Romancing the Horror

Ximena looked at me, clearly confused.

I pointed at her head. "Do you get headaches a lot?"

She nodded. "It always feels like something is stabbing into my head… like it's stirring around inside."

No kidding. With a nail that big in there, of course, it hurt!

I pressed on, "And sometimes, your skull just falls off, like it did just now?"

Ximena nodded again. "That's right. George has tried all kinds of methods, but nothing worked." A knowing smile spread across my face.

I lifted my chin and stood up straight. "See? That's why you need me. Watch this."

I had Ximena crouch down before I reached out, ready to pull the giant nail out of her head.

"Wait!" James suddenly spoke up. He turned to Ximena and said he could remove the nail instead.

I pulled my hand back and looked at him, not quite sure what he was trying to do.

He stepped closer and whispered in my ear, "A level-four soul nail… Huh. Almost let you take it."

It turned out the nail in Ximena's head was actually a level-four cursed item. Too bad I did not have a player interface. I had no idea how they judged item levels.

Honestly, I was a little annoyed that James cut in. However, I was not strong enough yet. Keeping a low profile was the smarter move.

Instead of pulling it out directly, James took out a delicate pair of tweezers from his bag.

I heard the other players whispering that it was a level-three item.

Even so, removing the nail was still extremely difficult. He was only halfway through when sweat was already pouring down his forehead.

Ximena did not look good either. It was obvious that the soul nail was affecting her badly.

Meanwhile, I stood nearby, trying to stay relevant. I kept speaking softly, comforting her and cheering her on.

"Ximena, hang in there. It's almost out. Ximena, does it hurt? Are you thirsty? Want me to bring you a cup of coffee and feed you?"

She shook her head, so I used a handkerchief to wipe the blood and sweat from her face.

James got irritated and snapped at me. "Damn it! Can you get lost? Stop messing me up!"

"Ah!"

A cry of pain.

Right as he lost his temper, the tweezers slipped from his hand and fell straight into Ximena's head.

Her eyes instantly turned blood-red. Inside her skull, the tweezers and the nail clanged against each other.

James panicked, stumbling backward and collapsing onto the ground. "It's not my fault! It's him! He caused this!"

Even then, he was still trying to pin the blame on me.

I immediately ran to Ximena's side and added fuel to the fire. "Ximena, this guy is the worst. I was going to help you, and he insisted on taking over. Now he messed it up and still wants to make excuses.

"If you ask me, he should be the sacrifice…"

Before I could finish, Ximena had already plunged her hand into James's chest and ripped out his heart.

She chewed on the fresh heart, bite after bite. Then, she ordered the eerie puppets to drag his body away and drain the blood to use for the wedding feast.

The puppets carried out the command with excitement, like it were a holiday. They hung James's corpse upside down from a withered tree to let the blood drain.

"You should do it, my husband."

Gulp.

I swallowed hard, gaining a new understanding of just how brutal Ximena could be.

Meanwhile, Silvia mocked me for asking for trouble, calling me a fool who did not know my place.

I forced a smile and asked Ximena, "If it hurts, just tell me. I'll adjust my strength. Ximena, you're the kindest woman in the world. You wouldn't get mad at me for pulling out a nail, right?"

She did not respond. That made me even more nervous. The worst part was that I did not have any tools.

After thinking for a moment, I tore open the pack of chips and handed it to her.

"Ximena, you can eat this while I pull the nail out. It'll help with the pain."

Then I rolled up my sleeves and reached straight into her head with my bare hand to grab the tweezers.

Luckily, they were not stuck very deep. I gave a light pull.

"Ow!" Ximena cried out.

My hand shook, but I reacted fast and stuffed a few chips into her mouth. "Here, eat. They're spicy."

Ximena chewed and commented, "Such a strange taste."

I copied what James did and used the tweezers to grip the nail. To my surprise, it went smoothly.

The nail came out with a pop.

Right then, the Devotion System's voice rang out.

[Great job, host. A proper devotee deserves official recognition. Have Ximena give you a token of love.]

[The system will reward you with a super gift pack.]