Chapter 76: Still Daring to Climb the Balcony?
"There are others?"
Yotsuya Miko had assumed Huang Dao was acting alone. But from the way Haruto phrased it, it was clear more people were involved.
Haruto gave a slight nod. "Considering the personality he's shown us, he wouldn't dare to trouble us again without the tacit approval, or even the active support, of the others."
Miko didn't understand. "I get why he would want to, but why the others? What good does killing us do them? In a situation like this, shouldn't they be trying to ally with powerful players and secure their own safety?"
"Generally speaking, that would be the logical choice," Yukari said, taking over the explanation. "But have you considered one crucial problem? The gap in our strength is simply too large."
"Isn't that even better for them?" Miko was still confused.
Yukari shook her head, a faint, knowing smile on her lips.
"If the difference in power is one tier, most people will actively seek to form a team. If it's two tiers, they'll treat you as a lifeline, someone to cling to. But if the gap is three, four, or even more... then to the weaker side, we become walking time bombs. They don't dare to gamble. They can't be sure we won't decide to use them as bait and send them to their deaths to save ourselves."
Yotsuya Miko fell silent. She couldn't condone the act of harming others, but hearing that cold logic sent a strange chill through her. It was a grim, twisted sort of survival instinct.
Haruto just smiled, his expression unconcerned.
"Whatever their reasons, if they want to kill us, they'd better be prepared to be killed."
Meanwhile, Huang Dao had slipped back into his room. A tremor ran through his body—part lingering fear, part the intoxicating thrill of vengeance finally within his grasp.
"It's on..." he whispered to Zhang Katao, who was waiting in the room.
"Are you sure you weren't discovered?" Zhang Katao asked, his thick lips barely moving. He sat on the edge of the bed, his heavy-set frame tense.
"Don't worry, absolutely not! I took off my shoes and went over barefoot. Didn't make a single sound," Huang Dao guaranteed, his voice brimming with nervous confidence.
Zhang Katao nodded slowly, his gaze sweeping over the other people in the room.
There were four of them in total: a pair of college students, a young man and woman; himself; and a thin, shifty-looking man with the beady eyes of a rat.
His mind was already spinning, calculating the order of sacrifice. If things went south—if Haruto's group had somehow discovered the plan—he wouldn't hesitate for a second. He would push all the blame onto Huang Dao to appease their anger.
"I'm going to the bathroom," the female college student announced suddenly.
"The lights outside are off," Huang Dao reminded her.
"It's fine, I'll be quick."
Without waiting for a response, she pushed the door open and stepped out. She turned left into the hallway, but as she neared the bathroom door, she suddenly veered right, her heart pounding against her ribs.
She had just learned of Zhang Katao and Huang Dao's despicable plan. Deep down, she was disgusted by their backstabbing, but a more intense feeling overshadowed it—the terrifying certainty that picking the wrong side would mean death.
She risked a glance over her shoulder. Zhang Katao must have realized by now that she wasn't coming back. But he would never risk coming out to chase her. He would simply pretend to know nothing and prepare to pin all the blame on Huang Dao.
Following her memory, she hurried toward the end of the hallway.
Tap, tap...
Footsteps suddenly echoed from the corridor ahead. After a split second of hesitation, she spun around and ran, a decision that proved to be the right one.
But when she reached the corner and looked back, her blood ran cold. It wasn't just anyone; it was the Butler, his hulking form moving with an unnatural speed as he pursued her.
Forward was death. Backward was death. Her only option was to loop around toward Haruto's room. In that frantic moment, all she could do was pray that the Lady of the Castle wouldn't decide to come down right now.
Fortunately, as she rounded the corner into the right-hand corridor, the sound of the Butler's heavy footsteps vanished. Just as she was about to heave a sigh of relief, her heart seized in her chest.
The light in the bathroom was still on. Its dim, yellow glow cast a faint shadow onto the floor at the corner just ahead.
The Butler was in the blind spot, waiting quietly for her.
Ice flooded her veins, rooting her to the spot.
Just then, the door beside her opened without a sound. A hand shot out, yanking her inside while another clamped tightly over her mouth. Terror flared in her eyes.
"Don't make a sound," a low voice whispered.
Shaken, she looked over and saw Xie Lin and the others. The tension that had locked her muscles in place suddenly snapped, and she nodded frantically.
Seeing her compliance, Xie Lin slowly released his hand.
Everyone held their breath, straining their ears to listen to the movement outside the door.
Heavy, deliberate footsteps passed their room, paused for a long moment, then slowly turned back before finally fading into the distance.
Only then did they all exhale in a collective, silent rush of air.
"What were you doing out there?" Xie Lin asked in a low voice.
The female college student, Wu Wenwen, didn't dare hide anything. She recounted Huang Dao's actions and Zhang Katao's entire treacherous plan in a hushed, trembling voice.
"Damn it all!" Liu Haoran, the male college student, was upright and blunt by nature. Hearing this, his face flushed with rage and he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "Haruto and Yukari let him off so many times! He should be thanking the heavens they didn't come looking for trouble, and he has the gall to turn around and try to harm them!"
Wu Wenwen looked at Xie Lin, her expression fraught with anxiety. "Brother Xie Lin, we have to go notify Haruto and the others! They're in great danger!"
"No rush," Xie Lin said, his expression unusually calm. He analyzed the situation coolly. "Have you forgotten? Among the eight people who arrived at the castle gates on the first night, only Haruto and Yukari noticed the Butler's footsteps in advance and got that key information."
He paused, letting his words sink in. ", Lin Xuelao is in that room. With her hearing, it's impossible for them not to have noticed someone tampering with their door. So right now, the ones who should be most worried are actually ourselves."
After listening to Xie Lin's analysis, Wu Wenwen's brow furrowed as she recalled the scene. "That's right... When I looked from a distance earlier, it really didn't seem like there were any stickers on Haruto's door."
Hearing this, Liu Haoran and Wu Wenwen's frantic hearts finally settled a bit.
As the night deepened, the ancient castle fell into a deathly silence. There were no bird calls, no insect chirps—only the whisper of the wind brushing past the stone and the scattered patter of rain against the outer walls.
In the latter half of the night, an uncomfortable sound squeezed into this dead quiet—a wet, slimy, crawling noise.
Scrape... scrape, scrape...
The sound grew clearer as it approached.
At that moment, Haruto and the others had already retreated into their blankets. They lay prone, facing the balcony, lifting a single corner of the bedding just enough to reveal four pairs of watchful eyes.
Suddenly, a pair of pale, petite hands hooked onto the stone ledge of the balcony. Following them, a large, bloated body slowly hauled itself up, its damp flesh scraping against the rough surface.
What appeared last was its exceptionally long neck and the head attached to its end.
The head seemed blurred and corroded by the rain, but in just a moment, it restored itself to its original state at a speed visible to the naked eye.
As expected, Haruto thought with a detached amusement. Even without Zhang Katao and the others stirring up trouble, the Butler was never going to let them off the hook. He was determined to drive this creature to their room.
To this, Haruto simply smiled.
It was now confirmed: there was no real exchange of information between the Butler and this monster. The commands were strictly one-way. Otherwise, given the wretched state she was in after being scared out of her wits last time, she would never have dared to come again.
The Lady of the Castle, just as before, slowly crawled toward the bed and straightened her massive, waterlogged body. At such a close distance, they could see every single wrinkle on her pallid skin.
Her long neck began to exert a slow, deliberate force, suspending her head in mid-air. That face, fixed in a bizarre, unblinking smile, stared down at the blanket.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]