The Hopeless Romantic in Horror Games Again

[Welcome to the Asylum]

[Seven poor patients live here. They long to live like normal people. As their attending physician, you should be able to help them… right?]

[Instance Participants: 7]

[Difficulty: A]

[Main Mission: Cure your patients and return them to normal]

I opened my eyes to a stark white wall. A length of silver chain lay in the corner of the room.

At the other end of the chain…

My gaze lowered to the boy kneeling at my feet.

He wore a blue-and-white hospital gown. Blood streaked his face and hands, though the wounds somehow didn’t make him look pitiful. They only added a wicked edge to his beauty.

A face like his was born to sit on a throne, yet here he was, kneeling at my feet, making the most humble request.

“Doctor, can you be my master?”

Me: … This is moving a little fast.

Behind my back, the barrage exploded.

[Look at him. The mighty final boss is willing to be the third wheel.]

[Sorry, sweetie, but our girl already has two anomalies in line. Even if he’s the boss, he still has to take a number.]

[Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the walking anomaly-boyfriend magnet.]

[You newbies don’t get it. This monster’s delusion is “I’m a pet.” That’s literally his mental illness.]

[The last player who agreed to be his ‘master’ got swallowed whole. Let’s see how this one ends for our girl.]

[And if she rejects him, he gets angry and kills people anyway. Same outcome, different flavor.]

The air felt charged, hormones spiking fast. That familiar dryness hit my throat again. My eyes felt glued to his face. I couldn’t look away.

I’d experienced this before.

There was a dungeon once, Rose Manor. The feeling was exactly the same as when I ran into Zero and Jackson back then. The moment I lock eyes with an anomaly that fits my taste, my stupid love-struck brain starts overheating on its own.

But…

“This doesn’t seem appropriate.” Even a hopeless romantic like me had some professional ethics. “Doctors shouldn’t date their patients. You’ll find someone else who can be a great owner for you.”

There were six other players in this dungeon besides me. Surely one of them wanted a pet.

The boy stared straight at me, unblinking.

Since I was determined to find him a better home, I needed to show some sincerity.

I pulled out a clipboard and pen from my coat. “Let’s start with the basics. Why do you want to be a… pet? Bad childhood? Dad gambles, Mom’s sick, younger brother in school, family falling apart?”

[Family falling apart my foot. He’s the one who makes other families fall apart.]

[The way her brain works is incredible. She’s dragging a boss-level monster into her romantic soap opera.]

[Look at him. He’s hesitating. She actually derailed him. He didn’t attack like he usually does.]

[What a pet-whisperer. Legendary.]

[Don’t forget, he eventually loses control and goes full beast mode. When that happens, no one survives. And as his attending physician, she gets eaten twice.]

My intake questionnaire was a complete failure because he had no idea who he was. He didn’t even know his own name.

When I brought him to the lobby for roll call, only three players were left.

Three others had been killed the moment the instance began by their own “patients.”