HNCSHG 37

Chapter 37

The gaze staring at me silently was unbearable, so I decided to wake Werner.
I pointed at the syringe stuck in his arm.
“The syringe is in.”
“Come here, sister.”
As I tried to get closer to check on Werner, Holloway grabbed me and pulled me back.
“Why?”
“I’d rather you not ask.”
Right. But I need to at least look at the patient.
“Sis.”
“Just a quick look.”
“I warned you.”
“….”
Why is this guy acting so anxious? Is he saying it’s dangerous if I get close to Werner? Whatever.
But I have to get my superstar, my Morningstar.
I decided to take just a quick look, keeping my tension in check as I pressed my face close to Werner’s.
I didn’t understand what he meant by “take a look.”
“What are you doing, Evelyn?”
“Nothing, just…”
“You’re not thinking of hitting him, are you?”
“Why would I?”
“You brought him in here by force, so you have resentment toward Kyung, right?”
“You have it too. Don’t let your guard down.”
“….”
What? This isn’t what I’m supposed to do just by looking, is it?
“Sis, stop now.”
I thought he wouldn’t stop, but fortunately, I decided to listen to Holloway this time.
So, when I lifted my face away from Werner to look at him, the quest success window popped up.

[Sub-Quest <Patient in the 3rd Floor Infirmary> Completed!]
[Morningstar is in the box under the infirmary desk.]

My Morningstar… it’s carefully kept there. Just wait a moment.
If I went immediately, it would look suspicious.
I planned to wake Werner, pretend to check the infirmary, and open the box to retrieve Morningstar.
But it must be heavy… can I lift it?
Suddenly, alert sounds rang repeatedly, and a window popped up.

[♡〜٩( ˃́▿˂̀ )۶〜♡ Critical! ♡〜٩( ˃́▿˂̀ )۶〜♡]
[Quest perfectly completed! 12% chance of story fragments collected!]
[Collected the “Mars Island” fragment.]
[Collected the “Resort” fragment.]
[Collected a total of 2 story fragments from “???? of ????”]

The fragments matched again.
The “Mars Island” fragment showed an island, the “Resort” showed a hotel.
It seemed each fragment had a different illustration.
Above the collection of fragments was written “???? of ????”—they clearly weren’t ready to reveal the story yet.
But judging from the illustrations, it’s obviously about an island…
The words alone—Mars Island and Resort—suggest it’s the island we’re on.
The pictures on the fragments also show the island and a hotel.
Since we’re investigating the secrets of an abandoned hotel, it couldn’t mean anything else.
Even if I wanted to speculate further, there wasn’t much to infer from just three fragments.
Clicking the dash in the collected story fragments list changed it to a plus, collapsing the list.
A window I hadn’t seen before appeared below.

[◈Story List◈

1. +???? of ????

2. +++++]

What? There are more story types?
So if the three fragments I collected are about the island… then what else is there?
I snapped out of my thoughts as Holloway touched me and stepped back.
I closed the window for now. No matter how much I pondered, there was nothing more to deduce.
Even in the horror game <Secret of the Child>, there wasn’t a story list like this.
At that moment, Kleta shook Werner.
“Kyung! Kyung!”
“Kleta Kyung!”
Then Moran shook him too, and the syringe in his arm came out.
Blood welled up on it.
I needed to press it with cotton.
As I thought that, I waved Holloway’s hand in excitement at the thought of getting Morningstar soon.
After a few more shakes from Moran and Kleta, Werner’s eyes slowly opened.
“Huh? Werner Kyung, are you awake?”
“Kyung, are you okay?”
Seeing Werner staring blankly at the ceiling without blinking made me uneasy.
I looked at the syringe again.
This… what was it in the game?
Syringe, infirmary… and…
“Werner Kyung, why are you drooling…?”
Drool… drool!
A scene flashed through my mind, and I urgently let go of Holloway’s hand. I threw the lamp I was holding and grabbed Kleta and Moran’s sleeves.
“Evelyn, what are you doing…!”
They were thrown to the floor instantly, and right in front of me, the tip of a sharp sword swished past sideways.
A faint breeze brushed my face where it had passed.
“Get up immediately!”
At this moment, I couldn’t match this to the infirmary background.
The syringe, the unfocused eyes, the drooling—it all meant only one thing.
That syringe contained a drug that makes whoever it’s injected into attack anything.
Just as I expected, Werner staggered off the bed wielding a sword.
“Werner Kyung, snap out of it!”
Saying that didn’t help!
Werner swung his sword, and Kleta drew hers to block.
“Don’t kill him!”
Moran shouted, and Kleta hesitated.
“Let’s get out and think this through, Sis!”
“Yes, let’s listen to Holloway and get out first!”
Moran agreed and looked at Kleta.
Werner kept swinging, and Kleta dodged while ushering Moran outside.
Holloway also grabbed my hand, and we were about to exit the infirmary when…
Ping!
“Ugh!”
Unlike Holloway, who slipped out, I fell backward with my face pressed into the air, losing my grip on his hand.
“Phew… Ah, s-sorry, Evelyn!”
Was my squashed face exposed…?
Moran, who had been laughing, was too embarrassed to know what to do, and even Holloway and Kleta couldn’t open their mouths to laugh.
At that moment…
Thud, thud.
“Ah… I’m getting a nosebleed. Keep laughing and see what happens.”
I warned them sharply, and they clamped their mouths shut.
“But what did I hit just now?”
“If I knew, do you think I’d be like this?”
I snapped back, and Kleta tried to calm me.
“Okay, okay.”
“Sis, I… again…”
Just as Holloway reached out his hand…
BANG!
The door slammed shut.

