2-1. Sure, you have skills now, but nobody ever said you can use them as you please.
Translated by Yonnee
Crazy, seriously. No matter how tired I was, how could I fall asleep there? I caught the serial killer’s eye even more.
On my way back to my room, I beat myself up and tore my hair out of the roots. My plan was to find clues as quietly as possible so that I could get out of this game, but looking back on my actions in the past few days, there’s not one thing that I did covertly.
I belatedly realized that the way I spoke and acted in front of Adrian just now would have been far from how Hilda characteristically was. The instinctive grit not to lose anymore money overcame the fear and terror that I should have felt.
But the good thing about this all was that, as I returned to my room, I wasn’t charged for the damages to Adrian’s bedding. My remaining 6 gold—which was what’s left from my 80% salary cut for today’s wages—never looked more precious and shiny.
If I was also charged for Adrian’s bed, sheets and pillows, even if I worked my entire life with this tiny salary, I’m never gonna financially recover from this.
In a different sense, my main goal of getting out of this game as soon as possible was with the mindset of a debtor being chased by loan sharks.
Still, what a relief. I talked to the other concerned party and resolved the case.
Answering the question of ‘why won’t you look at me’ was a price all too worth it to pay.
Rather, it’s surprising that Adrian was conscious of the fact that I’d been deliberately avoiding his gaze. To Adrian, I should just be something like ‘Passerby Servant #58’. He had so many people working under him that I was just one of those ordinary servants.
“Whatever. I’m beat. Let’s just sleep and wake up the next morning and think about it then.”
I had some immaculate sleep in Adrian’s room, but even that wasn’t enough to get rid of all the fatigue that had accumulated. I first took off my mud-laden work clothes and washed them, then I went towards my bed—in a religious and reverential manner—and tried to lie down.
But, as if it was waiting for the chance, an invisible hand pushed my back once again.
「 You cannot lie down because there is no pillow. 」
Ah, right. I forgot about this.
These damn white letters were the main culprit of everything that happened.
If the letters hadn’t made me angry in the first place, I wouldn’t have punched the pillow and lowered its durability until it broke apart.
If it wasn’t for that measly durability, then I wouldn’t have racked up all that fatigue.
If it hadn’t been for the fatigue, then I wouldn’t have fallen asleep in Adrian’s room.
If I didn’t fall asleep in Adrian’s room, then I wouldn’t have caught his attention.
If it wasn’t for catching his attention, then my survival rate wouldn’t have plummeted like this to the point that I’m better off dead by now.
If my life ends with ‘Adrian’s demonic power has recovered by 1 point,’ then this game system was half to blame for it.
“You hear that? If I die here, you’re to blame for more than half the causes!”
The system remained silent and didn’t even bother to reply. I knew it was inanimate, but I cursed at it so much that I might just feel guilty. ‘It’s all because of you.’ ‘Do you not have any conscience in you.’ ‘Are you really saying that I can’t lie down without a pillow when all this is your fault?’ ‘Slave driver, miscreant employer, swindler, gangster.’ Etcetera, etcetera.
Despite feeling a twinge in my conscience, I felt a whole lot better after letting out everything I thought of. Somehow, the system even looked like it calmed down a little, too.
“So can I sleep on the bed now?”
After all this, you won’t say that I can’t lie down without a pillow again, will you?
「 You cannot lie down because there is no pillow. 」
This system really has no conscience. When I played CCGs¹ before, I used to spend 500,000 won just to get 5-star characters. But here, it’s even more unfair since I couldn’t pick anything at all.
“Where can I even get a pillow this late in the night?!”
But if I can’t sleep without a pillow tonight, then my fatigue would just increase again, and when working tomorrow, I don’t know what kind of damages I’ll be charged with—I might just lose my precious 6 gold.
Then I wouldn’t be able to buy a pillow because I don’t have money, and I can’t make money because I’m too tired without a pillow…
To break this vicious cycle, I’m gonna have to do something about it. Immediately.
I woke up the already sleeping Emily and asked where Anna was.
“Hilda… You really don’t know?”
“Y-Yeah. I can’t remember clearly. These days, I’ve been having some trouble remembering.”
“You’re just really… huaaahm.”
After trying to wake her up for a while now, Emily finally rose from bed, but didn’t seem to have any intention of arguing.
“But why Anna?”
“I was wondering if I could buy a pillow from her.”
When the pillow’s durability dropped the first time, the white letters said, ‘Would you like to visit Anna to have it repaired?’ So, since she knew how to fix pillows, can’t I buy one from her?
“What are you talking about, Hilda? Anna doesn’t sell any pillows. Though if your pillow’s seams burst, you can take it to her and get it patched up.”
“What? Then where can I buy one?”
“You should go to the village and buy it there, of course.”
Village…
“Thanks for letting me know, Emily. Sorry for waking you up.”
“This is nothing between us.”
Emily smiled so brightly that the side of my chest where my heart ached. Emily clearly cared for Hilda very much. Even if it’s left unsaid, I could feel it just by observing her behavior, actions and the gentle look she gave me.
But I felt sorry about taking the place of her friend like this… I mean, I know I didn’t do it on purpose, but…
“Good night and sweet dreams, Hilda. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“Yeah, sleep tight.”
As I bid Emily good night and turned around, I felt strangely uncomfortable. It’s not that I wished to be in this position, but it felt to me like I was taking advantage of the goodwill around Hilda, even if it was unintentional.
“…Don’t think too much about it and just get ahold of a pillow first.”
At this very moment, there’s nothing more important to me.
I left the dark manor and headed towards the front gates. The front yard was so wide that I couldn’t see ahead, and I hadn’t even the slightest clue how long I’d have to walk to get to the village, but I marched out straight away without any hesitation.
Whether the cause was the fact that I didn’t have a pillow or the fact that I’m out to get one now, I wouldn’t be able to sleep either way. At the very least, going out to get one seemed to be less hopeless, so let’s try that.
¹ CCG – ‘collectible card game’ is the term I settled on, but what Hilda was referring to here was a videogame (not a card game) where the main focus was collecting characters. CCG is just a better-known term, afaik.
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