"Luca is very interesting, don't you think so?"
The name uttered by the man with neatly trimmed hair and sharp eyes was none other than Mireya Solberg. Sol was nonchalant; he walked alongside his teammate, Talon Rivenhart, a man, or rather, a young man about the same age as Sol, though slightly shorter, with black hair, black eyes, and a small, childlike face.
"He's quite interesting, don't you think?"
Sol smiled and said that because the lady owner of this mansion had noticed Luca, he would die soon, but it was also possible that he held the key to this level. Meanwhile, Rivenhart used his ability.
[God D-6]
[You have activated the skill 'Whisper to the Dead']
[Which spirit do you want to summon?]
[Gardener - Servant in charge of taking care of the old garden - Botanist]
Rivenhart didn't care much about Luca; frankly speaking, he wasn't impressed because he saw spirits that liked to tease Luca, which showed that he was a weak person, and people like that rarely lived long. Right now, the important thing was not to learn about the other players but to focus on learning about the game; after all, he hated being caught in the vortex of killing.
Rivenhart stood there, and his ability automatically ran; after all, he used it more than anyone else in this dungeon.
[Current status… Loading…]
[You have chosen the gardener; you can question him until he stops wanting to give any more information.]
Before them appeared the gardener. Rivenhart stood before the gardener's spirit, a man no older than the butler, and with a deep, even voice, controlled the 'Whispering to the Dead' power that flowed around his body like a thin mist. The light was soft, but enough to make the spirit's form clearer: a man in a faded silver uniform, his hat askew, his lifeless eyes following their every move.
Sol stood behind, arms crossed, his sharp eyes observing every little movement of the spirit. He did not show any sign of hurry or irritation; everything to Sol was a game, and this game was more interesting than killing people.
"You used to work here… right? I want to know what happened in the garden. Who used to come and go, who went in and out of the basement… and any traces left behind."
The spirit was silent for a few seconds, then shook his shoulders slightly, as if he wanted to say something but stopped. Sol looked at it and was more interested; it was truly a game world more than what he thought it would be. It made him feel excited.
"He likes to keep secrets. Should he use props? What do you think, Rivenhart?"
Rivenhart noted that he simply took the prop from Sol, which was a hand-sized question mark that Sol had just pulled out of his pocket.
"Just use your ability and put the question mark on his head."
Rivenhart could only nod and start doing as his lover answered. After all, if he had to say, this game was difficult for a reason, so why bother thinking about these things?
He placed the screaming gardener's soul on it, and the first images appeared: rows of rose bushes, wet soil and mud, a figure passing by leaving a blurry footprint. Then, a rough map of the garden with a few blurry red dots. That was it, and the question mark disappeared as if it were the only thing they could see.
"This is the underground passage?"
Rivenhart asked bluntly. The Gardener tilted his head and said nothing. No words came out.
"Just reading his behavior is enough. If he didn't say anything, that's information too. He didn't want to mention it… But he confirmed it with his gestures."
Rivenhart smiled coldly and said nothing, focusing on the small details in the images projected from his memory. The spirit's hand shook slightly as he pointed at the row of thorny roses.
"Has anyone ever hidden anything here?"
Rivenhart continued to ask. The spirit shook his head and finally gave some information.
"Some things… no one should know…"
"As expected. He only gave part of the truth… the rest is a game for us players."
Sol said with an annoyed expression. He had guessed part of it, but it was even more hateful that he was about to team up with his lover, or else this game wouldn't work after he left.
Rivenhart nodded. He understood Sol better than anyone, but now he had to concentrate on exploiting the gardener's every gesture, and now the gardener raised his hand and pointed to a white rose planted in the soft soil but covered with leaves. A slight shake, then still.
"Here… where?"
Sol asked in a curious tone that was more of a reminder than a question. The spirit just curled its lips, its eyes glancing over Sol and then back down to the ground, as if it wanted to avoid a direct answer.
"We don't need everything. Just what we need to survive and understand the environment."
