I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game

I was watching the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion blooming beyond the screen.

I then put my head in my hands and muttered.

"Haa... That was too much, Alice."

In many ways.

Deep down, I hoped Alice would run away.

Of course, given her personality, she would never abandon her companions and run away.

The suggestion that she could run away if she couldn't handle it was advice, not a suggestion, but it didn't get through to her.

I was nervous because the instructions about the Machine God were not explained very well.

This is what happened in the end.

Aside from the fact that the higher-ups were so shocked by the launch of the nuclear missiles that their alert level towards Alice went up significantly.

There is something else that is important.

I walked towards a place with several of my subordinates.

A room being used as a temporary office by one of the other research directors.

I stood in front of the door.

If my suspicions are correct, I will have to kill this person, one of the directors who had witnessed the conflict between the Machine God and Alice, with my own hands.

'I really hope not, because it's annoying.'

Ant.

That was the name of the director I would meet if I opened the door in front of me.¹

According to my investigation, he was a diligent and productive person... With no religious affiliation either.

Though he had an innocent appearance that made him hard to suspect, there was something strange about him, and that was that there was a subtle believer-like tone and expression in his reports.

And he had a history of making unnecessarily aggressive assessments of devils and exterminating them.

'...Actually, there is no solid evidence up to this point.'

After I verified my identity by swiping my security card, I asked to meet with the research director about something important.

A very, very important matter, indeed.

I waited for him to come out with a friendly smile on my face.

POV Switch - 3rd Person

Although it wasn't Carol's intention, she was known as quite an eccentric to the other research directors.

She is persistent and sharp, and she is the type of person who can be annoying if turned into an enemy.

Ant believed that behind the smiling expression on the screen was a poisonous snake, so he tried not to scratch it and make a mess.

So he opened the door.

Carol greeted him cheerfully.

"Hello, Director Ant, how are you?"

"I'm always well. How about you, Director Carol?"

"Well~ Of course I'm fine! Alice brilliantly took down the troublemaker."

Carol subtly scanned his office with her sharp analytical skills.

Noticing Ant's broken coffee cup, she allowed a faint smile to play on her lips.

Ant was displeased to see Carol's pride in Alice, whom she was responsible for.

"Impressive, indeed. But she's too dangerous. Are you sure we should leave her as she is?"

"Well, while we might be able to restrain her if we wanted, there will be no gains without taking risks. Have you ever dealt a significant blow to the Machine God?"

Ant couldn't argue with that.

Carol scanned Ant's room again.

A special ink bottle had been knocked over.

She noticed the same ink on his hands.

Carol narrowed her eyes.

She remembered seeing that ink on some documents that had been previously stolen.

"That's true, but..."

"Oh, have you heard the rumors?"

"What?"

Out of the blue, Carol brought up a rumor.

Ant asked back in confusion, but Carol didn't change her question.

"There's a rumor that one of the lab directors is a spy for another organization. It's such a ridiculous story, don't you think?"

Very direct words.

Saying something like that to his face could only mean she was openly suspecting him.

Ant was puzzled.

"...This is a matter to ask the higher-ups of the Institution. Could you please tell me where you heard such a rumor?"

"Before that..."

Carol began to approach Ant step by step.

Ant flinched, but Carol just sat down on the chair next to him.

She sat with her legs crossed, making a gesture that could hardly be considered polite.

She then pressed him with laughter.

"Are you still using things like this these days?"

What was in Carol's hand was a fountain pen.

It was also a model that had been used for a long time.

The fountain pen's age alone gave it a dreamlike feel.

"Sometimes old things are better."

"Ahaha... Old things are better. That's definitely true. So... What did you write with this pen?"

"...Nothing special."

Ant hid a paper, but Carol snatched it.

The contents of the paper were as follows.

[The king lined up the sinners.

The king was truly of a gentle nature and pardoned their crimes one by one.

The king asked.

"You, little child, what crime have you committed?"

The child said, I was hungry, so I killed and ate my pet.

The king forgave the child, seeing his remorse.

The king asked the next sinner.

"You, the one who is crying, what crime have you committed?"

The sinner said, I was driven by pleasure and killed someone.

The king forgave him, seeing his repentance.

The king asked the last sinner.

"You, the girl with blonde hair, what crime have you committed?"

The girl answered, I impersonated the king and actually tried to become the king.

The girl was repentant.

Then the king said.

"Execute her."]

