THMG | Chapter 001

Episode 1. Day 1_10/17 (1)

‘Dear Mine’ had a structure similar to a mafia game.

Currently, there are eight people trapped in the Ernst Mansion, including me and Cesare. Four more will join us later.

To avoid being exposed as the culprit, Vivian killed off the witnesses—those who knew she was the murderer—one by one each night.

Oh, does that mean Alberto has a personal grudge against Vivian?

I don’t recall it being that way.

Because Alberto also brought in a “false witness” to this mansion, someone who could obscure the truth.

Additionally, there was a spy on Vivian’s side. It’s possible that one of the seven people here now could be that spy.

But for now, I had no clue who Alberto was or who the spy helping me might be.

It had been a long time since I played ‘Dear Mine’, and even then, I didn’t play it properly.

‘Dear Mine’, with its heavy focus on romance over mystery, wasn’t my kind of game. So, I ended up quitting early on because I couldn’t stand the boredom.

As a result, I barely remember the characters’ names.

If I had known things would turn out like this, I would’ve played it through to the end…

If I had, I would’ve at least realized right away that this world was inside ‘Dear Mine’.

It’s already been a year since I was dragged into this game. But all this time, I was too foolish to realize this was a game world.

‘Dear Mine’ begins inside the Ernst Mansion, and I knew nothing about Vivian’s life before entering the mansion.

For someone like me, who couldn’t even properly recall the characters’ names, realizing this was a game world just from Vivian’s name was too much to expect.

Besides… back then, I didn’t have the mental capacity to figure out this world.

By the time my foolish self realized what was going on, too many things had already happened.

The silver lining was that once I realized this was the world of ‘Dear Mine’, bits and pieces of the game started coming back to me.

As the culprit, I’m not exactly in an advantageous position right now, but I also have a fair amount of information at my disposal.

So, I’ll be able to survive.

What’s most important for me right now is ensuring no one finds out that Vivian is the murderer.

Vivian’s fate in the game was pretty gruesome, after all.

Though I gave up on the game partway through, I did look up the ending, thinking I should at least see how it concluded.

And when I saw the ending illustrations, I was pretty shocked.

Every single one of them was brutal.

Back then, I slightly regretted looking at the ending illustrations, but now I’m beyond grateful I did.

Thanks to that, the endings are vividly etched in my mind.

Among the many endings, the one that left the deepest impression on me was the true ending.

The fact that Vivian Lope was the culprit.

And her ultimate fate.

In the true ending, which is also the happy ending, Vivian meets her death.

With Vivian’s body hanging on the wall, everyone else—except her—gets their happy ending.

…If only I had become Vivian before all this tragedy began, none of this would’ve happened.

Unfortunately, I entered Vivian’s body after all the events had already unfolded.

Vivian had committed the murder, and it was a perfect crime.

Even I, inhabiting her body, didn’t know she had committed the murder—that says it all.

At first, I wasn’t sure, but now that we’re trapped in the Ernst Mansion, one thing is certain.

Vivian committed the murder.

…Right, that’s what matters now.

I pushed my thoughts aside and headed toward the west corridor.

“…There are quite a few rooms.”

The west corridor had a total of twelve rooms.

Six on the left wall, six on the right.

They were probably the rooms we’d each stay in while in the mansion.

“Nameplates, huh.”

Cesare muttered, fiddling with a nameplate attached to one of the doors.

On the left side, the nameplates read “Logan, Ariel, Cesare, Lucas” in sequence, while on the right, they read “Jack, Kevin, Vivian, Ian.”

However, the two rooms at the end of each wall had no nameplates.

Those four unmarked rooms were likely for the characters who would join later.

I scanned the rooms, looking for the one with my nameplate. My room was directly across from Cesare’s.

Of all places…

As Cesare, who had been slowly inspecting the nameplates, stopped in front of my room, he glanced down at me briefly before turning the doorknob and entering.

…I thought he’d check his own room first.

Puzzled for a moment, I followed him inside.

The room was ordinary.

A bed, a bathroom, a desk, and a chair…

It was a room just the right size for one person to live in.

What stood out, though, was the revolver and a single bullet placed on the desk. There was also a blue key that looked like it unlocked the room.

Cesare’s brow furrowed as he surveyed the room.

But he soon turned and headed to the room with his name on it.

His room, which I followed him into, had the same layout as mine. The items on the desk were identical as well.

The only difference was the color of the key.

Cesare picked up the gold-colored key and fell into thought.

“…”

Then, suddenly, he turned his gaze toward me. His eyes suggested he had something to say, but no words came.

I knew he probably had a lot to say, given we hadn’t seen each other in a while, but I didn’t want to dredge up the past.

As the awkward silence grew stifling, a knock came from the door.

The person who opened it was the middle-aged man we’d met earlier.

“…Sorry to interrupt your investigation, but could you spare a moment?”

Sensing the strange atmosphere in the room, he cautiously asked me.

“Am I interrupting something…?”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

I forced a smile and left the room.

* * *

“It’s nothing major, but I thought it’d be good for us to introduce ourselves.”

The man cleared his throat before continuing.

“My name is Jack Green. I’m 56 years old, and I currently run a small flower shop.”

Jack gave a faint smile as he went on.

“I know everyone’s confused, but times like this call for us to work together.”

“…You’re right.”

Lucas smiled back, looking much less anxious than before.

“As I mentioned earlier, my name is Lucas Moore. I’m twenty-one, and, well, it’s not much of a job, but I work as a cashier at a mart on weekends.”

With curly red hair and green eyes that curved gently when he smiled, he left quite an impression.

Though he was past the age of adulthood, to me, he still seemed like an innocent boy.

Lucas glanced at Ariel, who was sitting beside him. Realizing she wasn’t in a state to introduce herself, he spoke on her behalf.

“This is Ariel Howard. She’s twenty-two and a college student.”

Jack’s gaze turned to Cesare, who had been listening quietly with his arms crossed. Cesare spoke softly.

“Cesare Cotton, twenty-five.”

“…Cesare? That sounds familiar…”

Lucas muttered his name under his breath, then, as if something clicked, his eyes widened.

He exclaimed almost immediately.

“Are you from the Cotton Detective Agency…?”

Cesare stared at Lucas as if to ask if there was a problem, and Lucas’s face lit up.

“I read about you in the newspaper! You solved the Fenel Institute robbery case last time!”

At Lucas’s words, Jack’s eyes widened too. A sense of relief began to fill his gaze.

“To think there’s a detective among the people trapped with us—that’s somewhat reassuring.”

“Totally!”

Lucas replied in a much brighter voice, then looked at me intently.

I met his gaze cautiously before answering.

“Vivian Lope, twenty-two.”

“What’s your job?”

Cesare asked in a flat tone.

“…I’m an actress.”

“Wow, an actress?”

Lucas let out a short exclamation.

It was more embarrassing than I’d expected.

Jack even whistled, calling me a “big-time actress,” which made it even more awkward.

To move things along quickly, I glanced around and noticed only a few people were left to introduce themselves.