Chapter 66: The Ghost Butler
"Kill... me."
This time, everyone heard it. The two words, raw and desperate, pierced their minds with chilling clarity.
A moment of horrified silence passed as the full weight of his plea settled upon them. They took in the sight of him again—a man whose entire body was a canvas of ulcerated flesh, whose feet were snapped and twisted in the wrong direction, whose tongue had been carved from his mouth. He was a prisoner in this sunless dungeon, forced to share his days with a monster, living in constant terror of being devoured.
What desire for life could possibly remain?
The veteran player's eyes, bloodshot and wide, were fixed on them. He was grasping at a final straw, but it wasn't a straw of hope for survival. It was a plea for the release of death.
No one moved. They couldn't bring themselves to do it.
Only Xie Lin watched him quietly, his gaze holding not pity, but a cold, analytical calm. He was weighing the consequences, calculating the potential fallout of granting the man's request. Would killing him alert the Butler to their intrusion? Would it trigger a direct and immediate pursuit?
As if sensing Xie Lin's hesitation, the veteran's eyes bulged, the veins within them threatening to burst. His twisted limbs strained against the ropes, a desperate, futile attempt to crawl toward them. The noose around his neck pulled taut, choking off the attempt and strangling his ragged breaths.
His fingers scrabbled frantically against the stone floor. Skin wore away, fingerprints vanished, and finally, blood began to seep from his raw fingertips. With agonizing slowness, two rows of crooked, bloody characters appeared on the ground.
[Sprinkle dust fragrance on body... temporarily confuse her perception...]
[Two packets... second floor... far right... guest room... under the bed...]
Psh—
The sound was wet and final. A blade sliced through the man's skull, sinking deep into the soft tissue of his brain. The one who had acted was not Xie Lin, but Yotsuya Miko.
A flicker of surprise crossed Xie Lin's face. He had been steeling himself to do it, but she had beaten him to it. He wouldn't have been surprised if Lin Xuelao had been the one to act, but Miko… In his mind, she was much like his own companion, Wenwen—brave enough not to be a burden, but fundamentally kind, perhaps even to a fault.
Thud.
The veteran player's body collapsed completely, all life extinguished. From one of his cloudy, vacant eyes, a single, clean tear welled up and fell, a tiny dark spot on the filth-caked floor.
"The dust fragrance he hid is in your room," Xie Lin said, his voice low as he addressed Miko.
She gave a slight nod, her expression unreadable as she raised her phone and took a picture of the bloody message on the floor. "After we get back, I'll look for it with Haruto and the others."
Xie Lin said no more. He turned and left the cell, resuming his role as their scout.
The rooms that followed were no longer filled with skeletons or living prisoners. Instead, they were packed to the ceiling with crates of fruit and blocks of paraffin. The group was puzzled at first, but their confusion cleared when they found a chamber dedicated to candle making. It seemed the castle's monstrous inhabitants had a peculiar hobby: crafting fruit-scented candles.
They pressed onward without stopping.
The next room they entered, however, made them all freeze in their tracks, their faces masks of utter, disbelieving horror.
It wasn't that the scene was particularly gory. It was that the items contained within were so deeply bizarre.
Whips. Iron collars. A veritable museum of torture applies was laid out before them.
They'd already had a faint, unsettling premonition back when they saw the fruit candles, a suspicion sparked by Haruto's earlier speculation about the castle's masters still engaging in "abnormally intimate contact." But they had never expected it to be this outrageous. They had even brought out props.
'Does turning into a half-ghost monstrosity change your kinks, too?' Miko wondered with a grimace.
These few rooms marked the end of the passage. Ahead stood a heavy iron door. A foul-smelling, viscous liquid, still wet, pooled at its base. Two small, barred windows were set into the door, one above the other.
Xie Lin cautiously opened the top window and peered inside. He spent a long moment looking, then did the same with the bottom one before closing them both.
"What's in there?" Yotsuya Miko asked softly. "Is she in there?"
Xie Lin shook his head. "It's too dark. I can't see a thing."
Miko frowned, then her eyes lit up with a sudden idea. "Wait. My phone has a night vision function."
