I Think I’m a Horror Game Villain - Chapter 115

Schedule: Monday and Friday

Chapter 115

As the doors slid shut, the elevator operator inquired, “Where would you like to go?” Her gentle, soothing voice eased my anxieties and loosened my tongue. “I…” I began, the words ‘I want to go back to the world I came from’ forming in my mind, poised to escape my lips.

Just then, “Heyna!” Dekir’s voice snapped me back to reality. I’d almost fallen under the elevator operator’s spell again. “Thank you, Deki. You saved me.” I expressed my gratitude to Dekir and then firmly addressed the operator, “I’ll decide where to go.”

“Very well. Then, I wish you a safe arrival at your destination.” Her placid farewell barely faded before Dekir exclaimed in surprise, “Heyna, the elevator operator vanished!”

“What? Really?” I turned to look, and just as he’d said, she was gone. ‘How is this possible?’ A heavy silence fell over the elevator, now occupied only by Dekir and me. So, what now?

I knew how to reach the 4th floor, but I hesitated, unable to bring myself to press the button.

‘If Dekir and I go up to the 4th floor, what will happen to the three who went to floor F?’ Zion and Tommy had saved their progress as soon as they entered the elevator. So, even if they died, they would revive at their saved point. But Rose…

‘She probably didn’t save.’

If she’d been lured to floor F by the elevator operator while I was away, she most likely hadn’t saved her game.

‘I need to save Rose, quickly.’

As I reached for the button to floor F, “Heyna,” Dekir caught my wrist. “To get to the 4th floor, you need to press 1 and 3, not F.”

“I know. But I have to go to floor F to save the others.”

My words darkened Dekir’s expression. “I understand what you’re saying. But Heyna, do we really need to rescue them?”

“What do you mean?”

“They aren’t children. You don’t have an obligation to look after them.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And I… I don’t want you to be in any more dangerous situations.”

Slender fingers snaked around my hand, his palm gently enveloping mine. “They’ll be fine. Let’s go up and wait for them. Okay?” His whispered words were so sweet they swayed my resolve.

‘He’s right. They aren’t children that I need to take care of.’

Although, all three of them certainly acted like it sometimes. Zion was quick-witted and sharp but overly self-centered and narcissistic, which often caused him to miss important details. Tommy, while always cooperative despite his grumbling, was impulsive. And Rose…

“Ha…” Just thinking about Rose brought a sigh to my lips. She was the one I worried about the most. I could almost hear her crying already.

“Deki.”

“Yes, Heyna.”

“You said you’d always be on my side, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you’ll respect my decision, no matter what I choose?”

“Yes, of course.”

Seeing Dekir’s reassuring nod, I offered a small smile. “You’re right, Deki. I’m not their guardian, and there’s no reason for me to look after them.”

“Yes.”

It was incredibly reassuring to have someone by my side who would always support me.

“Actually, Deki, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I told you I went back because I wanted to break the guide’s rules.”

“Yes, you did.”

“There was another reason.”

“Oh?”

“The real reason I went back… was to find you.”

The languid smile he wore as he listened faltered, replaced by a flicker of something else. His eyes, wide with surprise, visibly trembled. In a shaky voice, he asked, “Does that mean… you came back because you remembered me?”

I shook my head, and the hope that had bloomed in his eyes wilted into disappointment.

‘Maybe I should have just lied.’

But I didn’t want to offer him comforting falsehoods.

“It wasn’t exactly a clear memory. It’s just that, ever since we were separated, I’ve felt this emptiness, like I’d lost something precious.”

“Like you’d lost something precious…”

“Yes. And after I met you in the hallway, I kept thinking about it. Even though I thought you were a ghost because I had no memory of you, I strangely wasn’t scared or repulsed.”