Chapter 07
“I, I’ll also go with you!”
When Bella stood up, Liam followed suit, but I stopped them firmly.
“It’s fine. Alex and I should be enough.”
Then I stared intently at the cheerleading group with disdain.
“W-what? Who do you think you’re glaring at, crazy Christine?”
Selena, slightly intimidated, muttered her protest, while the original male and female leads, who seemed to grasp my intentions through body language, reluctantly sat back down.
“Then we’ll be back, so absolutely no going off on your own, just stay right here until we return, okay?”
With those words, I took Alex and went looking for something like a kitchen space.
When I opened the refrigerator door, somehow the electricity wasn’t cut off, and the light came on with a cool breeze flowing out.
“Looks like the groceries were stocked recently. It’s full of food.”
For a fleeting moment, I felt grateful to the camp owner before snapping back to reality.
In the original movie, the camp owner was none other than Jack the killer’s father.
When Jack, who seemed possessed by evil since birth, finally killed someone in town, his father covered it up and set up this camp deep in the forest to hide.
He built a basement prison to lock up his son, who he couldn’t bring himself to kill. There, Jack grew into a full-grown psychopath, sustained by the food and water his father provided.
Then one summer, a group visiting the camp stumbled upon the locked basement. Stanley and Anna, sneaking off to find a private spot for their affair, ended up breaking into the basement.
As the couple became engrossed in each other, Jack loomed behind them, casting a shadow with a sharp blade.
Though both died later and in different orders, that scene alone was enough to keep viewers on edge.
The camp owner became the first victim killed by his evil son who escaped like that. He was the one who caused the chain of serial murders.
I had forgotten about it because of various consecutive events that left me overwhelmed.
‘If the camp has turned into a dungeon, wouldn’t Jack likely be the boss creature?’
Now that I’ve remembered, I need to go back, comfort the kids, and check the basement.
I’ll have to be ready for a raid if necessary.
For now, I wonder if I, Alex, Liam, and Bella would make decent combat power.
While calculating this in my head, I also checked the refrigerator.
“Microwave-ready curry, cream pasta, pita bread… Mostly ready-to-eat meals. Perfect. I wasn’t about to cook a proper meal for those brats anyway, so this works out well.”
Behind me, Alex, who had been quietly watching, finally asked,
“Why do you bother taking care of people who hate you?”
“If I don’t, they’ll die. Like I said before, I don’t like people dying.”
“Well. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t care. Whether they die or not.”
The cold tone seemed quite sincere, so I looked up at Alex.
Though he bent down with his arm against the refrigerator door, he was so tall that it hurt my neck to look at him.
Under his black hair, his gray eyes still seemed empty, emotionless, and cold.
And I kept worrying about the HP gauge bar that showed Alex’s condition.
[■■□□□□□□□□]
‘Why is it lower than before?’
Ever since I summoned him from hell, Alex seemed to have undergone significant changes.
If he hadn’t been possessed by another entity, he would’ve died much later in the original storyline.
Of course, it’s hard to compare which is more horrible—being bitten to death early by zombie hordes or being butchered by Jack.
Shaking my head to dispel the returning trauma, I asked Alex.
“Is that how everyone lives in hell?”
After a moment of silence at my question, Alex asked back.
“Why do you think that?”
“Think what? That you’re from hell? Or that everyone lives like you? Which one?”
No answer came, even after waiting. So, I spoke first.
“You know. That place you came from. I don’t know if you lose your humanity there or if you weren’t human to begin with and thus lack humanity. But usually, people don’t wish death even on those they hate.”
Saying that, I hugged the food supplies to my chest and ducked under Alex’s arm to slip past him.
“Besides, fighting together might have better odds than fighting alone. Despite how I seem, I’m quite selfish, so I’m not just being purely generous.”
At my words, Alex let out a low chuckle.
“The more I watch you, the more entertaining you are, Master.”
“Could you, as my summoned creature, refrain from spouting such cliché lines?”
I packed all the food from the fridge into the shopping bag sprawled across the table.
