I've Got Connections in the Horror Game - Chapter 4

The nine of us who remained returned, exhausted, to the rooms the maid had assigned us.

Before we parted, we learned the next verse of the rhyme.

“Nine little soldiers stayed up with candles bright;

One never woke at morning, and eight survived the night.”

Someone else would die quietly in the dead of night.

We were all afraid to die. We wanted to gather in the banquet hall and spend the night together.

The maid wouldn’t allow it. “Our butler says it would be most discourteous to let guests sleep in the banquet hall.”

We all knew the butler she mentioned was the big boss in the comments.

Who dared refuse?

When I entered my room, I discovered it was huge. Too huge to be a guest room.

It had not only a bathroom and dressing room but a sitting room as well.

It looked exactly like the castle owner’s quarters.

I was a little terrified.

Was this the boss’s room?

Was I going to be the next to die?

They’d put me straight into the wolf’s den so they could finish me off in my sleep without anyone noticing…

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

I tucked my feet farther under the covers, pulled them over my head, and didn’t dare sleep.

Then, late at night, came a soft click from the door.

Someone had opened it.

I secretly eased the covers apart to make a tiny gap. That tall figure walked in.

He held an old-fashioned European candelabrum, several white candles burning in it.

The warm yellow candlelight illuminated a face I hadn’t seen in far too long. A familiar face I absolutely did not dare recognize.

Because out there, he was dead.

I’d buried his body myself.

Who knew what this thing was!

It was hard not to suspect a handsome-man trap designed to lure me to my death.

His eyes gleamed red in the darkness, like a bloodthirsty ghost hunting in the night.

The livestream viewers had a better angle than I did, and their screams in the comments were even more terrifying than mine.

[AAAAH, fuck, the girl I bet on is going to die! No fair, boss! Coming to kill her in the middle of the night!]

[If a man this gorgeous came to get into my bed, I’d throw the covers off right now. But he’s here to twist her head off!]

[Here he comes! He’s beside the bed! One reach and this girl’s head could hit the floor!]

I could feel him standing at the head of the bed, too. His hand landed on the covers above my head.

I clung to them for dear life. My strength was no match for his!

Fuck. This was it. I was dead!

I woke to someone kicking the door.

The first thing I saw was the big boss lying beside me.

Waking up to a face identical to my butler’s should have been the most ordinary thing in the world.

Today, though, was a little different.

He lay peacefully on his back beside me, hands folded over his abdomen.

A knight’s sword had been driven right through his chest.

Straight through the heart.

Blood covered the bed.

The three-piece uniform everyone had been drooling over yesterday was soaked through.

Especially the white shirt. All crimson.

Me: “…”

What kind of fierce struggle had gone down last night?

I tried to remember.

But my memories ended with the boss about to pull off my covers.

After that, I remembered nothing.

The comments seemed to have been wiped, too. Not a hint to be found.

Bang!

The bedroom door crashed to the floor.

The officer who’d been kicking it rushed in with the other players.

The rich kid was still holding a piece of bread, munching as he walked.

“Are you all right?!”

Apparently, everyone had gone down to breakfast and realized I was the only one who hadn’t got up.

They’d assumed the rhyme had come true and I’d died, then hurried to my room to check.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I pointed to the boss beside me, lying in a river of blood. “He’s the one who’s got a problem.”

[Well… this is a new one.]

[Huh? What happened last night?! I wake up and the world’s turned upside down. How did the boss get skewered?]

[No idea. The connection cut out right at the crucial moment. I know nothing.]

[I was waiting to screenshot the iconic moment when the boss twisted the player’s head off. Then suddenly: 404.]

[Holy shit. We all thought this woman was dead. How’s she fine, while the boss is the one who’s gone?!!]

[Are newbies this hardcore now? She just took out the big boss?]

The system finally reconnected. Comments buzzed with speculation. The players stared blankly.

In the end, the maid, who’d followed them in, stepped forward.

Even faced with the boss’s mangled corpse, she showed no particular reaction. Just squeezed out two token tears.

Then she began shooing everyone away. “My apologies for allowing you to witness such a scene. Please return to the dining room and continue your meal.

“We do not permit food to be wasted in this household.”

Once everyone had left, the maid went to the wardrobe in the dressing room and brought me a dress.

A Victorian-style one, no less.

She wanted me to change out of my bloodstained clothes.

She promised to wash them until they were spotless.

Hmm…

In that elaborate dress, I wouldn’t even be able to stretch my legs to run. I’d die faster.

It fit unexpectedly well, though.

As she tied my sash, the maid chattered on. “Miss, how did you like waking up to find the butler beside you? A lovely surprise, wasn’t it?”

Me: “…”

Lovely, I couldn’t say.

Surprise? It had scared the hell out of me.

The maid sighed. “But you really must exercise some restraint, miss. Even if it’s a little game between you and the butler, there are limits. Being stabbed right through with a sword still hurts!”

Me: ?

The comments: [??]

[Did I get out of bed wrong this morning? What did I just hear?]

[I think I’ve stumbled on a terrible secret. Am I going to be silenced?]

[Is the boss into absolutely everything behind closed doors?]

Exactly! Does your boss really play that hard?

But I’m not that kind of person—

The maid, however, was completely lost in shipping us. Her face practically said, “Hee-hee, my couple is real!”

“The butler spoils you as much as ever. You must always remember how good he is to you!”

All I could do was laugh awkwardly. “Yes, yes, yes. Once I get out, I’ll be sure to burn him several extra stacks of spirit money!”

Eventually, I dragged my skirts to the dining room.

The moment I entered, I noticed only seven soldier-shaped nutcrackers remained on the table.

Before I could sit down, a chime sounded and the rhyme began.

“Eight little soldiers rested in the sun;

Its deadly heat took one away, and seven marched on.”

Everyone jerked their heads up from their plates.

“Who died?”