Carol reacted dramatically upon reading the contents of the paper.

"...Oh! This is such an interesting story! And the writing is cute too. Is it some kind of riddle? Or poetry? I'm also very knowledgeable when it comes to poetry."

"It wasn't written with any particular meaning."

"I see."

"..."

"Then why did you send it to another organization?"

"...!"

"That ink and pen, when used together, form an anomalous tool that can transmit thoughts to others just by writing. Did you think I wouldn't understand what this message means either, traitor?"

"You knew."

Ant's face distorted.

How she recognized the anomalous tool he managed was unclear, but the important thing was that she understood the message.

"Oh my, you're glaring at me so fiercely. What's the problem?"

"Don't you understand even after seeing that? A machine claiming to be a god. The Ruler's power is indeed blasphemous but powerful enough to be called an authority. It is a hidden power that overwhelmingly surpasses other anomalous objects! Indeed. The only force that can cut off this power is the divine power of the true absolute being."

Divine power. The influence of the absolute being believed in by Christianity.

It's a devil's weakness, but if handled well, it can also suppress the authority itself.

The reason the Institution established a cooperative relationship with the Cathedral, a group of interest, was not necessarily to eradicate the increased number of devils.

Study of divine power.

It was to handle the unknown power.

Carol pouted her lips and mocked him.

"Oh, is that so? Then you should've quit a long time ago. The cathedral is full of pretentiousness. So? Alice defeated that power, so what are you going to do?"

"Are you kidding me?! It's impossible. In tales, devils can only suppress Rulers, not defeat them. It is impossible except by divine power. But you said Alice surpassed that, even if only for a moment? Nonsense! That can't be possible!!"

What he wanted to say is that it is impossible for the power of a devil to overcome the power of a Ruler.

Carol found it so funny that she almost laughed.

"Well, I don't see why not. It's more useful than your dwindling divine power, so I prefer it."

"...! How!"

Bang!

Carol shot Ant with her pistol.

The bullet pierced him and soaked the paper with blood.

She looked down at him coldly and took out a cross from his pocket.

"Well, thank you for confessing, Ant. It's an immediate execution."

As Carol handed the cross to a staff member, she said.

"Everyone, please search this room and gather more evidence that he was a traitor. There is a very high chance that I'll face disciplinary action due to my rash actions."

After she said that, Carol lost herself in her thoughts.

'The Cathedral has somewhat figured out Alice's identity... Hmm... I don't know about the higher-ups in the Institution... It's hard to predict whether they'll contact me if they realize it or just ignore it.'

Carol thought for a while and then started to get annoyed by herself.

She ruffled her black hair.

"Tsk! First of all, I need to make preparations. Ah, how can I get the P-702 that the Cathedral keeps? What a headache. Why am I always stuck with such troublesome tasks? I shouldn't have made a deal with that damned devil. Well, Alice is an exception, of course."

"Director Carol. Alice is looking for you."

Carol smiled brightly at those words.

She stopped what she was doing, stood up, entrusted the task to an employee, and walked towards Alice's containment room.

"When a lovely girl calls, who wouldn't go? Our little darling must have a lot of questions."

...

POV Switch - Alice

I created a mirror in the isolation room and safely moved with Mason.

The mirror was also removed before the aftereffects of the explosion were transmitted through it.

"Are you okay, Mason?"

I asked him in my arms.

"Ah... It's okay, but..."

"That's a relief."

Mason was still dazed.

Because he suddenly went through so much.

After he calmed down, I spoke to him.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you all."

I made a sad face.

To comfort me, he pretended to be truly okay.

"We are not in a position where we must be protected, but it's just that it's not entirely satisfactory that they died in battle after a fierce fight. But I'm okay."

The acting was too obvious.

Mason wouldn't be a very good actor.

"Really?"

When I asked that, he looked even sadder than me.

I noticed that his spirit was damaged.

"...That's not true. No matter what the reason, the fact that my colleagues were sacrificed by an unknown monster is something hard to accept."

I hugged Mason.

"Alice...?"

"I have a talent for calming people down, so trust me."

It might be a bit embarrassing, though.

"Mason, how did you feel when you faced that giant mechanical hand?"

Mason began to find peace of mind as he listened to the steady beating of my heart.

I questioned Mason as if giving him a psychological therapy session.

"I was scared. I couldn't resist. I was weak and nothing more than a handful of dust."

"But still, you tried your best until the end. It was because of you that I, who had been exiled, could come back. In the end, you survived."

