The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

Everyone was running as if being chased—terrified and sprinting at full speed.

“What’s going on?”

Aurora stood frozen, staring blankly at the chaos unfolding before her. She couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Then, she finally saw it.

A grotesque creature, so monstrous it couldn’t possibly be human, was prowling the streets, devouring people.

The memory hit Aurora like a trauma flashback—61 Notium Street. The monster she had seen that day looked exactly like this.

Screams filled the streets, and blood splattered everywhere.

Aurora’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

‘S-Someone, save me.’

Meanwhile, Brunel Police Station

[Exclusive Report! Cherry Sinclair—Disappearance Linked to Lancaster Heir, Ethan?!]

[Cherry Sinclair and Ethan Duncan Lancaster’s Secret Rendezvous in the Countryside?! “The Swan and the Crow—An Unexpected Pair!” High Society in Shock!]

Ethan crumpled the newspaper in his hands.

“Ha…”

He massaged his temples and let out a weary sigh. What kind of absurd scandal was this?

The lack of any mention of Nox made sense—it was all about the impact. To cover something up and divert attention, a headline tying the “Heir of the Lancaster Dukedom” and “High Society’s Rising Star” was far more effective.

If the Duke of Lancaster had been in charge, this article would never have been printed. That left only one likely culprit.

‘Could it be Crown Prince Theodore?’

All the headlines focused entirely on Cherry. She was the talk of the town, after all—a newly minted socialite darling.

‘Sorry, Cherry Sinclair.’

He figured he’d need to have a word with her. Pulling out his pocket watch, Ethan checked the time.

It was around 4 p.m. Cherry had mentioned she’d be back from Kintney around 6 p.m. Not that she had told him directly—he had overheard her talking to Nox.

Just then, Inspector Hans returned to his desk, giving Ethan a glance.

“Oh. You’ve seen the paper too, huh? The whole town’s buzzing about it.”

Ethan was momentarily caught off guard by what Hans implied.

“Everyone’s seen this paper?”

“Of course. Brunel’s mentioned in it. Sophie, the grocer from Kintney, spread the word about the article mentioning Brunel. Since it’s about our town, people are suddenly interested in reading the news for once.”

This mess was already interfering with his investigation. Ethan exhaled another heavy sigh as his headache worsened.

“Still, I had no idea the girl from the abandoned house was that Cherry Sinclair.”

Hans’s remark prompted Officer Colton, who had been listening in, to chime in.

“The whole town’s gone wild since they found out who she is. People are reflecting on whether they treated her poorly. Some even want to shake her hand.”

And yet, even Colton still referred to Cherry as the “girl from the abandoned house.”

Shaking his head, Ethan rose from his seat. It was almost time for Cherry to return—maybe he should head out to meet her.

“Th-There’s been a murder!”

A man suddenly burst into the police station, shouting.

“A murder at the carriage rental station! Please, help!”

The station fell into stunned silence. Most assumed the man was spouting nonsense.

Colton was the first to approach him.

“What are you talking about? Calm down and explain everything properly.”

“There’s no time for that!”

While they argued, commotion erupted outside the station.

“What’s happening?”

Colton opened the door and immediately froze. The village looked like a war zone.

“Aaaahhh!”

A piercing scream echoed through the streets, followed by the sight of panicked villagers fleeing in terror.

Boom!

A gas lamp pole flew through the air and smashed into a house across from the station, as if it had been ripped straight out of the ground.

“What… what the hell is this…?”

Stepping outside, Colton’s words trailed off as his eyes landed on a horrific sight.

“Kraaaah!”

A monstrous creature charged out of the alley near the carriage rental station.

“W-What is that…?”

The creature pounced, grabbing a fleeing villager and biting into them.

“Ahhh!”

Screams erupted from every direction.

The officers stood there, paralyzed by fear, unable to act as the town descended into chaos.

“XX, Colton! What the hell are you doing? Get out there and help those people!”

Shoving Colton aside with a burst of force, Ethan cursed and charged into the mayhem, leading the effort to rescue the townsfolk.

*****

I stood at Kintney Station, waiting endlessly for Harrison.

When we spoke on the phone, Harrison had said he booked a ticket for around 4 p.m.

But even after 6 p.m., as the sun dipped below the horizon and all train routes shut down for the day, he still hadn’t shown up.

‘What’s going on? Did something happen?’

I tried calling Sinclair Mansion in Benton, but no one picked up.

A wave of unease washed over me.

I lingered at the station for a while longer before finally boarding a carriage back to Brunel alone.

‘Please, let it be nothing…’

Just as we left Kintney, noise erupted behind me.

“What’s that?”

I leaned out of the carriage to look back, and the coachman asked,

“Should I stop and turn back?”

“What? To Kintney? No. Just keep going.”

I shook my head and sat back down. For a moment, I could’ve sworn I heard someone scream…

But my nerves had been on edge lately. I must’ve misheard.

‘There are still ten days left.’

Harrison’s probably fine. This was one of those times when I really missed having a cell phone.

When we finally reached the outskirts of Brunel and I stepped off the carriage—

Squish.

My shoe landed in a puddle of blood.

‘…Blood?’

Kyaaaah!

A horrifying screech pierced the air,

“Ahhh! Help! Please, help me!”

Desperate cries for help overlapped with the monster’s shrieks.

Only then did I take in the chaos around me.

The once-bustling village—alive with markets and chatter just yesterday—had become hell on earth.

Thud—

I was shoved aside by panicked villagers fleeing past me and fell to the blood-soaked ground.

Through the crowd, I saw it—a grotesque monster charging after them.

Kraaak!

Its jaw, far too wide for a human, opened up, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. In an instant, it swallowed a person whole.

“Shit.”

I had fought monsters twice before.

But those encounters had been nothing like this. Killing a few isolated monsters was one thing—this was a massacre.

People were being ripped apart and devoured, their bodies transforming into monsters in seconds.

‘There are still ten days left! Why is this happening now?’

The world had ended—earlier than it was supposed to.

And right in the middle of the carnage, I spotted someone.

‘Why the hell is he here?’

A man in a police uniform was battling monsters, protecting fleeing villagers.

It was Ethan.

‘I figured, but I didn’t think he’d actually be out here like this.’

The one man who couldn’t afford to die was risking his life to save others.

That snapped me out of it. Now wasn’t the time to stand frozen in fear.

‘If he dies, how the hell are we supposed to develop a cure?’

I scrambled to my feet and sprinted toward the center of the chaos.@@novelbin@@

A weapons shop with shattered glass windows came into view.

Dodging the fleeing crowd, I slipped inside and grabbed the weapon I could wield best—a hatchet.

When I stepped back out, a monster was already charging at me. I swung the hatchet without hesitation.

Slash!

Green blood splattered across my face.

Krrrk?

The monster beside it turned toward me, its head snapping up.

Four eyes, each the size of my fist, stared me down.

I froze. I didn’t want to provoke it.

Its pupils contracted and dilated repeatedly, locking onto me.

I held my ground, not moving a single finger. The moment it let its guard down, I was going to bury my hatchet in its skull.

But then—

Splash.

A pair of black combat boots stomped through the puddle of blood without hesitation.

Bang!

The deafening gunshot rang out, and the four-eyed monster’s head exploded.

Through the smoke, a tall man stepped into view. He had shot the creature dead in a single blow.

“Fuck. This never ends.”

Scanning the chaos, Ethan cursed under his breath before turning toward me.