Chapter 1321: Chapter 1321

For a fleeting moment after Hathaway asked her question, Jenkins thought his cover was blown. He instantly dismissed the notion, however, and gave a calm nod.

“I’ve met him a few times, at least.”

“Last autumn, after I hired you to investigate him, did you learn anything more about him?”

Hathaway’s question was piercingly sharp, and from it, Jenkins more or less guessed her motive. He decided to be direct.

“I know what you’re getting at. I’m not his enemy, and there’s no deep-seated hatred between us. If anything, we’re more like friends—though he’d never admit it.”

Jenkins swore that every word of it was true. He hoped his sincerity would convince Hathaway, and in fact, it did.

“Very well, I’ve made my decision. Next round, the Writer will follow the Viscountess’s instructions and absorb all the curses into his body.”

She spoke deliberately, word by word, and everyone could hear the resolve it took to make such a decision, as well as the turmoil in Skylark’s heart.

“If you do that, the Viscountess’s action for this turn must be a Mysticism roll to teach the Writer how to absorb the curses. She cannot take any other action.”

“Agreed. No problem.”

Magic Miss nodded in agreement.

And so, in the next round, only three people were free to choose a locker to open. In the previous round, Jenkins had discovered the [Elements' Blood], confirming that the abandoned hospital in the story was a perfect reflection of the real one. From this, he deduced that all the incongruities the adventurers had encountered—the sudden appearance of wolves and ghouls, the broken staircase, the cursed skeleton before the morgue—were most likely the handiwork of the Corpse Gentleman.

His motives were unknown, but Jenkins understood one thing: he was luring them all here, and he wanted them to arrive with as few survivors as possible.

Therefore, in the next round, Jenkins chose not to open the morgue locker from which the Corpse Gentleman had emerged during their gathering. Instead, he picked a random one in the corner, deciding to wait and see the curse’s effect on the Writer before planning his next move. The other two were quite lucky as well; one opened an empty locker, while the other found a locker full of dirt. Who would be bored enough to do something like that, he wondered. Official source ıs novel·fire·net

“Following the method provided by the Viscountess, the young Writer absorbed all the curses from the remaining skeleton.

The curse has taken effect. From now on, all of the Writer’s Constitution checks will require a +30 bonus. And...”

“I object! The Writer’s body is special. Most curses have no effect on him, and even if they do, they can’t possibly be fully effective!”

“Updating character sheet... Alright. The curse is still effective, but due to the Writer’s special condition, from now on, all his Constitution check rolls receive a +5 bonus...”

He paused, and Jenkins suspected it was for dramatic effect, to convey shock.

“Furthermore, before the start of every subsequent round, the Writer will suffer an accident. He will need to make an additional Luck roll, and, depending on his current location, a roll for one of the six attributes: [Constitution], [Agility], [Intelligence], [Strength], [Spirit], or [Will]. If he fails either the [Luck] roll or the attribute roll, the character dies instantly. You found no clues in the morgue lockers this round. Now, please decide on your next actions.”

Hathaway’s expression under her mask must have been grim, but with [Destiny's Stage] in play, Jenkins wasn’t worried for himself. Still, if they kept dragging this out, the five of them would inevitably pick the locker where the Corpse Gentleman lay. Jenkins knew he had to find a solution, and fast.

So for the next round, Jenkins didn't choose to inspect a locker like the others. Instead, he had Briny’s character [Investigate] the morgue. Before their actions began, the dilapidated ceiling gave way, and several stones rained down on the Writer.

However, Hathaway passed both her [Luck] and [Agility] rolls, so the Writer survived.

“The Sailor opened a locker. Empty.

The Viscountess opened a locker. Inside was a shattered test tube.

The Writer opened a locker. Empty.

The Merchant’s Daughter opened a locker. It contained two ordinary stones.

The Noblewoman observed the morgue. Dice roll... success. She noticed many footprints on the floor, most of them recent.”

“This means the Church has inspected this place,” Mr. White Cat mused aloud. “They probably opened all the lockers. So why didn't they take away strange items like the syringe, the stones, or the ritual materials?”

“It means this morgue is stranger than it seems, and someone is deliberately concealing what happened here—so well that even the Church was fooled. But the adventurers in the story seem to have been lured here on purpose. I think it’s quite clear now: our friend is in danger, and someone is pulling the strings from behind the curtain!”

Jenkins replied, then pressed his line of reasoning:

“When you think of a morgue, what comes to mind?”

“Death, ghosts, horror stories... and corpses.”

Magic Miss answered instantly, then paused and glanced at the Corpse Gentleman.

“Are you suggesting that our narrator, the Corpse Gentleman, is the actual mastermind? That’s a rather bold accusation.”

“I don’t believe any of this is a coincidence,” Jenkins argued. “A story needs to be logical. And isn’t it far more plausible for the real enemy to be someone who’s been with us all along, rather than some stranger who pops out of nowhere at the end?”

Jenkins asked cautiously.

“But a story is just a story, and this is reality,” Mr. White Cat immediately countered. “The Corpse Gentleman is real, not some character in the hospital scenario...”

“At this point, is there really a difference between the story and reality?” Jenkins shot back. “Don’t tell me, Mr. White Cat, that you believe this hospital doesn’t actually exist.”

At this, the others fell silent. What Jenkins said made sense; in their world, true coincidences were rare. It was safer to assume every chance occurrence was by design.

As for the Corpse Gentleman, he offered no rebuttal, acting as if he hadn’t been the one just accused.

“Regardless of what you wish to say, you must resolve this situation. Even if you were to withdraw from the hospital now and end the story by simply walking away, the curses on Nolan and the Writer would not be lifted. That is a fact. Now, players, what will you have your adventurers do next? If you fail to make a decision, they will default to standing around in a daze for the next round.”