“No, Sir! I told you to only have one every hour!”
“…”
“Well, you should have had about two by now, at most, but I’ve given you five! If you consume all of these…”
“Consume them?”
The guy suddenly interrupted me, his mouth half-opened.
“If you…”
I immediately lowered my gaze and corrected my slip of the tongue. I had gotten too excited and raised my voice too much.
I suddenly realized he was close enough to choke me if he stood up.
‘I was actually an idiot.’
I thought to myself as I stumbled backward to put some distance between me and him.
Back to my original position in front of the door, I shouted, feeling embarrassed.
“Anyway! What will you do when you finish all the potions?”
Cassel, who had been silently observing my ridiculous actions until then, finally spoke up.
“Didn’t Adam Hailey order you to prevent me from falling asleep no matter what?”
“…Yes, of course.”
“One bottle per hour wasn’t enough. Judging from their limited effectiveness, it seems the quality of the potions you made is of low quality.”
He rambled on, provoking the pride of the apothecary NPC hidden within me.
‘The potions are all the same. There’s no issue with their quality!’
There was nothing wrong with the potions; they were just made by gathering ingredients and paying a fee to the NPC for the request.
Furthermore, the fact that the NPC was me annoyed me even more.
“Sir, there’s nothing wrong with the potions.”
“I’ll have to inform the Count tomorrow that the apothecary wishes for Hailey’s demise.”
“What?! How can you make such a terrible accusation? My innocence has already been proven to the Count.”
“Then it’s not my problem, isn’t it?”
I shouted in frustration, but the guy cut me off sharply.
And with a voice as cold as a thousand years ago, he muttered,
“It’s hard to understand your gibberish. Just give me all the awakening potions you have and get out of here if you don’t want to die.”
“…”
I lost my words in the face of his high and mighty attitude.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a reason why he would eat all five and then act like a lunatic.
I could speculate that he was upset, felt trapped in this situation, or was frustrated for various reasons, but according to the setting of the protagonist, he was supposed to desperately struggle to prevent disaster.
In fact, many of the scars on his bare body were the result of self-harm he had inflicted on himself to stay awake.
‘Could it be… that he developed an immunity sooner than expected and wanted to hide it because he was embarrassed and ashamed?’
The Cassel enthusiasts in the community praised him as a warm-hearted tsundere who didn’t fit the image of a character without blood or tears.
Before a major danger arrived, he would evacuate his comrades and the people around him just because he found it bothersome, and face the danger alone.
Seeing him tell me to leave just a while ago made me think that maybe that was the real reason.
“By any chance… have you already developed immunity to the potion?”
“How would I know that? You, who made inferior potions, probably know better.”
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] has some doubts about your abilities. 」
I speculated too much. They were like crazy psycho fans.
“…I’ll stay with you tonight and see if you have developed immunity.”
There was no other choice. I had to watch him closely to see if he had really developed a tolerance.
Considering his personality, which was so determined not to fall asleep that he would drink all the potions even at the risk of harming himself, there was a high probability that he had just consumed the potions out of an obsessive fear of sleep.
“First, take one when you feel like you’re about to fall asleep.”
I took out an awakening potion from my pocket.
The countdown window disappeared since he consumed all five potions.
With no other choice, I decided to start measuring time again from the moment he felt sleepy, and I sat down in place.
Recalling my days of playing bowling in real life, I focused on rolling the bottle with all my might.
Roll… Thud.
Fortunately, the bottle rolled precisely and stopped at his feet.
‘Nice!’
I unconsciously pumped my fist, congratulating myself on the strike.
“Ha.”
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] is offended by your actions. 」
With the system window appearing suddenly, he raised an eyebrow and chuckled sarcastically.
“What do you think you’re doing now?”
“To ensure my safety, I’ll use this method to give you the potions from now on.”
“I’d rather you shoot me like you did before.”
“Oh, should I?”
Before I could respond with that being a good idea, the text in the system window changed.
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] feels a strong urge to kill you. 」
“No, it was just a joke! How could I ever do that?”
“…”
“But earlier, I was just trying to check if you were okay, and you tried to kill me…!”
