[Am I the only one who feels like Eryon knows something? Just now, I thought he was going to say something.]
[But he guessed it right. They’ll be at a loss if the others don’t believe him!]
[Alright, who’s going to trust baseless words like that anyway? But Eryon did guess it right... This is wild. How lucky is he?]
No one could answer the viewers’ questions. At this moment, Cocona’s group had already headed toward the NPCs’ room.
The NPCs inside the room jolted at the sudden sound of knocking. They hadn’t been able to sleep all night. Their eyes were bloodshot from the mental strain, and their gazes were filled with panic.
Hearing the knock, they instinctively huddled together, recalling the terrifying scene from the previous day.
A new day had begun—so why was someone still knocking?
"It’s us, open the door."
It was the voice of one of their companions—one of those street-corner scammers who suddenly joined their team. What did that group want with them now?
"Don’t open it! What if that monster still hasn’t left?"
The black-haired woman said, her eyes full of wariness. Another woman tightly gripped the wrist of the blonde woman beside her as if afraid she might suddenly scream at any moment.
A loud crash rang out at that moment, followed by the door being kicked into splinters.
The blonde woman screamed instantly, and fear filled the eyes of everyone in the room.
"Alright, alright! Are you trying to make me deaf or what?!"
Cocona growled, glaring at the NPCs, clearly annoyed.
Bella quickly stepped forward, gently taking the blonde woman’s hand. Facing her directly, she smiled and said,
"It’s okay now. No need to be scared anymore."
The blonde woman immediately went quiet, and her eyes turned calm.
Seeing this scene, the other NPCs couldn’t help but look at Bella with strange, guarded expressions. They never imagined that this girl, who looked like a little princess, would have such a strong ability to comfort others.
"Who... who are you people?"
The long-haired man tried to sound brave. But deep down, he was already entertaining the thought that Cocona’s group might be the monsters who killed their captain during the night.
"At the very least, we’re not some group of scammers like you. We’re real exorcists!"
Cocona lied without blinking, and her words genuinely shocked the NPCs.
Before they could react, Benjamin, who was standing beside Cocona, added:
"We discovered that the William Castle harbours a powerful demon. That’s why we came here."
"I don’t care what you people are... we need to get out of here!"
The cross-eyed man spoke up, his voice tinged with hesitation.
Benjamin looked at him calmly and said,
"There’s no chance of that anymore. That demon has already possessed you. If you try to leave William Castle, you’ll be killed!"
Now, the NPCs’ eyes are genuinely filled with panic. They glanced at one another as if trying to spot the demon hiding among them. But of course, they couldn’t see anything.
"If you want to get out of here safely, then you’d best do exactly as we say. Don’t panic. Because... the William household is already cursed."
Cocona’s words sent a fresh wave of shock through the NPCs. Despair settled in deeper, but none dared to make another reckless move.
At this moment, the humans had become the ones leading the team.
"So what about John’s death? Are we just going to ignore it like that?" the black-haired woman asked.
John was the bald man who had died the night before.
"That will be a sacrifice for our exorcism," Cocona said coldly. "In short, all you need to do is follow our instructions. Don’t talk too much, don’t do too much—keep your heads down if you want to stay alive."
However, Cocona didn’t intend to let these NPCs live anyway. Sooner or later, they’d either become monsters or die at the hands of one. It is better they die in a way that serves a purpose.
"What if they turn on us?"
On the way to the castle’s main hall, Alice couldn’t help but ask.
Cocona replied in a low voice, "We’ll have to take the risk. We need to uncover this castle’s secret as soon as possible."
Eryon, standing off to the side, let out a laugh—a mocking one, as usual.
"Ha. With observation skills this terrible, it’ll be a long time before any of you find the castle’s secret. Your confidence is... admirable, I suppose."
Vale frowned. "What’s that supposed to mean? We’re on the same team, remember?"
"You’re being ridiculous, Eryon!" Bella stomped her foot angrily. Even her angry expression was adorable and completely lacked any real threat.
