“So, I wanted to say this.”
“What do you mean?”
“So, I don’t know why you only set foot in such dangerous places, but I wanted to tell you to stay in safe places if possible.”
Luke’s words were automatically translated in my head.
‘Isn’t this a warning to stop going out looking after Luke?’
I was thankful that the words that could be said while pointing a knife or strangling someone were said in such a beautiful atmosphere. When I quickly shook my head with a tired expression, Luke shook his head as if I could not see it. It’s like dealing with a child who doesn’t understand what you’re saying. I suddenly felt thirsty and gulped down the glass in front of me. Although the scent was good, the strong brandy burned his throat and passed by. He filled his cup and filled mine too. Then he twirled his glass.
The amber liquid danced softly in the crystal glass as he moved his hands. He chose his words for a long time and only spoke after a long silence.
“Knowing too much is poisonous, so please don’t step too deeply into the darkness. Then you will regret it.”
The strange kindness in Luke’s eyes as he looked at me while saying those words was something I couldn’t take my eyes off of, even if it is not because of its beauty.
‘…I must have reached a certain level of skill in playing a hero.’
I jumped up from my seat, biting the inside of my lip.
“…If you’re done talking, can I leave now?”
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me? You were searching all the way to the basement.”
‘…I’m curious about the basement. I’m going crazy because I’m curious.’
But looking at Luke’s eyes staring at me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I chose the wrong answer, it would lead directly to a dead ending. After hesitating for a while, I finally decided to play it off.
“Didn’t I say I went there because I lost my earring? Of course, I was wrong to go there. But please don’t misunderstand.”
Luke twisted his lips and smiled.
“Let’s leave it at that.”
I was about to turn around because I thought the conversation was really over, but he spoke again.
“One last thing.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve seen too much.”
“…yes?”
“Once in a while, I lose myself. So, while I hope you don’t go anywhere else, please do not enter my room without permission. Because the spell that keeps you from opening the door will not listen to you. “I’d like to ask you this.”
‘…Is there something in his room? Whether it is the murder weapon or other evidence.
I noticed that he showed me the rooftop, which was his secret space, but never let me enter the room. I promised myself that the next time I went to his room, I would not get caught.
“All right. There is no reason for me to enter there.”
Only after nodding once again to his sincere advice was I able to free myself from that beautiful rooftop and the most beautiful man.
When I returned to the room, I collapsed on the bed helplessly. I couldn’t believe I was still alive, so I closed and opened my eyes several times and stared at the ceiling for a long time. There was something strange about my heart stopping the moment I met Luke. I took a deep breath, opened the case notebook, closed it, and became lost in thought.
‘Luke warned me directly. Don’t dig deeper. However, it is dangerous to install more just to see the true ending.’
Now was the time to be more cautious. If this game had a level system, I would be at the level where I had just started the game and without a proper shield or armor, I would be completing job quests such as fetching alcohol from a brewery or picking apples. Since I was so determined to catch the final boss of this game, there’s no way it can be resolved all at once. I calmed down and looked at the only two hearts left.
‘This game is the kind of game that even streamers who claim to be nanda have quit. Of course, I’m impatient, but… I need to approach it more cautiously and leisurely.’
I shouldn’t take it so lightly. I sighed softly and checked each status window one by one. Although there seemed to be a lot of information to be gained, this game was a favorability building game that was played with optional terrain from the beginning. In order to open the route, you had no choice but to increase the favorability of each character. After taking a walk around the park, that became even more clear. The route to obtain evidence was not as easy to access as expected. It’s obvious that the file on Luke was burned as well. Shine and Luna’s favorability levels seem to have increased quite a bit, but no events have been opened yet, but in the case of the Princess and Luke, main events were opened as soon as their favorability level reached 2. Shine and Luna were just NPCs whose names I didn’t even know when I was a player, so they’re clearly not connected to that important event. In other words…
‘It’s important to win the favor of key people.’
While looking up the favorability window, my eyes stopped at the name of Luke. The number of events listed next to his name was truly vast… The importance of working to increase likability with the main character meant that she needed to become closer to Luke…?
‘But I’d like to decline that…’
Luke was still too close. If I got any closer than this, I thought I would make a mistake before I got any evidence or anything. I sighed softly and covered my eyes with both hands. When I first entered the game, I was terrified after experiencing one death, but everything seemed easy. I thought I would be able to do it somehow since I knew the rough timeline, but now I feel so lost. I didn’t even know what to do with my relationship with Luke. Maybe it’s just that I was full, but all I wanted to do was run away from this house right now, so why raise my favorability rating to open the route?
‘In the end, I didn’t find out what was underground.’
That was extremely frustrating. If I sneak and get caught again, I might really get killed by Luke. Was there any way to open the basement route? I wondered if there might be some interest in Luke during the event…?
I stared at the favorability window for a long time, then lowered my eyelids and closed them, still holding on to the inconclusive problem.
“Teacher, wake up!”
“Teacher Alby! Wake up!”
I was sound asleep and woke up to the voices of Shine and Luna. In a half-asleep state, I stretched out my arm and motioned for the two to come up to the bed, and Shine sat down hesitantly, and Luna took off her shoes and crawled up, groaning for a long time. I pulled the two children into my arms and hugged them tightly.
“…I heard it’s like this all the time.”
“I like Teacher Alby!”
The uniquely high body temperature of each child chattering in my arms felt very pleasant. These days, they would wait for me to wake up and meet me at the dining hall, but after I got seriously ill, they seemed to have gone back to the way they were before I had to teach them etiquette. It seemed like they had to come to the bedroom like this to check if I had woken up properly to relieve their frustration. I thought that was cute, and I felt sorry for them being anxious because they were worried that I might get sick, so I decided not to nag them for the time being. I was stroking them with my arms around them for a while when Luna suddenly raised her head.
“Where did you go yesterday when you weren’t playing with Luna?”
I smiled and looked at the two.
“A teacher has a teacher’s life. On the weekends, I should spend my own time as a teacher.”
Shine said, curling her lips.
“Teacher, I heard you tailored the dress yesterday! The nanny told me everything. Teacher, I’m going to go to the royal palace.”
“Oh, that’s right. I was preparing to go to the royal banquet. Why? Do you want to go too?”
Shine shook her head. The soft blonde hair gently swept in my hands.
“No. I am… it’s okay.”
Although I wanted to go to the tea party that way, it was unexpected.
“Really?”
“…Because they said it would be dangerous to go far. It’s okay.”
In Shine’s golden eyes as she spoke those words, it was not difficult to see that she was not truly lacking in childlike curiosity, but rather fearful of something more. Was there any child who so faithfully listened to being told not to go because it was dangerous? Come to think of it, when these two children were in Korea, they reacted very sensitively to even trivial ghost stories or fairy tales that children would easily overlook.
I felt even more pitiful for these two children who lost both parents in the horror game. I didn’t get to tour the basement yesterday, but it gave me goosebumps to imagine what Luke would have done in that dark place without even turning on the lights.
“Shine, Luna.”
“Huh?”
“Why, Mr. Alby?”
“Let’s get out of here someday, let’s go.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Where are we going? Picnic?”
“No, just. Just… To a safe place.”
They didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, but at that moment, I thought. I wanted to give these children, who were always so scared that they couldn’t even properly express what they wanted, a chance to run away someday. Before these children find out the identity of the uncle they trust and follow. I wanted to find a place to escape safely.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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