[You cannot leave this area while performing the quest.]

…Don’t joke around.
This is not funny.
“The d-door won’t open, Evelyn!”
“Evelyn!”
“Sis, are you okay?”
Holloway, you could just come in!
Thud, thud.
Werner walked toward me and slashed his sword down from above.
“Ah!”
Even with my short scream, chaos erupted outside as people pounded on the door.
I hurriedly grabbed my star from under the desk.

[Obtained ‘Morningstar’!]
[Morningstar
Feature: Does not feel heavy.]

Before I could grip the weapon properly, Werner swung at me again. He wasn’t dead in this state.
There was only one way to return him to normal.
I had to destroy the weapon. That would bring him back to his senses.
“Evelyn!”
“Alive!”
I swung Morningstar nervously. True to its feature, it didn’t feel heavy.
But if I swung too easily, wouldn’t it be misunderstood…?
No matter what I did, it looked suspicious.
No, I never said “only me,” so others would see it the same way.
Clang!
The sword and Morningstar collided loudly.
“What… what…”
Why is the sword so strong?
Even though I hit precisely, it didn’t break.
Ding!

[Werner’s sword durability is at 80%.]

…Guess I have to swing really hard.
“Sis!”

[Holloway is annoyed.]

“Why!”
“Are you okay?”
“No!”
As soon as I answered, the doorknob shook violently.
“H-Holloway, stop! You’ll get hurt!”
As soon as I finished speaking, the doorknob fell off. I could see it from here too.
Bang, bang!
“You brat…! Stop, it’s dangerous!”
I had no idea what was happening outside.

[Holloway kicks the door to come in.]
[He cannot use force to reveal his identity at this time.]

It wasn’t yet time for him to reveal himself to save me.
Even this much progress was enough to make me grateful.
“Thanks, Holloway… You’re the only one who worries about me.”
It was worth raising him.
Gritting my teeth, I swung Morningstar harder at the swinging sword.
Fortunately, this weapon only attacked—it didn’t become agile or stronger like Werner.
It was like a kid swinging a toy sword randomly at a target.
So it wasn’t too hard to block.
‘I should’ve just asked Kleta to subdue him from the start.’
Clang—! Clang! Clang!
The sound of sword and Morningstar clashing repeatedly.

[Werner’s sword durability has reached 0% and is destroyed.]

Fsss…
The sword broke, and Werner’s body stopped. He slowly closed his eyes and collapsed toward me.
“Heavy…”
I’d put him down and check the desk drawer and locker first.
I wasn’t sure if it was the key for the infirmary on this floor.
I intended to open it before Holloway came in.
After laying Werner gently across my body and standing up…

[=͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ( ´Д)ﾉ Danger!!]** **[=͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ( ´Д)ﾉ Danger!!]

What’s dangerous…

[???? is targeting your life!]

Thud.
Before I could even speculate, someone struck the back of my neck hard.
…Hey, you should’ve warned me earlier.

My vision blurred, and I lost consciousness immediately.