I Think I’m a Horror Game Villain - Chapter 103

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Chapter 103

Logically, I should have shaken off the ghost and gone to Zion. But I hesitated, unable to take Zion’s hand right away. Was it because of what had just happened? I couldn’t bring myself to grasp his hand.

“Heyna!” Zion called my name again, as if urging me on. “That man, he’s the ghost who tricked Heyna into the forbidden room, isn’t he?”

At Zion’s words, the man replied in a gentle voice devoid of malice, “I think you’re misunderstanding something, Zion. Didn’t the butler, Mr. Pulse, tell you? There are no other ghosts here besides him.”

“Whether that’s true or false is unknown. You’re just as much a ghost as that kindly butler.”

I agreed with Zion. The woman begging to open the door from beyond, and this man walking the hallway with a blue lantern instead of the yellow ones used by the guests. I’d encountered ghosts twice now.

“I’m not a ghost.” The man denied it.

“Then, are you human?”

“Well…”

Zion frowned, annoyed by the vague answer. Unfazed, the man continued leisurely, “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you for sure whether I’m a ghost or a human. I’m simply a pitiful hostage, waiting for a wonderful hero to break my curse.”

Why? It felt like the ‘wonderful hero’ he mentioned referred to me. Our bodies were close. I could feel his body heat through our clothes. The hand around my waist, his breath faintly brushing against the nape of my neck, it was all so warm. If I hadn’t known this was a horror game, and that the only living characters in ‘Lost Memory Mansion’ were me, Zion, and Tommy— ‘I might have actually believed he was human.’

I hesitated for a moment, then pushed him away. “Let go of me.”

The red eyes that met mine in that instant contorted with such pain that I unconsciously bit my lip. A strange sense of guilt washed over me, as if I had wronged him.

‘Don’t feel sorry. Remember what he did to me.’

He was a ghost who had lured me into a trap under the guise of helping. If I hadn’t luckily run into the butler, I would have opened the forbidden door. I didn’t want to know what would have happened after that…

“Good girl, Heyna. Come here now.” Zion spread his arms as if he had been waiting.

Why did this guy think I would automatically go to him?

“No, Zion. I have something to say to this man.”

The triumphant smile on his face crumpled noticeably. Since his favorability level had risen above four, Zion had treated me like his possession. Now, seeing me disobey, his displeasure was evident.

[‘Zion’s favorability for ‘Heyna’ has decreased by 1.]

Sure enough, his favorability dropped immediately.

‘I’m the one who should be upset! I’m not your possession!’

Still, thanks to the high favorability level, the frequency of his suspicion had decreased significantly. This situation was a prime example. Knowing Zion’s personality, he should have been suspicious of me wanting to talk to a ghost. But his suspicion level hadn’t risen.

‘Being obsessed over by Zion is unpleasant, but raising his favorability level was the right choice.’

“…Alright. I’ll leave you two alone then.” The eyes that had been dripping with honey moments before now blazed with anger. As if deeply offended, Zion bit his lip and stormed off.

‘How can someone get so easily offended? He’s so petty.’

After Zion left, I looked directly at the man and spoke sharply, “You said, when we first met, that you wouldn’t harm me.”

“Yes.”

“And you said you’d never lie to me.”

The eyes that had been gazing down at me softly crinkled. “Yes. I will never lie to you, Heyna.”

“Then why did you take me to the forbidden room? You said you wouldn’t harm me, but you put me in danger!”

Why did I feel so betrayed and hurt by the fact that he had tricked me? Unable to control the inexplicable emotions, I ended up yelling. My head throbbed. The anger that flushed my face stung my eyes. I blinked, and a tear slipped down my cheek.

The man watched me, his lips parting. “I’m sorry.”

A short apology, without any embellishment. Those two words made my heart skip a beat.

“That apology… are you apologizing for lying to me?” I had known from the start that he was deceiving me, but hearing his apology made the betrayal sting even more. I didn’t understand why I felt this way about a man I had only met once, a ghost no less. It was a series of confusing emotions I couldn’t comprehend.