Chapter 24 Rose Manor (End) The Tragedy’s Curtain Call

The girl said to the Idol, “I have sin. After my sister became like this, I found I could no longer love her as I did in the past.”

The Deity said, “If you no longer love her, then let her return to the embrace of death and be buried underground.”

The girl hesitated. She thought of her deceased parents, the slick blood on her hands when she killed the man, and the skin on her body scratched by the thorns of roses.

She had already sacrificed so much; she only needed to kill a few more strangers, and she could restore her sister’s beauty… How could she give up at this moment?

The girl kowtowed before the Idol and made a vow, “I will not let her leave. She must be with me, forever.”

…

Qi Si put down the notebook and narrowed his eyes.

The four-line poem on the title page of the notebook was likely the honorific name of the Deity who made the deal with Annie.

Having gone through the entire instance, Qi Si inexplicably developed an interest in this Deity hiding behind the scenes.

Luring Annie into the game with small costs and huge benefits, forcing her step by step to pay more and walk down a path of no return.

The large initial investment constituted a significant sunk cost. By the time Annie realized something was wrong and wanted to retreat, it was already too late. All she could do was continue down the wrong path.

It had to be said that this Deity understood human psychology well, much like a devil from legend.

“But what is the essential difference between a deity and a devil?” Qi Si smiled and shook his head.

The corresponding information was too scarce and scattered. He could not piece together the full picture of the Deity in the instance’s backstory, nor did he intend to look for trouble by reciting the honorific name and causing complications just as the instance was about to reach clearance.

He searched the room simply once more, confirmed there were no important clues left behind, then retracted the smile on his lips, exited the room silently, and walked down the stairs.

In the garden, young and beautiful Annie and old and rotting Anna stood facing each other. The contrast between beauty and ugliness had reversed with the passage of time, truly presenting an interesting irony.

Annie’s eyes brewed with pain, while Anna’s gaze was dull and vacant. All emotions poured into it were like falling into a quagmire, unable to stir up a single ripple.

Qi Si watched Annie, his eyes brewing with malice.

He never had the kindness to let people get what they wanted; on the contrary, he liked tragedies and the deeper despair that came after shattering hope.

He smiled, a ghostly smile: “Miss Annie, unfortunately, the sister you love so deeply does not love you; she even fears you and wants to stay away from you.”

The ragdoll found in Room 2 on the Third Floor appeared before his eyes, and that eerie nursery rhyme repeating the words “Don’t look at me” made him shiver to the bone.

He looked at the ghost-like Anna again, his lowered eyes compassionate like an Idol: “Miss Anna, it is also unfortunate that your sister killed your lover out of a twisted love for you.”

Anna seemed to understand, yet seemed not to. She let out a low “gurgle-gurgle” growl, like an innocent young beast.

Qi Si tilted his head and glanced at the butler beside her, as if remembering something happy, smiling like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank: “Of course, now that you two star-crossed lovers have both become Ghosts, it’s not really a case of humans and Ghosts being destined to be apart.”

“I have temporarily obtained control of the Rose Manor, and Annie can no longer do anything to you. I am very curious about how you will choose.”

This time, as if finally fully understanding Qi Si’s words, Anna let out a low growl, dropped to all fours, and ran along the ground like a beast, heading toward the manor gate.

Messy footsteps crushed roses all along the way, and the black-green vines and crimson petals covering the ground were mashed together, broken like a shattered dream.

Behind her, the butler followed with stiff limbs, always half a step behind, but managed not to be left too far behind.

The two terrifying Ghosts stopped in front of the iron gate, which opened slowly before them. They were restless, their figures swaying, poised to act.

“No!”

In the sea of flowers, Annie, who had been pinned in place, finally let out a shrill roar.

It was not easy to make a sound under the suppression of time reversal. Tears fell down her cheeks, mixing with the blood overflowing from her mouth and nose, flowing wantonly, and within a few breaths, they converged into a spring on the ground.

She roared and howled, unable to utter complete words, like a crazed beast.

