Chapter 61
I compiled the implanted memories.
The third floor is largely divided into two parts: the banquet hall and the aerial garden.
The sub-stage, the aerial garden, mainly consists of political fights among people and auctions.
The main stage, the banquet hall, involves entering the memories of monsters to prepare a banquet for unknown guests, then returning to reality to place parts of that banquet on the monster’s empty plate.
The important thing is the reward from the third floor bonus stage.
If asked whether I would give it to Yeniel’s party or not, the answer was clear.
I would not give it to Yeniel’s faction.
“Hard mode means stamina recovery items are even more necessary, right?”
I was no saint.
I had no intention to kill anyone, but I wasn’t kind enough to share those precious items with the survival of those who abandoned me.
Maybe I even harbored a grudge.
So, I decided to pilfer all the items coming out of the third floor.
“First, I have to go to the Butler’s Room. I need to secure that cursed item that strips traits first.”
The item required to enter that room would be on the second floor of the external kitchen.
I now knew exactly how to use the cursed item.
Even considering hard mode, the maps and stage structure weren’t very different.
So, as originally set, the heroine’s faction and the villainess’s faction each take one tower and fight a defense game.
So when the defense game starts, I’ll be fighting ‘alone.’
Yeniel’s party probably wouldn’t know that items drop every wave, so I could stash them in my inventory and steal them.
Or I could let Ivelyn’s party win very narrowly.
It’s about ‘pooling’ the items.
Isn’t it fine to take gifts before switching factions?
“What would Ivelyn like?”
Before I go, I’ll ruin or steal as much of Yeniel’s potential gains as possible.
If I end up going to the capital, I definitely won’t give any of those necessary items to them.
“I’ll use what I took well. Over there.”
That was the extent of our trust.
Isn’t that just right in the end?
The first room was the basement, but the second to fourth rooms were empty.
Yeniel had a strange talent for finding switches in the dark.
Blink!
Light came into the room.
“W-Why are all these rooms empty?!”
Max shouted again after seeing the empty room, and his voice echoed.
“Wow, Lady Yeniel! The room lights up so quickly.”
I praised Yeniel.
“Thank you. Lady April. I have pretty good night vision.”
“Night vision?”
“It means I can see well even in the dark. I can see ahead somewhat even without lighting at night.”
That was quite a setting. I complimented her anyway.
“Lady Yeniel is amazing! As for April, um, I’ve never been outside without a light. And I have to sleep at night.”
Yeniel’s affection increased.
“Yes, I didn’t expect to make such good use of my night vision like this.”
The last person to come out was Yurel, who had a habit of turning off the lights when leaving a room.
It was at the moment Yurel turned off the light in the fourth room.
Knock knock.
A knocking sound echoed in the empty room from the inner wall.
Knock knock.
Max freaked out and looked back.
“A-a ghost? Must be a monster? I hate monsters too but…”
Yurel ignored such noises and simply closed the door.
Then multiple knocking sounds echoed from inside.
Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.
“Ge-you! Don’t turn off the lights and walk around!”
Max yelled at Yurel.
“In the east side of the building, if the light isn’t off, the warden comes chasing with a knife. Should I turn it off?”
Yurel’s indifferent answer silenced Max.
There was no rule that the warden monster had to appear only on the east side.
Just one word and Yurel was able to dominate Max like that; human relationships really depend on compatibility.
The fifth room we reached had meat hanging.
“Ugh.”
The Crown Prince covered his nose and mouth at the bloodstained smell and moisture the moment the door opened.
“This place looks dangerous.”
Yurel looked back at the party to check.
“Lady April and I should go in alone. Sounds like someone’s sharpening a knife inside.”
Indeed, faint sharpen sharpen sounds came from inside.
Maybe Yurel had sharp hearing or knew what knife sharpening sounds like.
Yeniel and the others exchanged looks.
I realized a little late that since Yurel had followed, the party had grown quieter — except Max.
The reason was obvious.
Everyone was watching me closely, fearing I might slip up and say something to Yurel, Ivelyn’s person.
Suspicion and wariness could be felt. They suspected the two of us might be plotting something.
“…So be it. Lady Yeniel, Max. We won’t go in.”
The Crown Prince finally answered.
He had calculated many possibilities and reluctantly made this decision.
“April, I’m going in!”
Yurel and I entered the room.
Like many butcher shops in the horror game my brother played, sharp hooks hung with red-tinted meat. I couldn’t tell what kind of meat it was.
Noticing my gaze, Yurel spoke.
“There are only two people here. They’re in a corner and hard to see.”
I wasn’t particularly affected by monsters or grotesque things, but meat, even in a game world, made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to accidentally cut it.
Without looking for a light switch, I just walked in.
I was also a bit lazy, and even if a monster attacked, I didn’t think the two of us would easily die.
There seemed to be a small light on inside.
A light was shining on the wall, and the shadow of someone sharpening a large cleaver could be seen, sharpening sharpen sharpen.
I guessed it was a monster that only appeared in hard mode, which wasn’t in normal mode.
It pulled one piece of meat down and made a crying sound as it hacked repeatedly with the cleaver.
Then, as if noticing us, it sharply turned its head.
The light flew off and rolled on the floor as the light direction suddenly flipped upward.
We heard the sound of heavy footsteps running toward us.
The faint light was enough to see ahead.
Its attack pattern seemed simple and brute.
The monster that appeared was swinging the cleaver while roaring.
“It looks exactly like the monster we saw in the banquet hall.”
“That’s right.”
It was the black monster wearing a chef’s outfit.
Looking closely, the monster’s clothes were intact.
Bang!
I blocked the cleaver it swung with a poleaxe.
