TL: The quiz uses Korean characters so I can’t really explain it in English without a full KR lecture lol

"...You need to do 'S' to get out of this room?" Raphne also discovered the phrase and blankly read it out loud.

There were traces of something intentionally erased before the 'S.'

It felt malicious.

'Well, it's a variety show event.' By the way, the letter that should be before 'S' is 'K.'

Together, it forms 'Kiss.' Of course, there are characters who try other combinations.

In such cases, they get punched by Emily, creating a comedic atmosphere.

Anyway, kissing does open the door.

However, that too is a trap set by the production team.

There is another correct answer to open the door.

"'Do S,' huh.

…What could this mean, Ken?" Fortunately, Raphne didn't seem to have grasped the meaning yet.

Alright, then let's pretend to investigate the closed door naturally and...

"A bed, and...

a table?" Just then, Raphne, who was paying close attention to the surroundings, seemed to realize something about the room’s structure.

"...Ah." And then she made eye contact with me.

"S-S-S-Sex!"

"No!!

No, Raphne!!

That's not it!!

It's kiss, kiss!!

The person who made this room did it on purpose to cause a misunderstanding!"

I flailed my hands, correcting Raphne's misunderstanding, as she looked at me with her face turning red.

Raphne’s face turned red as if it were smoking.

Raphne was either pretending not to hear me or actually didn’t hear what I said as she slowly approached me.

"I-I'm okay with it!"

"With what?"

"I'm okay with doing it right here!"

"What exactly are you talking about?!" She, panting like a wild animal, put her trembling hand on my chest.

With moist eyes looking up at me, her blushing cheeks were either from embarrassment or excitement.

A strange atmosphere started to flow.

"Ken...” Raphne slowly closed her eyes.

To her, I...

"No, if you just push this, it opens."

"...Huh?" Regardless, there's no way I would do such a thing in this mysterious mansion.

Of course, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted.

Leaving the flustered Raphne behind, I approached the exit and pushed the door to the side.

Clang.

After feeling some strong resistance, the door slid open smoothly.

A sliding door.

It looked like a luxury design with a turning handle, appearing like the typical hinged door.

If you looked closely near the handle, it was written.

[Push to the Side.]

In other words, the phrase above the door, […you need to do ‘S’ to get out of this room], was a trap.

It was a trick by the production team to create a suggestive atmosphere among the characters.

Understanding this, Raphne puffed her cheeks and shouted as she stared blankly at the opened door.

"You could have at least given me a kiss!" So, she did hear me say 'kiss' earlier.

Raphne looked at me with tearful eyes, clearly dissatisfied.

She seemed upset that we didn't even kiss.

‘…She might be feeling a bit hurt.’

A kiss wasn’t hard to do, considering we had already kissed before....

I approached Raphne, who had turned away tearfully, and gently patted her shoulder.

She looked up at me with a sulky face.

Not missing the moment, I kissed her on the forehead.

“…Ke, Ken.”

“We’re still outside.

I think this is appropriate for now.” Having said that, I suddenly felt embarrassed and looked away as my face grew hot.

Hug.

Raphne gently embraced me.

It seemed her anger had subsided thanks to that.

“…Ken.” However, Raphne’s eyes looking up at me had that same dark and frightening look as before.

“Just wait until we return to the tower.”

“…Y-yes.” Thinking about controlling my male instincts once we returned to the tower made me both embarrassed and a bit scared.

So, we escaped from the room.

Opening another door at the end of a short corridor, we entered the mansion’s hall.

“Are we the first ones out?”

“…Well, it’s because we opened the door right away.”

“S-sorry.” It seemed she wasn’t completely over it yet.

The hall was a mix of a luxurious ambiance with a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

The door we had exited from had now transformed into the mansion's main gate.

In front of the main gate were stairs leading to the second floor and hallways on both sides leading to other rooms.

Since we needed to act together with our party, we sat on the stairs and waited for the others to come out.

After a short while.

Creak.

The next ones to come out were Mary and Emily.

The two of them no longer had the tense expressions they had when they first entered the mansion.

Instead, they looked flustered, avoiding each other's eyes with flushed faces.

As they opened the door and surveyed their surroundings, they noticed us.

"Ah, Ken!

You’re safe!"

"Th-thank goodness.

As expected, you were in the same room as us…" Realizing that the rest of our group had been in the same room as themselves, Freeze.

They stopped talking all at once.

Then, without prompting, they both rushed towards me.

"W-wait a minute!

So how did you and Raphne get out?!

Did you… do it?!"

"D-did you kiss?!

Or maybe!" Considering we had exited from such a room; it was natural for them to think we had followed the instructions.

But I was more worried about such things and didn't touch Raphne recklessly.

I applaud my past self for suppressing my male instincts.

“…Calm down.

The command phrase in the room earlier was a trap.”

"The door opens if you just push it sideways."

"Yes, Ken really didn't do anything.

He just opened the door right away." Seeing Raphne's reaction, who was pouting and puffing out her cheeks, the other two seemed to calm their flustered hearts.

"I-I see.

I thought…"

"So, there was such a method.

As expected of Ken, what a keen eye." It wasn't that I was particularly remarkable; I just knew the answer.

...Wait a minute.

So, Mary and Emily didn't know how to get out?

"H-Hold on!

How did the two of you get out?" Startled by my own question, the two of them blushed again and widened their eyes.

"N-No, it's not like that with Emily!"

"Th-That's right!

Really!

We just kissed each other's cheeks!

When we did that, the door opened!" So, it was on the cheek.