Anna and the butler, however, seemed not to hear, stepping into the white fog outside the iron gate, and at the moment their figures completely vanished, they exploded with a bang, scattering into a pile of blood-colored rose petals.

Annie widened her pitch-black eyes, witnessing this scene, her eye sockets stretched to a hideous degree.

Long-lost fear grew in her heart. She briefly broke free from the shackles of time reversal and took a step forward, leaving a shallow pit in the slippery mud.

However, the next second, countless dead vines twisted and stretched out from the ancient castle behind her, wrapping around her limbs from all directions, strangling her tightly, and dragging her backward.

She was dragged back into the ancient castle inch by inch. Her black skirt was torn by the rose thorns, and dust and broken flower branches soiled the black veil.

She realized what was about to happen and struggled violently, but the vines tightened, even embedding themselves into her flesh.

Covered in blood, she finally despaired, lowered her limbs, and let herself be completely submerged into the pitch-black ancient castle behind her.

The moment her figure completely disappeared into the darkness, the ancient castle door slammed shut with a “bang.”

The rain all over the world changed direction once again, falling from high above.

Time reversal ended.

Qi Si had no roses in his hands, no scars on his chest.

He stood alone in the sea of flowers like a phantom, savoring the curtain call of the drama in human form.

A “boom” came from overhead, like thunder, but heavier and more sonorous.

Qi Si saw the stone walls of the ancient castle crumbling block by block before him. The monster-like building collapsed with a roar, and the spirits that had existed for countless cycles vanished into thin air, leaving only dust floating and settling in the sky.

Perhaps only one person had been imprisoned from beginning to end, and at this moment, an absurd story was buried here…

【All rules and worldview have been deciphered】

【Congratulations to the player for achieving clearance of the team survival instance “Rose Manor”】

The cold system interface prompt sounded in Qi Si’s ears, accompanied by prompt text rapidly refreshing on the system interface.

【Self-righteous paranoia always demands a price; perhaps death and tragedy are the best answers to beauty】

Yellowed images appeared before his eyes.

In the dusty attic, the girl who had become beautiful asked the stone-carved Idol: “You have bestowed so much upon me, what do you get in return?”

The Deity lowered its eyes, its scarlet gaze falling on the girl.

It answered: “I want to see your sin; that will be the best nourishment for the rules. I also want to see the ending of the story; tragedies are always unforgettable.”

The girl felt panicked. In her view, this was completely the rhetoric of a devil. Even though she was no different from the devils in the eyes of the world, she was still afraid of existences more powerful than her that harbored malice.

She wanted to pray, to pray to the righteous gods in her blurred memories, those existences her parents once believed in, the ones she had forgotten and discarded…

She discovered she had long forgotten the prayers.

The Idol’s gaze was compassionate, its smile playful: “Gods do not love the world.”

【Small wishes lead to vain greed; once sin is chosen, there is no turning back. Everyone has sin, born into a cage】

【”Rose Manor” True End – “Cage of Obsession” has been recorded】

【Automatic teleportation out of the instance in three minutes】

On the ruins of the ancient castle, a rainstorm poured down.

Qi Si stood in the rain, looking at the rubble before him, lost in thought.

After a while, he touched his chin and muttered to himself: “The house has collapsed; even with the Protagonist’s halo, they couldn’t have survived…”

It’s a bit of a pity. It was hard to find two tools that were handy to use, and now they’re gone just like that.

But there’s nothing to be disappointed about. Judging by what Chang Xu said earlier, teaming up in the Eerie Game seems to require specific items and isn’t very convenient.

As for tools, they can be found right in the instance; I believe I will encounter more interesting instances and interesting people in the future.

It’s even better that all the acquaintances died. I believe those unlucky ones wouldn’t have had the leisure to investigate his background in the last half hour of their lives.

Under the gray-purple sky, Qi Si lowered his eyes to watch the pocket watch in his left hand, revealing a hypocritical sense of sadness, mourning the death of his peers: “Chang Xu, Lin Chen, I will remember your sacrifice and live on with your hopes.”

Then, he calmly put the 【Pocket Watch of Fate】 into his shirt pocket.