A familiar, piercing laughter echoed in her ears.

The moment she heard it; she felt her whole-body tense up.

It was the voice of the terrifying woman who had brought her a week of death that she could never forget.

“No, no, I don’t want this...

I don’t want it, I don’t want, I don’t want!!”

“Uh, Emily?”

Raphne, who had been searching under the bed, was taken aback by Emily’s sudden panicked voice and looked up.

“No, don’t come, don’t, don’t come!”

“Hee hee hee hee!!

Kahahaha!!”

The woman with long hair, laughing eerily, slowly approached Emily.

Snip, snip.

The deliberate sound of metal crossing metal jolted Emily’s memories.

The pain that came with the sound of scissors crossing brought back the horror of her body being cut in her memory.

“No, noooooo!!” Screaming, Emily shook her head violently and sat on the floor, backing away from the woman.

But soon, her back hit the wall.

“No, don’t, don’t come…!” As the woman’s form slowly approached, Emily, in despair, began to cry tears streaming down her face.

Her complexion turned pale, and her pupils quivered as the moment of impending death flashed before her eyes.

Boom!!

“E-Emily.

Are you okay?” With one swift kick from Raphne, the woman with long hair was slammed into the wall.

The mansion trembled, and the wall cracked.

“Whoa!! What, what's going on?!” The brief trauma ended as Elise and the others ran in, hearing the noise.

“Sob, Raphne…” Emily, with tear-filled eyes, looked at Raphne who had saved her.

“Th-thank you… Sob, thank you…”

“Uh, n-no problem.

...Huh?

E-Emily?”

“Sob, thank you…” With tears bursting out, Emily, who had been in a panic, clung to Raphne as things settled down.

As she hugged Raphne around the waist, she wept uncontrollably.

“It’s okay… It’s okay.” Raphne stroked Emily’s head, trying to calm her down, remembering how Ken had comforted her when she cried.

‘...I must have been like this too.’ Imagining herself clinging to Ken, Raphne looked at the sobbing Emily.

“Whoa… This must be what Ken was talking about.”

“Indeed, so it comes out in this form.

...It surely has substance.” Siegfried and Elise, who had rushed over at the loud noise, watched as the Scissor Woman vanished into dust.

“…Everyone else should be alright, right?”

“He said it wouldn’t cause injury, so they should be fine.”

“From Emily’s state, it seems like injury isn’t the main issue.” Elise looked worriedly at Emily, who was trembling.

Meanwhile, in another room, also searching for a key, Adrian came to a sudden halt in front of one of the doors.

“Senior?”

“What are we waiting for?

Why aren’t we going inside?” Alicia, who had been exploring the area with Adrian, looked at the room he was staring into.

“Wow… What is all this?

Ugh, it's disgusting!” Adrian was looking at a horrendous sight.

It was a mountain of corpses scattered in a space far too vast to be called a room in the mansion.

“…Is this the illusion Ken mentioned?” A vision designed to provoke the deepest fears of the human mind.

As he watched the scene, Adrian tightened his grip on the doorknob.

“What a loathsome mansion.” He then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

Whoosh.

A small flame ignited at his fingertips.

He was ready to burn everything down.

Just as he extended his hand to unleash a massive blaze, “Eek!

What are you doing?!

Have you lost your mind, Senior?!”

Thwack.

Alicia’s small hand struck Adrian’s head.

“Are you planning to burn down the entire mansion?!

Have you lost your sanity?!

We’ll all die!” As Alicia shouted in panic, Adrian extinguished the flame above his hand.

In that moment, he realized what he had almost done.

‘…Setting fire to the mansion.’ It was something the rational Adrian would never have considered.

The horrific sight had clouded his judgment.

“Sorry.

The sight was just too hideous.”

“But turning into an arsonist because of it?!

Are you serious?!” Alicia switched her gaze between the apologetic Adrian and the gruesome scene inside the room.

“Is it really that unbearable to look at?”

“Who wouldn't find a mountain of corpses revolting?”

“Whew, this is really something!

I guess I have no choice but to step in!” Alicia placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, as if she was doing him a great favour.

Adrian looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Then, placing a hand on his shoulder, she met his eyes.

“Here, in this mansion, you won’t see anything horrifying anymore.” An unusual pattern flashed above Alicia's eyes.

As her voice resonated, the magic in her eyes began to transfer to Adrian's vision.

In an instant, the mountain of corpses vanished from sight.

“How is it?

