A bet?
When I tilted my head, he finished writing.
[You’re not enjoying this either, are you?]
He wasn’t wrong……
Who are you?
After some hesitation, I picked up the pen.
[What kind of bet]
[How many people will make it out of here alive.]
I doubted my eyes. But only for a moment, then I calmly moved the pen.
[O]
This bastard isn’t a guest.
He let out a hollow laugh and rubbed the pen nib against his glove. After confirming the ink was flowing again, he began writing once more.
[Just kidding. The answer to that is obviously one-sided.]
[Something more important. What are you betting?]
[Whatever each of us currently has.]
What I currently have……
Arkan flashed through my mind.
No way, is he talking about that?
I brought it just in case. I had used all of today’s questions, but it was certain I’d be here past midnight.
As if confirming my suspicion, he gestured with his chin toward my bag. Then, as if to show me his card first, he opened his robe pocket and pointed inside with his finger.
“……!”
Inside the pocket was a necklace.
It was adorned with a jewel more expensive than the one Lily had shown me at the Tower.
It has to be fake, right?
If it were real, there’s no way he’d show it like this……
Just as the thought crossed my mind, he suddenly grabbed my hand and shoved it roughly into the pocket.
The forced contact with the necklace felt strangely hot at my fingertips.
Like I’d been burned, I hurried to pull my hand away. But the strength of his grip made it clear he had no intention of letting go.
From the now-close distance, he whispered softly.
“You can verify whether it’s real later.”
The altered voice cracked at the end. Then, as if nothing had happened, he let me go.
‘Is he planning to demonstrate its effects during the auction?’
Rubbing my throbbing fingers, I picked up the pen.
[There’s nothing in it for me.]
[Why?]
[Because I could just buy the necklace.]
[What if I don’t put it up for auction?]
[Then there’s no way to verify whether the necklace is real.]
He didn’t seem too happy either, as his reply came slower.
Then, a moment later.
[If you don’t join the bet, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.]
Chills ran down my spine. I was terrified, but I forced myself to hold my breath.
……If he wanted the item, he could’ve just stolen it.
Even at a glance, he looked stronger than me. Swiping something off a rookie like me wouldn’t be difficult.
Bringing up a bet seemed unnatural. Especially when he was offering up the necklace that everyone was after.
He’s insane, but oddly righteous in weird ways.
As I followed the suspicion born from that contradiction, I arrived at one hypothesis.
[Then go ahead and try killing me?]
That obtaining Arkan required some pointless procedure.
For example, it had to be considered justifiable in the guide’s judgment.
“Bidding has reached 500,000 gold! Any more bids?”
Meanwhile, the auction atmosphere was heating up.
Clack, clack!
“The ancient relic of King Pnir of the Desert has been sold to Guest Number 57! Congratulations!”
Even though his face was completely hidden behind a black mask, I could clearly feel the murderous stare.
“Do you think you can mess with me because you know how I’ll kill you?”
This man definitely knew what Arkan was.
He had more information than I did.
And given how confidently he wagered the necklace, it was certain.
Moreover, he had the necklace in his possession, making it highly likely that he was the mastermind behind this.
“I’m not interested in betting.”
Thank goodness the voice was altered. It would at least hide some of the fear in my voice.
“Yeah? Then how about this.”
Stop talking already……
Anyway, as soon as the break starts, I’ll tell Lily and figure something out.
But his next words shook me.
“The helpers’ lives. I counted about twenty of them. It’s cheap if it’s in exchange for lives that would’ve died in vain, right?”
I barely managed to speak.
“Why should I?”
“…….”
“Can you even kill them?”
Wow, thank god for the mask.
But it wasn’t a joke. The helpers at the Moon’s Shop were made up of renowned mages from the Empire.
The problem was, this bastard might actually have the power to do it.
“Oh dear, look at the time! We’ll resume after a short break. Ah, since it’s not over yet, please don’t leave midway!”
At the emcee’s playful voice, laughter broke out around me.
Thankfully, timing was on my side.
* * *
I headed straight to the break room.
Each guest attending the auction was provided with a private space for a comfortable rest.
‘Number 23…… Ah, here it is.’
As soon as I entered the room marked with the number, I took off the mask. Then I slid down to the floor.
I didn’t look suspicious, right?
Because of the guy sitting next to me, I’d been tense the whole time, and my arm had gone numb. I took off my glove to check the finger that had been stinging for a while.
“Shit.”
So it wasn’t just my imagination!
No wonder it kept hurting.
The finger that had touched the necklace had developed a blister.
‘Might as well call it a torture device.’
What youth and beauty!
I finished putting the glove back on and picked up a blank card placed in front of the mirror.
“Guest number 24 has the necklace.”
It was a means to communicate with Lily.
The card glowed briefly. Not long after, I turned the card over.
[Found a sedative.]
It was her reply. A small bottle that looked like an essential oil was now in one of her hands.
……A sedative.
At that moment, a memory long obscured by fog surfaced.
Peril had been asleep for the past fifty years due to a contract with the imperial family.
In the original story, the terms of their contract were relatively simple.
The imperial family promised to grant Peril the death he desired, and in his exhaustion, he accepted it as a last lifeline.
But the imperial family’s words were a blatant lie. He hadn’t died—he’d simply fallen into a deep sleep.
He had only grown weaker.
‘To be exact, he suffered from a mental breakdown.’
The cruelest punishment for someone who had observed the world for so long. They forced him to revisit every step he had taken.
The sorrow left by deep regret engulfed Peril, and he could never escape from his past. For a whole fifty years.
The reason Idette was able to wake him was trivial.
‘Understanding.’
Peril had grieved and regretted his past. And the end of that was despair.
But Idette, who entered his dream safely, helped him face his past.
The moment he confronted his past filled only with despair and fully understood himself, he woke up.
‘But that’s not the only reason Peril fell in love with Idette.’
Even his disciples tried to save him, but they failed. The reason was simple. They couldn’t fully understand Peril.
The breakdown demanded understanding and empathy from everyone caught up in those memories.
In other words, Idette was the only one who understood Peril’s pain.
‘……Now I get it.’
I had been thinking. Not only does that necklace brainwash people with the name of Eileens, there must’ve been another plan behind it.
There’s that saying—put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
‘They’re trying to use that method.’
Because it’s the most accurate.
I left Lily one last message and then stepped out.
But what should I do about that guy?
How should I put it—he gave off a primal sense of fear.
I didn’t know why he was after Arkan either……
What was clear was that Arkan must never fall into his hands.
‘Am I going to die today……’
Isn’t there a saying that the scariest ones are the crazy people whose real intentions are unknown?
At some point, I heard the alert sound signaling the auction’s resumption.
“Haa.”
I let out a sigh and opened the door—
“……!”
I came face to face with someone.
The number on them read 22.
The person who had been sitting on the sofa next to me.
Did they mistake the room?
At that moment, he entered the room and closed the door. I wondered if that madman had even swapped number tags, so I quickly spoke.
“This is Room 23.”
Then he carefully removed his mask.
“I told you.”
“……!”
“That I’d find you.”
It was Ricardo’s voice.