How To Survive A Cute Ghost Yandere
Chapter 39: Could you stop sniffing me like that?

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Could you stop sniffing me like that?

"Um... So, could you let go of me so we can talk?"

"No way, I miiiissed you~"

But did Erness not even realize that she had been hugging Eiros for almost three minutes now?

It felt so awkward that Eiros didn’t know what to do. He just stood there, stiff, feeling how tightly Erness held him. It also made painfully clear that something soft was pressing against his back.

Not wanting to dwell on it too much, Eiros then heard Erness’s voice.

"What did you want to talk about? Let’s just talk like this, I like it."

’I like it.’

Well, that was truly an ambiguous thing to say, making Eiros realize he was probably never meant to understand Erness completely.

How should he put it?

Even though her obsession was real, it was also, at times, full of genuine love.

With a forced smile, Eiros pushed all those thoughts aside and focused on what he needed to do.

"...The seed of corruption—that’s the illness you mentioned before, isn’t it?"

"Mmn... Yes..."

Just as he’d expected.

"How do you cure it?"

"The seed carries genes straight from ’them,’ and it’ll slowly merge with your genes, darling. Do you think there’s a way?"

Hearing that, Eiros felt his heart pound hard—

Ba-dump!

—he nearly felt hopeless, but he quickly steadied himself.

Yes. He had to stay calm.

"...I see... Is there a chance the people from the organization that worships ’them’ know about a cure?"

"...Maybe? But I don’t think there’d be a cure. At most, something that could delay its growth."

Eiros nodded again, his face creasing for a moment, then glanced back awkwardly.

"Erness."

"Yes?"

"...Could you stop sniffing me like that?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, hehe."

Well, this was really becoming awkward for Eiros. Not because of their current situation, but because of what he thought of Erness herself.

Even though it was true that Erness was a crazy girl, that didn’t make her a cruel one. Wasn’t what she said actually reasonable, seen from her point of view, knowing more than he did?

That... people like Eiros and Cray, who carried the seed of corruption in their bodies, had to be killed before the seed could grow. That thought made Eiros wonder something else.

"If you knew this from the start, why did you put off killing me? Why not just kill me right away?"

That question came purely out of curiosity. Because it wasn’t just about him—it was about Cray too. Hadn’t the webtoon shown, more than once, that Cray often walked around with a girl with silver hair?

"That’s because you didn’t know anything, darling. It wouldn’t be fair for you to just get killed like that, so I thought—at least let’s make some happy memories before killing you both."

"...I see."

Erness was far kinder than she seemed. It got to the point where Eiros began to wonder what exactly had happened in the spirit world that let Erness fulfill the activation condition of her stigmata—the one demanding she lose what she called home.

After all, with such a vague condition, "home" could mean any number of things. But well, Eiros had no intention of pressing her further about it.

"How are you feeling?"

Just then, Eiros heard Erness’s voice again. He didn’t know why, but somehow her cheerful voice now felt far more comforting to listen to.

Eiros hesitated for a moment, then answered with a small laugh, "About what?"

At that moment, Erness let go of the embrace, finally letting Eiros turn and look at her—her appearance was, as always, captivating, and that wasn’t an exaggeration in the slightest.

But Erness really was that beautiful, and a girl that beautiful could use her face to stir anyone’s heart.

"Darling, you know? Back then, I really wished I’d just taken you away."

Hearing that, Eiros paused for a moment, trying to work out what Erness meant. Then his mind landed on the time Erness had tried to take him to where the Saintess and the others were.

Was that what she meant?

Watching Erness’s beaming face, then hearing her words, made Eiros freeze up.

"Back then, I really regretted it. It would’ve been better if I’d just locked you away somewhere—tied you up, no, cutting off both your arms and legs would’ve been even better. That way, even if you complained, you at least wouldn’t have ended up like this."

Brrr...

Eiros felt his whole body break out in a cold sweat, a chill running straight through him. He smiled, but his face was slick with it.

As for Erness?

How could that girl say something like that as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world?

Eiros drew a breath, then let it out—

Haah...

"If that had happened, I might have become a monster. Because, you know full well, it would’ve just become an automatic generator, churning out negative emotions to make the seed grow."

"...You’re right."

Seeing Erness agree with him, Eiros let out a sigh of relief, then looked out at the sun slowly sinking outside.

Yes, night would be here soon.

"So... what happens now?" Eiros asked. If there was one more thing worth bringing up, it was their relationship.

Of course, Eiros could probably still dig up plenty more information—about that world, or the worshippers. But he held himself back. No need to rush.

"I guess you don’t need to stay tied to me anymore?"

Eiros said it plainly. Because no matter how well Erness treated him, no matter how sincere and serious she seemed about their relationship—

Eiros could easily conclude that Erness was only ever doing what served her own goal. That wasn’t love. Not really.

A bit of a shame, though.

"Waahh, darling... Has anyone ever told you that you’re actually really cruel and heartless?"

But what Erness said next was completely unpredictable. It caught Eiros off guard, his face going stiff.

"W-what?"

Erness stepped closer, and then did the thing she did most often—

Glomp!

—she hugged Eiros. Only this time, she did it from the front.

With a smile floating on her lips, her cheeks tinted a soft, faint red, and her pale eyes curving into crescent moons, she said—

"I’m your girlfriend... Do you really... want to break up with me? I might end up moping and heartbroken for a good long while, you know~"

Eiros blinked.

"If I’m not with you, then who’s going to keep you stable? With a time bomb sitting in your body, wouldn’t it be better if we just stayed together? I’ll find a way to cure you, or maybe... find a way to kill you—I suppose?"

At that, Eiros truly couldn’t help but feel amused. He nearly laughed at what Erness had just said.

Wasn’t that funny?

Erness looked at him, tilting her head, her face scrunching slightly, not understanding what had made Eiros laugh.

"What’s so funny?"

She said it, and somehow that only made Eiros feel more amused.

Well, what was there to say?

"Nothing. I just really realized how different you are."

Yes, Erness was different—being of the spirit race, and seemingly more than a little unhinged, for reasons of her own.

That made what she’d just said unlike any typical romance.

In most romance stories, one half of the couple would say something like, ’I’ll make you happy forever.’

But Erness thought differently.

’I’ll stay by your side until, in the end, I have to kill you.’

She was genuinely honest about that.

Well, somehow, it was just a little funny to Eiros. I mean—wasn’t this basically a love story bound to end in tragedy?

After that, Eiros found himself circling back to a problem that had nagged at him with regret ever since he’d transmigrated into this world.

It was that the girl standing in front of him—his girlfriend—was, sadly, someone whose attitude was genuinely terrifying, someone who wanted him dead.

But with every reason for that now gone, at least for the time being...

Didn’t that mean he could finally relax whenever he was with Erness?

Since the ghost girl herself had said as much, Eiros decided not to argue.

But... Eiros had no way of knowing. That what he thought would turn out to be something more pleasant would, in the end, lead to something far worse.

After all, it was worth remembering—Erness was more than a little unhinged.

***