Amazing, right?

Aren’t I incredible?” As Adrian's fear dissipated, the horrifying scenery in the room disappeared with it.

Alicia confirmed this with a smug smile, proudly demanding praise.

Adrian, who had been staring blankly at everything, chuckled softly and placed a hand on her head.

“I owe you one.

Thanks.” Alicia blushed from his sudden gesture.

In an unusually shy manner, she averted her eyes.

“W-Wow… if the handsome senior acts so genuinely, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Well, it is, but…” With the illusion resolved, they returned to searching for the keys.

Listening to the noisy voices of the others, Ken and Mary searched the room together.

“It seems like something’s up with everyone….” Mary, who was opening a wardrobe, said this in a trembling voice, feeling a shiver down her spine.

“…Well, they're probably seeing something scary.” Ken responded nonchalantly, recalling various scenes from the event he had seen in the game.

“Aren’t you… scared, Ken?” Mary asked, suddenly curious about his calm demeanour.

“Well, it’s not like we’re getting hurt, and everything here is just an illusion.

Once you know it’s fake, it loses its impact.”

“That’s amazing… I want to be brave like you, Ken.”

“Haha, I’m not brave, Mary.

I just don’t get scared.” Unlike Ken, who remained calm, Mary was frustrated with herself for trembling.

Noticing Mary’s disheartened expression, Ken continued.

“Actually, it’s more courageous to face things even when you’re scared, Mary.”

“…Really?” Ken's kind words.

Though she knew he was trying to comfort her, Mary was happy to hear him call her brave.

Blushing and smiling gently, Mary realized that her fear was starting to fade away.

“Hmm, it seems there’s no key here, shall we try another room?” Ken rose to leave the room.

At Ken's words, Mary closed the wardrobe door she had been searching and began to leave the room.

Splash.

A sound that shouldn't have been heard came from beneath Ken's feet.

Both of them looked down at the floor with a strange feeling.

A giant puddle had formed at his feet.

In that unrealistic scene where something that shouldn't have been there existed, Ken momentarily stared blankly down at his feet.

“W-wah!!”

Splash!

The sensation of the ground supporting him disappeared, and he was soon sucked into the water.

“K-Ken!” Mary's face turned white as she hurriedly lay down near the puddle and called his name.

But her voice didn't reach Ken, who had already been swallowed by the water.

‘I need to call someone!’ Knowing she was no help in saving him, Mary immediately turned to leave the room.

However.

The door that should have been there was gone.

“…Huh?” A smooth wall.

The walls were filled on all sides, with no door to exit the room.

“No, no…” She placed her hands on the wall and knocked, but the door that had vanished did not reappear.

Crash!!

Even trying to break through the wall with a giant ice pick did no good.

Behind the damaged wall was just another layer of bricks.

“Ke-Ken…” A door that wouldn't open, a situation where she couldn’t seek help.

Seeing Ken not resurfacing from the puddle, Mary fell into despair and stared at the calm water.

If this continued, he would die.

She had to go in and save him.

…But something stopped her rational mind, the fear of her body getting wet.

The memory of that sensation had paralysed Mary.

At the moment she saw bubbles rising to the surface, she snapped back to reality.

‘At this rate… Ken will die.’ Recalling the image of his cold, lifeless body from a few days ago, Mary found no room for fear to hinder her rationale.

Before she knew it, she had thrown herself into the puddle.

Splash!

‘…Ken!’ With a pale face and trembling in fear, Mary swam underwater.

And there, deep in the water, she saw Ken.

“Ven, Tushia!” Mary’s voice echoed underwater, infused with magic, as she uttered the incantation.

It was a beginner’s spell to create wind.

The wind gathered at her legs, soon propelling her forward.

Moving at incredible speed, Mary quickly reached Ken’s body.

"Ah, gasp!" Thanks to her help, Ken emerged from the water and immediately pulled the trembling Mary up.

"Mary, are you okay?!

You're all wet!" As the two of them reached the wooden floor of the mansion, the puddle disappeared.

Ken quickly took out a large towel from the Subspace Pocket and began to dry her off.

Mary was shivering violently.

Ken, knowing the fear that getting wet instilled in her, looked at her with worried eyes.

But unlike usual, Mary, while still trembling, gave a pale smile.

"…Thank goodness."

"I'm sorry.

It's my carelessness that made you…"

"No, …it's okay." Mary, dripping wet, leaned her soaked head against his chest.

