Chapter 13
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The corridor was far too quiet, nothing like when she had first set foot in this mansion.
Even the door leading to the banquet hall, which had been open before, was now closed. Cynthia kept close behind the duke as he advanced with his sword in hand—nervous that he might suddenly turn that sword on her, and frightened because she already knew the source of the ever-thickening scent of blood as they neared the banquet hall.
But more than anything, she was afraid Melissa might be dead.
‘She’ll be okay, right? Nothing bad happened, right?’
Soon, the duke pushed open the door to the banquet hall with one hand.
Creeeeak…
“Ugh…!”
The overpowering stench of blood filled the entire space, billowing out in waves.
Everyone who had remained in the banquet hall was dead, impaled on metal stakes that had risen from the floor.
The nobles, their servants, the knights who had guarded the doors, even the musicians… Each and every one of them had died in horrific fashion. Each person was skewered in a different way, their bodies hoisted high, bodily fluids dripping from their wounds.
It was exactly like the beginning of the game. When the protagonist left the banquet hall for a moment and returned, this scene would be laid out before her. That was easier to take when it was just pixel graphics, but seeing it like this, in reality, Cynthia found it almost impossible to endure.
She collapsed on the spot and vomited. Since she hadn’t eaten anything, all she could do was retch and bring up water, but both her stomach and throat burned painfully. That pain was proof that she was still alive.
“Ugh, huurk…”
“Haa…”
The duke looked around the banquet hall with a scowl, then let out an irritable sigh.
“I can’t stand filthy things…”
‘Is that really what matters right now?’
Suppressing the urge to vomit rising from deep in her throat, Cynthia took deep breaths over and over. Panting, she lifted her tearful gaze and forced herself to look around. In this moment of witnessing such a gruesome massacre, only her survival instinct kept her moving.
She had to find out what had killed all these people. Judging by the situation, it didn’t look like it was the villain’s doing.
Meanwhile, the duke, sword in hand, strode without hesitation into the forest of corpses and guts. Cynthia didn’t have the courage to follow. She felt her legs turn to stone, even more so with the fear that she might find Melissa’s body among them.
And then, at just that moment, something caught her eye.
“That’s…”
Sitting atop a vintage side table, as if placed there just for her to notice, was a music box.
Despite the circumstances, the tiny, lively melody poured out as the music box spun slowly. The sight jolted Cynthia back to her senses.
‘A save point!’
Even if she died, she could turn back time and return to this place, to this moment—a save point.
In this insane situation, it was the only thing she could trust. Even if the villain was acting clueless, as if he were on her side, there was no telling when he might change.
Taking a short, deep breath, Cynthia stepped forward. She pinched her nose as tightly as she could to avoid the stench and breathed as shallowly as possible, entering the forest of corpses.
“Ugh… ugh…!”
‘This is a game, this is a game!’
She repeated it to herself as she picked her way through the forest of bodies, flesh, and innards, blood and bits of meat dropping all around her.
The forest of people, impaled and raised sky-high on stakes, filled the banquet hall, so now and then, she would feel entrails drooping over her shoulder, drops of sticky blood splashing on her nape, and lumps of flesh squelching under her feet. More than once, she had to choke back a scream.
…How could anyone call this a game?
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