Rivenhart couldn't let his beloved be teased; he just looked at the spirit as if he couldn't provide information, and he was about to disappear.
"Yes… but… no one lives to tell…"
A gentle breeze blew through the rose bushes, rustling the leaves, giving the impression that each leaf carried information.
"Rivenhart, pay attention to what he doesn't say. Interrupted answers are often more important than the words."
"Yes. The signs that the spirit tries to hide are vital clues. The red dot on the map… this is where the important object used to be."
"Some people… are no longer…"
"Some… don't want to talk…"
"See? Even in death, he still won't answer."
Sol said to Rivenhart while he was remembering the map that appeared in the previous picture when they used the props.
"What about the secret underground passage?"
The spirit was silent, then slowly pointed at the row of roses blooming one after another. Its eyes were slightly averted, clearly not wanting to reveal much.
"He just confirmed that this place is important… but won't say anything more. It all depends on you."
Sol said with a mischievous look, he didn't care what the old gardener said anymore; anyway, he always gave information vaguely and annoyingly.
"Information noted. We will not press further; what he has provided… is enough to exploit and explore."
The Gardener's spirit slowly retreated, gradually fading away, leaving only the musty smell of earth and dry leaves.
"The game has just begun; it is truly worth looking forward to."
Rivenhart said nothing, just closed his eyes and breathed evenly; he had temporarily memorized all the gestures and hidden signs that the gardener's spirit had given him. Every detail, no matter how small, could be the key to understanding the game. Sol turned and walked towards the garden gate, his eyes still following the swaying shadows of the trees.
"Let's go. The dead have finished speaking… but the game for the living is not over yet."
Sol just pulled Rivenhart's hand and followed him with a cold gaze in the direction the spirit had pointed out. They were preparing for the next step, where clues and dangers awaited.
They stood in front of a row of thorny roses, and honestly, they didn't know where to start, since their abilities weren't inclined towards decoding anyway. Rivenhart looked at a piece of paper placed in front of them near the table, on which was the following question:
Red Rose - blooming, but some petals are torn.
White Rose - not blooming yet, but with marks as if someone had touched it.
Yellow Rose - blooming to the right, leaning unusually much.
Pink Rose - freshest, but the soil around it was a bit disturbed.
Black Rose - withered, but more fragrant than usual.
Question: If you wanted to find a hidden gate in a row of trees, which flower bush would you check first? Why?
Sol looked at the paper with a puzzled face, looking at his boyfriend, who seemed calm on the outside, but who knew what was on the inside.
"This is an EQ question, perhaps the fact that this house is full of roses proves why this question asks about the color of the flower… But the point here is why they don't talk about the meaning of the flowers but talk about many different things."
"For example, here, Red Roses and White Roses talk about the condition of the flower, but Yellow Roses talk about the direction of the flower, while Pink and Black Roses talk about the condition like red and white. They don't match at all, not to mention that there are only red roses here?"
Rivenhart analyzed while handing the paper to Sol, and upon receiving the paper, Sol gently stroked the edge of the paper, his eyes deepening even more. The rows of roses in front of them were really… only red. There was no white, yellow, pink, or black like in the puzzle. It felt like the question was deliberately putting them in an uncertain state to force them to look at the details, not the color, which was quite interesting.
"No match… proves color is not the key."
"So what do these five descriptions have in common?"
Rivenhart crossed his arms, his ashen eyes scanning the notes.
"Torn wings, handprints, unnatural tilt, stirred soil, withered but fragrant."
"…They all talk about signs of impact."
Sol paused as if he had just heard exactly what he needed.
My lover is so smart!!
"Yes. They don't talk about the meaning of flowers. They don't talk about color. They don't talk about romance or symbolism. They talk about the traces left behind."
Sol calmed down. He couldn't be so sure, but he reassured himself and watched Rivenhart nod that he had understood correctly.
"So the answer must be the bush that most clearly shows that someone has touched it recently… According to the EQ question, a hidden gate is usually related to displacement, impact, or someone having touched it."