She pulled out her phone, opened the camera app, and quickly switched it to night vision mode. Aiming the lens through the upper window, she stared at the screen. The others crowded around her, peering over her shoulder.
A collective chill washed over them.
On the grainy, green-tinted screen, not far from the door, lay a massive, brown-and-white body. The skin looked human, but its form was grotesque, like some unholy fusion of a person and a reptile. It lay motionless on the ground, its limbs and neck bound by heavy iron chains.
'What is that thing?'
Miko's eyes narrowed. She noticed something long and thin snaking away from the Lady of the Castle's body, disappearing into a visual blind spot on the screen.
She closed the upper window, opened the lower one, and once again aimed her phone's camera through the opening.
The moment the image appeared on her screen, Miko felt her brain buzz and her blood turn to ice.
On the other side of the small window, less than a hand's breadth away, practically pressed against the iron door, was a head. It was staring right at them, a bizarre, twisted smile plastered across its face.
The long, thin object they had seen dragging on the floor was its neck.
"Run!"
Miko's pupils dilated to pinpricks. The word exploded from her lips. The others, crowded so close, saw the horrifying sight at the same time. At this distance, they didn't even need the phone to see it clearly.
Clang— Clang-clang-clang—!!
The frantic rattling of iron chains erupted from behind them, followed by a violent, booming impact against the heavy door.
Without a second thought, the group sprinted back the way they came.
The earring on Xie Lin's lobe began to glow faintly—a magical sensor. The other end was sending a frantic warning.
The Butler had discovered them.
"Don't go! I have other dishes I want to eat!" Liu Haoran cried, trying to physically grab the Butler to buy his teammates a few more seconds. But the Butler seemed possessed, his movements unnaturally swift as he ascended the stairs. If not for the other players watching, he probably would have broken into a full sprint.
The Butler's strength was immense. He violently shoved Liu Haoran aside, sending him sprawling. The player took the opportunity to ham it up, clutching his arm and wailing as if he were grievously injured.
The Butler merely shot him a cold, dismissive glance, his pace not faltering for an instant.
"Is this guy really a butler?" Liu Haoran cursed under his breath as he quickly pressed the earring on his right ear.
Back in the secret passage, Xie Lin felt the vibration from his own earring. His heart clenched. He immediately picked up the pace.
The group moved like a blur through the winding corridors of the first and second floors. As they neared the exit on the third floor, they could clearly hear footsteps descending from above.
"No!" Lin Xuelao stopped dead in her tracks. "It's too late. If we go up now, we'll run right into him!"
"To the roof!" Yotsuya Miko made a split-second decision, veering toward a different staircase that led upward.
After a heartbeat of hesitation, Xie Lin followed, pulling Wu Wenwen along with him.
"Don't move!" Lin Xuelao suddenly barked in a low, urgent voice, signaling for absolute silence.
Everyone froze, holding their breath.
Thump... thump... thump...
A series of faint but heavy footsteps was approaching the entrance to the secret passage. If they had rushed out just a moment ago, they would have met the Butler head-on. It would have been over.
They remained motionless, waiting for the Butler to descend into the passage so they could slip past and head downstairs.
But, as if he had read their minds, the Butler didn't go down. Instead, his footsteps began to slowly approach their hiding spot on the upper floor.
Hearing the steps draw closer, the color drained from everyone's faces.
The roof? It was no longer an option. The corrosive acid rain was still pouring outside. The moment they stepped out, they would likely be melted into puddles of gore and slide right off the eaves.
"Go down!" Xie Lin growled through gritted teeth.
There was no time for hesitation. Bracing themselves, the group charged down the stairs.
In response to their frantic movements, the slow, heavy footsteps from below became a frantic, pounding rush.
Before long, a hideous, pale face came into view from around the corner below. Yotsuya Miko gripped two Talisman Cards, her knuckles white. Xie Lin held a strange, withered hand that looked like a dried chicken's claw. Everyone was poised for battle.
"You...! You—!!" the Butler shrieked, his face contorting with rage.
BANG—!
From behind the Butler, a thick, gnarled branch, studded with what looked like colorful, glowing fruit, slammed violently into the back of his head.
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