“Crazy. I got possessed.”
I moved my body around by myself and pinched my arm to confirm the feeling of pain again.
I was sure I had only fallen asleep for a moment while waiting for fried chicken.
But the moment I opened my eyes, I was dressed exactly like April.
And after looking around at the situation, it was clear that the prologue party of <The Archmage’s Mansion> was just about to begin.
W■■■■■ to the M■■■■■’s M■■■■■.
Error occurred!
No player information found.
The broken, crackling notification window disappeared in an instant.
Everything else followed the prologue event I knew.
The lights of the banquet hall flickered ominously. For a brief moment, red blood streamed down the walls.
<The Emperor, and the four people I believed were my comrades.
They betrayed me.>
Several people screamed at the ominous words written in blood.
And outside the windows, shadowy hands rose up.
Bang—! Bang—!
Blood-soaked palms slammed against the glass all at once.
The chandelier lights completely went out.
Darkness.
Everyone froze in the sudden darkness and fell silent. The cheerful waltz that had been playing when I first possessed this body had disappeared without a trace, replaced by eerie, spine-chilling silence.
The only thing that could be heard was the sound of heavy rain beating against the windows.
As always in horror genres, thunder and lightning followed a rainy midnight.
When lightning struck, the surroundings flashed brightly for an instant. A deafening roar followed afterward.
Rumble, crash—!
<I will never forgive those of you who murdered me.>
A curse was written across the banquet hall wall that had suddenly lit up.
Again—
Rumble, crash—!
<Even the cursed descendants who inherited your bloodline shall surely die.>
The room flashed brightly from the lightning. It was as though the wall alone demanded to be seen clearly.
<You will never leave this place.>
That final sentence had never existed in the game.
Some of the chandelier lights returned a short while later.
Inside the banquet hall, now changed into a bleak gray color, many people still remained.
The Imperial faction, the noble faction, and commoner guests.
The blood-written letters showed no sign of drying.
The blood flowing down slowly, slowly stained the carpet on the banquet hall floor. Since it never stopped, the carpet became completely soaked with blood.
Careful whispers spread around.
“The Archmage… wasn’t he supposed to have helped the First Emperor and the founding retainers, sacrificing his own life?”
“That’s what we were taught…”
“They killed the Archmage?”
But after seeing the malicious curse written on the wall, everyone instinctively realized it was the truth.
‘Why am I not waking up?’
I blinked.
I pinched my arm again, but the dream would not end. Instead, the pain only reminded me that I had possessed a side character inside the game.
If the chicken had arrived, my older brother definitely would have woken me up.
Perhaps realizing something, the murmuring gradually turned into fear.
“Does this really mean we’ve been cursed…?”
“We need to go outside and check.”
Several people approached the banquet hall doors and pulled on the handles.
No one went near the blood-covered windows marked with handprints.
Rattle.
The doors did not open.
“……”
A strange tension filled the banquet hall.
The entire place felt cold, like something could suddenly appear and attack at any moment.
If someone screamed, it felt like complete chaos would erupt instantly. The atmosphere was right on the verge of exploding.
But even in a place like this, there were always people who tried to resolve the situation.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
The woman who stepped forward in clicking heels had a voice strangely calm.
“Let’s put the situation together. ‘The Emperor, and the four people I believed were my comrades.’ ‘Even the cursed descendants who inherited your bloodline shall surely die.’ I think all of us are trapped here because we meet those conditions.”
The woman had half-tied brown hair and intelligent green eyes.
She was the original story’s heroine, Yeniel.
“Hah? Lady Yeniel speaks as though she alone understands this situation.”
Another woman snorted loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Black hair with a flowing purple sheen. Sharp violet eyes. She was the original story’s villainess, Eveline.
“It’s simple. As you can see, only people who fit those conditions remain here. This is a curse or magic targeting people under specific conditions.”
“And how are we supposed to believe that? There are many commoners here too. Are you trying to say that the Imperial Family or your four founding families married commoners? Though perhaps that’s possible for a family practically no different from commoners like your Janes family.”
The two protagonists the player could choose from had personalities completely opposite, fitting their roles as “heroine” and “villainess.”
Yeniel was the daughter of a baron. Though her status was low, she was wise, smart, and refreshingly straightforward.
Villainess Eveline possessed power, status, and beauty, but she was arrogant and discriminated against people based on social class.
In the story, there were the Imperial faction that supported the royal family, and the noble faction that pursued the interests of nobles over the Imperial Family. Even the factions their families belonged to were different.
Yeniel’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Please stop insulting my family, Duchess. They could be distant branches or descendants. Of course, there’s also a high chance that many of those people carry Janes blood as well. We need to put aside trivial details for now. We must cooperate in order to escape.”
“Why should I?”
Eveline shot back.
I came to a conclusion.
It seemed I would be stuck possessing April inside this horror game for the time being.
‘Thank goodness it’s <The Archmage’s Mansion>.'
While the two confronted each other, I secretly rejoiced inside.
Because among horror games, this one was considered fairly easy. As long as you joined either of their factions, escaping was comparatively simple.
In other words, it was perfect for having an easy ride. Especially if you joined heroine Yeniel’s side.
This game did have a Suspicion Meter, but it usually didn’t build up that easily, so there was no need to worry.
At that moment, villainess Eveline looked toward me, who was standing nearby.
“What do you think, my lady?”
The gazes of everyone, including heroine Yeniel, focused on me all at once.
The moment Eveline realized I was the one she had asked, she showed a subtle expression of regret for a split second.
“Pardon?”
I tilted my head brightly like April would.
“We’re both part of the noble faction, so Lady Sharon should understand. Do you believe everyone really needs to cooperate in order to escape?”
I pretended not to fully understand and gave a vague answer.
“Umm, I’m not really sure, but doesn’t Lady Yeniel’s argument make sense?”
The moment I answered Eveline’s question—
Your Suspicion Meter has increased by 10%.
A cold metallic sound rang in my ears as a status window appeared before my eyes.
For reference, the Suspicion Meter rose whenever someone acted “out of character” and others became suspicious.
In heroine Yeniel’s case, it rose if she acted overly stupid. For villainess Eveline, it rose whenever she failed to answer Yeniel’s sharp questions.
‘But why is my Suspicion Meter rising?’
The translucent game status window updated rapidly, as though answering my question.
Your answer was not fitting for a foolish noble lady, causing others to become suspicious.
Ding! A clear notification sound rang out.
Current Total Suspicion: 10%
A horrifying warning message appeared underneath.
Tip. If your Total Suspicion exceeds 50%, you will be classified as a ‘Temporary Execution Target.’ If your Total Suspicion exceeds 70%, an execution event will occur!
I quickly looked around to grasp the situation.
Villainess Eveline, who had asked me the question, awkwardly spoke.
“…Did Lady Sharon always know words like ‘reasonable’?”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
The foolish noble lady April… was a character who didn’t know difficult words like that.
Words like “reasonable.”
“Yes! That means……”
“That means?”
The people gathered in the banquet hall stared at me with widened eyes, as though witnessing something impossible.
I smiled innocently and brightly.
“It means more cute. Right? My lady?”
“…For a moment, I almost misunderstood you, my lady. My mistake.”
Eveline apologized with a speechless expression.
[People are feeling the mystery of coincidence! Your Suspicion Meter has decreased by 9%.]
Ding!
[Current Total Suspicion: 1%]
Thank you, everyone.
Really, thank you very much.