TFBHG — Chapter 2

Rose took my silence as a sign of submission and pressed in further.

“I already asked you, and you still haven’t answered. Are you hiding something?”

Very perceptive… But I won’t tell the truth here. I can’t.

“Alright, alright. I think we’re all just a little shaken from what happened. Let’s try to calm down, shall we?”

The man with glasses interjected while I was just about to offer a vague excuse myself.

“…Um, are you alright?”

A soft tug at my sleeve. I turned to see a short girl. Her voice was hesitant.

I didn’t reply. Just offered a small, careful smile.

That brief flicker of connection must’ve been enough because in the next moment, her character info popped up.

Jamie hadn’t caught my attention before. In the game, she dies early. I hadn’t expected to speak to her at all.

“Alright then. Since we’re all here, why don’t we introduce ourselves properly?”

Not a bad idea.

Something had gone wrong when I possessed the player because details were off, and large parts of the story and system information felt like they’d been wiped clean.

I couldn’t rely on memory alone anymore.

In a game where your life is on the line, even the smallest clue makes the difference between surviving and bleeding out.

And so the introductions began.

“My name is Victor Winchester. I run a fairly extensive business in the capital.”

“Oh! Are you the owner of VON Restaurants?”

Victor offered a faint, practiced smile when Rose recognized him.

“You’re quite knowledgeable.”

I hadn’t had the time to think, but I, too, knew about him.

Victor was one character who survived the game, but appearances can deceive.

Behind that kind smile hides something rotten.

A two-faced manipulator. The kind who wouldn’t hesitate to stab you in the back the moment you let your guard down.

I’ll have to keep an eye on him.

Next, the broad-shouldered man spoke.

“Luke Tail. I do… this and that.”

He didn’t bother specifying his job for a ‌reason.

Luke was part of a guild that took all kinds of jobs, often through the black market.

Still, he had a code. In some ways, he was more trustworthy than Victor.

“Hello. I’m James Dievo. I’m… an aspiring singer.”

James didn’t leave much of an impression. He was quiet and, if my memory serves me right, he died not long after the game began.

“Hah. I’m basically stuck with a bunch of nobodies except for Mr. Victor.”

Rose, with that sharp mouth of hers, couldn’t help spitting out one more comment.

Then finally—my turn. As if waiting, the system popped up.

“My name is Kate.”

I gave it scant consideration. Just blurting out the name of an actress I liked.

“No last name?”

“Just call me Kate.”

Rose crossed her arms, gaze tilted and sharp.

“Hah. Alright then, what exactly do you do? Why are you so calm? Do you know something?”

In the game, this choice lacked consequences. Something you’d click past blindly.

But now that I was tied to it, it wasn’t easy.

Okay, let’s hide it.

Being honest here was a risk I couldn’t afford.

“I’m unemployed. And I’ve always had this face—I just don’t show much emotion. That’s probably why I seem so calm and… Oh, right. You asked if I know something?”

I gave a faint smile.

“Wish I did. But I’ve just read a lot of mystery and horror novels. That’s all. Good imagination, I guess.”

Jamie brightened at that, the corners of her lips twitching into a faint smile. She felt a sense of kinship, maybe.

“Hah! Unemployed? Imaginative? You expect us to believe that?”

Rose was still suspicious.

“If you don’t, that’s your problem. But it’s the truth.”

“Tch.”

Her lips parted, like she wanted to speak, but she snapped her head to the side.

“Then, are we done with the introductions?”

“No.”

“Hm? Who’s left?”

“Me.”

“Eek!”

Rose shrieked, grabbing onto my arm like.

“W-who are you?!”

“Was he here the whole time?”

Everyone else was startled.

And honestly? So was I.

What the hell? When did he show up? I had no idea…

There were six, including me. All the way from the start, when we entered the cabin—six.

And now, suddenly, there was a boy.

A strange boy.

Really… who are you?

He had eyes like lavender—glass-like, pale and translucent. His skin was as white as paper, and his ash-grey hair shone silver in the firelight.

That’s strange. Was there supposed to be a new character introduced here?

It feels… vaguely familiar. Like I’ve seen this before, or maybe I just missed something.

My memory isn’t exactly whole, anyway.

Seriously? The only sane responses cost gold? I just cleared the prologue. Of course, I have no gold!

I clenched my teeth, holding back a curse, and picked the only available option.

“What were you doing, sneaking around like a rat?”

The boy didn’t say a word in response to my pointed question.

“Goodness. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

Jamie looked at me as if I were being heartless.

I don’t have a choice. I’m broke!

“I’m not trying to take sides,” Rose said. “But in a situation like this, isn’t it normal to be suspicious?”

For once, she had a point.

The mood shifted. Something uneasy rippled through the group, and the silence stretched. 

Then the boy finally spoke.

“I was hiding. But I’ve been here since the beginning. You’re the ones who barged in.”

Now that I think about it… he isn’t wrong.

I was just about to smooth things over, soften my earlier tone, when another choice popped up.

What the hell with these choices? Why does it look like the game’s trying to make me look like a total a**hole?

These decisions could change the story route entirely. Was it really okay for the system to force things like this?

Sorry, kid. I’m broke right now. I’ll treat you better once I’ve earned some gold.

I cleared my throat, trying to soften my voice.

“You’re the only one left. Don’t play dumb and tell us who you are.”

“I… don’t remember. I lost my memory, so I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“Oh, you poor thing. Is that why you were hiding here?”

Jamie pushed up her oversized glasses, voice full of sympathy.

But I didn’t buy it. For someone with amnesia, he was far too calm.

“You mean you don’t even know your name?”

“No. Could you give me one, sis? Just something temporary?”

“Me?”

He pointed straight at me. There was something off about it. I couldn’t say why—just a subtle wrongness, crawling under the skin.

The system was giving me a choice.

After a brief pause, I spoke.

“Then… Nini?”

For reference, Nini was the name of the cat I’d raised for sixteen years. A baby who’d left me for the stars. Honestly, aside from the gray hair and those strangely translucent eyes, they didn’t look alike at all.

I don’t know why that name came to mind.

“Nini… Nini.”

The boy repeated it softly, testing it out.

“…Not bad.”

Fortunately, he liked it.

Nini’s name was added to the character card list. And being added like that meant he was significant. Possibly a hidden NPC.

“Nini, want to come with us?”

“I’d like that.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Rose screeched, vibrating with indignation.

“Kate! You can’t decide that on your own!”

“Ugh. My poor ears.”

I winced, covering one ear.

“Look, I don’t think it’s right to leave him here alone.”

Of course, the real reason was that he might be useful later.

“Besides, the more the merrier, wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Victor?”

I slipped his name in.

Time to use Victor a little.

“I agree,” picking up my words as if they were his own.

Then immediately launched into a speech like he’d just been elected group leader.

But none of us had the luxury of sitting around and listening.