Well, a kiss doesn't necessarily have to be on the lips.

In their situation, they must have tried it step by step.

It probably opened right away when they started with the cheek.

There were no cheek-kissing scenes in the game, so I hadn't imagined it.

Maybe a kiss on the forehead would have opened it for me and Raphne earlier too.

...But more importantly, a kiss on the cheek.

Who did it?

Emily… Or Mary?

"Ouch!"

"W-What are you imagining?!"

"You pervert!" Emily, who was flushing with excitement, attacked my side.

They say imaginations are free.

Anyway, the two of them, who had come out safely, sat with us on the stairs to wait for the others.

Then.

Screeeech...

"Oh my!

Everyone was here!

I'm so glad you're all safe!"

"What a peculiar mansion, is this also part of the curse?" The third pair to come out was Adrian and Alicia.

Unlike Emily and Mary who had just come out, these two stepped out of the room without any awkwardness, beaming brightly.

...They don't seem like they kissed.

Did they figure out the trick?

"How did you two get out?" Emily, who seemed to have the same question, spoke first.

"Oh~!

Are you talking about sex?"

"No, a kiss!

A kiss!

And be a bit more delicate about it!" Startled, I shouted, but Alicia, with a mischievous smile, laughed as if having fun.

"Hmph, we knew.

I was just teasing you." At Alicia's bold statement, Mary blushed and turned away, and Emily glanced aside.

"We created a false memory with her hypnosis, making it seem like we kissed.

And then the door opened."

"I cast it on that handsome senior and, click!

The door opened!" With Adrian's explanation, Alicia confidently made a V sign.

I see, hypnosis.

It seems tricking everyone with hypnosis is acceptable.

…Wait, that means Adrian has a memory of kissing Alicia.

He's still maintaining that sly smile.

How can he stay so calm about it?

“Only the seniors are left now.” Emily looked around and confirmed.

Just as she said, only one team remains.

…It seems to be taking a bit longer than expected.

After that, we all sat on the stairs, waiting for the final team.

With so many of us chatting away, even this eerie mansion felt lively.

As we waited for a short while, Screeeech…

The last two people.

Siegfried and Elise carefully opened the door and stepped out.

“......”

The two who came out couldn’t meet each other's eyes, blushing deeply.

Even the usually composed Siegfried was blushing, covering his mouth with his arm.

Elise, her face flushed red, covered her face with her hands and shuffled her feet nervously.

‘They… kissed.’

“They did.”

“Wow~ They really did.”

“So youthful.” Emily, Alicia, and Adrian had the same thought as me and responded.

Elise, hearing the three's comments, flinched and then noticed us.

“Ah, ahhh~!”

"Everyone's here!

Oh, ahah...

I thought you had all scattered..." Then, Elise noticed Alicia’s mischievous smile and her face turned as red as a strawberry.

“W-what's with that face?!

Why are you looking at me like that?!”

“Hm?

Oh no~ It just seems like a lovely moment~”

“Stop talking like an old granny, you perverted ancient!” With Elise's embarrassed shouts, everyone safely entered the mansion.

...

"...This is a gigantic lock."

In the centre of the mansion's hall.

Once everyone gathered, Ken’s group checked the next exit.

The supposed exit was another door located between the stairways leading to the second floor.

A huge lock was placed on it.

‘So, this time, we need to find the key.’ Ken quickly grasped what needed to be done.

It was a key search.

They had to search all the open rooms inside the mansion to find a single key and unlock this door.

“Then, shall we split up and look for it?” Ken, who had brought as many people as possible to prepare for such a case, checked in with the others for their opinions.

Some agreed with his suggestion.

“W-wouldn't that mean we’d be alone?

That sounds a bit scary…” Elise, representing those who were trembling, raised her hand and voiced her concern.

“If you're scared, you can stay with someone else.

And there's no need to worry; you won't get hurt.” This mini event only creates a spooky atmosphere and doesn’t pose real-life threats like an actual horror game.

As long as you don’t stumble out of fear, you’ll be fine.

“T-then...

Sieg, let’s go together.”

“Alright.” Fortunately, those who were scared found someone to accompany them and joined the search.

"Ken...

Would you go with me?"

“Yes, of course.

It's a bit scary, right?”

“Ah!

Then I’ll go with you too!”

“That won’t be efficient.

Raphne, you come with me.” Shaking with fear, Mary clung to Ken, but Raphne, who also clung to him, was pulled away by Emily.

“Keeeen~!” As Raphne, holding Emily’s hand, walked away, Ken gently waved at her.

Then, suddenly remembering something, Ken shouted to the people spreading out.

“Oh!

Just a heads up!

You might see some hallucinations that trigger trauma!”

“Eek!”

“Why are you telling us that now?!” Mary trembled and whimpered while Elise shouted back from a distance.

Feeling guilty, Ken awkwardly scratched his head.

“Uh, Raphne, do you see anything?”

“Ugh...

Emily, you're so mean...

I wanted to be with Ken too.”

“We'll see him again once we find the key, so don’t be too upset.” Emily and Raphne formed a team to search the rooms on the second floor.

They rummaged through the drawers and other spots in what appeared to be a study, but everything they opened was empty.

“…There’s nothing here.”

After a few more minutes of futile searching, “Hey, Raphne.

We’ve looked around here enough, so let’s…”

Emily, having thoroughly searched every corner of the room, turned to look at Raphne.

There, standing before them,

“…Heheheh.

…Hahaha!”

“…Huh?”

Was a long-haired woman holding scissors.

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