Eryon didn’t back down, nor did he feel guilty.
"Did I say anything wrong? Then tell me—since last night, have any of you noticed anything strange?"
Finally, Benjamin suddenly spoke: "Then... could you tell us what this ’strange thing’ is?"
Eryon folded his arms, looking thoroughly entertained.
"And why would I tell you guys? What would I get out of it?"
"You—!" Vale was truly furious now. She clenched her fists as if ready to lunge at Eryon at any second.
"If you tell us your information is useful, we’ll stop doubting you."
Benjamin held Vale back and spoke calmly.
Eryon laughed. "You call that a benefit?"
Benjamin said nothing. Eryon glanced at everyone, then chuckled and said,
"I’m just kidding. Of course, I’ll tell you. Do I look like an idiot to you? You people seriously have no sense of humour!"
Everyone: "..." That doesn’t count as having a sense of humour.
Eryon’s expression suddenly grew far more serious than usual at that moment.
"None of you noticed? Aside from a few differences because of who was staying in them, our three rooms were exactly the same. Down to the stains on the wall."
His words snapped everyone to attention.
"But... maybe the host just intentionally built three identical rooms, right?" Cyril mumbled.
Cocona thought back to the room’s details and then looked at Eryon in surprise.
Sensing their gazes, Eryon lifted his chin, narrowed his eyes slightly, and curled the corners of his mouth into a smug little smile. That look alone was enough to show just how self-satisfied he was.
Cocona scoffed coldly, though she couldn’t deny the value of his discovery.
"I didn’t expect you to be more than just a pretty face."
[I get it. I get what Cocona’s feeling right now! So Eryon isn’t useless after all!]
[I still can’t believe Eryon was the first to notice this. So he’s not as dumb as I thought...]
[Sending a sincere apology to Eryon for underestimating his intelligence... sorry, man.]
[Handsome and bright—do we finally have enough reasons to love Eryon? Become an esper already, baby!!!]
[Baby?! You guys are seriously losing it.]
[It’s just one little discovery, come on, ha ha ha. Not like we can draw any real conclusions yet!]
Just as that last comment flashed past, Eryon’s voice rang out again:
"I have a theory... Maybe the three rooms don’t exist separately at all. Maybe they’re just one."
Cocona frowned slightly upon hearing that.
"There’s no basis for this, is there? We can’t jump to conclusions so quickly."
The others nodded in agreement with her.
"It’s just a guess, but I’ve never guessed wrong before."
[Damn it, either Eryon has the dungeon’s script, or he’s got some secret ability, or luck is really on his side!]
[He guessed it right on the first try. This is wild.]
[A twist no one saw coming... These humans still haven’t realized a luck machine is standing right next to them!]
[Why do I feel like if we just let Eryon keep guessing, he might figure out the entire secret of the William family’s castle?]
[Ha ha, let’s not exaggerate—he’s just lucky. Even if he guesses the secret, he’ll still die if he’s not strong enough. Same with the others. This dungeon isn’t like the others... it’s rigged.]
The barrage of comments, filled with crucial observations, flashed by without the humans having the faintest clue.
By now, daylight had fully broken. The humans had gathered in the castle’s main hall along with the NPCs. As before, the NPCs still wore dark, exhausted expressions. The blonde girl was trembling—gone was the beautiful, seductive woman from the day before. At this point, she likely couldn’t even remember why she had come here in the first place.
"Good morning, dear guests. Breakfast is ready. Please, follow me."
Right then, the butler’s voice rang out. The sound, reminiscent of the horrifying night before, made the NPCs flinch on instinct.
The others turned to look, only to see the butler had appeared behind them at some point—without a sound—like a ghost.
"D-Do we have to go?"
The blonde girl had started to sob softly. The trauma from the previous night had left a deep psychological scar.
"You want to starve to death before the demon even gets you?" Cocona shot her a cold look.
The blonde swallowed hard. Terrified, she had no choice but to follow the rest of her group quickly.