Chapter 131 (1/2)

Chapter 131. Dances With Wolves (2)

The room was almost 100~130 square meters in size and was shaped like a roundabout connecting ten roads. Other than that, the only unique thing to note was the rectangular table covered with delicacies at the center of the room, and perhaps that the overhead lighting was very dim.

The ceiling was covered by a thick darkness that made it invisible to everyone below.

Click! A click rang out. Subconsciously turning around, Seol Jihu saw the door he entered through merging into the wall.

Just like that, all ten doors disappeared. In other words, the room had transformed into an enclosed s.p.a.ce the moment everyone stepped in.

As Seol Jihu thought there was a way to escape Stage 3, this change had caught him off guard.

“So it became a panic room….”

While everyone was holding their breath and waiting, a relaxed voice broke the silence. When Seol Jihu saw the owner of this voice, his brows furrowed.

The person sweeping his hair up was none other than the man with the slicked-back hair.

'He's….'

How could Seol Jihu not know him? He was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who pretended to appease both sides during the first conference, then sacrificed the people from the minority side to escape.

In a way, he was the first person who lit the fuse for the bomb that was Stage 2.

“Let's not just stand around…. Why not take a seat?” Slick Hair spoke as he stared at the table. “They prepared a real banquet for us. Where would our manners be if we didn't taste these dishes?”

Did he not remember what he did? Or did he not care?

Slick Hair glanced left and right before boldly grabbing a seat. Then, two other men sat down next to him. They seemed to be the Slick Hair's teammates.

'So those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds also had a hand in that incident.' Seol Jihu muttered inwardly, then checked who else entered Stage 3.

He surprisingly knew most of them: Oh Rahee who had her usual, apathetic face; Audrey Basler who had bags under her eyes; the intimidating giant who was the white-headband girl's older brother; and the Priest Kazuki invited….

'She's here too….'

He also recognized the other two. Although he had never talked to them personally, he remembered them as they partic.i.p.ated in conquering the Plaza of Sacrifice 20 times.

Soon, all ten people gathered around the table. The plentiful delicacies on the table would have made the usual Seol Jihu blind, but he wore a complicated expression instead.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that the robed Priest sat next to him.

He thought Stage 3 would have clues regarding the secret of the Banquet. The word he saw in the cabin room, Stage 3's rules, and the ten people that entered Stage 3…. Thinking about how these were related, he began to piece the puzzle together.

At that moment, Slick Hair opened his mouth.

“First, we know for sure that this s.h.i.+p is Stage 3.”

Holding the bottle of wine and swirling it here and there, he uncorked it with a grin. When he tilted the bottle, rose-colored liquid trickled out.

“Cheers!”

Bringing the half-filled wine gla.s.s up to his mouth, he slowly tilted it backward, as if to celebrate everyone making it to Stage 3.

“You guys were pretty late.”

After taking a sip, Slick Hair muttered out.

“I thought you would arrive much sooner…. I thought I was going to die of boredom waiting in that cabin room.”

“Must be nice.”

Oh Rahee smirked while slicing a cut of steak.

“Thanks to you, everyone has their guard up….”

Stabbing into the meat with her fork, she gracefully brought it up to her mouth.

“It was quite troublesome to make it out of there.”

“Oops, really?”

As though he was happy that he finally had someone to talk to, Slick Hair snickered.

“Well, now I'm starting to feel sorry. How did Stage 2 turn out?”

“I don't know.” Oh Rahee swallowed the meat in her mouth and continued, “I'm sure they're doing fine on their own. It's none of my business anymore, is it?”

“You mean…. Everyone here is in the same position?”

Oh Rahee didn't say anything. She simply picked up a white napkin and lightly tapped her mouth.

She made it sound like she sacrificed people to pa.s.s Stage 2. In other words, she was lying.

Seol Jihu saw Slick Hair rolling his eyes in secret and controlled his facial expression. He didn't know why Oh Rahee was trying to get him to misunderstand, but she must have her reasons. He couldn't give the man a chance to figure out the truth.

After giving the table one sweeping glance, Slick Hair lowered his head and cackled, “Puhuhuhu.”

“I was wondering why the air was so~ frigid. Well, don't resent me too much. Things are normally more difficult for latecomers. You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm.”

