Chapter 3

The live comments flew across the screen.

“What’s going on? Why did the final boss appear so early?”

“Not only did he show up early, but he didn’t even kill anyone. He let them all escape!”

“Is this some kind of bug? Since when has the boss been so merciful? None of the previous players who ran into him survived longer than three seconds!”

“Maybe killing too quickly got boring. He probably wants to try a new game this time. These players might end up dying worse than the others.”

“The boss has such an insane presence. You can tell he’s ridiculously handsome even through the mask!”

“Stop simping already. That’s a literal psychopath! He’s the cruelest and most ruthless boss in the entire game!”

…

Once we hid inside one of the guest rooms, everyone finally let out a breath of relief.

The skinny guy looked guilty. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hold it in back there and almost got you all killed.”

I patted his shoulder to comfort him. “Horror games are a survival hell. It’s not your fault. But from now on, we need to focus on finding clues as fast as possible.”

The guy with glasses nodded and agreed. “The banquet lasts two hours. During that time, all NPCs stay in the banquet hall. We have to use that window to search for the exit. Once the banquet ends, they’ll start wandering around randomly. If they catch us, we die. So after that, we have to stay hidden.”

Then, he quickly reviewed the game rules with us again. “Spring Manor holds a banquet every six hours. Each banquet lasts two hours, and the remaining four hours are the killing phase. During the killing phase, we can only hide; we can’t investigate at all. That means we only have eight hours total to explore. Time is extremely limited.

“Right now, there’s only one hour left before the banquet ends. We need to hurry upstairs and search. And remember: don’t make any noise. If the NPCs hear anything, they’ll come upstairs and kill us immediately.”

After everyone understood the rules, the guy with glasses assigned each of us areas to search. We split up, and I was responsible for one of the second-floor hallways. I searched room after room, but after half an hour, I still hadn’t found anything useful. In the end, only the room at the very end of the hallway remained.

The room looked unnaturally dark. Thick cobwebs hung around the doorway, and cold air seeped through the crack beneath the door. I stood there for a long moment, mentally preparing myself before slowly pushing the door open.

The pitch-black room looked like the gaping mouth of a monster waiting for me to walk straight in. The moment I stepped inside, dirt from the ceiling beams rained down onto my head, while rats squealed from the corners. However, I forced myself to stay calm and raised my candle to examine the room.

Finally, on top of an old wardrobe, I spotted a bright red bundle. I dragged over a stool and climbed up to reach it, but just as my fingers touched the bundle, the stool suddenly slid away on its own. I crashed hard onto the floor, knocking over several porcelain vases at once, making a loud noise.

Oh no. It was a trap!

I scrambled to my feet and ran for the door, but it wouldn’t budge, as if it had been welded shut. Then, the red bundle shook violently, and the cloth wrapped around it slipped away. The moment I saw what was inside, my entire body went numb with terror, because it was a human head!

The severed head flew straight toward me and slammed against my skull. At the same time, strange footsteps echoed through the hallway outside. It came closer and closer, and when it finally stopped outside the door, I knew I was going to die.

…

Before I blacked out, countless memories flashed through my mind. So it was true what people said about seeing the most important moments of our lives flashing before our eyes before we die.

I saw a memory from three years ago, when I first met Lucas. That day, rain poured down in sheets. I had gone downstairs to collect my laundry when I found him collapsed outside my apartment building.

He was badly injured, blood pouring from several wounds, so I rushed him to the hospital. After he woke up from surgery, he claimed he’d been attacked by robbers who stabbed him several times.

I told him to call the police, but he said, “They didn’t take much. Forget it.”

Later, I found out Lucas lived in the apartment above mine. To thank me for saving his life, he often brought me food, and before long, we ended up together.

He was the gentlest man I had ever met. He fought me over every household chore, handled all the cooking and laundry without complaint, and every time I came home from work, there would be a hot meal waiting on the table.

He especially loved wrapping his arms around me and breathing softly against my neck. Then, he would flash those sharp teeth, pretending like he was about to swallow me whole–

Wait. Sharp teeth?