The ten-minute video ended.
And yet, for those present, it felt like a century had crawled by.
The Dean stood up, her usual elegant demeanor shattered. Her face was stiff as a mask. With trembling hands, she removed the memory card from the camera.
"I'll… I'll have someone clean it up..." she muttered before trotting out of the dark room in a panic.
Silence.
Only the cold scrape of Lucas wiping blood off his kitchen knife echoed in the room.
He turned toward the others, meeting their stunned expressions—shock, horror, disbelief, and more than a hint of fear.
"The video is complete," Lucas said evenly. "This job shouldn't be repeated again anytime soon."
As everyone stared at him, motionless, he added casually, "Don't worry, everyone."
The captain's mouth twitched. Worry?
Who the hell was worried about you, Lucas?
They were all practically drained of life force.
The group—now finally paying full attention to this quiet newcomer—watched as Lucas distributed the newly earned points from the task. All 180 blank attribute points had been added directly to his spirit.
> [Player: Lucas]
Life: 150 (Excellent, uninjured)
Stamina: 100 (Minor use of the kitchen knife, recovering)
Strength: 192 (Approaching post-human threshold)
Luck: 1 (Bless your soul)
Brainpower: 98 (Unusual neural patterns. Possible genius or lunatic)
Spirit: 312 (180 points newly added. Highest among current players)
Skills: None
Points: A:425455
[Awaiting reevaluation of trial ranking...]
The immense rise in spirit made Lucas feel more grounded.
"Mental drops are the most dangerous," he muttered to himself.
> : ?!?
: Bro, you're worried about mental drops?!
: I'm more worried for the poor souls next to you.
: Honestly, Lucas might be the first player whose mental drop doesn't affect him — it's affecting everyone else.
: Dude, have a moment of self-awareness.
While they waited for cleanup, the captain approached Lucas quietly.
"Jason," he said earnestly, "next time you get one of those... ideas, maybe give us a heads-up first? So we can mentally prepare."
Lucas nodded, the warmth in his eyes softening for a moment.
"When I need your help, I'll ask."
The captain blinked. "Wait, what? I didn't offer to help—!"
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Heavy footsteps thudded outside the room. The staff must have arrived for cleanup.
Lucas looked toward the door—and froze.
A familiar face appeared at the entrance.
A collective gasp rippled through the room.
"Aunt Chloe?!"
"It's… Aunt Chloe again?!"
"But how?!"
Her bloodied remains were still sprawled across the room. There was no way she could appear again.
Before anyone could react, a second figure darted forward.
A flash of steel.
A head fell to the floor.
Gulu-gulu-gulu...
Lucas calmly raised a hand and wiped the splattered blood from his face.
"Does Aunt Chloe have a regeneration mechanism like the waiter on the haunted cruise ship?" he mused.
His instincts screamed danger, and without hesitation, he struck down the imposter Aunt Chloe.
> [System Modeling…]
[Danger Assessment Calculated Based on Player Stats…]
[Angel Orphanage - Second Aunt Chloe: No Danger]
"Second Aunt Chloe?" Lucas frowned.
He knelt beside the decapitated head, examining it closely.
> : WTF?! That scared me more than the last jump scare!
: You're watching Lucas's livestream and still not mentally prepared?
: Newbie here. Does this guy always act first and ask questions never?
> Blue Kill: Yep.
Jasmine: Yes. I testify.
: Group photo!
: +1
: Jasmine watching Lucas's stream? Isn't that dangerous for your mental health?
> [Captain: -2 Spirit]
[Sister Natalie: -2 Spirit]
[Nathan: -2 Spirit]
Nathan yelled, "Are you CRAZY?!"
Lucas pointed to a mole on the second Aunt Chloe's forehead.
"Different from the one I chopped up earlier. This is not the same woman."
He stood and dusted his hands.
"No trap or illusion. They're probably… sisters."
Everyone's expressions turned twisted.
It was becoming clear:
Lucas's thought process was far from normal.
A non-playable character had died in a gruesome way, and yet Lucas's reaction was analytical—almost surgical.
The captain sighed. After the shock wore off, he managed to see some logic in Lucas's brutality.
"Maybe he was just... scared," he muttered.
Then he told Lucas, "Get rid of the body. No one here will ask questions."
But something still nagged at him.
"If there are two Aunt Chloes… is it possible there are more?"
Lucas's fingers lightly traced the spine of his kitchen knife.
He said nothing.
Later that night, all the players returned to their dorms.
Sister Natalie, who was now temporarily in charge of the Smile Test, walked in, still frowning.
"What's wrong?" the captain asked.
She shook her head and sighed. "Most of the kids failed today's test. They were all locked in the dark room."
The captain frowned. "Was it the video of Aunt Chloe being… you know… torn apart while smiling?"
Natalie's voice became soft and conflicted.
"They said it wasn't the video. It was because…" She paused, then added, "It was because Jason in the video was too terrifying."
The captain: "???"
---
Day Three.
Morning came.
Lucas and the captain were still assigned to serve the kids breakfast.
Compared to yesterday, things went oddly smoothly.
Lucas handed a tray to a slightly older boy. The kid immediately dropped it and fell to the ground, shaking uncontrollably.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lucas asked, genuinely concerned. "Careful now…"
But when the boy saw Lucas's hand, he trembled harder, curled away, and refused to touch him.
He crawled back to his seat.
Lucas awkwardly withdrew his hand.
"These kids' thoughts are harder to guess than women's emotions…" he mumbled.
Eventually, all the children ate in eerie silence. Lucas and the captain simply sat and waited for the meal to end.
Suddenly—
Heavy footsteps again. From upstairs. Steady. Slow. Ominous.
"Aunt Chloe?" the captain whispered.
Another woman entered.
She had Aunt Chloe's exact face—but this one looked meaner.
> [Danger Assessment Calculated…]
[Third Aunt Chloe of Angel Orphanage: Approaching Intermediate Danger Level]
Lucas's mind raced.
A third one.
The more "Aunt Chloes" there were, the more danger he sensed.
And if the threat levels kept rising...
He scanned the shadows.
How many more unseen eyes were watching?
"This isn't the best time to fight," he thought.
The third Aunt Chloe only came to inspect. She glanced around, saw that breakfast had gone smoothly, and turned to leave.
But before she did…
She gave Lucas a look.
One that chilled him to the bone.
After she left, the captain whispered urgently, "Jason… don't be alone. You killed two of them. If more come, they'll want revenge."
> [Hidden Branch Unlocked: "Aunt Chloe's Sisters"]
[Exploration Progress: 35%]
[Task Hint: Explore the complete branch to gain +25% story clearance]
"…My mother killed me, my father ate me, my sisters resurrected me…"
> : Is this saying there are even more Aunt Chloes?!
: Lucas triggered the entire hidden plotline.
: Bro's basically signing up to die.
: This is scarier than that undead waiter on the cruise!
: Lucas, don't do it!!
: He can't read our comments! What's the point!? 😭
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