I hurriedly defended myself, but I couldn’t hide the unfairness in my voice.
This psycho guy was ready to kill me if I got too close or even just tried to make contact.
‘How am I supposed to appease him other than this…?!’
Although I was full of resentment and anger towards the troublesome guy, I gradually shrank under his intense gaze.
“I’m scared of being strangled again…”
Just because it didn’t hurt didn’t mean it wasn’t scary.
Even though I could kill them with a single skill, facing a horde of monsters with a grotesque appearance was always difficult.
Plus, I’d still be scared to death if I ever got strangled and lost my voice again.
I was human, not an AI character.
The guy, who had been glaring at me with disdain for a while, suddenly turned his head.
In the silent stillness, he asked.
“Do you have any more health potions?”
“Yes.”
I replied affirmatively. With that, the conversation with the guy was over.
…or so I thought.
Swish!
The guy unexpectedly snatched the potion bottle that had stopped at his feet.
“Why are you drinking it again? Hey!”
Cassel swallowed the purple liquid in one gulp before I could stop him.
Then, after tossing the empty bottle casually onto the ground, he nonchalantly spoke.
“You told me to drink it when I felt sleepy.”
I took a deep breath, afraid that I would scream if I opened my mouth.
‘He just downed all five potions like that.’
Obsessive or not, he seemed to drink it as soon as it was in front of him.
If he continued like this, I wouldn’t be able to properly assess his tolerance.
I opened my mouth after calming myself as much as possible, intending to scold him like a problem child.
“…I meant for you to drink it only when you’re about to fall asleep. Only in a really urgent situation when you’re about to fall asleep.”
“Just now was urgent.”
“You were wide awake just a moment ago.”
“Then what if, for example, my limbs are tied up with magic chains, my strength is sealed, and I’m just sitting here quietly but I’m not allowed to fall asleep, damn it?”
“Try to endure it a bit, you…!”
Caught off guard by the sudden outburst, I also shouted.
In response, he immediately narrowed his eyes and asked, “What?”
“…uh, Sir!”
I added with tears in my eyes.
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] dislikes you. 」
With the ominous system message and all, I had no choice but to bow my head.
I had been too complacent in thinking that he couldn’t come this far.
“…Anyway, I’m going to start timing you again from now on, and I’d appreciate it if you could hold out as long as you can.”
Provoking him further would only be detrimental to me, so I spoke with a subdued voice.
“If you develop immunity, it will be tough for you too, Sir…”
“If you’re suggesting that we all grope each other while we sleep, then serve up your lowly potions and get lost.”
“…”
“I’ll make sure to tell the Count about it so you won’t be tracked down.”
Even if I tried to offer reassuring words, all I got in return was a snide remark.
‘I really want to get out of here right now.’
Is leaving the only option here?
I was someone who wished more than anything to quit the game itself.
Although I had a strong urge to shout back immediately, I had to restrain myself.
After all, my counterpart was a character with a destructive personality, even capable of killing players.
“…I can’t even give him a punch.”
As I stared into space for a moment with lowered eyes, I thought to myself.
“What did you just say?”
Oh no. I thought I said it quietly in my head, but I made a mistake.
Whether he had picked up what I had muttered quietly or if he had guessed, he straightened up from leaning against the wall.
Clank―!
As if making a threat, he shook the chains hanging from the handcuffs roughly and uttered in a menacing tone.
“Try saying that again.”
“I didn’t say anything. Maybe you’re so sleepy that you’re hearing things.”
Since things had come to this point, I just sighed.
He couldn’t charge at me right away, and besides, I had no intention of handing over the awakening potion and leaving.
Originally, the setting was that he would become hostile when he found out that the player was trying to prevent the disaster.
However…
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] is having slightly violent thoughts towards you. 」
With the ominous system message, the guy spoke.
“Count Hailey has finally lost it, entrusting a crucial mission to a nutjob like you.”
‘The developers lost their minds a long time ago, entrusting the role of the protagonist to a psycho like you.’
As I mimicked Cassel’s lines in my mind, I foresaw that my intimacy level with the protagonist had just crossed a point of no return.
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