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“Whoa!”

A sharp hand swept past the edge of my tailcoat.

“Are you alive?!”

“I didn’t get hit!”

Of course, it goes without saying that jumping in the water takes far more effort than jumping on land.

“Song Ah Rin, faster!”

“Ugh… I’m shorter than you…!”

And indeed, Song Ah Rin was shorter than me.

As she splashed through the water that came up to her waist, she shouted in frustration.

At this rate, I’d be the only one escaping while Song Ah Rin got caught.

“We have to do something. Give me your waist.”

“Hey, wait! What are you doing?! Hey!”

Hastily, I wrapped my arms around Song Ah Rin’s waist and lifted her onto my shoulder.

I stumbled momentarily as my center of gravity shifted, but somehow, I started to walk while half-running, carrying her.

“Do you think I’m a sack of rice?!”

“If you squirm around, I’m throwing you!”

Only then did Song Ah Rin cling to me quietly, not moving.

“There’s two behind us!!”

Realizing her predicament, she suddenly turned around and started briefing me.

The good news was that it seemed the puppets moving poorly in the water were just as slow as we were, so they weren’t gaining on us too quickly.

Of course, the distance was still closing.

From a distance, it looked like a slow-motion chase in the lake as I calmly organized my thoughts.

First, I understood the basic premise of this theater.

The difference from the ‘Red Lady’ is that this time we had no enemies to defeat.

And by turning off this light, there wouldn’t be any more additional actors appearing.

That means, in a way, Song Ah Rin and I had succeeded to some extent in thwarting this play.

Lastly, what must we do to escape from here?

Destruction of all puppets?

That seemed somewhat misleading.

If the plot is such that anyone who confesses to her dies, and the goal is to break this cycle…

“We’re almost there!”

Song Ah Rin shouted, pointing towards the shore, as puppets rushed at us with alarming speed from behind.

There was no more time to think.

I hastily dropped Song Ah Rin and pulled out the manual to block the attack.

-THWAP!

“Aaaah!”

The sound of a hand striking the manual and Song Ah Rin’s scream as she fell to the ground echoed simultaneously, and as soon as I confirmed the hand bouncing off the manual, I grabbed Song Ah Rin’s arm.

“Let’s go, quickly!”

“You maniac!”

Even as she rubbed her sore bottom, Song Ah Rin honestly held onto my hand.

I started running again, still holding her hand.

“So! How do you plan to get help?!”

“First, let’s try calling!”

I hurriedly pulled out my smartphone to check.

Out of service.

“Guess it won’t work!”

“Ugh…!”

A place where two people could come to find us.

There were absolutely no clues.

I stared at the smartphone.

It was a smartphone that a crow had brought…

Wait a minute, a crow?

“By the way, Song Ah Rin!”

“I’m tired! Don’t talk to me or I’ll die!”

I spoke to Song Ah Rin, who was panting heavily.

“Where did the crow come from?”

“What does that matter right now—huh?”

Song Ah Rin’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

“If the crow brought the smartphone, then that means someone came this way!”

At my words, Song Ah Rin frantically nodded and reached out.

As she did earlier when she opened the door to the lake, the background began to swirl away, revealing darkness.

“This way!”

“What? How did you do that?”

“I remembered!”

Sliding in behind her, I took the book to block another incoming attack.

-CRACK!

After several blocks with the book while we kept escaping, Song Ah Rin, who was running ahead, suddenly pulled my wrist.

“Here it is!”

With a crash, Song Ah Rin and I tumbled into somewhere.

After rolling a few times and finally stopping, I raised my head.

“…the garden.”

It was the place where I first met Song Ah Rin.

A place the crow could reach.

I mentally listed the places we had been until now.

The garden, Song Ah Rin’s room, the cathedral, and finally the lake.

“…Ah.”

“There was never any other place to go.”

Song Ah Rin said, dusting herself off.

“If the crow came here, the probability that the coordinates were marked here is high.”

“Because it’s outdoors.”

“Unless that’s not the case.”

“If they came to the lake, they would have already arrived.”

“True, you’re smart.”

Suddenly, puppets appeared behind us.

As if they had promised, Song Ah Rin and I bowed at the same time.

-CRACK!

The puppets that charged toward us first stumbled and made horrifying sounds.

Then, something zipped past us, punching its way through.

“Kim Jae Heon!”

“…”

Looking up to see who it was, Yu Da On waved at us with her black gloves on.

Jang Chae Yeon was looking at Song Ah Rin and me with a dissatisfied expression.

“We made it here.”

“If you were coming, you could have done it a bit faster.”

At Song Ah Rin’s words, for a moment, I thought I saw flames igniting in Jang Chae Yeon’s eyes, but she walked forward and stood protectively in front of us, as if nothing had happened.

“It wasn’t easy to get here.”

“Where are we?”

“This world.”

“…How did you get here?”

At my question, Jang Chae Yeon pointed behind her with her chin, and when I looked in that direction, a crow was flapping around.

“I asked the Isolation Team for a bit of help.”

“Do they really have that kind of thing?”

“They do.”

“I thought that person was really nice?”

“Don’t be fooled.”

Yu Da On chimed in cheerfully, and Jang Chae Yeon sighed and shook her head.

“I got their help on the condition that you’d meet them next time.”

“Wow. That sounds terrible.”

“I agreed to go with them!”

Yu Da On raised her hand brightly as she answered.

Meanwhile, Jang Chae Yeon’s gaze turned towards someone or something that was staggering.

“What should we do?”

“Let’s take care of them first…”

“Kill them?”

“…Please incapacitate them.”

