Chapter 27: I found a proof that horror games are the worst, but i won’t write it because i don’t have enough space.

It was a dark yet spacious room.

The only thing illuminating the room was the crackling sound of sparking electricity, warning of danger.

“Damn it all. I know we’re short on supplies, but to send us out with just this level of personnel and equipment is

practically a death sentence,” the man sighed heavily.

He understood better than anyone the value of his existence, and surely all the survivors knew it too.

Crackle!

Suddenly, sparks flew up beside him, brightening the area around the man.

“…disgusting.”

Countless corpses were sprawled about.

They were his comrades who had left the base with him.

No, it might be misleading to call them comrades.

To be precise, they were the surveillance team assigned to him from the base.

“…Well, you should blame yourselves for being born into a world like this, right?”

Rationalizing his thoughts, the man slowly lowered his head.

“This one might still be usable.”

He rummaged through the body of his fallen comrade, gathering supplies: water, medicine, food, a knife, and bullets.

He discarded the dog tags without a second thought, as he needed to keep his load as light as possible to survive.

If someone were to see this, they might condemn him for desecrating the dead.

But the man felt no hesitation in his movements.

If such a person appeared before him, he would raise a finger defiantly and ask,

‘Should I worry about you while I’m sacrificing myself, trash?’

And no one could refute that.

Without him, humanity would surely perish.

“Huh.”

Having gathered all the necessary supplies, the man took a deep breath and gripped his knife firmly.

Though he had repeated this action countless times, he still hadn’t grown accustomed to it.

But after closing his eyes and praying to God, he struck down hard with the knife.

With a scraping sound, someone’s arm was severed.

He grasped it, blood oozing from the cut.

“Ugh.”

Slowly, he brought his mouth to it.

If someone saw this, they would likely rage and point fingers, declaring he was unworthy of being human.

But if such a person appeared, he would surely say,

‘So what? Should I just die?’

“Just die! Just die and turn off the game, end it!”

Hahaha

I can feel the sincerity, haha

It feels like I’m almost about to cry

[This feels terrible.]

The gray-haired middle-aged protagonist threw his arm to the ground and said,

“That’s what I want to say!”
“Calm down, Izumi.”
“But if I don’t scream, I might really cry from fear…”

Why did they add that humans need blood to use zombie powers?

And why depict such brutal scenes in detail?

I can feel the malice of the developers…

“Well, if you cry, I’m fine since I won’t have to do a durability broadcast…”
“How can you say that? Koga is the demon of mercy?”
“What are you talking about? I’m Koga Suzuha, an angel who wants to be praised by everyone!”

I see. Koga is the demon of mercy…

“But Koga isn’t scared?”
“Hmm.”

Koga pondered my question for a moment before quietly nodding.

“Well, I told you before; I neither like nor dislike it, right? In the end, I know it’s just a game, so I’m not immersed

enough to be scared. I prefer watching people with good reactions play rather than doing it myself.”

People with good reactions? That’s totally Mei-chan.

“I’ve definitely watched several videos of ‘Dawn,’ but I don’t think anyone is as entertaining as Izumi.”
“I’m not entertaining!”

I replied while moving the keypad as quickly as possible to finish the game.

And then…
[Graaaah!]
[Dammit!]
“Gwaaaah?!!”

A current JK’s forbidden scream echoes.

As soon as I turned around, I had to witness a zombie’s arm bursting up towards the protagonist from beneath a

corpse.

Yet, with whatever rationality I could muster, I immediately pulled out my gun and began to spam the A button.

[Graaaah!]
[Dammit…]

Was my reaction too slow? The protagonist was already getting his arm torn off, his HP dropping below half.
“Yikes!”

But the face! The zombie’s face was too close! It’s disgusting! I hate it!
[Uoooooohhh!]

The scene of a zombie being torn apart, with bones exposed and flailing arms, made me want to shut my eyes tight

just from watching.

Yet the chat was buzzing with excitement, reveling in my reaction, creating a festival atmosphere.

It’s really scary, but Mei-chan’s reactions are hilarious, haha.

How about regularly streaming horror games from now on?

A planned broadcast that doesn’t stop until every horror game is conquered…

“Izumi, instead of spamming the gun there, you should roll back to create some distance before attacking,” Koga

chimed in beside me.

What is this? Is this hell?

[Ugh, these damn zombies.]

[Waaaaaaaah!!!]

“Huff, huff, huff…”

My breath quickened as I thought aimlessly, or else I might burst into tears at any moment.

But for now, I followed Koga’s advice and rolled back to create some space from the zombie.

Let’s take a breather. Yeah. Once I take down this scary thing, I’ll rest for a bit.

No one would say anything for that, right?

It’s ridiculous to keep playing this game nonstop until I beat it all.

[Just die.]

[Graaaah, argh…]

Somehow managing to whittle down the zombie’s HP, the protagonist spat out those words and plunged a knife into

the zombie’s jaw.

Then, in an instant, he twisted the knife and without hesitation severed the zombie’s neck.

