Chapter 1324: Chapter 1324

"Think what you will," the Corpse Gentleman declared, "but since you've resolved to stay underground, I, as the storyteller, have no right to stop you. The other four have begun to flee the morgue. Please roll for Luck to determine if you encounter any danger before you depart. Of course, before that, the writer must first make a roll to see if this incident will claim his life..."

While the other four explorers successfully began their three rounds of escape, Jenkins, completely unruffled, requested to use an ability to investigate the mortuary cabinet. The clue he received during his first round of investigation was:

"The writer examined the cabinet within the collapsing morgue. The dim firelight made it difficult for him to see clearly, but the touch of his hand revealed strange, faint patterns on the cabinet's inner wall."

"I want to know what those patterns are," Jenkins stated. "Since the writer felt them, they must be an important clue."

The Corpse Gentleman nodded, then knocked on the tabletop. A hidden compartment on Jenkins's left rose up again, revealing a scroll of parchment. He opened it and quickly committed the patterns to memory, knowing this venture had not been in vain.

"End of the first round. The writer makes an extra roll to see if he survives the incident... Success. Proceed to the second round."

In the second round of their escape, the four frantically sprinting explorers had already returned to the first floor through the iron door. Jenkins continued to have the writer investigate the mortuary cabinet, even though Hooded Man had warned him that if he didn't leave now, it would be too late.

"I promised Skylark Miss that I would return her Mr. Writer to her in one piece. You can all rest assured."

"The writer lies down in the mortuary cabinet."

"I must warn you," the Corpse Gentleman interjected, "with no one else present, the writer can only lie down in the cabinet; he can't push himself inside. And even if he did, this row of cabinets offers no guarantee he'd survive the collapse. He would still face being buried alive."

"I understand," Jenkins replied. "I'm not trying to have the writer survive this way, only to determine if there's anything unusual about this cabinet. Now, the writer will lie down inside, and I will roll for investigation again."

Jenkins announced this, then picked up two heavy dice and tossed them, not even glancing at the result.

"Tell me what happens."

"The writer lay down in the mortuary cabinet," the Corpse Gentleman narrated. "He... he felt his head immediately grow groggy, as if he had connected to some abnormal presence."

Jenkins spoke rapidly, then pressed on.

"So, what incident does the writer encounter next? What do I need to roll?"

Next was the third round. The four escapees were fairly lucky; although the sailor's right arm was injured by falling debris, it wasn't serious. This was now the final round. If he didn't leave now, he would surely trigger the "Buried Alive" ending.

"The writer uses an ability in conjunction with a ritual to leave the abandoned hospital directly!"

Jenkins declared, then impatiently tapped the table and urged, "Update my character sheet. Now."

The hidden compartment in the table rose once more. Jenkins picked up the new character card without looking at it and stated flatly:

"Roll for Mysticism. Roll for the ability I just mentioned."

He had a phantom of himself in his wardrobe at home; leaving the basement was no problem at all.

"The writer used a mysterious ability. The check passes. The writer leaves the hospital, carrying the curse with him," the Corpse Gentleman concluded. "The writer's story is over, leading to the 'Cursed' ending. Reward calculation—one blank bubble. I'm sorry, Mr. Candle, while this isn't the worst possible ending, from a narrative standpoint, it's quite poor. Because you and Skylark Miss swapped character cards, the base reward has been further reduced. This is all you get."

"That doesn't matter."

He slapped the table and stood up. He then felt the spirit within him stir for a few seconds, and amidst his various abilities, a brand-new bubble appeared.

He deftly scooped up the complaining cat and placed it on his shoulder.

"I must be going now, Skylark Miss. I will immediately have the character go to the church in Ruen to treat the curse. He'll be fine. Farewell, everyone. I had a wonderful time today."

With that, he trotted to the door. After turning the handle, the great door opened—his story had concluded, granting him the right to leave. He stepped out of the room, and the door shut heavily behind him. The others inside could not hear his footsteps, a sign that Mr. Candle had truly departed from this space.

"What is Mr. Candle planning?"

Mr. White Cat hadn't expected him to leave in such a hurry, not even caring about his diminished reward.

"I think I have an idea of what he's up to..." Magic Miss mused. "But that's not the priority right now. What do we do next?"

Having left the game room, Jenkins, with Chocolate in tow, trotted directly to the stairwell. But the moment he stepped out of the room, he felt something was wrong with his body. After just two steps, he couldn't help but cough—something quite incredible for this body of his.

"Damn it, the curse!"

It wasn't just the final part of the curse he was carrying. By leaving the spatially anomalous game room, he had effectively re-entered Nolan City. This caused the fifth part of the curse he carried to resonate with the four other parts lingering throughout the city. The power of the complete curse was so overwhelming that even Jenkins found it hard to control. For more chapters visıt novel·fire.net

"Damn it, I forgot about that. Cho... Chocolate!"

He bent over, bracing himself against the wall as the world suddenly began to spin.

"Sorry, I have to return to Ruen temporarily. You stay here. I'll come back for you in a bit. If you can't wait, just go home on your own. Remember, you must not wander off. Absolutely do not wander off."

His head throbbed so badly he felt nauseous, and fighting the discomfort, he nearly collapsed onto the steps. But even so, he used the last of his mental energy to psychographically produce a note. On it, he hastily wrote the address of the Church of the Sage and added a memo promising a reward for its delivery. Then he tucked it under Chocolate's paw.

"If you really must wander off, remember to take this paper with you. That way, even if you get lost, someone can bring you back."

After speaking, he managed a weak smile for his cat, then his body tilted backward. But before the back of his head could hit the steps, his entire form dissolved into shadow and vanished.

The cat glanced forlornly at the spot where Jenkins had disappeared, then lowered its head to sniff the note he had left. It meowed again, and a black hand reached out from the shadows, tossing the note into the shadow realm. The cat then leaped elegantly onto the windowsill of the stairwell landing and gazed out at the darkened city of Nolan.