“Okay.”

As if it were no big deal, she walked forward and waved her hands.

Something crashed into the air and began to thrash about, suspended in midair.

-THUMP!

After pulling her arms back dramatically, she thrust them forward, and at the same time, those things were sent flying far away.

“Oh, right, Kim Jae Heon!”

“Yes?”

Yu Da On smiled brightly at me.

“But we don’t know how to get out!”

“…”

She said it so happily, as if dinner was going to be pork cutlet tonight.

The three of them looked at me.

As if expecting that I would know how to get out from here.

“…”

What was I thinking about earlier?

Twisting the plot.

If the key point of the plot is that if Song Ah Rin receives a confession, another person dies, then we need someone who won’t die after confessing.

Should I have Yu Da On confess? Because she can just come back to life after dying, so I can keep making her confess.

“Um, what can I do?”

As I locked eyes with Yu Da On, she tilted her head.

What was I thinking right now?

What I just thought was an extremely inhumane method.

Plus, Yu Da On is not a member of this play.

Jang Chae Yeon has no resistance to mental attacks at all.

Then, I need someone with mental resistance who won’t commit suicide after confessing and can receive that answer within the context of this play.

By the process of elimination, there is only one person left.

“Song Ah Rin! For now, break the suggestion!”

“-Ugh! This tone is so annoying!”

As if breaking the suggestion, Song Ah Rin furrowed her brows and shouted.

“How’s your head?”

“Now it’s all better!”

Did turning off the switch earlier really help?

“Good. Then I’m going to end this play from now on.”

“How?”

“I’m going to confess to Song Ah Rin.”

“…”

“…”

“…What?”

A moment of silence.

Yu Da On blinked at me with a blank expression, Jang Chae Yeon looked at me with the most shocked expression I had ever seen, and Song Ah Rin’s mouth just hung open, as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“Wait, no, um, huh?”

“I’m going to confess to Song Ah Rin, so you have to answer positively. Got it?”

“Hey, hold on! What’s this? Are you sure this is for our escape?”

“That’s the plan, so I’m going to do it.”

It’s just a play anyway.

“No, I need to prepare my mind. Just give me a moment!”

What kind of preparation does she need? How could there be time for that?

Getting closer to the Song Ah Rin who was clinging to my clothes, I knelt down on one knee.

I’m her butler, and she’s my lady after all.

Isn’t it right to speak in line with our roles?

Clearing my throat, I opened my mouth.

“Song Ah Rin.”

“………………..Uh, um. …Yeah.”

She stammered like a broken machine in response.

Let’s see, what would a butler say?

“I’ve served you for a long time, and I’ve come to realize something.”

“……….”

With both hands covering her mouth, Song Ah Rin continued to only look at me.

“I like you.”

At that, she froze as if the sound of a thud had echoed through her.

And I felt a sharp pain starting in my temples.

In other words, a mental attack was taking place.

Then, by confessing to Song Ah Rin, do the characters feel an urge to commit suicide?

This is how the attack comes in the form of a plot.

[Critical: 0->1]

As if to validate my words, the critical meter filled.

Alright, all that’s left now is for Song Ah Rin to respond.

I locked eyes with Song Ah Rin.

As our eyes met, she covered her face with both hands, her fingers splayed apart, revealing just her eyes as she stared at me.

Wait, is she seriously not going to answer? Is she method acting right now?

I gestured to her, urging her to hurry up.

I glanced at Yu Da On and Jang Chae Yeon.

Both were watching Song Ah Rin intently as if to say, “Hurry up!”

“…”

“…Song Ah Rin.”

I gave her a look that said to answer quickly, and after a brief moment, she lowered her hands from her face, placed a hand on her chest, and took a deep breath.

“Whoo…”

“…”

She locked eyes with me again.

“…Yeah, I like you too.”

With a smile that had not a speck of dust, she replied, and at that moment, the throbbing headache evaporated.

-CRACK!

With a sound akin to something tearing, a rift opened in the space before us.

“Alright. Now let’s get out.”

“Chae Yeon, rip the coordinates—”

“…”

“Chae Yeon?”

“I will do it.”

In a voice far more emotionless than usual, she replied.

[Coordinates Ripped -> 2 times]

As the world transformed into a grid,

-THWAT!

The rift widened, revealing my familiar room.

Why is it my room?

“Alright, let’s go then!”

I jumped into the rift as if diving.

Soon, the four of us found ourselves in my room.

“…We escaped.”

Before I knew it, I had changed back into my pajamas, and Song Ah Rin was in her purple pajamas as well.

The other two were in formal wear.

A strange smell lingered in the room.

“…Is that the smell of sulfur?”

“…Whoa.”

Before I could find the source of the smell, Song Ah Rin suddenly sat down, emitting a strange sound.

Did she overexert herself?

“Song Ah Rin, are you okay—”

As I tried to check on her, I locked eyes with her, who was wearing an extremely bizarre expression.

Her eyes were completely dazed, and she was smiling strangely, with one corner of her mouth lifted.

Was she really melted away, or did she look like someone under the influence of something?

“Uh, um. I’m totally fine.”

“I think you’ve been hit by a mental attack.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Ignoring my words, Jang Chae Yeon raised her hand, and like a careless package, Song Ah Rin was lifted up.

For some reason, she wasn’t resisting.

“I’m leaving.”

“Wait a second—”

“I’ll be going, Kim Jae Heon. See you tomorrow…”

And with a sullen expression, Yu Da On followed behind.

Just like that, the three of them swept out of my house like a storm.

What the heck.

In that brief moment, only the sulfur smell remained in my house.