Chapter 180: Light Version Haunted House
[June 4th]
[You and Baobhan Sith arrived at the amusement park of Academy City.]
[Since you are piloting a large mecha, many amusement park attractions do not support your participation.]
[But that's fine—at the very least, the haunted house still allows you to enter.]
"Going to the haunted house?"
Baobhan Sith slightly furrowed her brows, her eyes revealing confusion,
"Don't tell me last time wasn't lesson enough for you—you want to leave behind another embarrassing moment on the Servant website?"
"Of course not. This is a family-friendly amusement park; they won't shove a Grand Servant inside just to scare people to death. Otherwise the visitors would sue them to death."
Eikou folded his arms, calmly explaining:
"Relax, this is a standard haunted house—at most they'll scare you a bit. Honestly, compared to visitors, the NPCs in the haunted house are even easier to bully."
As he said that, he pointed at the rules posted next to the entrance. One line read:
"Strictly forbidden to bully or tease haunted house staff, and absolutely no violence is allowed. Especially forbidding Berserkers or Servants prone to extreme reactions from entering the haunted house to avoid causing unnecessary harm to staff."
"Heracles and related individuals are especially banned because he once attacked a haunted house NPC — Cú Chulainn."
"Look,"
Eikou pointed at that line,
"This rule alone proves that the staff inside the haunted house aren't strong Servants at all, they're even easy to bully. In other words… this time we are the predators at the top of the food chain!"
"Just a shrimp like you and you dare dream such beautiful dreams? Did you even look at the notice below?"
Baobhan Sith rolled her eyes, speaking with her usual arrogant tone:
"Below there's an additional newly added line: 'Since visitors often overreact and hit haunted house NPCs, this time we specially invited a group of staff with strong combat capabilities. Visitors may hit them however they like, and for however long they like, but we will not be responsible for any incidents. Extremely handsome young men are advised not to enter.'"
"Eh?"
Eikou read the added rule thoughtfully, his brows furrowing with a bit of unease.
"Why are extremely handsome young men advised not to enter?"
Britomart, with her explosive temperament, was the first to voice the same concern he had in mind.
Could it be… that the haunted house staff fear that in case of conflict, handsome visitors would risk getting their faces ruined?
The moment this thought appeared, he immediately shook his head.
Impossible. If that were the case, they should've warned women too, not only emphasize men.
Which means...
There's something inside the haunted house that is especially dangerous to handsome men?
"..."
Eikou felt a bit scared and touched his face.
But then he remembered—he was piloting a mecha. Not only did it have excellent defense, but it also hid his face completely. With that, what was there to fear?
"No worries, let's go!" he said confidently.
"Tch, so even that doesn't scare you?" Baobhan Sith pouted, "What is it that makes you constantly throw yourself into danger? Why do you insist on doing these low-level things like some tiny ant?"
"Because… there's nothing else to do so I thought I'd try it for fun," Eikou said, sounding a bit guilty.
"Idiot, your intentions are clear as day. Obviously you're just trying to create scary situations to trigger the suspension bridge effect, right?" Baobhan Sith curled her lips, showing a sly fox-like smile.
"I–Is it really that obvious..."
Being hit directly in his weak spot, Eikou became slightly embarrassed.
Baobhan Sith showed her cute tiny fangs, mocking him with a grin:
"You think you're hiding it well? You're just like those horny men who take their girlfriends to restaurants on the love hotel street~"
"..."
What kind of example is that?! I'm not that blatant!
And if we're talking about restaurants and love hotel streets, I'm the one who keeps getting dragged into them by women, thank you very much!
[Even so, Baobhan Sith actually doesn't dislike it.]
[Compared to high-altitude rides, she prefers B-grade horror movie aesthetics. Scenes filled with fake blood and torture devices suit her taste much more.]
"Fine, I'm free anyway. I'll lower myself to follow you this once."
Baobhan Sith said:
"But you better be careful. They especially warned handsome young men not to enter… Though as long as you keep your mouth shut, you can at least count as a somewhat decent-looking man."
"No worries, I'm in a mecha. Who's going to see my face?"
Eikou said with full confidence.
[The two of you decided to enter the haunted house together.]
[As you approached, the staff glanced at your massive, dark, intimidating mecha.]
[But since they're used to seeing all kinds of bizarre Servants, they didn't make things difficult for you and let you in, only reminding you: be cautious, and don't cause trouble just because you're a Servant.]
[...]
[You have entered the Haunted House.]
[The essence of this Haunted House is a combat simulation program from Chaldea Academy, projecting a gloomy, decayed Victorian mansion. Strange dim lighting, a wide luxurious hall, bizarre bloodstained portraits on the walls, and the sound of cold wind howling outside the shut windows all blend together into one atmosphere.]
[The scenery is vivid and realistic enough that, even with the mech armor between you and the environment, it still stimulates your senses—just like you've stepped into the mansion from Resident Evil 1.]
...
Cold wind howled, the chandelier swayed.
The dark-red light above flickered on and off.
The moment Baobhan Sith and Eikou stepped into the Haunted House, they looked around, then heard behind them the sound of a door lock.
Clack.
With a small sound, the mansion's large door was tightly locked.
"Oh?"
Eikou froze, slightly surprised.
This Haunted House was quite thoughtfully designed, not only using simulation equipment to recreate a horror mansion with high realism, but also deliberately locking the exit to increase players' immersion.
The feeling was instantly raised to another level, turning the Haunted House tour into an escape room with no way back.
"Then…"
He touched his chin, glancing around the two-story mansion.
"Where would the key to open the door be?"
"I noticed the notice board earlier,"
Baobhan Sith tiptoed lightly, deliberately avoiding the bloodstains on the floor so her elegant high heels wouldn't get dirty.
"The average time to clear this Haunted House is under ten minutes, so the content shouldn't be much. If we walk around a bit, we should find the key. This mansion looks big, but it probably doesn't have much inside."
"Is that so…"
Eikou was a little doubtful, somehow feeling an inexplicable tremor from within his body.
As if he was sensing something…
...