Walking out of the room, Ye Delun noted that his room was at the end of the long crimson hallway. A large lining of other doors identical to his was fastened to the wall to his right.
"Everyone is waiting for us, we should hurry back." Said Xiang Tingfeng as he led the three of them towards the main room down the hallway. Ye Delun watched the walls as they walked. The intricate designs on the wallpaper and the lamps lit with real fire. Along with the red carpeting, all of it looked old and western. Xiang Tingfeng turned back to look back at Ye Delun, "You got that letter too, didn't you? That's why you're here?"
Before he could respond the system interrupted him to give him information.
[The people in this abandoned house all relate to each other by an anonymous letter. It was sent to them with no author and was said to prepare themselves for a 'nightmare' set for days later. Most of them ignored it. Until tonight when at the stroke of twelve they were transported here just as the letter said.]
[Act like you received the letter to save yourself from suspicion!]
"Yeah, I got the letter. Pretty spooky." He shamelessly lied. He didn't even know what letter he's talking about, they wish it was scary to him, probably was some lame ordinary mysterious note. 'How lame. Not cool at all...' He thought. 'When are we going to get into the real stuff? This wasn't what I signed up for.'
Xiang Tingfeng started."Yeah, they are...When Meixiu and I got those letters, I was-
"Tingfeng." Interrupted Kang Meixiu. He gave Xiang Tingfeng a warning glance, "Don't forget why we're here. There's a murderer on the loose, there's no need to bring personal thoughts into it." The mood changed. Xiang Tingfeng remembered what they're walking towards. "Yeah, I remember." He reassured Kang Meixiu with a sheepish smile. It slid off his face and his eyebrows went back to being furrowed with concern. "Everyone here also got that letter, they're all waiting for us in the main room."
Ye Delun kept silent. If someone else was in his situation how would they respond? Do they even need to respond, or is this where the conversation would end?
Xiang Tingfeng opened the door to the room and Ye Delun immediately spotted several people. Of course, most of them being males because of the otome game background. Several of them were standing and stood at guard. Only a young man wearing excessively expensive clothing sat on one of the sofas surrounding a coffee table. Ye Delun sat on a couch across from the man. Perhaps it was because he looked too natural, but the system warning showed up.
[The character 'Shen Lin' thinks your collected behavior is worrying!]
[The character 'Yin Meng' is finding your nonchalance suspicious!!]
[Suspition +20!]
[Watch out! Don't let your overall suspicion meter rise over 200! Or else you'll be caught!]
"???" 'Huh? Already? What'd I do? Get caught for not having a letter?'
He looked around the room before spotting a man leaning against a column. His arms crossed and his head angled downwards. He looked at Ye Delun calculatedly and callously. His eyes narrowed when they made contact with Ye Delun's blank pupils.
[Suspition +5]
Ye Delun watched a meter on the edge of his peripheral vision rise slightly.
'How is that suspicious?!' He cried in his mind. 'If anything, you dramatically looking at people like that is suspicious!'
As he took one last look at the man a symbol appeared in front of his vision, blocking part of his vision. It was similar to one of the panels that had appeared in front of him in his room from before
[Yin Meng
Traits: Cold, Mysterious, Paranoid
"Don't leave my side, it's too dangerous. What would I do if you got hurt?"
A very odd man. At first sight, you thought that the two of you would never get along. But after spending time with him, and finding about his peculiar past, you two grow past the point of friendship. Will the two be able to make it out of this horror show alive?]
"..." 'Ah... he's a capture target.'
The screen disappeared and his vision returned. At that time, another two people walked into the room. One of them was a young boy, perhaps in his late teens. He was wearing a victorian black suit, one meant for a butler. He motioned forward with his hand to lead the following female to a seat left the room. Another screen took up his vision.
[Gao Shunyuan
Traits: Shy, Conscious, Obedient
"Don't leave me here, please. I don't want to be left alone again..."
An anxious boy who lives to serve his master. Gao Shunyuan has been the servant of the Party Host his whole life. He has never been out to explore the outside, nor has he ever lived in any kind of society. After getting past the wall he puts up, you and Gao Shunyuan end up dependant on each other for survival. Will the two of you be able to escape through the doors in one piece?]
The screen dissipated and Ye Delun paid attention to the plain-looking female. He stared for a bit, waiting for the system to give her a name. Yet only a partly translucent screen appeared above her head.
[Playable character
Yang Lan]
Apparently, this was the character that he was supposed to get if he hadn't created that 'error' from before. He didn't exactly feel that much relief on that fact. Before, when he was first playing the game on his phone, he had always played as a woman. He hadn't thought it was all that different when it came to finding something scary.
'Or... perhaps it does. Wouldn't a side character with no plot armor have a better chance of being put in those situations?'
Never mind, he was thankful for the 'error'. It turns out he was doing this wrong the whole time, no wonder he kept getting a happy ending.
'Except, I'm probably a capture target as well. If I want to get chased by the murderer, it's best to stay on her bad side.' At that thought, he gave the nervous female the best glare he could muster. The poor girl noticed this and awkwardly shuffled in her seat and tried her best to avoid eye contact with him.
['Yang Lan' is wondering why the character 'Ye Delun' is glaring at her]
'It's just because I want to see some cool things, lady. Sorry in advance.'