I Think I’m a Horror Game Villain - Chapter 38

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Chapter 38

The lock was opened with a click as the key found inside the snake’s fangs was inserted into the keyhole.

“Wow! It’s open!”

“Heyna, how did you know?”

“The key is in here, it says. I thought the ‘in here’ in the hint didn’t mean inside the fountain, but inside the statue, like inside its teeth.”

Rose clapped in surprise, her mouth agape, after hearing what I said.

“Ah! So, ‘what you see is not all there is’ meant that the key in the fountain wasn’t all there was to it?”

“Yes. That’s why it said only those who aren’t fooled can reach the truth.”

Because if you’re fooled by the key right before your eyes, you won’t be able to find the truth hidden in the hint.

‘In games, the items and backgrounds around you are usually clues too. I forgot because I was in such a hurry.’

“You’re amazing, Heyna! I completely forgot about the hint.”

“Me too. If it weren’t for Heyna, we would’ve all kept fishing out the key in the fountain.”

[‘Rose’s favorability toward ‘Heyna’ has increased by 1.]

[‘Dekir’s favorability toward ‘Heyna’ has increased by 1.]

Rose and Dekir’s favorability increased by 1.

I didn’t know I could increase their favorability by doing something like this.

I smiled sheepishly and touched my hair.

“Let’s not stand around. Let’s open the chest quickly.”

Zion’s voice as he opened the chest was strangely low. His hands were unusually rough as he pulled out the lock.

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

‘Huh?’

Why did my favorability suddenly decrease?

My confusion was short-lived, as I soon realized why his favorability had decreased.

Just like before, Zion’s favorability decreased whenever I helped him.

‘Zion doesn’t want me to help him. He can’t protect me if he does.’

I let out a humorless laugh at the ridiculous conclusion.

So the ideal type Zion wants is ‘a weak woman who can’t do anything on her own, so he has to protect her’?

Wow, how childish can he be?

***

I obtained a memory eraser as a reward for clearing the mission, and

“Thank goodness. We have more time!”

I also got extra time as a reward from my friends’ missions.

[00:38]

With great difficulty, we found a map inside the opened chest that marked Tommy’s location with a red dot.

[Map is updating.]

Updating?

“Hey, guys, look at this.”

Dekir shared the map. The map that appeared in the air now had blue and red dots on it, unlike before.

“The red dot is Tommy’s location, and……”

Before I could finish, Zion said, “I think the blue dot is our location.”

Having perfectly figured out Zion’s personality by seeing his favorability decrease just now, I knew that he had cut me off on purpose because he didn’t want me to steal his thunder.

Sure, sure. You do whatever you want.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

Why is a prince so childish?

My fantasy of a kind and intelligent prince was crumbling down.

‘I never set Zion to be unnecessarily prideful.’

Cursed mouth, huh. From now on, his nickname is childish jerk.

Anyway, I couldn’t care less about Zion right now. There was something more important.

[System] A character’s suspicion level has changed.

[System] Check the changed character information in [Favorability Management].

When Zion was fitting the key, a system message popped up.

As the message said, there was a red dot on the top left of the [Favorability Management] tab, indicating that there was new information that I hadn’t checked.

When Zion’s favorability changed, a notification window popped up right away.

There was no change in the suspicion levels of the three people here.

‘The only character whose suspicion level could’ve changed and that I couldn’t check is…’

Tommy, the character who isn’t here.

When I pressed [Favorability Management] to check, Tommy’s information had changed, just as I had expected.

[Tommy]

Favorability [0]

Suspicion Level [3]

‘A ghost and Heyna are friends? Then is Heyna the villain?’

Where in the world is he and what is he doing to raise his suspicion level by 3!

And look at that status message below.

‘I’m friends with ghosts.’

I’ve never been friends with ghosts…

‘…No.’

Just now, when I was alone with Zion, the memory came back to me that ‘Heyna’ was definitely friends with two ghosts, the severed hand and seeker.

‘The severed hand is in my inventory. So the seeker must have taken Tommy?’

If the seeker had been blabbering in front of Tommy that he and I were friends, then it made sense that Tommy’s suspicion level had risen by 3.

‘If my guess is right, I should be thankful that his suspicion level only rose by 3.’

The fact that Tommy’s suspicion level only went up to 3, instead of the maximum 5, despite a ghost saying ‘Heyna and I are friends’ must be because Tommy is a loyal friend who believes in his friends.

If it had been someone else in Tommy’s place, their suspicion level would have immediately reached the maximum and they would have gotten a dead ending.

I felt truly grateful to Tommy, but at the same time, I was getting anxious.

‘I have to find Tommy and use the memory eraser before his suspicion level reaches 5!’

[Memory eraser]

Can erase a target’s memory related to a specific keyword.

The eraser I got as a mission reward must be meant to be used on Tommy.

‘I can’t use this in front of everyone. I have to go find Tommy first, but….’

There was a problem.

The updated map showed my current location.

‘I can’t go anywhere by myself because of the map!’

Read ahead eight chapters here.