Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead

There was nothing in the room.

However, Dietrich sensed a foul energy within the space.

A black haze crept up his ankle.

Even after he had slashed his sword over the haze, it refused to disperse. Instead, it crept up and slowly encroached on his view.

“……!”

At that moment, Dietrich staggered greatly.

It was as if he was hit with a sudden wave of sleep, he got terribly drowsy as it became harder to breathe.

Dietrich struggled to relinquish his arms from the haze so that he could cover his eyes.

The undeniable urge to close his eyes entered his system due to the heavy onslaught of fatigue, but Dietrich recalled those who were outside.

If he were to collapse right here and now, what would happen to ‘them’?

—I said kill! Why the hell can you not kill that person?!

When that familiar voice reached his ears, Dietrich looked up.

—If you keep being useless like this, ‘their’ blood will be in your hands. Did you not vow to protect them? Make sure to do things properly.

This…

Was a long time ago.

When he returned from rejecting the ‘mission’ that had been assigned to him, the person who welcomed him was the high priest. It was his furious voice.

—It hurts. It hurts…

This time, it was his own voice.

—When is Brother coming?

This one belonged to a child.

—My son didn’t come back.

This was an old woman’s voice.

These were ‘their’ voices—the people who Dietrich wanted to protect.

Then, he realized.

This room’s trap was a psychological curse.

He needed to leave this room as soon as possible, before his mind would get eaten away.

People with faces getting distorted.

Pained howls echoing everywhere.

They’re all looking at Dietrich.

Clang—

In the end, Dietrich’s sword slipped away from his grasp.

Right then, the monster lurking in the dark did not miss the chance.

With its body bathed entirely in darkness, the monster slowly stretched its steel tail forward.

Towards Dietrich’s heart.

However, it was then.

Flash—

A bright yellow light started spreading throughout the dark room.

Not long after, Dietrich felt that the darkness binding him tightly was slowly letting go.

* * *

[ ‘Dietrich’ has entered Aculus’s room. ]

After sending Dietrich to that place, I went straight back to my room.

Then, I sat down on the bed and calmly waited for time to pass.

When a long time passed, the system window appeared once more.

‘I wonder if it succeeded.’

I gave Dietrich a candelabra on purpose. After all, it was Aculus’s weakness.

All dark monsters were fundamentally vulnerable to ‘light’.

If there was any light nearby, even moving would be painful for them. With such conditions, it would never hurt Dietrich.

[ ‘Dietrich’ has been afflicted with a status effect. If the status effect persists, he shall fall into eternal slumber.

Time left until the demise of ‘Dietrich’: 00:09:59 ]

“Cough—!”

What kind of nonsense was it this time?

[ Steel Mentality is being implemented. ]

Did he not use the candle I gave him?

That must be the case. If he had entered the room with the candelabra, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

And I could blame no one else but myself.

[ Time left until the demise of ‘Dietrich’: 00:09:04 ]

Sh*t.

Once trapped inside a nightmare, it’s impossible to wake up from it. The only way to escape was none other than death.

Was the system seriously counting down to his death like this?

I jumped off the bed right away and opened the floating map.

Potion location… Where can I find a potion that can counteract it?

It’s my first time looking for an item like this because I personally never had a need for them before.

Keeping my eyes on the map, I hastily walked forward. Fortunately, the potion I needed was in a room close to mine.

As soon as I arrived at that room, I swiped the potion and checked the remaining time.

[ Time left until the demise of ‘Dietrich’: 00:06:27 ]

I need to hurry.

Rushing there as fast as I could, I went to Dietrich’s location according to the map.

I soon arrived at Aculus’s room, and I found the candelabra placed in front of the door.

As though I was being blocked by something indistinguishable, my steps came to a halt. But this wasn’t enough to stop me, and I immediately entered the room with the candelabra.

Grrrrr!