How to Tame Your Horror Game Boss

I transmigrated into an Otome Game my best friend had sent me, but neither of us realized she'd sent me a horror game instead!

That night I stared at the screen and at the glob of snow-white, mucous-like red-eyed thing and felt a little lost.

You mean the popular male lead is that red-eyed one? I asked.

"Exactly! Blond hair, red eyestotally our type! Quick, call him 'honey'! The game has voice chat!" Fiona gushed.

I tried it, cautiously, "Honey?"

The blob shuddered and flushed a little.

At midnight I sat staring at the blood-spattered spiderweb icon on my desktop and thought about it.

On the other end of the line, Fiona kept prodding, "Did you install it yet?"

"It installed I think," I said, confused. "Are you sure this is an otome?"

"Of course! This is the greatest otome of the century!"

She listed the game's main selling points.

"Voice acting! Real interaction! Immersive romance! It'll make you blush and your heart race!"

Given my pathetic gaming experience, I trusted her without question..

I ended the call, put on my VR headset, and lay down on the bed.

Thanks to modern tech, I could now fully immerse myself in games via brainwave interface just by wearing this headset.

When I opened the game called Misty Manor and hit Start, my vision flashed red.

A stream of red liquid poured from the ceiling into my palms, it felt sticky and uncannily real.

"Is this paint?" I muttered.

I turned my hand over, still baffled.

Then I remembered what Fiona had told me: this otome game focused on romance, with home decoration as a side activity.

The heroinememoves into a new place, meets the male leads, pursues romance in daily life, and can decorate her apartment freely.

For someone like me who loved interior design, that was irresistible.

I understood thenthis wasn't just decorating inside rooms.

It included fixing up the whole house. I liked a challenge!

I shook the red paint off my hand and took a few steps back from the porch.

Looking up, a severely dilapidated old house loomed before me..

It was visibly neglected, with even half the windowpanes were broken.

Wind howled, a half-boarded window creaked loose and crashed down.

Quick on my feet, I caught it with both hands.

"Whoa, that was close."

Original windows were hard to replace, and I'd just started with no money, so it was best to be thrifty.

Because I was so focused, I didn't notice a shadow shake next to the window and shrink away.

High-freedom games are fun, but they have downsides.

I, as a total newbie, had no idea what to do next.

Luckily, the game was considerate. After I stood still for about ten seconds, an NPC appeared.

A middle-aged man hurried through an iron gate overrun with ivy and.

Seeing me, he warmly shook my hand.

"Hellohello. I'm the client for this job. May I ask your name?"

I used my usual gaming handle.

"Call me Pepper Finch."

"All right, Miss Finch," he said without missing a beat. "Thank you for taking on this commission."

We shook hands politely.

He turned serious and pointed to the house.

"As you can see, this place is peculiar. We'd like you to live here for a while and 'clean it up' for us."

"How much is the rent?" I asked.

He paled. "Rent? Oh no, we wouldn't charge you rent. Compensation will be as we discussed."

A deal this good? I perked up. "So who's footing the renovation bill?"

He straightened, bowed deeply.

"All costs necessary for you to complete the commission will be covered by us. Please rest assured, the greatest exorcist of the century, Miss!"

The greatest exorcist of the century?

Me?

The heroine's profession in this otome was unexpectedly creative.

The man shoved a payment card into my hand for in-game use.

"The town shops will provide the tools you need. You can buy them following the map," he said.

"There's a truck in the manor's garage for your use."

I was about to thank him when he suddenly yelled and ran off like his hair was on fire.

Fiona had said the game had three male leads, with a blond, red-eyed one being the most popular.

Before I started, she was adamant I would fall for him.

"He looks magnificent. Like a work of art, you know?" she had swooned. "Handsome, powerful, loyal sigh."

Her description made me curious. But the tutorial wasn't finished; I needed to settle into the house first.

I pocketed the payment card, tightened the backpack that had appeared, and walked to the door.

As I reached the door, it swung open with a groan.

And right in front of me appeared a strange creature.

If "it" could be called "he," then he was covered in snow-white, sticky goo studded with countless red eyes.

When he noticed me, those blood-red orbs opened wide and he lowly hissed:

"You finally came Pepper Finch"

I muted myself and called Fiona.

"Fi, the male lead you said is blond and red-eyed?"

"Yep!" she chirped. "You met him? How is hedoesn't he have such great artistic energy?"

I looked at the thing and managed, with difficulty, "Yeah artistic."

"His voice is great too!" she added. I had to admit, his bass was impressive.

"You sure he's the most popular?" I probed.

"You dare question our Lucien's popularity!" Fiona snapped.

"Be serious! Feel the character's emotions, okay?"

So his name was Lucien.

The thing seemed displeased by my neglect and lunged at me.

I dodged and kept talking to Fiona, "He looks really angry"

"What? Where are you in the game? Did you say the wrong thing?"

"I didn't even say anything" I ducked another charge.

"Call him husband!" Fiona suddenly suggested.

I choked. "Will that even work?"

"Trust me! Lucien loses it if you call him Honey!"

So that's how otome mechanics worked.

Bolstered, I slipped between his attacks and clung to him hard.