"..."

"It's not your fault that you couldn't protect your comrades, and you're not weak. Rather, you are a strong person. How can a human who dares to resist a gigantic monster be dust?"

"..."

His shattered spirit began to piece itself back together.

I spoke warm words to soothe his wounds, filling in the missing gaps.

"If you ever encounter a monster so terrifying that you can't possibly resist it again, as long as you don't give up, I'll appear again."

"..."

"So, come on, Mason. Get up now. You have your adventure to go on. There's no need for it to be eventful or for you to struggle to overcome something. Just don't stop. Walk the path you want to take."

"I owe you a lot."

Mason heard me and stood up.

He'll go his own way now, whether it's back to being an active member of the Institution or wiping his memory and going back to being a normal person.

Thud.

"What?"

Mason collapsed.

His tension released, and he fell asleep.

I smiled at his peaceful slumber...

Then I jumped onto the bed and buried my blushing face in the pillow!!

"...I did something embarrassing again...! Urgh..."

I rubbed my face in my pillow in agony.

I wondered if I had been too impulsive again.

I was worried I might have seemed foolish.

When I see someone hurt like that, I just want to comfort them.

...This isn't the time for this.

I immediately went to find Carol.

There were mountains of things I wanted to ask.

Not long after, she came into my isolation room, slyly waving her hand at me.

"They said you were looking for me, Alice. Before we talk, let me just say this. If you hug men like that, they'll misunderstand, you know? Except for me, all men are beasts, beasts."

"...?"

I tilted my head, wondering if Carol was confused about her gender.

But she seemed unaware that she had said that.

Sometimes she says weird things like that, so I let it slide.

"I'll apologize first. I admit it was extreme to launch nuclear missiles. But honestly, I couldn't think of any other way."

I expected Carol to have something to say about that.

But her reaction was surprisingly warm.

"Oh, that? The higher-ups were shocked, but you don't need to apologize. Alice was in danger too... And you wanted to bring peace to those who had been turned into machines while still alive, right? In the most certain way."

"That's right. You noticed."

Carol knew.

She can see through my thoughts and is really smart.

But that's exactly why it was suspicious.

"Of course I knew. I'm very interested in Alice. I'm the number one person who knows the most about Alice in this world."

Carol shrugged her shoulders proudly.

She always claimed to know everything about me.

I asked Carol.

"You knew everything, didn't you?"

Carol avoided my gaze.

"...Huh? What is this atmosphere? It's just plain scary. Can I go home?"

I thought there was no way that smart Carol wouldn't know about the situation.

Carol's meaningful comments at the beginning are nothing more than a blatant indication that she is hiding something.

...Thinking back, I should have been more persistent in questioning her.

"You knew everything about what the Institution was doing, didn't you, Carol? I have a feeling. I smell something fishy about you. How much did you know about this?"

Instead of answering, Carol looked at me bitterly.

"...Are you disappointed, Alice?"

"I figured the Institution wouldn't stop at anything if it meant benefiting humanity. I didn't have high hopes, but it's still unpleasant to experience firsthand."

Carol looked at me with a surprised expression.

I had said I was disappointed in the Institution, but I hadn't specifically said I was disappointed in her.

Carol continued with a sly smile.

"Is that so? I don't want to be hated by Alice, so I'll tell you a few things."

"Sly..."

"You're really angry this time... The first thing I'm going to tell you is about that Machine God."

"..."

I listened to the story.

But Carol was about to open her mouth when she saw my expression and stopped.

"Ah. I really didn't hide it. I personally used my resources and only found out about it now. Really. Reeally."

I tried to focus on the story, but my inability to control my expression must have made Carol think I doubted her.

It probably seemed to Carol that I was thinking something like, she knew but kept it hidden.

Carol must have thought I was really angry.

In fact, I was angry.

However, I had no intention of blaming it all on Carol.

To clear up the misunderstanding, I apologized.

"Okay, just tell me. There are things that are difficult for you to talk about, and I don't want to be self-centered. I'm not doubting you. I'm just a little angry. Even if you did hide it, I appreciate that you're telling me now."

"Is that so..."

Carol stared at me with eyes that showed her complicated feelings.

Among them, the emotion that is clearly visible is affection, guilt, and bitterness.

I'm not sure why Carol feels the way she does.

Still, I thought she would have her own backstory since she is a human after all.

