It’s been said that when you walk up to a celebrity on the street, they nearly seem like regular people and have a halo around them. That was precisely Luke. More than any other detail about him, the thought of him evoked the shivering beauty of Luke. My breathing went weirdly relaxed as soon as I thought of that painfully attractive face.
“What in the world am I scared of?” Every morning you share breakfast together, even with that serial killer. Did he really go shopping for clothes with that bastard and play hide-and-seek with him?
I even felt a smile come out when I remembered the time when I was playing hide and seek. I remembered how scared I was at that moment.
‘That’s right. then… In the basement, you hear the sound of chains and cries for help, and Luke suddenly appears… I was so scared I thought I was going to die. It wouldn’t be surprising if he died of a heart attack.’
I found it funny that I was so scared and then suddenly started laughing. The thoughts continued one after another. When I think of Luke, things like his gray eyes filled with melancholy and slyness that strangely confuse people, and his long eyelashes that make it impossible to take my eyes off, also come to mind. I opened my mouth for a moment and admired his face in my memory for a while before suddenly coming to my senses.
‘…I’m out of my mind. I’m out of my mind! ‘Is now the time for this?’
It was absurd to think about it to myself, but it was true that I had regained peace of mind compared to when I was in a panic.
‘You created a situation that was scarier than being kidnapped, so that I could relax my mind. Should I at least thank the killer?’
I put Luke’s face out of my mind, covered my eyes with both hands, and took a deep breath.
‘It’s fine, it’s fine. You’ve done well so far. Think about goals that are too far away, such as the true ending, later, when you have some free time. Now I’m thinking about how I can get out of here.’
Okay. There is always a solution to every event. An event without a solution has no reason to exist. As I was walking around the room to organize my thoughts, I habitually turned the status window on and off without thinking. I was just clicking on and off the item window and the affinity window and stopped looking at the affinity window. While I’ve been stuck here, the Lakers’ favorability rating has been updated three times.
[Luke Rearmond’s favorability has increased.
Lv.4(1/396)
Affinity Event: Puppet Show Open
Affinity Quest: Basement Open]
[Luke Rearmond’s favorability has increased.
Lv.4(30/396)]
[Luke Rearmond’s favorability has increased.
Lv.4(68/396)]
I had confirmed that favorability could increase without having to meet in person, but I had no idea what was going on to increase favorability so sharply even while being kidnapped like this.
‘Do you feel sad that I’m not here?’
While looking at his affinity window, the kidnapper’s words came to mind.
‘You don’t seem to know that the Lakers have never been seen protecting someone like that before. You can see him chasing someone’s back. I’m so glad he didn’t kill you.’
…The kidnapper seems to be saying that Luke values me very much. Even if that were true, how could a killer’s sense of ‘preciousness’ be the same as that of an ordinary person?
‘Instead of being grateful, I feel scared.’
While I was looking at Luke, whose favorability rating had risen more than that of other supporting characters that could easily be raised, I suddenly noticed something unusual in his favorability event list.
[Likeability Quest – Shine and Luna’s Meal (Completed)
Affinity Event – Tea Party Invitation (Completed)
Affinity Event – Hide and Seek (Completed)
Affinity Event – Circus Open
Favorability Event – Royal Banquet Opening
Affinity Event – Hunting Open (Limited)
Affinity Event – Luxury Boutique (Completed)
Affinity Quest – Basement Open]
It was the first time I found the word ‘limitation’. I clicked on the letter to see if I could see an explanation.
[This is an event where access to the event has been restricted either because the access time has passed or because a different branch point has been selected.]
Just hearing the title ‘hunting’ doesn’t mean you have to participate in a scary event. As I nodded, rubbing his chest, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Then? In other words, all other routes have not been restricted yet… It means there must be a way for me to survive here.’
The motivation that seemed like a dying ember burned brightly again.
* * *
Unlike the police, Luke acted independently. Going around with someone was too noticeable and didn’t suit my temperament. He walked so secretly and skillfully in the dark that even if someone was watching, he would never notice. The movement was at a strange speed, perhaps closer to that of a beast than to a human. Light sweat broke out on his hands as he looked again at the alley that the police had already searched.