"The red rose bush is disturbed. That is the clearest sign of something having been physically touched."
Rivenhart glanced at the ground in front of the red rose bush; the ground near them was indeed flat and undisturbed. But if the riddle was about a bush with disturbed soil, then…
"Use EQ to read the emotions of the person asking the riddle. If they wanted to hide the gate, they would dig or move something. So the logic is to check where the soil has traces of impact."
Rivenhart did not say anything, but his expression showed that he agreed.
"We chose the Pink Bush because the soil around it was disturbed, indicating that someone or something had recently disturbed it, most likely to cover or open the gate."
"And it's also the only bush that signals life… the dead can't disturb the soil."
Rivenhart's way of thinking was… chillingly realistic, wasn't it funny?
Sol laughed inwardly and watched his boy search for the soil that showed signs of being disturbed. They finally found a strange rock that had moved a little, and a door had opened right under their feet and…
Swoosh!
Both of them rolled down the slope. Instead of being slammed straight to the ground, they quickly adjusted their posture so that when they landed, they were both safe and sound without any injuries. Rivenhart's heels hit the ground first, while Sol landed after him, and he spun around a little to keep his balance, the movement so smooth that it looked more like a jump than a landing after falling a few meters. As soon as they stood firm, the two of them reflexively looked around. The underground space… was dark, but it wasn't like they couldn't see the road; they could still see the direction. The cracks on the stone wall emitted a pale blue light if energy circuits were silently moving. That light reflected on Sol's face, making his eyes even sharper and colder.
"This is definitely not a path for normal players. It must be a place to store something important."
Rivenhart nodded without any objection to what Sol said.
...…
It's probably the same for both sides.
Arven Lys Miriel thought that since she was alone without any teammates, there was a high chance that the second floor would have important clues. She knew it would be hard to find a teammate, but looking at Bennett, she would go with Luca, and Rivenhart and Sol would go together. They seemed to get along well, but the rest of the people, even if they were given money, wouldn't want to go together, especially that Arknight girl. She could feel the danger.
Lys had to admit that this scene was very difficult for the newcomers, but after all, when they first entered and met many experts, especially those with skills, they could see that this scene was not easy.
Lys had just walked into a room; she was silent. This place was too clean, with sparkling wall lamps, shiny wooden floors, and red velvet curtains. Every item was placed precisely to the centimeter as if the room were managed by a perfectionist.
Did the cleaner here have OCD?
The sound of footsteps made Lys shiver as she looked at the butler standing behind her. It was the same butler they met every morning.
"Are you cleaning here? I've already cleaned up."
Lys still carefully moved back a little, even though she knew he was just talking normally, but the more normal the monster, the more sinister it was, and if it wasn't, its skills would usually be very powerful.
"But, miss, I still can't be sure that you are the one we hired. Please answer some quiz questions to make sure you are the one I'm hiring."
A certain pressure made Lys unable to move and unconsciously sat down at the table one-on-one with the butler in a very calm manner. The butler calmly raised his hand elegantly. A file appeared on the long table behind him as if it had just teleported there.
"You must answer truthfully. Only the truth."
"How true?"
"So true that even you are not allowed to deceive yourself."
Lys heard the answer and started to get serious; her ability couldn't help her in this process. It was true that she should still rely on herself, even though the gods were useless sometimes.
"What is your real name?"
Lys's heart skipped a beat. She hated this question.
"Arven…"
A sharp pain like needles ran under her skin. Lys gritted her teeth.
[Level 2 Lie Detection Mechanism is activating.]
[Player prepares for punishment.]
The butler smiled a gentle but empty smile.
"One more time, miss."
"…Laria"
There was no pain. The butler nodded in satisfaction.
"Next"
Lys gritted her teeth. If she hadn't used a prop to know the name of the character she was playing, she would have died in this scene. It was true that skill is not as good as luck.
"Which player scares you the most?"
