Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Black Sorcerer Invades
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Rachel had the servants block off the roads leading into the mansion. With plenty of food stocked, she planned to hold out until Evelyn and Enoch returned.
Deyner, who had come down from the second floor, couldn't grasp the situation and looked for Evelyn.
"Sis, where's Mom?"
"Mom went out on important business. You go study."
"You're not studying either..."
"Then go play with Anna. Doesn't she know how to read? Read her a book or something."
He puffed out his cheeks, glaring at his sister who was dismissing him. But Rachel had no time to pay attention to Deyner.
In truth, Rachel and Deyner didn't get along well. More precisely, she was the one ignoring him.
Three years younger than her, he currently had an adorably angelic appearance, but with his good growth, he would become a massive musclebound hunk in the original story.
But that wasn't a reason for her to dislike him.
'I'm trying so hard to ignore him, though.'
Rachel recalled the original story. When playing the game, her younger brother Deyner had stuck to her from the early stages.
Unlike other characters in horror games who acted as allies, he attracted every monster and doll aggro imaginable.
Rachel had died countless times because of Deyner. That's when a huge wave of subscribers dropped off.
He always bumped into her right in front of her room, impossible to avoid. He trailed after her so persistently that she suspected he was on the monsters' side, drawing all that aggro.
From the second floor to the third, then back down to the first.
He kept pulling aggro all the way to the mid-game, and if Rachel survived that long without dying, he would die alone.
There was no route where he survived.
-Don't ignore me!
Thinking Rachel was ignoring him, he would sulk off alone. Then he'd stomp around on his own and fall through the rotten floorboards to his death.
In that way, he informed the player about the basement's existence before departing.
Jung Yu-ri had spat out the word "dog trait" so many times while playing and seeing Deyner that she couldn't even count.
Deyner had made a huge contribution to ramping up the game's difficulty.
That's why she'd treated him indifferently from the start. With a mindset of 'you go your way, I'll go mine.'
"You hate me, don't you, Sis?"
"Huh?"
"Dad only likes me, so you hate me for it. That's why you ignore me."
"What are you talking about?"
She was busy with the dead Paris Emporus, and now Deyner was starting to draw aggro again.
"You always act so superior, but you're nothing special!"
"What's with you all of a sudden?"
Deyner glared at Rachel, grinding his teeth. Having run through many playthroughs, but never seeing this before, Rachel felt flustered.
"Why won't you tell me anything? When I ask, you just say I don't need to know! Why do you all talk among yourselves?"
"Because you don't need to know..."
"You're doing it again right now!"
Deyner shouted. Rachel jumped in surprise and looked at him.
"The servants are moving bodies, Mom's not home, but no one explains anything to me. Dad likes only me, so you exclude me when he's not around, right?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"Nonsense is what you're good at, Sis. You've been saying weird stuff lately to get attention."
"Yeah, I said weird stuff. Happy now? So go off and play by yourself."
Rachel waved him off dismissively, trying to shoo him away. But Deyner didn't leave and kept glaring at his sister.
"You won't be able to ignore me forever. I'll make you have to pay attention to me."
That declaration bothered Rachel.
Maybe he'd harbored those feelings for three years, leading to what happened in the original story.
Rachel recalled what Deyner did in the original.
After going through puberty, the 15-year-old Deyner had become massive, with broad shoulders and great height, turning into a musclebound protagonist from some bizarre adventure comic.
A guy that big would whine "Sis, Sis" and trail after her pathetically.
He'd break plates, touch things he was told not to, and even in situations where monsters were right in front and they had to stay silent, he'd step on a creaky board announcing "I'm here!"
'No way that was all on purpose?'
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
'Even worse devilish power than a beagle... Was it intentional? Paying attention to Deyner too would be too much.'
For now, she decided to leave it be. Even if she resolved it, she'd do so after this incident ended safely.
But suddenly, there was a thud as someone collapsed. The busy servants and maids started dropping one by one.
"What is it?"
It was an unmistakably abnormal situation.
Deyner, who had been grinding his teeth, sensed something off and stuck close to his sister.
"What is it? Did you do this, Sis?"
"Of course not."
Rachel looked around and approached a nearby maid who had collapsed.
She pressed her ear to the woman's chest. She wasn't dead.
"She's dead?"
Deyner, who had been angry just moments ago, asked cautiously.
"No, she's not."
"Then why is everyone collapsing?"
"I don't know."
"But you know a lot of stuff, Sis."
Deyner muttered, but Rachel couldn't afford to listen so casually.
Black smoke seeped into the mansion through the gap under the front door.
"Do you see that?"
Rachel pulled Deyner close with her left arm and pointed at the front door with her right hand.
Deyner's head turned toward the door, then shook.
"What?"
"You can't see it, huh."
"What is it?"
Seeing his sister's stiff expression, Deyner whined. Sensing he'd be more annoying if she didn't answer, Rachel said quietly.
"Black smoke. Let's run to the second floor for now."
