“Ugh, aaah! Get out of the way!”
In the meantime, the bald noble was quickly making his escape.
“Kyaaaaak!”
“Get out of the way!”
At the same time, everyone inside the banquet hall began to realize what was happening and started fleeing. But Basileon didn’t pay them any mind—he kept his eyes fixed on me.
‘…Could it be that I’ll fail this time too?’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a status window appeared before my eyes.
You have met the conditions to enter 〈The Curse of the Ravenwood Family: True Ending〉.
‘What?’
Do you want to start 〈The Curse of the Ravenwood Family: True Ending〉?
〈Yes/No.〉
Wait. True Ending? As a veteran of this game, I’d never seen this status window before. Still, seeing that I had discovered something hidden gave me hope that I might actually be able to escape the game. Finally, the status window didn’t show “Game Over”! Without hesitation, I pressed “Yes.”
! Main Quest Triggered
Prevent 〈Basileon Ravenwood〉 from [Murdering].
〈Affinity〉 system activated.
〈Rage〉 system activated.
〈Day〉 system activated.
〈Survival Mode〉 system activated.
‘Good!’
Something incredible happened. Several systems I had experienced before in the game were now activated.
‘…So helping the survivors really is the way to escape the game.’
[Basileon Ravenwood]
◇ Intimacy: 49%
◇ Anger: 51%
I could also see the Affinity and Anger values, which I had never seen before.
‘…Maybe it’s because I’m an evil spirit, but my Affinity is surprisingly high?’
I sneaked a glance at the status window and then resumed my act of crying.
“Ugh….”
Basileon’s expression gradually grew more awkward.
“…don’t cry.”
Basileon didn’t know what to do, waving his hands up and down in front of me. That behavior… it seemed far from the image of the murderer I’d seen until now….
“Evie.”
‘…Evie, huh. Could it be some kind of nickname?’
I didn’t know why, but thinking of it as a nickname made my heart flutter. Alright, now that appealing to his emotions worked, how should I persuade Basileon to genuinely help the survivors?
“Basileon, I have something to tell you.”
“…Say it.”
Looking around, it seemed all the humans had escaped. Only the ghostly servants remained. Even the ghostly servants were now sensing the unusual atmosphere and were slowly retreating.
“Basileon… Every time you swing your sword, my chest aches. It feels as if I’m the one dying.”
In fact, it wasn’t a complete lie. Even if it’s just a game and not reality, very few people could watch someone die so indifferently. On top of that, I hated cruelty and couldn’t stand violence. Looking ahead, surprisingly, Basileon was listening to me with a rather serious expression. Appealing to his emotions and pretending to be hurt actually works? On a murderer who seemed to have neither blood nor tears!
“…So that’s why you were always looking away.”
Huh? Wait. He remembers that I was always looking away when he went to kill the survivors. I thought memories reset when the game restarted… Does Basileon remember every single one of the hundreds—no, thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even more—of times this game has been repeated?
“Mhm. So…”
Struggling to hold onto my confused mind, I decided to bring up the topic at hand.
“Basileon. Let’s stop killing people now—it’s not fun. And, well, there’s the reason from before, too, but…”
“…What?”
Seeing Basileon’s expression harden, I involuntarily lowered my voice.
“So our goal is to kill humans, right? Do we really have to stick to that? I think it would be more fun to torment them without killing them—teehee.”
I did my best to act like an evil spirit and came up with a believable excuse.
“…”
“Mm… why are you looking at me with those scary eyes? It’s scary…”
“…We must kill humans.”
Basileon spoke in his characteristically low, harsh voice.
“Why?”
“Don’t ever say that again.”
Basileon didn’t answer my question; instead, he just stared at me with unfocused eyes, like someone under a spell.
“What happens… if you can’t kill them?”
I asked again, but Basileon turned away and went on his way.
“I said, what happens!”
“Don’t follow me. I’ll do it alone.”
In the end, Basileon sped off somewhere without looking back. My persuasion had failed. Of course—there was no way he would listen to me so easily.
‘What should I do now?’
I racked my brain for a way to stop Basileon from killing.
‘Hmm…’
Wait, then I can just change my approach! Being an evil spirit makes it a bit harder, but I’m a veteran player of this game. I have to find a way to stop Basileon using all my abilities.
“…And we have to kill humans? What is this, a line from a robot movie?”
While I was muttering to myself, a passing ghost maid looked at me as if I’d gone insane.
“Hehe, hello!”