Lys glanced to the side, trying to stay calm. The first name that popped up was not Luca, the name the mistress noticed, nor Sol, nor Rivenhart. It was Arknight.
"Arknigh…"
A sharp pain ran through her heart.
[Wrong]
"I'm telling the truth!"
Lys huffed and cursed this outdated judgment system. The butler raised her finger, gently as if correcting a student who had broken the rules.
"You're only telling the truth…partly. The person you're most afraid of isn't Arknight."
"Then who is it?"
"…You"
The second floor suddenly turned cold. Lys stood there, stunned. That sentence stabbed straight into the deepest part of her, where she buried her mistakes, the things she didn't dare to look at for long. It was true that every game was a bastard. She didn't really agree, but if she wanted to, she had to do it.
"The person I'm most afraid of…is myself."
A green light ran through her body to confirm.
"Next."
"If you had to save only one player, who would you save?"
"…No one."
The butler nodded, completely agreeing, and so did she. Since it told her to tell the truth, she'd just say it. Those were the things she thought, and she wasn't afraid to say them anyway.
"Being frank is good."
The file turned to the last page. The atmosphere changed to something heavier. The wooden floorboards creaked as if the room itself knew the question was important. The butler was only a few meters away from her, but it felt like he was standing right behind her.
"Last question…"
He looked straight into Lys's eyes. His eyes were sharp as a knife, the eyes of someone who could strip away all the layers of human deception, or rather, those who thought they were always right.
"Your answers just now… are they true or are they just what you want to believe?"
Lys choked. This was no longer a normal EQ question. This was a cognitive attack. The question forced the player to differentiate between facts and personal beliefs, something most humans couldn't do.
"If you answer incorrectly… You will not leave this floor."
The room suddenly darkened by half. It wasn't the lights that went out, but the butler's shadow became very long, as if ready to swallow her. Lys opened her mouth, her voice hoarse.
"I…"
"…I'm not sure."
"But at least what I said… is what I believe at this moment..."
One beat, two beats… the whole floor fell into silence. The butler's shadow shrank back to its normal shape. He lowered his head to look at her as if he was a little bored with her answer.
"A fair answer"
Lys exhaled, sweat dripping down her back. She didn't expect… Just a few questions would make her more exhausted than a duel, and luckily, this guy was a human being; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to return even if she wanted to.
"A fair answer"
The butler's voice rang out once more, this time no longer stern but… bland. As if he had just tasted bad food.
"Accepting is not enough to move forward."
"…I answered honestly."
"I know"
"But being honest does not mean being accurate."
In front of Lys, three more lanterns suddenly appeared, lit up, and suspended in the air as if held by invisible strings. Each one was a red – blue – white color. Before Lys could ask, the Butler spoke, his voice steady as if announcing the rules of an exam.
"The last rule for those who stay until the extra question"
"If you answer correctly, you can go."
"If you answer incorrectly, you stay here forever."
"The last question is…"
The Butler held up a silver key, and on the key there was a crack as thin as a knife blade.
"What do I hate the most?"
The three lanterns shook slightly as if waiting.
"The red light represents lies, and the green light represents silence, and the white light represents ambiguity."
She tried to remember when he was taking a lie detector test; he picked on every detail of her answer. He demanded every word be exact, even when she told the truth; he was still not completely satisfied. So the most reasonable answer was… Ambiguity. Unclear, not specific, not certain, the thing he hated more than lies.
Lys pointed to the black and white lights hanging above the red, green, and white lights. The butler looked straight into Lys's eyes.
"You think I hate ambiguity?"
"You always need clarity. What I said just now was uncertain, so…"
"Good."
The butler interrupted her, not allowing her to say anything more that would waste his time. Lys sighed in relief, perhaps she had answered correctly… But then he laughed again. A small laugh, but it seemed to choke the air.
"What a pity."
"The answer was WRONG."
"I don't hate ambiguity. I just corrected it."
"I don't hate silence. I just fill it with questions."
