Chapter 3
Fortunately, once I showed a convincingly foolish performance befitting the ditsy young lady April, the suspicion level didn’t rise again.
There was still 1% left, but… only 1%.
Still, what bothered me was that the threshold for “execution suspicion” seemed lower now.
From my memory, one only became a “tentative execution target” once suspicion reached 80%. That was when the disadvantages began, and once it hit 90%, an execution event would trigger.
‘Status window.’
I recalled scenes from other game-fantasy novels and called for it inwardly.
Error!
No player information found.
Tip: You cannot use the status window!
That meant I wasn’t a player.
‘Or maybe… April isn’t one of the playable characters like heroine Yeniel or villainess Evelyn.’
Either way, the fact was that the execution threshold had become harsher.
‘I just need to be careful not to raise suspicion any further.’
By now, Evelyn and Yeniel had clearly realized questioning me was a waste of time and turned their gazes away.
“Fine then. Yeniel, your words do have some logic. We may as well work together to escape. I don’t intend to waste more time here.”
Evelyn, with her arrogant expression, began issuing orders.
“Since you’re of lower birth, you’ll just follow my plan. The mansion is divided into central, west, and east wings. Traditionally, the east is where the master of the house stays. Once we open the ballroom doors, we’ll descend via the eastern stairs.”
“No.”
“…What?”
Evelyn’s face showed slight surprise—it looked exactly like the game illustration.
Yeniel calmly spoke her mind.
“Once the ballroom doors open, we’ll escort His Highness the Crown Prince down the western stairs.”
Only then did I notice the Crown Prince with his golden hair and crimson eyes standing at her side, along with his attendant and strategist. Yeniel’s fixed companions.
Evelyn, too, had her own allies behind her—her cousin, Duke Kyle, and her enslaved knight.
“The west? How absurd. That path is for servants and outsiders.”
“On the contrary, the east is more dangerous because it’s so exclusive to the family head.”
“Ha, did a mere baron’s daughter just talk back to me? How dare you.”
Evelyn’s eyes flared viciously.
Just as the atmosphere was about to turn violent—
Boom. Boom-boom.
Crash! Bang!
The walls and windows shook.
In The Archmage’s Mansion, each zone had its own monsters tied to certain events.
In the prologue, the monster was the Shadow Beast.
As people looked nervously around, a massive shadow crawled out from beneath the banquet table.
No one had been watching their feet.
Several people were instantly dragged down and swallowed by the darkness.
“Uwaaaah!”
“Kyaaah!”
The true terror of this monster wasn’t its appearance, but the dreadful sounds that came from inside the shadows—screams mixed with snapping and crunching.
When blood spattered outward, everyone’s faces turned ghostly pale.
The beast crept toward its next prey, casting shadows beneath their feet. Panic spread as everyone realized they could be next.
“Out of the way!”
People scrambled, shoving one another to climb onto tables, desperate not to touch the shadows.
“Help me!”
“No, stay away!”
Some beat on the doors until they died.
‘Don’t get sentimental. It’s just the game’s script…’
I forced myself to stay calm and observed.
The Shadow Beast’s pattern was the same as in the game: charge, pause, charge, pause.
There was another way to survive besides running, though.
Noticing it, Evelyn had already slipped aside with her companions.
Meanwhile, heroine Yeniel shouted out to the terrified crowd:
“Stay calm, everyone! That monster follows rules!”
If one lasted long enough or hid in a safe zone, the event would end, the monster would vanish, and the doors would open.
“It can’t enter areas without light. If you stay in the shadows under the chandeliers, you’ll be safe!”
Hearing that, people ran frantically toward the darker corners.
The monster’s gaze swept toward me and a few others nearby.
‘So predictable.’
I dodged easily with a few steps.
Soon, everyone had taken refuge in the shadows.
‘I need to get closer to Yeniel if possible.’
My role as April was to discreetly attach myself to either Yeniel or Evelyn.
With no more prey to be found, the Shadow Beast slithered out through the gap beneath the ballroom door.
But the door didn’t open.
‘Wait… why isn’t it over?’
A memory surfaced.
From my first playthrough, when my brother had begged me into doing every strange hidden task.
“What? Run around here for ten minutes straight? That’s annoying.”
“This prologue has a guaranteed hidden event! The shadow monster gets faster, but you can’t hide—you have to keep running for ten minutes. Please! I’ll buy you cheese balls!”
“…With cheese powder on top.”
A hidden event.
If certain conditions were met, a secret story or a hidden monster would appear. Sometimes, the existing one simply powered up.
And I remembered running so long that I’d memorized the monster’s entire pattern.
“Wait—do you hear that?”
Something heavy was being dragged closer from outside.
Everyone inside turned toward the ballroom door in dread.
Bang! Bang!
Craack—Craaaash!
With an earth-shattering noise, the massive door splintered apart, fragments scattering across the floor.
[Are you there?]
A grotesquely tall woman appeared, with unnaturally long limbs and clay-blue skin.
Though dressed in an elegant gown, her enormous size and mouth torn up to her ears made her anything but human.
Her eyeless, hollow sockets turned toward the ballroom.
[Come out, now.]
Her face split in a horrific grin as she spotted the humans inside.
[Found you.]
A maw filled with countless jagged teeth stretched wide, blood dripping down.
Someone gasped as if their throat was being squeezed.
“Run!!”
Yeniel’s scream tore through the hall, and chaos erupted.
The corridor outside stretched in both directions.
Most survivors instinctively rushed toward the central staircase.
I, however, kept my eyes fixed on Yeniel and Evelyn as I ran.
‘Yeniel, Yeniel—there she is.’
The layout matched the game: west, central, and east wings, each with its own staircase.
At the far end, Evelyn was escaping with her knight Urel and cousin Duke Kyle.
‘Then the opposite way must be west.’
Yeniel fled with her companions—the Crown Prince, his strategist Sian, and his attendant.
Going with Evelyn would mean better treatment since April was a marquis’s daughter.
But remembering the ballroom scene, I chose Yeniel instead.
In the game, besides fixed allies, the heroine could recruit one or two extra companions.
‘Surely there’s room for one more—me.’
Leaving behind the screams and carnage, I ran.
And soon, the western staircase came into view.
It was Yeniel’s path.
