As the first night approached, everyone gathered in the kitchen where the foodstuffs were stored.
At this moment, they had to distribute the remaining three days' worth of food and take it back to their bedrooms.
Otherwise, after they dispersed tonight, the two rebellious challengers would undoubtedly vandalize the food.
"All right, we've investigated all the places we could. It looks like we can only hope for a safe night," Lilith said, looking at everyone.
It seemed that there was nothing particularly obvious that needed deciphering in this mansion.
Apart from the ten bedrooms, there were no secret rooms that were inaccessible.
Although they had attempted to find mechanisms and hidden compartments, their conclusion was that the mansion's structure was entirely normal.
The only somewhat peculiar place was a hexagram-shaped magic circle under the piano in the living room, with a faint red light swirling in one corner.
It appeared to be a shrine of unknown significance, unable to be activated and indestructible.
During the midday, teams checked the bedrooms, but they found no hidden information within them.
Most of the useful information was in the library, resembling a bookshelf, and the master of the mansion's study.
Among them was a lot of information related to this world as well as stories about this mansion and the territory.
"Legend has it that many years ago, this place was the mansion of Viscount Augustine."
"Later, Viscount Augustine was discovered to be a vampire, so the Church came to hunt him down."
"Viscount Augustine devised a plan, which attracted his mortal enemies – werewolf and witch."
"In the end, the vampire, werewolf, witche, and the Church's hunting team fought fiercely, resulting in mutual destruction."
"The hunting team had no choice but to trap all the severely wounded enemies in this ancient mansion."
"Eventually, the vengeful spirits of the werewolf and witch turned into the curse of this mansion."
When Lilith summarized these clues, the core plot progress directly jumped to 2/3.
It meant that the final critical information was still missing, and the challengers couldn't unravel the core plot yet.
However, where this last 1/3 of information was, neither Cornelia nor Lilith had any clue.
They couldn't even deduce what the additional task of the rebellious challengers really was.
It could only be assumed as "kill all regular challengers."
After everyone dispersed later, tonight was likely to be a bloody night.
Cornelia subconsciously glanced at Dekan.
Asking his brain for help at a time like this.
Dekan met her gaze and smiled without saying a word.
Cornelia seemed to understand something and turned her head away, no longer looking at him.
"Later, let's go to the bedrooms in groups, leaving every two minutes. This way, no one will know the room numbers of others. Also, let the detective go first," Lilith suggested.
"Okay."
No one disagreed.
This approach was mainly to protect Cornelia.
To prevent the werewolf and witch from easily knowing which room Cornelia would stay in.
Cornelia didn't say much and walked directly towards the exit of the library. Dekan naturally followed behind her.
"I suggest letting the detective go to the room alone first," Lilith's voice suddenly sounded.
Cornelia and Dekan both stopped and turned to look at her.
"I’m not trying to offend anyone, but I would like to remind you that even if you entered a Shadow World with teammates, it’s still possible for your teammate to be a Resurgence Church Cultist in disguise. After all, they are very good at deceiving others. Unless you absolutely trust him, I suggest you, Miss Detective, consider it carefully. Because your safety means a lot to us," Lilith explained.
Before Dekan could say anything, Cornelia grabbed Dekan's elbow.
"I will go with him," Cornelia's tone reflected an unusual determination.
It was as if she would lose her sense of security if Dekan left her.
That was exactly how Cornelia felt.
The body and the mind couldn't be separated.
Dekan looked helplessly at Lilith and shrugged.
"Since you trust each other, I must have offended you."
Lilith smiled and nodded in apology.
Her real purpose was to test Dekan.
After observing him for a day, she believed this man was very dangerous.
He always wore a calm smile on his face.
Compared to arriving at a murderous mansion, he seemed more like someone genuinely on a vacation at Snow Mountain Mansion.
Completely inscrutable.
If this guy was an enemy, it would be an unimaginable disaster.
First, he would easily kill the detective tonight, and then it would be an unstoppable slaughter.
However, it can now be reasonably assured that Miss Detective and him were not forming a temporary team.
Since she trusted him, his identity should be innocent.
This put Lilith's mind at ease.
And further deductions were not difficult to make from Miss Detective's reaction.
Miss Detective was, after all, an intellect-oriented player, so her combat ability should be relatively weak.
Her assistant most likely was an assassin with exceptionally strong combat ability.
So, for safety's sake, even if the two of them were alone together in a room, they would not separate.
In just a few seconds, a series of analyses had already taken place in Lilith's mind.
...
Dekan and Cornelia entered room 4 on the second floor.
The keys held by Teacher Cat, who had been trapped in Dekan's shadow all day, were 203, 204, and 205.
The reason why there was one less challenger was because Teacher Cat had hidden from the start.
Although Teacher Cat's hidden existence would greatly increase the difficulty of reasoning for the other regular challengers, it would also confuse the rebellious challengers.
So, Cornelia and Dekan instinctively didn't reveal Teacher Cat's presence to others.
As soon as they opened the heavy door, they were welcomed with a room more than three times the size of Dekan's dormitory living room.
However, it didn't appear empty; it was furnished with all kinds of furniture and living necessities and even had an ensuite bathroom.
Dekan leaned back on the small sofa in the room as soon as he entered.
"It's a bit tiring to look for clues."
He sighed.
Cornelia also slouched beside him.
"Yeah, we didn't have any fun all day."
Compared to the Demon Academy, the experience in this Shadow World was terrible.
The wilderness, the snowstorm, and the mansion seemed like a perfect vacation scenario.
"Starting from tomorrow, we won't have any hard work, and we can enjoy this trip happily."
"Yeah!"
"Can you two be a bit more alert, meow!"
Seeing the two's lazy appearance, Teacher Cat couldn't help but scold.
"What's there to be alert about?"
Dekan reached out without concern, grabbed Teacher Cat, and then hugged it into his arms.
"Meow meow meow! You're not afraid, but I am!"
It was just a poor little assistant.
Or rather, a real troublemaker.
If Dekan and Cornelia messed up, it would be the end for it too!
"This Shadow World is really simple."
"How's it simple, meow? There’s a tier 6 werewolf here! And we're missing clues!"
"Actually, it doesn't matter who the rebellious challengers are. As long as we take out all the other seven people during the day, we can complete the challenge at lightning speed, no?"
"..."
Teacher Cat fell silent for a moment.
"You've got to be kidding me! If you actually do that, you'll be sent to prison!"
Teacher Cat felt that Dekan was even scarier than the rebellious challengers.