The three lanterns went out at the same time. The butler approached, his shadow covering Lys.
"What I hate most… are people who think they understand me."
His shadow covered her while Lys screamed and cried out in despair.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!"
"From now on, Lys Miriel… you will stay on this floor."
"Until someone else answers for you or until you learn to answer without thinking that you know me better than me, maybe they can save you."
"But thanks to you, I have relieved myself of my work now, I can go and appoint other servants and remember to do your job well."
The symbol of power on Lys's neck also slowly disappeared; the image that proved she was a believer in the god was replaced by a rose. Her fearful eyes were replaced with lifeless, or rather, fake ones.
"I am Laria, and I am the loyal servant of the mistress. My duty is to ask questions of others."
The girl who used to be a player has now officially become an NPC or perhaps a monster, a painful death. She is trapped and cannot go to the other world. A person who is still alive but cannot control himself is truly a cruel punishment.
The second-floor door officially opened for the second time.
"Welcome, new players."
Hearing those words, Bulter only nodded and looked at his watch.
"Well, I guess I have to go, don't worry, you will have a companion soon."
He then disappeared, leaving Laria standing there like a puppet waiting for the next prey, as he had been waiting.
...…
[God D -1] "Hey, isn't your follower dying too quickly?"
[God D -2] "Stop talking, she's too stupid, I wasted all my time giving her the ability."
[Master of the stage] "She's fine like this… I just hope a player can actually discover the ending I want; I can just consider her a useful piece."
[God A -1] "This stage looks tense… Let me see how my followers do…
...…
Arknight walked through the ruined corridor as if she were taking a walk in the park. Fontaine's blood was still stained on the edge of her shoes, but she didn't care; the only thing she cared about was the feeling of excitement that was tickling her spine. The demon that hit the wall was the prop she had collected from the previous stages, thanks to the fact that in the previous stage, she had killed all the players there to get the reward. As long as she thought of the illusion, it would crack open and swallow anyone inside to upgrade itself.
Two hours effective, one day cooldown. Perfect for playing hide-and-seek. Fontaine thought she was about to find a way out, the one who kept calling her sister was ridiculous, and the truth was that he was just the person she had defeated before, just a toy to play with. The reward for the level was only for one person, and she had to be that one person.
She stepped off the first floor, her shoes leaving a long trail on the ground. The dim light of the rose garden spread out before her eyes. The roses were red, and they covered the path like a soft maze, so beautiful that it was fake.
"Now then…"
Arknight flicked her hair, her eyes narrowing like a beast seeing its prey run past it.
"…maybe I'm about to face an interesting chain of events."
The wind brushed her cheek, carrying the faint metallic scent that lingered from the first floor. She took a deep breath, her lips curved up.
"The hunt begins."
She walked deeper into the garden, the sound of her shoes stepping on the ground mixed with the sound of rustling leaves. The space here still had traces of Sol and Rivenhart. They touched rose petals, the soil was dug up, and especially the large hole where the two of them had fallen into before. Arknight bent down.
"Hmm…"
She licked her tongue, her eyes sharper and brighter.
"These two are quite good."
Turning around, she immediately saw the silhouette of a man standing still at the edge of the hole. A butler with an expressionless face and deep eyes that seemed to pierce through the soul of the person in front of him. He looked… terrifyingly calm. Arknight did not show any surprise. She just tilted her head, her lips curved into a crooked smile.
"That hole leads to the lower floor, right?"
The butler did not reply. He only bowed lightly as if sending a guest to another world. His gaze towards Arknight was not as if he were looking at a player, but as if he were looking at an unwelcome intruder. Arknight laughed.
"It's okay. I'm not afraid of falling."
She jumped without hesitation, without hesitation, without looking down. Just one step as light as a feather… and Arknight disappeared from the edge of the pit. At that moment, the wind in the rose garden whistled louder, carrying with it a whisper like her choked laughter.
"Let's see this time in this game… who is the hunter and who is the hunted…"