What?
Dietrich emerged from the furnace, his white clothes turned pitch black.
He knelt beside Penny and saw a black button that still shone.
It was Penny’s eye.
“Did you send me a challenge to a duel to find this?”
—…Keh.
“If I had known it was yours, I wouldn’t have taken it. Nor would I have thrown it into the furnace.”
He carefully placed the ring on Penny’s belly.
It was then I realized…
[ Time remaining until ignition: 00:00:04 ]
…That the countdown had stopped.
[ ‘Dietrich’ has entered the hidden route: ‘The Doll’s Wish.’ ]
Could it be?
There were two ways to defeat the boss battle.
One was to burn Penny, the doll, in the furnace—to kill her.
And the other way was to fulfill her wish.
To ‘take responsibility’ for one’s actions.
Back in the days when I played the game through the monitor, I found it absurd.
Why should Dietrich alone take responsibility?
Penny might have mistaken Dietrich for the girl’s father or her younger brother, but Penny was the one who attacked first.
However, the reason for this comes out later.
—…I’ll give it.
“What?”
—I’m going to die anyway… so take it.
Penny had also taken ‘responsibility.’
The responsibility for misunderstanding Dietrich and attacking him. The consequence was to burn to death.
“…You should have just asked for the ring back. There was no need to fight in a duel.”
Dietrich asked, seemingly unable to comprehend.
—Then, I thought you wouldn’t return it… Heh.
When the girl had kindly asked Johann to return Penny, he hadn’t listened.
Having witnessed that, Penny naturally thought Dietrich wouldn’t return her.
Without a word, Dietrich accepted the ring.
He might not know Penny’s circumstances, but he seemed to slightly regret the situation now.
But perhaps even if Dietrich had willingly returned the ring before the duel, Penny would have still tried to kill him.
Until her last moment, Dietrich was an enemy in Penny’s eyes.
[ The First Floor Administrator, Penny, has perished.]
[ ‘Dietrich’ has obtained two crushed shards. ]
[ ……. ]
Penny’s body transformed into a bright burst of light.
And, like a comet in reverse, flew towards the mansion’s ceiling.
As if celebrating the clearing of the first floor, the mansion was bathed in a splendid light.
At that moment, the crushed shards that Dietrich had been holding also slipped away.
As Dietrich reached out his hand in a panic to grasp them.
[ All crushed shards of the first floor have been gathered. ]
[ The first fragment is being created. ]
The crushed shards came together, forming a bright, white fragment.
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