I was in the middle of packing when I felt a presence behind me, and before I could turn around, someone’s embrace reached me, clothes and all. It was Alex.
Alex Ramey, or rather the hell soul dwelling in Alex Ramey’s body, occasionally fixed his gaze on empty space while conversing with Christine Hilton. There, his status window and messages were floating.
[Hellbound Creature HP]
[■□□□□□□□□□]
[Warning! HP is critically low shortly after summoning. Recharge with the summoner before entering a dying state.]
[Personal Quest: “Bond with My Master” – Stage 1 in progress.]
Current quest status: Minor contact 2/1.
If not completed within the time limit, a penalty will be imposed.
[Time remaining: 00:02:38]
Of the two types of system messages, one was a system message shared with Christine, who had contracted with him.
The other, however, was unique to Alex—a personal quest that had persisted long before his arrival in this world. But upon forming the summoning contract, the quest’s nature seemed to have twisted into something unsettling.
Alex returned his gaze to Christine. She was currently absorbed in putting the groceries found in the refrigerator into the shopping bag. To him, she seemed a bit odd. Going out of her way to take care of companions who despised her.
And she seemed completely unaware of the situation they were both in. Even so, carrying her earlier when she was injured had conveniently fulfilled one of the quest’s requirements.
At that moment, Christine bent further to pick up a fallen apple. Her bright golden hair spilled forward, exposing the back of her pale neck. It was summer, and she wore a sleeveless top and denim shorts that revealed a fair amount of skin. The moment he learned he had to execute this bizarre quest with her, he suddenly became conscious of and started noticing such things.
Whether he hesitated or not, the merciless countdown ticked on.
10
9
8
7
6
…
He was reluctant to approach Christine, who knew nothing, because of the system-imposed relationship and quest. However, it was an unavoidable choice, as he didn’t know what consequences might befall not only himself but also her if he received penalties for breaking the time limit by delaying further.
Alex approached her as she picked up the apple and straightened her back, and gently leaned against her back.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Suddenly leaning your forehead against my back without any warning? Could it be that the playboy tendencies of Alex’s original self are somehow influencing the hell soul possessing his body?
I instinctively turned to defend myself, pushing him away with my elbow. But as I spun around, I realized I had made a grave mistake—the movement brought me face-to-face with Alex, who had stepped closer. The proximity was far too close, making the atmosphere awkward and strangely charged.
“S-so what are you doing all of a sudden?”
Alex, suddenly looking uncharacteristically somber, gave a brief answer.
“…Charging.”
“Charging? What kind of nonsense is that? Move!”
Instead of answering, Alex’s forehead dropped onto my shoulder this time, not my back. In that position, he turned his head toward me and met my eyes, his gaze filled with an unreadable depth.
“I’m sorry for the sudden behavior, but could you just stay like this without asking anything?”
The desperate tone in his voice was striking.
…Truly impressive.
What an actor.
I’m amazed thinking about how Alex’s original self must have seduced the women at Saint Louis University using such bewitching methods. And now, the demon—or whatever it was—inhabiting Alex’s body seemed to be carrying on that legacy!
Could this thing actually be an incubus? Alex, the casanova, must’ve summoned an incubus himself!
“No way, move!”
I pushed against his forehead with my palm, applying as much force as I could. But whether it was because of his athletic body or his inhuman nature, he didn’t budge an inch.
Instead, Alex lightly grasped my wrist, smoothly interlocking his fingers with mine. At the same time, he looked at me with those lethally captivating eyes. His drowsy gray eyes, with dark eyelashes casting alluring shadows, seemed like they could draw you in if you stared too long.
While I was distracted, captivated by those eyes, his other arm snaked around my waist, holding me securely.
Wait a second! Using your looks and playing the pity card to slyly trap me like this? How did I get sucked into this so easily?
The weight of him leaning into me made the edge of the table press firmly against my lower back. There was nowhere to escape.
Alex brought our interlocked hands to his lips and murmured.
“Just for a moment, okay? Being in your arms helps me calm down.”
Thank you for reading! ♡