Seeing how he was muttering useless nonsense, he must not feel an ounce of guilt at sacrificing six people. The way he was strutting his chest out, he even looked proud of it.

“Anyways, where are the other three?”

While eagerly slicing her steak, Oh Rahee asked casually.

“Oh~ Those guys?”

The corner of Slick Hair's mouth curled up.

“Well….”

After looking back and forth at his comrades, he grinned.

“Who knows?”

Seeing how the three of them were quietly snickering, it was easy to guess what must have happened.

“Well, what happened to them isn't important. What I want to say right now is this.”

Slick Hair swiftly collected his composure and spoke.

“Stage 2 is Stage 2, and Stage 3 is Stage 3. I'm saying we should differentiate them. Plus— you guys aren't all that different from us. The only difference is who came in first. No?”

He asked while glancing at Oh Rahee, and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Anyways, now that things turned out this way, let's all work together. You all got the rules, right?”

Slick Hair a.s.sumed an air of gravity, as if he was bringing up the main subject.

“Survive from this room….”

He dragged out the end of his speech as he stealthily rolled his eyes.

“We are all cooperating, right?”

Tak. Immediately, a small tap rang out. It was the sound of her knife hitting her plate.

Oh Rahee spoke as she tapped her knife on the plate.

“Aren't you forgetting to mention something?”

Slick Hair's eyes widened. Oh Rahee still hadn't let go of her knife.

“Don't pretend like you don't know. Didn't you see the word written on the cabin room wall before you left?”

“…You know, I feel like I'm the only one talking, like I'm taking a loss.”

“You were the first one to use the method to escape Stage 2. Since you are trying to get ahead in Stage 3 as well, you should put up with this much.”

“Fine, I'll reveal it first. The word written on my door was….”

He licked his lips slightly with his tongue.

“…Wolf. It said Wolf.”

Oh Rahee dropped her head slightly.

“And you? No, why don't we all take turns saying it?”

Slick Hair made a suggestion, but Oh Rahee didn't say a word. She only moved her hands idly with a deeply thinking face. The tapping of her knife slowed down as well.

'A wolf?'

Seol Jihu activated the Nine Eyes, not knowing what was what. And when he turned to Slick Hair to check his color…

Paat!

His vision contorted abruptly.

The s.p.a.ce rippled like a softly crumpled paper, then materialized a screen that spread out in front of him.

'What…?'

Seol Jihu's widened eyes saw a vivid scene. Slick Hair and five others were moving stealthily through the night.

—Hurry!

After capturing six people from the minority faction and throwing them into the Plaza of Sacrifice….

—Good, now….

They entered the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish, then murdered three of their comrades who returned with their rewards. The scene showed their snickering faces as they looted the dead before disappearing.

Seol Jihu was startled by the sudden vision, but he wasn't unfamiliar with it. After all, it felt just like the dream he saw months ago.

But why did this phenomenon suddenly occur now…?

Tak. The sound of Oh Rahee's knife scattered his thoughts.

“Ah–”

Oh Rahee slowly tilted her head up.

“I get it now.”

Seeing a smile spreading across her emotionless face, Seol Jihu intuitively realized that her reconnaissance had ended.

Slick Hair must have smelled something fishy, as he glanced at his two comrades.

“I was wondering why that Baek b.i.t.c.h said that…. How funny. This Stage 3.”

Her smile grew ominous.

'Baek b.i.t.c.h?'

Speaking of which, during the third Banquet's Stage 3, there was a woman who had killed everyone except one escapee. Her last name was also Baek.

And when Seol Jihu remembered the name 'Baek Haeju', he went 'Ah'.

“It seems a bit different from that time, though.”

Then, when Oh Rahee lightly grasped her knife–

Flas.h.!.+

Peuk!

Light flashed.

Before Seol Jihu could blink even once, he saw the knife stabbing into Slick Hair's throat. Everyone except Seol Jihu shot up from their seats and put in some distance.

It had truly happened in the blink of an eye.

Seol Jihu couldn't follow Oh Rahee's quickdraw, even though he knew it was her specialty.

In fact, not even the two men sitting next to Slick Hair reacted in time. Oh Rahee's speed was truly terrifying.

“You…!”

One of Slick Hair's comrades growled a beat later, but he had no other choice than pause in the next moment.