"…I'm more afraid of you dying than getting wet." This time, the relief of having saved him outweighed her fear of being wet.

The image of the cold, lifeless Ken resurfaced in her mind.

Now, that trauma was far more terrifying.

She felt fortunate to be just wet.

"Ken!

Elise found the key…!

Wh-what happened?!

You two are soaked!"

And so, the key search ended without further incident.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes...

Thanks to Ken drying me off, I'm fine now." Mary, who had been soaked until just a little while ago, was now completely dry thanks to my hair dryer and several dry towels.

"Then let's open it." After I finished tending to Mary, we stood in front of the door leading to the next area, ready to proceed.

Adrian, leading the way, inserted the key he had found into the locked padlock.

Click.

With a fitting sound, the lock opened.

Creak.

The two large doors opened simultaneously, revealing the next room.

If I remember correctly, this should be the last room.

'...The important part starts now.' As the door opened, it revealed a massive, empty room.

The only things present were the entrance door and a peculiar statue on the opposite side.

Apart from that, there were walls made of bricks blocking the rest.

"...What are we supposed to do this time?" While looking around, Elise murmured, seemingly clueless.

And at that moment.

Screech, screech.

"Eek!

It moved!" Emily screamed as she observed the source of a grinding sound coming from something that had been immobile for a long time.

She was pointing at the statue in front of us.

The statue had the upper body of a woman with wings and its lower body embedded in the wall.

There was only one thing that came to mind with that appearance.

Sphinx.

The statue, which seemed to have been inspired by the riddling Sphinx of Egypt, slowly lifted its previously bowed head.

And then.

Flash.

"I-It opened its eyes!

Creepy!" As the stone eyelids flashed open, living eyes could be seen inside.

Those eyes scanned the room with an eerie feeling, identifying each of us.

Then, after a moment, the moving eyes stopped.

[Answer my riddle, and I will open the door.]

A voice speaking human language emanated from the statue.

"A riddle?" Siegfried muttered at the statue's voice.

As if replying to him, the statue continued.

[However, if you answer incorrectly, you will lose the right to be in this place.

Leave immediately.]

This was the final challenge of the mansion event.

The reason why this event could end in failure.

'So, it's this thing in the end...' I had hoped for something different, but as expected, just like in the game, this creature always appeared at the end to pose riddles.

The missions prior to reaching this place appear randomly each time the event is attempted.

But the final mission always concludes with this statue’s quiz.

And if you get it wrong, the event ends, and everyone is expelled from the mansion.

The riddle goes: [Answer what I, who knows everything, do not know.]

It's a contradictory riddle.

When I first encountered this event, I thought there must be an answer.

I searched through other players' strategies and even skimmed through the developer's setting books.

I even thoroughly searched previous rooms for hints, thinking there might be a clue in the mansion.

But the conclusion was clear.

No answer exists.

No matter what answer you give, it always says it’s wrong and expels you from the mansion.

From this, I realized one thing.

This mansion event was never designed to be cleared in the first place.

Or more precisely, being expelled by this creature is the actual clear condition.

In the end, we had reached that conclusion.

“Answer with something that it doesn’t know, despite knowing everything…”

“How are we supposed to know that!” I thought that with this many people, perhaps someone could figure out the answer.

But it seems like that's not the case either.

‘…But this is reality.’ An event that can't be cleared.

Testing whether I can clear this event.

That is my purpose for participating in this mansion event.

So, from now on, I need to find a way no matter what.

In the game, you couldn't do anything else but answer the riddle.

But now that this is reality, maybe breaking the door would be...

"Oh, yes, yes!

I think I know the answer!" Just then, Alicia, who had been silently pondering, raised her hand.

"Huh?

You know the answer?"

"Hehe, this is a piece of cake!" Alicia confidently pushed out her chest.

'...Did she find some kind of hint?’ All of us had searched the mansion together.

So, it's possible that they discovered something I missed when I played the game.

"Wait, Alicia!

If you get it wrong, we get expelled!" Emily urgently tried to stop her, unable to believe Alicia's claim.

But Alicia cheerfully winked and responded.

"Don't worry!

I know the answer!" And Alicia strode forward purposefully and stood in front of the statue, which was waiting for an answer.

Gulp.

Hoping that we might finally learn the answer, I waited nervously for her response.

Facing the statue, Alicia confidently spoke.

"Open."

With eyes that held a gleam reflecting the pattern.

"Yes~!"

Click.

The door opened.

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