‘It’s taking longer than I thought. If only I could somehow find the location…’
As he wandered down the street for a while and nervously entered the slums, a piece of white petal fluttered from above his head. Luke held out his hand and looked at the petals gently landing on his hand.
‘Is there a place around here where flowers can grow?’
Even though it rained so heavily in the park, strangely enough, wild flowers did not grow well on the streets. It was as if someone had divided it into sections, so flowers and grass did not grow well unless they were near a river or in an artificial garden. This is a slum, so there would be nowhere for flowers like that to grow. Luke thought that something special had happened for the petals to fly all the way, and as he was about to throw away the petals on his palm, he suddenly looked down at his hands again.
‘This is the flower that Arbice picked and gave me.’
The scene of Blier saying that with an excited face he had never seen before and fiddling with his headdress flashed through his head. Wasn’t that wild flower this flower? It could be just a coincidence. Because it was a common wild flower that anyone could pick from the riverbank. But somehow…
Luke raised his head. At that time, another white petal fluttered down in front of his eyes.
Luke narrowed his eyes and looked up, but he couldn’t tell exactly where he had come from.
“…It’s Arbice.”
He muttered unconsciously. No matter how he thought about it, it was such a trivial clue, but he was strangely convinced that these petals were a signal from Arbice.
‘Looking at the wind direction, southeast? And there must be some height.’
He knew it’s premature, but somehow he felt confident. That she was the one who shed these petals.
* * *
The four days I was kidnapped and held captive were truly hellish. The first day I had hope while looking at Luke’s favorability event list. On the second day, I thought of somehow getting my hands on paper and a pen to send a signal to save my life, like I saw many times in movies. However, this plan ended without even getting hold of paper or pen. On the third day, I searched through the item window and the only thing I found that could send a signal was a wildflower. I used 20 of the 34 to make a wild flower necklace and give it as a gift, so there are only 14 flowers left.
‘…But even if you drop them all at once, they don’t have enough impact that no one will even look at them.’
I dropped petals one at a time, hoping someone would notice. After half a day, I only had two flowers in my hands. I made a habit of tearing off a petal from a flower and letting it fall through the cracks in the window boards, laughing self-deprecatingly.
‘…Who the hell knows about this?’
Even if the kidnapper suddenly opens the door and sees me, he wouldn’t even imagine that I was sending out a distress signal… It was such a trivial action. You won’t know whether you can buy it or not if you think of it as fortune telling on flowers. Holding the four remaining petals of the last flower in my hand, I looked at them for a while, then threw them all out the window and sat down on the floor.
‘…Wrong.’
The sunset was setting. Soon it was time for the criminal to come. My stomach, which had been fine for a few days, became upset again. The confidence that I would somehow be able to get through it had already faded, and it felt like the mentality that I had somehow managed to hold on to was ground to dust the moment all the flower petals fell. I took a deep breath, took out the case notebook, and opened it.
[Arbice Green, disappears.
Recently, as the scene related to the disappearance case has been revealed, attention is being focused on the disappearance case.
The disappearance of Arviche Green (27), a tutor at Learmond Street, also appears to be an extension of this disappearance case… … .]
The only information about me there was a newspaper report about my disappearance. There was no significant income.
I weakly closed the case notebook and hugged my knees.
‘It’s soon the day of the palace banquet.’
It was funny to think about this in the meantime, but the palace banquet was a truly important event in this game. Not only will it be an opportunity to build friendships with important people, but you will also be able to talk to Monica, the next scapegoat candidate… Even with the princess. The route has been open for a long time, but it would be a shame if you couldn’t even go there.
‘Plus, I even got a matching dress. There’s even an option that increases the charm that much.’
The face of the Lakers smiling happily as I bought them the clothes came to mind, and I reflexively shook my head and got up. No matter how hard and exhausted I am, it’s time to stop thinking about him.
Step by step. Bang. Step by step. Bang. Step by step. Bang.
At that time, I could faintly hear the sound of someone walking close to the outside of the door. There is also the sound of something being dragged along to the beat.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on February, 17.
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