“Ugh, so gross…”

The sight of the headless zombie swaying back and forth before collapsing, blood splattering everywhere, was

something that could never be beautified in my imagination.

[…It really is like hell.]

That’s what I wanted to say…

“So, let’s save for now and take a break.”

Hahaha

Since my HP was low, I drank… not blood, but a potion.

Hahaha

But something felt off in the chat.

I was just trying to drink a potion, yet it seemed like a wild spectacle was unfolding.

Did I look that ridiculous?

Well, I suppose people watch horror game streams for moments like this.

Koga had said my reactions were incredibly entertaining, so I couldn’t blame them.

Indeed, Koga was beside me, covering his mouth and laughing.

[Honestly, I don’t know when this hell will end.]

“…Huh?”

Was there some kind of dialogue when the protagonist drank the potion?

That thought crossed my mind just as…

Kugugugu…

A massive rumble echoed from the ground, and the dark room lit up with sparks of electricity.

Of course, there were countless corpses sprawled around.

Wait. This scene… I’ve definitely seen it somewhere…

[!]

Without any input from me, the protagonist’s character looked downward.

And what was there?

“Hyyaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

A huge, veiny hand of a zombie grabbed the protagonist’s leg.

“Ah…”

This was definitely in the teaser video…

The ground crumbled in an instant.

And the game’s protagonist fell through the broken floor, dragged down by the zombie’s hand.

[Waaaaaaah!]

What I saw there was a zombie that was on a whole different level—massive and grotesque.

“Hyyaaaaaaaaaah?!”

A long, split mouth revealed a glistening tongue that filled my vision, no, filled my entire sight.

How should I even describe this horrifying sight?

My mind couldn’t comprehend it.

“Izumi, this is the final boss of the first stage.”

This thing is the first stage?

No way.

I really hate horror games.

And as the sticky saliva dripped from above my character’s head, it felt like I could faint at any moment.

“Hyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”

Finally here!

Delicious screams, thank you!

“Ugh, huff, I-I hate this now… I want to stop. Huff. I want to quit….”

In the end, I lost my composure.

“Ugh.”

I had cried twice in a single day.

But the second time? Isn’t it okay to think that it doesn’t count since it was a horror game designed to make people cry?

“Are you calmed down now?” Koga asked.

“Yeah…”

As expected, Koga ended the stream for me.

I was in no condition to look at the chat or end the broadcast myself.

Fortunately, nothing seemed to have gone wrong.

In fact, everyone seemed to have enjoyed watching me cry…

“Now that you’re calm, do you want to see what you looked like earlier?”

“…Huh?”

Koga smiled brightly and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

Unlocking it and going into the gallery, he revealed a video of me.

[Hyyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!]

“Wait a second! K-Koga? Why do you have this…?!”

[Ugh, huff, I-I hate this now… I want to stop. Huff. I want to quit….]

In the video, I was curled up in my chair, covering my face with both hands and avoiding the camera’s gaze.

[It’s scary… I hate it… Huff, huff, hwaaaa…]

“How cute is that?”

“Not cute! Please turn it off, quickly! N-No, delete it!”

“Aw, I’ll just watch it myself, so let me see.”

I could definitely feel my face heating up.

If I looked in the mirror, my face would surely be as red as an apple.

“I-I don’t want to?!”

“That’s harsh.”

In the end, I had no choice but to allow Koga to keep the video under the condition that he wouldn’t show anyone

else.

Could Koga really be a fallen angel…?

“Then I guess I’ll slowly get up? No need for you to come out and meet me.”

Even though I hadn’t been able to make proper eye contact with Koga until the end, I thought it was understandable

since I had mustered a lot of courage to do this off-collab.

“I’ll contact you when I get home in a bit. You have to manage being alone well, okay?”

“…I-I’m not lonely at all.”

Koga said that as he stretched and got up, and I waved my hand toward him with my head down…

…01?

‘You have to manage being alone well?’

Alone?

Now that I thought about it, my mom wouldn’t be back home for a while because of her business trip.

My sister was out of the question.

I was used to being home alone, but today… alone at home?

[Waaaaaaaah!]

What flashed through my mind was the scene of the giant zombie from “The Dawn Does Not Brighten,” showing its

glistening tongue from its gaping mouth.

“I-I hate it…”

“Hmm?”

Koga turned to look at me for a moment after hearing my mumbling.

“Did you call for me?”

I knew this was an incredibly selfish request.

But if I sent Koga away now, there’s no way I’d be able to sleep at night.

No, it wouldn’t just be a matter of not sleeping; I would definitely be trembling all night.

I might even cry again.

But it’s scary.

That thing would definitely show up in my dreams…

It could be called a trauma at this point.

Just imagining it was enough to make my eyes well up.

“K-Koga.”

“Yeah?”

“I-I, um, I was wondering if you could stay here for the night…?”

The jet-black eyes of Koga, which I had finally looked at properly today, showed a hint of surprise.
“…Huh?”

His expression was undoubtedly colored with surprise.