"Honey!"

Entering the house, I realized it was worse than I'd thought.

The faucets ran red water, likely from heavy internal rust.

Floorboards sounded like marbles, the building materials had rotted.

Bats roosted in many rooms.

On the plus side, the place was spacious with all necessary rooms..

What bothered me most was that Mr. Alden hadn't mentioned my many roommates.

And such uncleanly roommates.

Opening the bedroom door on the second floor, I bumped into a man with long hair.

His hair was tangled into thick knots, completely obscuring his face.

His clothes, tattered and stained with reddish grime, looked like they hadn't been washed in ages.

Before I could decide how to greet him, he lunged and flicked out an absurdly long tongue. I was stunned.

"Dude, your tongue coating is so pale! You're seriously ill!" I blurted.

The long-haired man froze, probably embarrassed. I tried to be sympathetic.

"It's okay. I'll go to town later to buy supplies. I'll get you some medicine."

He brightened, showed a smile that revealed two rows of bright teeth, grabbed my shoulders as if to say thanks: he was mute.

A flash of recognition hit me.

Fiona had mentioned the other male leads. "Aside from Lucien, the other two aren't great; there's a mute one named Owen Marsh who's very tragic and I'm not a fan," she'd said.

I studied the long-haired man.

He must be Owen Marsh.

I started brainstorming the fastest ways to increase affection.

In otome fashion, cast a wide net.

At that moment Lucien returned. He drifted over and glanced at Owen.

The temperature dropped and a few degrees of cold struck me; I sneezed.

Owen loosened his grip.

Lucien produced two little black claws that were actually a pile of towels and toiletries.

I blinked. "For me?"

He didn't speakjust blushed and fidgeted. The eyes on his body spun.

I took the items and smiled. "Thanks."

Lucien blushed harder, black claws twisting together.

"Want to have dinner later?" I asked. "I cook pretty well."

He nodded and then dashed off.

I had nothing prepared. Dinner was three hours away, so I had time to run to town.

I checked the map and started the truck in the garage.

Driving felt smoothalmost real.

It didn't take long to reach the shop.

People in town looked expressionless and downtrodden.

The whole place had a gloomy, depressed atmospherelittle effort was put into minor NPCs, apparently.

I chatted to the clerk while he stocked the shelves.

"Hi, I need to buy some things."

He glared half-heartedly and sauntered to the counter.

"What do you want?"

"What do you have?" I asked.

He sat and pulled up an electronic list: rooster, dog's blood, garlic, salt, peachwood, ginger, rice, mirrors an odd and eclectic mix.

The prices made me choke. "Why is a rooster a thousand coins?"

"Buy it or don't," he snapped. "This town's done for, anyway."

"Why?" I asked.

He looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"You buying or not?"

I pulled out the card, swore and said I would.

The dog's blood sounded unappetizing; scissors and mirrors I already had.

Peachwood would be useful to burn; the living room had an old hearth.

I paid and asked them to load it into my truck.

I lugged my weird haul back to the truck.

Monopolies really mark up basics: items worth a few dollars in real life cost me thousands in game moneystill, not my money, but I winced.

The rooster turned out to be alive. No problem; I have outdoor survival skills.

I butchered and prepared it.

By the time I returned, it was late. Lucien was at the door; he looked taken aback when he saw what I carried.

"Sorry I took so long," I said.

He stepped aside without a word.

I set the groceries downthen he tackled me.

I was knocked across the dusty floor and slid. Dust made me cough.

When I recovered, Lucien was suddenly inches from my face, his blood-red eyes almost touching my nose.

"What are you doing?" I asked, bewildered.

"You should be the one to ask," he said, voice edged with barely-concealed bitterness. "Were you trying to kill me?"

"Who said I wanted to kill you?"

"You lied to me!"

He snapped. Black claws flung my groceries against the wall.

"You lied!" he repeated, eyes of many pupils twisting into frenzy. Thin piercing voices crawled into my ears: "Kill kill her"

I was furious. All the expensive ingredients I'd bought were smashed.

I shoved him away and shouted.

"Are you crazy? I'm lateso what? It's not like I won't cook for you! Why scream and threaten me?"

I stared at the ruined food and felt my eyes sting.

"You melodramatic wreck, don't ruin good ingredients"

Lucien froze like a block of ice thrown into water.

He looked at the mess and at me, then asked quietly, unsure: "You bought those to cook for me?"

"Yes?" I sniffed. "Do you know how expensive that stuff was? You're paying me back!"

More silence. The house quieted.

Lucien inched to the pile of items, scooped them up in his black claws. He made a sound like a hot iron dropped into cold water, as if something was dissolving.

From my viewpoint he conjured a wash of icy water and cleaned the food until it looked fine.

He returned the items to me slowly. "I'm sorry," he said.

I took them, trying not to be too harsh.

This is an otome after allnormal to have a slightly unhinged male lead.

"Fine I'll forgive youbarely."

I bent and, muttering to myself, gave him a small hug. "Don't do that again," I warned.

"Okay," he said.

Lucien cuddled up to me like a cool summer pillow.

His body was icy and comfortable. I stroked his head affectionately.

"Good boy."