As soon as Rachel explained specifically, Deyner finally started moving. The two gripped hands tightly and dashed up the stairs to the second floor.
Rachel glanced back occasionally to check the door. The black gas writhed like a living thing, enveloping the fallen people.
Just as their bodies reached the railing, the door burst open.
"Sis, someone's here..."
"Shh!"
Rachel quickly hid behind the wall and covered Deyner's mouth. She held her breath too.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
A familiar sound! Rachel peeked out from the wall.
It was that man! The Black Sorcerer she'd seen at Harpa Castle.
His face was so gaunt it looked pointed at the chin, with deeply sunken eye sockets. His pupils were small, so whites showed all around, giving him a grotesque impression.
'Why is the Black Sorcerer here!'
Rachel bit her lip. Of all times, there was no one in the mansion now who could face him.
"A signal came that the baron died here."
A high-pitched voice like nails on a chalkboard echoed through the hall.
'So when he dies, a signal goes to the Black Sorcerer!'
No wonder Sari Emporus had responded so quickly in the previous playthrough.
"By the way, where did my creations go?"
His head snapped up. Rachel hurriedly ducked back behind the wall. It felt like their eyes had met.
'Did he spot us? What are "creations" supposed to be?'
Rachel was going insane. She'd rather have passed out comfortably like the scattered servants. Why were she and Deyner fine?
"Let's retreat further inside for now."
Rachel whispered in Deyner's ear. The timid Deyner nodded.
The two crept stealthily toward the hallway with the rooms. Hidden by the wall, as long as they didn't make noise, they could hide in a room.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
But the footsteps headed toward the upper floor where they were. Not fast, but leisurely.
'The bodies are in the basement!'
Anxious, the siblings grabbed the doorknob of the nearest guest room.
'Argh, damn it!'
The door was locked. It hadn't been before.
Deyner made the face he did when he'd done something wrong, as if he had an idea why.
Rachel realized he'd hidden in the guest room once, and the maids had locked it after.
But she couldn't blame him now.
'Enoch's room!'
Rachel tiptoed to the room assigned to Enoch. Turning the knob, it opened.
"Sis, I don't hear anything."
Deyner whispered softly.
'If you have time to whisper, hurry up and come here.'
Rachel turned to the side with the door open. But Deyner wasn't coming; he was moving the opposite way.
"What are you doing?"
Rachel asked in a small voice. She gestured for him to come, but Deyner was heading toward the stairs.
"I'll just take a quick look."
Rachel knew this pattern. It was the annoying thing Deyner did endlessly in the game. A bad premonition hit her.
Sure enough, Deyner's body was suddenly pulled toward the stairs.
"Aaah!"
"Deyner!"
His scream echoed, and Rachel ran toward the stairs.
Two steps from the stairs, the Black Sorcerer crouched, grabbing Deyner.
"Heh heh heh, hello. First time meeting? You're the sacrifice the baron mentioned."
The man greeted them with a creepy smile. Dressed in a black robe and high heels, everything but his skin was pitch black, like a crow.
"Sis..."
Deyner whimpered, held by him, calling for Rachel. She hurriedly asked the man.
"Who are you?"
"Just call me Crow."
'You really are a crow.'
But Rachel kept her composure and tried talking.
'Unlike at Harpa Castle, he's not attacking outright, so maybe he'll listen.'
What could she say to a Black Sorcerer? She was the sacrifice. And the baron was dead. The sorcerer had no reason to kill her right here.
"Got it, Mr. Crow. I'm Rachel. The kid you're holding is my brother, Deyner."
"Introducing yourself to an intruder? How kind."
"If you think so, will you let my brother go?"
The man was smiling. Even knowing his ally the baron was dead, he didn't seem too upset.
He poked Deyner's cheek with his sharp nails but did nothing else.
He listened to Rachel, then rotated his head fully like loosening his neck.
"Shall I?"
"Yes. You look uncomfortable too."
"Then in exchange, will you answer one question for me, Rachel?"
Crow demanded an answer to a question in return for releasing Deyner.
'As long as we survive...'
Rachel nodded, thinking he'd ask where the baron's body was.
"Sure. What do you want to know?"
"How did you, a mere sacrifice, receive such strong grace? Even denser than the baron's?"
"Grace?"
Rachel unconsciously repeated the word.
'What’s that?'
Well, she had a guess.
'The Demon King's aura. But the priest said it's because the Demon King is targeting me?'
While Rachel pondered briefly, he stood up. Straightening from his crouch, his eye level rose higher than Rachel's on the stairs.
"You don't even know? Ah, maybe if I split you open, I'll find out?"
"What?"
Flustered by his words, but Rachel's instincts were quick.
As the black gas coalesced, she threw herself sideways. The black gas sliced like a blade past where she'd stood, leaving a deep gash in the wooden floor.
"What the hell!"
"I can't help my curiosity. To have such strong grace without even being a contractor... I'm jealous?"
"Isn't it just the mark of a sacrifice?"
"What are you talking about? Why would grace descend on something like a sacrifice?"