Chapter 02
‘Crazy. I’ve been possessed.’
I moved my body alone and pinched my arm to confirm the sensation of pain.
I clearly remember dozing off for a moment while waiting for fried chicken.
But the moment I opened my eyes, the outfit I was wearing was exactly April’s.
Moreover, from the surroundings, it looked like the prologue party of <Mansion of the Great Mage> was just about to begin.
“Mansion of the Gre—” Welcome to the —■■■■■■■■.”
Error occurred!
No player information found.
The glitched, crackling notification vanished in an instant.
Everything else, however, was exactly as I knew from the prologue event.
The chandelier lights in the banquet hall flickered ominously. In an instant, red blood-like streaks crawled across the walls.
<The Emperor, and the four people I once believed to be my comrades.
They betrayed me.>
At the blood-written message, several people screamed.
And then—shadowy hands rose outside the windows.
Bang! Bang!
Blood-stained palms slammed against the glass in unison.
The chandelier lights went out completely.
Darkness.
In the sudden darkness, everyone froze silently. The cheerful waltz that had been playing when I first possessed this body was gone, replaced by a chilling, eerie silence.
The only thing that could be heard was the heavy rain pounding against the windows.
As in any horror genre, a stormy night always comes with thunder and lightning.
A bolt struck, and for an instant the surroundings lit up. A roar followed.
Rumble—BOOM!
<To those who killed me, I will never forgive you.>
On the wall, newly illuminated by lightning, another cursed message appeared.
Rumble—BOOM!
<Even the cursed descendants who inherited your bloodline—I will kill them all.>
The lightning flashed again, as if forcing everyone to see it clearly.
<You will never be able to leave this place.>
This final line did not exist in the game.
After a while, some of the chandelier lights flickered back on.
The once-grand banquet hall had turned ashen and grim. Many people still remained inside.
The Emperor’s faction, the noble faction, and commoner guests alike.
The blood-written words showed no sign of drying. The dripping blood slowly, slowly soaked into the carpet.
Murmurs of fear spread.
“Wasn’t the Great Mage… the one who helped the founding Emperor and sacrificed himself?”
“That’s what we were taught…”
“So they’re saying he was murdered…”
But anyone who saw the malicious curse instinctively understood it was the truth.
‘It’s not breaking?’
I blinked.
I pinched my arm again, but the dream didn’t end. If anything, the pain only reminded me more clearly that I had possessed a side character in a game.
If the fried chicken had arrived, my brother would’ve definitely woken me up.
As if realizing something, the murmurs gradually turned into fear.
“Is it really a curse…?”
“We should go outside and check.”
Several people moved toward the banquet hall door and grabbed the handle.
No one approached the blood-covered windows with handprints.
Click.
The door did not open.
“……”
A strange tension filled the hall.
It felt like something could burst in at any moment and attack them. The atmosphere was on the verge of collapse.
But even in a place like this, there were always those who tried to take control of the situation.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
The woman who stepped forward spoke in a calm voice, her footsteps echoing.
“Let’s summarize the situation. ‘The Emperor, and the four people once believed to be comrades.’ ‘Even the cursed descendants who inherited your bloodline—I will kill them all.’ It seems we are all trapped under those conditions.”
She had brown hair tied half-up and intelligent green eyes.
The heroine of the original story, Yeniel.
“Hah? Lady Yeniel speaks as if she alone understands this situation.”
Another woman scoffed loudly as if to be heard.
Black hair with a violet sheen. Sharp purple eyes. The original villainess, Ibelin.
“It’s simple. As you can see, only people matching those conditions are left here. This is a curse—or magic targeting specific conditions.”
“And why should we believe that? There are commoners here too. Are you saying everyone here is somehow tied to the imperial line or founding nobles? Or are you implying that even commoners are essentially nobles like those from your House Genes?”
In this world, there were imperial faction nobles supporting the royal family, and noble faction groups prioritizing aristocratic interests. Their affiliations differed as well.
Yeniel’s expression slightly hardened.
“Please stop insulting my family, Your Highness. It’s possible they are distant branches or descendants. And many here likely carry some blood from Genes. But those details are irrelevant right now. We must cooperate to escape.”
“Why should I?”
Ibelin snapped back immediately.
And I reached a conclusion.
Apparently, I would be staying in this horror game as April for the time being.
‘Good thing this is <Mansion of the Great Mage>.’
While the two were clashing, I inwardly felt relieved.
Because among horror games, this one was on the easier side—and as long as you joined either of the two main factions, escaping was relatively simple.
In other words, an easy win. Joining heroine Yeniel’s faction would be even better.
There is a “suspicion level” system in this game, but it doesn’t rise that easily.
At that moment, Ibelin turned her gaze toward me, who was standing nearby.
“What do you think, Lady?”
Everyone’s eyes—Yeniel included—landed on me.
Ibelin, realizing I was the one being addressed, briefly showed a faint look of regret.
“Me?”
I tilted my head innocently, trying to act like April.
“As a noble faction member, Lady Sharon would know too, right? Do you think we should cooperate to escape together?”
I pretended not to understand and answered casually.
“Hmm… I don’t know, but I think Lady Yeniel has a point?”
The moment I answered Ibelin’s question—
Suspicion level increased by 10%.
A cold metallic notification rang in my ears as a status window appeared.
For reference, suspicion rises when you behave in a way that doesn’t match your assigned character.
For Yeniel, it increases when she acts too foolish. For villainess Ibelin, it increases when she fails to respond sharply to Yeniel.
‘Why did mine go up?’
As if answering my confusion, the translucent system window quickly updated.
Your answer did not match the behavior of the “idiotic noble lady,” raising suspicion among the others.
Ding!
Total suspicion: 10%
Below it, a chilling warning appeared.
Tip: If total suspicion exceeds 50%, you will be placed on the “temporary execution list.” If it exceeds 70%, an execution event will occur!
I quickly looked around.
Ibelin, who had asked me the question, spoke awkwardly.
“…Lady Sharon, did you just use the word ‘point’?”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
April, the “idiotic noble lady,” wasn’t supposed to understand words like that. Words like “point.”
“Yes! That…!”
“That…?”
Everyone in the banquet hall stared at me as if they had seen something impossible.
I smiled brightly, pretending innocence.
“It means… more cute. Right? Lady?”
“…I almost misunderstood you for a moment. That was my mistake.”
Ibelin sighed, completely at a loss for words.
[People feel a sense of mysterious coincidence! Suspicion decreased by 9%.]
Ding!
Total suspicion: 1%
Thank you, everyone. Really. Thank you.