I smiled brightly and waved at the ghost maid.
“…Anyway. Basileon Ravenwood. I’ll stop him.”
* * *
Even I, a ghost, had a few abilities of my own. One of them was being able to use a few skills—and access the map! Of course, the map was originally meant to help assist Basilion’s murders, but from now on, I planned to use it differently. Still… wasn’t this game completely insane?
At this rate, I might die of stress before I even manage to escape this game and return to reality. Well… not that dying again would make a difference, considering I’m already dead. Still! Even as a ghost, I do get stressed out! And if you’re wondering why—it’s all because of that gluttonous idiot.
[Map]
! Havel Acron 〈1st Floor Kitchen〉
I began seriously using the map to track the locations of Basileon and the survivors. Havel Acron—a survivor who was always snacking whenever he got the chance. After checking his location on the map, I flew straight to him. Sure enough, when I arrived, Havel was devouring a cake without restraint.
[Map]
! Basileon Ravenwood 〈1st Floor Hallway〉
Then, checking the map again, I saw that Basileon was approaching this area.
“Stop eating already!”
I used a skill to hit Havel on the back with a ladle from the kitchen. This skill allowed me to levitate objects and attack opponents.
〈Used 〈Attack〉 on Havel Acron.〉
〈Remaining Uses: 10〉
Clang-.
“Ah…”
Havel rubbed his back. But for this guy, whose endurance was insanely high, it probably didn’t have much effect. Ignoring it, Havel went back to focusing on gobbling down the cake.
“Hey! The murderer’s coming!”
[Havel Acron]
◇ Speed: ☆☆☆☆★
◇ Agility: ☆☆☆☆★
◇ Mental Strength: ★★★★★
◇ Endurance: ★★★★★
Havel was maxed out in endurance and mental strength. But as for speed and agility… sigh. This guy was annoying enough in the game, but seeing him in person really made my blood boil.
“If you die, you won’t even get to eat that cake!”
“Huh?”
Finally, as if my persuasion had worked, Havel turned around.
“Huh? Is that so?”
This guy didn’t even flinch when he saw me—the fear gauge didn’t rise at all. That’s what happens when you dump all your stat points into mental strength and endurance.
“Hide now! Open this box!”
I pointed to a wooden crate in front of me. A few pieces of fruit were stored inside, but the crate was large enough for the bulky Havel to hide in.
‘Wait. Where is Basileon?’
[Map]
! Basileon Ravenwood 〈In Front of 1st Floor Kitchen〉
‘I’m going crazy.’
“H… Here?”
“Oh, don’t ask and just hide!”
Clang!
〈Used 〈Attack〉 on Havel Acron.〉
〈Remaining Uses: 9〉
“I, it hurts…”
“So just move quickly already! Be quiet—the guy’s coming.”
Havel squeezed his hefty body into the crate and shut the lid.
Squeeeak—.
At the same time, the most terrifying sound in the world reached our ears.
[Map]
! Basileon Ravenwood 〈Passing Through 1st Floor Kitchen Door〉
Tak—!
“…Evien?”
I quickly hid myself too, but Basileon called out to me—perhaps he’d heard my voice. I stayed still, thinking that if I didn’t respond, he’d leave…
“Hoo… hoo….”
From the crate next to me, I could hear Havel’s breathing slowly seeping out.
‘Ugh, breathe quietly for once, you idiot…!’
“…”
Basileon must have heard the sound too, because he started walking in this direction.
“Hoo… hoo….”
To cover up Havel’s breathing, I deliberately mimicked the sound and appeared in front of Basileon.
“…As expected, it was you.”
Basileon’s face brightened when he spotted me.
“Hoo… hoo….”
“What are you doing?”
“Mhm! Breathing exercises.”
“…I see. You were playing tricks again.”
“Basileon! This place is too small. Let’s get out!”
“But I heard someone talking here, for sure.”
Basileon looked around.
“Uh… could that have been the sound I made?”
But Basileon ignored me and moved to inspect the kitchen.
“….”
Right. After all, his sharp instincts honed over years as a murderer wouldn’t let him miss something like this.
[Basileon Ravenwood]
◇ Intimacy: 46%
◇ Anger: 55%
Oh no. His intimacy went down and his anger went up. Could it be that he’s starting to doubt me? Basileon strode past the fireplace and stopped in front of a wooden table littered with cooking utensils and ingredients.
“This is…”
Because, as if someone had just been eating here, the cake and utensils were scattered messily among the ingredients.
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