This is also my feeling, but I don't think Carol is a bad person.

She began telling me what she knew.

"That Machine God is one of the entities our Institution is particularly wary of. In other words, it's one of the Rulers."

I asked Carol about the word Ruler.

"The term doesn't mean exactly what it says, does it?"

"No. Among the numerous anomalous entities, they are those with anomalous abilities that can have a profound impact on reality and are intelligent beings that can single-handedly trigger a scenario of destruction of humanity. We call them Rulers."

I frowned at the unexpected appearance of strong enemies.

No. In fact, I vaguely thought that such things might exist.

If there is an Institution that protects humanity in a creative work, there are bound to be monsters equivalent to it.

"Things have suddenly gotten very serious."

"The number of Rulers we have identified is seven. The Machine God is one of them. His goal is domination. To achieve domination easily, he tried to get the Institution under his control."

"...And how?"

"Manipulating the threads of fate. The Machine God manipulated the fate of the Institution so that, one way or another, we would send an expedition to the factory. Then he used the expedition team as proxies, using them as characters in a play."

"..."

"The content of the play was different, but the ending was always the same. In the end, the last surviving human would become his follower and come under his control. That is the fate he ultimately manipulated for us.

"He had the power to directly translate what happened in the play to reality."

"You understand well. What happened to the expedition in the play had a direct impact on the members of the Institution. If they were crushed to death there, some members would die under industrial equipment. If they committed suicide, there would be a surge in depression cases. Of course, even though he manipulated fate, it seemed to be quite challenging to have the Institution fall into the Machine God's hands without any context. The Institution endured numerous casualties, but somehow managed to hold out until the sixty-six time. But as the Institution's fate steadily shifted towards being under his control, and as the limits were becoming clear, Alice, you were sent."

The 66th time... They held out for an incredible amount of time.

"..."

"Alice?"

"Haa... Yeah. The Institution was desperate too. I'll stop being angry. Thank you for telling me."

"As expected of our Alice! But you can't tell anyone else what I just said. I could really die. If you must tell, at least do so when the related mission has been assigned."

"Okay."

I was lost in thought.

How should we deal with that huge enemy?

Half-baked monsters won't work on him.

Even strong monsters like the Radio Head didn't have much of an effect. In that case...

...We might need the power of special monsters.

But even I can't summon them recklessly.

Conditions must be met and it is unclear whether they will respond to my call.

As I continued to think, Carol tapped my shoulder.

"I've told you everything I know, so how about a reward..."

"..."

Squeeze, squeeze...

"Kyaa! So soft!"

"..."

I let Carol touch my cheeks as much as she wanted and continued thinking.

The ones the Machine God referred at the end about protecting are probably the children.

Just as he couldn't change my fate of winning, he can't alter my destiny.

But perhaps he noticed the existence of the kids by seeing the thread of fate that was intertwined with me.

It is difficult to monitor and protect them 24 hours a day.

It would turn into an endless war of attrition.

However, there is no way to attack him directly and defeat him.

There are too many constraints when working alone.

'I might need some cooperation.'

The Institution cannot be trusted.

They hide too much!

Once something happens that cannot be dealt with due to missing information, it is too late.

This should be the last time I lose a friend.

'If those kids die, I...'

No, let's not think negatively.

How about borrowing the power of another force?

The priest mentioned other devils.

He said I was the 7th.

If so, there must be at least 6 more.

What if I meet those guys?

I asked Carol, but even though she knows some of them, this is top-secret information, so she can't just tell me like a vending machine.

She gave information about the Machine God because we're inevitably going to face him as an enemy, but the devils from tales are also tricky just like Rulers.

Carol is an informant who favors me and occasionally gives me important information.

Relationships should not be ruined by making unreasonable demands.

'Should I try to meet them on my own?'

...Oh, I'm going crazy. There's no way you can meet those guys easily.

I had no choice but to check the children's safety in the mirror and send them a message to ask if anything had happened.

Only after receiving replies from all of them did I feel relieved and relaxed.

And the next day.

Strangely enough, I encounter one of the devils from a tale.

"...Huh? Are you the horror game one?"

A boy with green hair. He introduced himself to me.

"My name is Jack! If any fairy tale comes to mind, it's that Jack! What's your name?"

Though it was my first time seeing this boy, one word popped into my head for some reason.

Just like he called me someone from the horror game.

"Alice. Just Alice. Nice to meet you, Jack."

Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.

A plant-growing game.