by Geli Cake
"Haylan, if I'm not mistaken, you seem to have grown a bit taller, haven't you?"
It was someone I had never seen before. Haylan told me who she was.
"She's the High Priestess here."
"And you are?"
The woman asked me with a smile. Unable to grasp the relationship between her and Haylan, I introduced myself, bewildered.
"My name is Chahyun. I'm a mercenary working at Mr. Haylan's residence due to certain circumstances."
"Since when did that house get another servant? A mercenary, no less?"
"Christine sent him. He knows my situation, so you don't have to be careful with what you say. Snow is also a half."
At Haylan's words, the woman sighed in relief.
"Nice to meet you. So, Christine came by. It's a shame I didn't get to see her."
"She probably spent all her time trying to find me because I didn't respond when she contacted me."
"Why would you ignore your sister? You're in trouble, Haylan."
She glared at Haylan, then said to me,
"You can call me Snow. It's an alias, for now."
['Snow (alias)' has been added to the Character Encyclopedia.]
Her name was newly added to Haylan's relationship chart. Name unknown, age unknown, identity: half-vampire.
I was a little taken aback. I thought Haylan didn't interact with other vampires at all. Wasn't that why, in the original game, the player learned about the happenings in vampire society by receiving "Suspicious Mail" from Odin?
"I was just thinking I should contact Joe, so this works out perfectly. Actually, about the blood… It seems like supply will be difficult for a while after this delivery."
"I heard from Odin."
"Odin? Wait, you're in contact with that guy?"
"Not me."
Haylan pointed at me, and I smiled awkwardly at Snow. To be so surprised that Haylan and Odin were in direct contact… Just how bad was their relationship?
"It's a good thing I have some stashed away, but I'm worried about next month and after."
She covered her cheeks with her hands and sighed deeply.
"There have been a few people who suddenly went missing recently. No news is good news, but… the Half-Hunt has intensified compared to two years ago, so be careful, Haylan."
[Main Story Progress 17%]
The progress increased as soon as the keyword "Half-Hunt" was mentioned.
'So it's related.'
I finally realized what I had to do. The quest progress indicated my direction.
I had to investigate the "Half-Vampire Hunt," an incident that was only mentioned but never resolved in the original story.
'Is this Part 2 or something?'
No wonder the story felt subtly new. With this development, I was no longer in an advantageous position.
I didn't know anything more about the events to come or about vampires beyond this point.
While I was spacing out, feeling overwhelmed, Snow whispered to Haylan,
"By the way, how did you manage to grow taller?"
Did someone come up with a new illusion magic for height?
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
I barely made it back to my room right before midnight. I plopped down at my desk before even changing my clothes.
'Alright, let's organize everything I know.'
I finally understood what I had to do.
'The world chose me.'
It wasn't that I had landed here by chance, but that the world had chosen me. And the system had said I was a suitable candidate.
If I deviated too far from the given trajectory, I would be transferred to another world. In other words, the world that needed me the most was this one,
The genre might have changed.
Even if horror elements remained, it was no longer an escape game. Perhaps it's now a parenting game?
The protagonist is still Haylan.
Since all the events still revolved around Haylan, this hadn't changed.
The Half-Vampire Hunt.
This incident was occasionally mentioned in the original game. The reason Haylan was driven to this place. And other half-vampires were in the same situation.
I circled number 3. I believed this was closest to the goal of this changed world.
I had to find out the purpose of the hunt. And then, to put a stop to the Half-Hunt… was that my role? It was just a hypothesis.
Lena?
But the biggest problem for me right now was that I didn't know Lena's identity.
Besides helping me, he had another role. What part was he playing in this world?
He had suddenly asked me to try loving him, and I had shown him an embarrassing side of myself…
'Oh, right.'
The ghost in the hallway
I almost forgot about this. Lena was connected to the dangerous entity I had accidentally released in this house, the ghost.
…Well, they both weren't alive, for one. Were there any other similarities?
I opened the ongoing main quest window.
[Main Quest: The Ghost's Identity
Something is roaming the mansion at night. Is it really a ghost, with its eerie presence…?
The ghost seems to perceive you as an intruder. The only way to be safe from the threatening ghost is 'that'…
Reward: 1 Quest Point, 50 Solra]
'That.'
I had thought "that" referred to sealing the ghost back in the empty room. But recalling last night's events, I couldn't help but think "that" was related to Lena.
The ghost had clearly seen me. But it hadn't done anything to me when I was with Lena.
'What are the specific conditions?'
Accompanying him? Or physical contact? How far apart did we have to be for it to recognize me and attack again?
I hadn't completed the quest yet. And the quest title was "The Ghost's Identity"… I needed to find out what that ghost was.
'Speak of the devil.'
Just as I finished organizing my thoughts and changed my clothes, the door opened.
"You were still awake."
Lena approached me as I sat by the window, placed his hand on my shoulder, and looked out in the same direction. I could still see occasional fireworks exploding in the distant sky.
"You went out with the kid?"
"How did you know?"
"I know everything."
Because it's happening in my house. Lena joked with an expressionless face.
You know that too? I looked at his profile and wondered.
Where does Lena go during the day?
"...Your clothes."
Lena was wearing relatively normal clothes today. Moreover, they seemed a bit too fancy for indoor wear.
'Whose are those? Was there a servant in this mansion who was his size?'
They suited him so well for stolen clothes that I couldn't help but stare.
"Whose clothes are those?"
"They're mine."
More nonsense. When I narrowed my eyes, he asked,
"Why are you looking at me like that? Have you fallen for me?"
I decided to ignore his nonsense from now on.
Then, seeing his slippers that didn't match his outfit, I burst out laughing. Only the slippers looked incongruously cute. To think that those were the only things he owned that he hadn't stolen.
"How was the festival?"
"It was fun. Haylan really enjoyed it."
"Not the kid, how was it for you?"
"...?"
"Tell me about yourself."
He said. I thought for a moment, then answered,
"It was a meaningful outing."
It had been a fruitful day. I learned that there was another half-vampire in this city besides Haylan, and I had a rough idea of what I had to do next.
And the vibrancy of the unfamiliar city was incredibly beautiful. Snow piled up softly on the rooftops, and puffs of white breath escaped the happy faces of the people.
I would remember this day for a long time. I was even disappointed that we only had permission to go out for one day and couldn't see everything properly.
"It would have been nice if Lena had come with us too…"
There were only two of us, Haylan and me, so we couldn't even try the dishes that came in larger portions. If Lena could have come with us, we could have enjoyed a wider variety of festival food.
"You thought of me while you were out?"
"Yes."
"Why? Could it be…"
"Not in the way you're thinking."
I immediately shut down his nonsense before he could continue.
"You can't leave this house, can you?"
"Yes."
"That's too bad."
So he really was a bound spirit. Well, if he weren't, he would have already been roaming around outside…
I imagined him in the middle of the festival. Lena would have eaten even more than we did. He would really have enjoyed it. Even in front of me, he rarely put down his food.
"I'll bring you something next time."
I guess I talked too much about myself. I shouldn't boast in front of someone who can't go out. Next time, I should buy him a skewer or something and brag about it…
"…Yeah, let's go together next time."
In my ensuing imagination, the fireworks were at their peak, like the festival scene I had seen today. Lost in thought, watching the exploding fireworks, I suddenly remembered Lena's face looking at me and I looked up.