Chapter 075: Dekan is here to experience life
As the first night approached, everyone gathered in the kitchen where they stored food supplies.
They needed to allocate the remaining food for the next three days and take it back to their respective bedrooms.
If they dispersed tonight, the two Rebel Challengers would undoubtedly destroy the food.
“Well, we’ve investigated every possible place. Looks like all we can do tonight is pray for a peaceful night.”
Lilith addressed everyone.
It seemed that there were no particularly mysterious places in this mansion that needed deciphering.
Apart from the ten bedrooms, there were no inaccessible secret chambers.
Despite their efforts to search for mechanisms or concealed compartments, they concluded that the mansion’s structure was normal.
The only somewhat unique place was the hexagram-shaped magic circle beneath the piano in the living room, with a faint red glow in one corner.
It resembled a cryptic altar that neither activated nor destroyed.
During the midday check, the bedrooms were inspected in small groups but revealed no hidden information.
The useful information they found was mainly in that library-like archive room and the mansion owner’s study.
It included numerous materials related to this world.
And the stories of this mansion and the territory.
“Legend has it that many years ago, this was the mansion of Count Augustine.”
“Later, Count Augustine’s identity as a vampire was discovered, so the Church came to slay him.”
“Count Augustine devised a plan, luring his mortal enemies — the Werewolf and the Witch.”
“Ultimately, the vampire, werewolf, witch, and the Church’s extermination squad perished in a fierce battle.”
“Unable to deal with the severely wounded enemies, the extermination squad could only trap them within this ancient mansion.”
“Finally, the spirits of the werewolf and the witch became the curse of this mansion.”
When Lilith summarized these clues, the main plot progress jumped directly to 2/3.
This indicated that only one final part of crucial information was missing before the challengers could complete the core storyline.
However, neither Cornelia nor Lilith had any idea where that final 1/3 of the information was.
They couldn’t even deduce the extra tasks of the Rebel Challengers.
They could only assume it was “eliminate all regular challengers.”
After everyone dispersed, tonight was likely going to be a bloody one.
Cornelia instinctively glanced at Dekan.
This was the time to seek wisdom from him.
Dekan met her gaze, smiling silently.
Cornelia seemed to understand something and turned away, no longer looking at him.
“For the time being, we should split into pairs for the bedrooms, leaving every two minutes. That way, we’ll have no idea each other’s room numbers. Also, the detective should go first.”
Lilith suggested.
“Alright.”
There was no objection from the group.
This method was mainly for Cornelia’s protection.
To prevent the werewolf and witch from easily figuring out which room Cornelia would be staying in.
Cornelia didn’t say much, walking directly towards the exit of the archive room. Dekan naturally followed behind her.
“I suggest we let the detective go to her room alone.”
Lilith’s voice suddenly rang out.
Cornelia and Dekan both stopped and turned to look at her.
“To be clear, it’s not intended as an offense. I just want to remind you that even in a Shadow World entered as a team, there is always the possibility that one of the members is an imposter. After all, they are very good at deceiving others.
Unless you fully trust him, I suggest the detective considers carefully.”
Lilith explained.
Before Dekan could say anything, Cornelia hooked her arm through his.
“I’m going with him.”
Cornelia’s tone reflected rare determination.
It was as if Cornelia would lose her sense of security if she parted from Dekan, just as Dekan might feel insecure without Cornelia.
The body and mind couldn’t be separated.
Dekan helplessly looked at Lilith and shrugged.
“Since you trust each other, then I apologize.”
Lilith smiled and bowed slightly in apology.
Her actual intention was to test Dekan.
After observing him for a day, Lilith believed this man was extremely dangerous.
His face always carried a calm half-smile.
Compared to others frightened by this sinister mansion, he seemed like someone truly on a holiday in the snowy villa.
Completely unreadable.
If he were the enemy, it would be unimaginable calamity.
First, he would easily kill the detective on the first night, then proceed to an unavoidable massacre.
However, judging from the current situation, it seemed unlikely that the detective and he were just temporary allies.
Since the detective trusted him, he was probably one of the trustworthy ones.
This reassured Lilith a fair bit.
And based on the detective’s reaction, one could draw further conclusions.
The detective was likely an intellectual type, with relatively weak fighting abilities.
Her assistant, on the other hand, was probably an exceptionally skilled killer.
Therefore, for safety reasons, the two would never separate, even if it meant staying alone together in a bedroom.
Their bond couldn’t be broken.
Lilith had completed this series of analyses in mere seconds.
…
Dekan and Cornelia entered Bedroom No. 4 on the second floor together.
Cornelia, Dekan, and Teacher Cat held keys to rooms 203, 204, and 205 respectively.
Teacher Cat, who spent the whole day in Dekan’s shadow, finally emerged as if regaining freedom.
The reason one challenger was less present was precisely because Teacher Cat hid at the start.
Although Teacher Cat’s existence as a hidden element would greatly increase the reasoning difficulty for other regular challengers, it would also confuse the Rebel Challengers.
Thus, Dekan and Cornelia tacitly agreed not to disclose Teacher Cat’s presence to the others.
Upon opening the heavy door, the bedroom before their eyes was more than three times the size of Dekan’s dormitory living room.
But it wasn’t empty; it was fully furnished with all necessary household items and came with a private bathroom.
Dekan leaned onto the small sofa in the room the moment he walked in.
“Finding clues is still exhausting.”
He sighed.
Cornelia also slumped next to him.
“Exactly, we didn’t get to do anything fun all day.”
Compared to the Demon Academy, the experience of the Shadow World was pretty bad.
After all, the isolated mountain, snowstorm, and villa presented the perfect holiday scenario.
“Starting tomorrow, we won’t have to do any labor. We can enjoy this trip happily.”
“Hmm!”
“You two, can’t you show some sense of tension?!”
Seeing the two so relaxed, Teacher Cat couldn’t help but scold them.
“Why should we be tense?”
Dekan dismissed Teacher Cat’s concern as he casually reached out to pick it up, then pulled it into his embrace.
“Meow meow meow! You two aren’t scared, but I am!”
It was only a pitiful assistant.
Or rather, a real slacker.
If Dekan and Cornelia failed, it would also meet its end!
“This Shadow World is actually quite simple.”
“How is it simple? There’s a sixth-rank werewolf out there! And we’re missing clues!”
“Actually, regardless of who the Rebel Challengers are, if we take out those other seven people during the day, won’t we pass easily?”
“…”
Teacher Cat was silent for a moment.
“You damn human! If you actually do that, you’d end up in jail!”
Teacher Cat thought that Dekan was even scarier than the Rebel Challengers.
