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Chapter 25: Scarlet Devil Mansion (2)
Hidden stage.
It literally ant a hidden stage.
'Usually, a formidable or strong enemy is lurking, but...'
In Keepworld, the aning changes slightly.
'You can think of it as an anomalous entity in its manifested form.'
Of course, it would have been sowhat of a gamble for an ordinary player.
After all, it could indeed be a hidden stage where a powerful enemy lies in wait.
'But I'm not like that.'
I was certain of this.
'No matter how anomalous the entity, it would only be at a [Silver] level.'
There was no way a warning ssage would appear for our party, which could easily overwhelm even the [Gold] elite units.
The fact that it did appear, however...
'It must be a secret shop.'
Despite the oppressive atmosphere pressing down on my entire body, my steps felt incredibly light for this reason.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the mansion's entrance.
As I placed my hand on the door handle, the warning ssage reappeared and pushed us back.
[Warning!]
[This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Do not enter unprepared.]
Looking up at the mansion, I saw that it was made of red bricks, and the moonlit roof emphasized that this was a special place.
I chewed over the na once again.
'Scarlet Devil Mansion.'
A building imbued with magic.
'Good.'
This was the final reason I was sure it was a secret shop.
'One warning should be enough... Why keep hiding things and showing warning ssages?'
I mustered all my strength and flung the giant door open.
Creeeeak—
With a ghastly sound, the massive door opened, and beyond it, the inside of the mansion was completely empty.
It felt as if a ghost might appear at any mont.
"Uh... are we really going in?"
Mari glanced at the mansion’s interior and cautiously checked my expression.
Since I believed there was neither danger nor anything scary here, I just shrugged and kept walking.
Behind , Khan and Beryl followed.
"...Uh... at least say sothing!"
Mari, who had been left behind, ca running with a pale face and stuck to my back, asking,
"...So, what do we do now?"
What to do.
If this were a normal stage, we would have spread out to gather information.
Exploration is always a basic task for any stage.
'But not here.'
A hidden stage has its own set of rules.
Normally, I would be touching various parts of the screen to gather information, but now I just silently walked along the path.
The reason Mari asked what we should do was because I hadn't given any orders or instructions, and the other party mbers were also hesitant to act on their own.
"Just do nothing and wait. The host will soon get impatient and show up."
That was all I could tell the party.
"...Show up?"
Mari trembled at the ntion of soone appearing and imdiately grabbed onto my coat.
"Yeah, so just wait."
I didn’t know the exact ti, but from what I knew, this host would soon appear, unable to bear the boredom.
'There's only one witch who loves gothic style.'
A familiar sensation hit as we walked endlessly through the seemingly infinite corridor for a while.
[Sixth Sense LV. 2]
'Finally, here it cos.'
Clatter—
Although the mansion’s appearance changes every ti, its personality remains the sa.
Clatter—
"W-What is that?"
"...?"
The teapot on the table rattled.
Sssss—
Then, right before our eyes, it started moving.
"It, it moved! Right? I didn't imagine it, did I?!"
Mari freaked out, while Khan silently gripped his sword.
Beryl stood motionless, not showing any reaction.
Clatter—
The teapot floated into the air.
It slowly moved in our direction and...
Crash!
It fell.
"Yikes!"
Mari covered her ears and crouched down.
Khan quickly inspected the fallen teapot and then reported to .
"...It's just an ordinary teapot."
"An ordinary teapot? Are you sure? It's not possessed or sothing?"
Mari trembled.
She seed surprisingly vulnerable to scary things.
Beryl, as usual, remained still and dazed.
'What an over-the-top entrance.'
Just as I was thinking that, a loud noise startled us.
Clunk!
A drawer nearby flew open, and sothing white shot out, covering Mari.
"Whoa!"
"Aaah! It's here!"
What had jumped on Mari was a mysterious woman in a white coat.
Khan quickly swung his sword but imdiately halted as the woman raised her hand to stop him.
Though Khan looked puzzled, he withdrew his sword after confirming Mari was unhard.
'Khan stopped, and Beryl...?'
Beryl was still silently standing behind .
‘Maybe it's because his position is a tank...’
I couldn’t see Beryl’s expression, but perhaps because his position was a tank, he wasn’t making any hasty moves.
I took a deep breath and approached the woman who was harassing Mari.
“Ah, it tickles!”
“Heehee.”
The woman continued to persistently bother Mari, as if she didn’t even notice my approach.
It didn’t matter.
This person always targeted the employee with the best reactions.
‘I knew this, but seeing it firsthand is a bit…’
There are two ways to talk to this person in this state.
One is to wait until she gets bored of playing with Mari.
I imdiately shook my head at the first option.
‘It would take too long.’
The second option is to divert her attention sowhere else.
For example… calling out her na.
“Luci, why don’t you stop and have a chat?”
The woman who was tickling Mari stopped and turned her gaze towards .
Between her long white hair, a blue glow in her eyes glimred.
She stared at for a long ti, then staggered over.
“...How did you know?”
It seed like she was trying to set the mood, but it didn’t work on .
My ntal fortitude was at an EX level, and I had no intention of playing along with her in the first place.
‘If I get caught up in her pace, even 24 hours wouldn’t be enough.’
What I wanted was a transaction, not to entertain her.
“Luci Restia, that’s not what’s important right now. You’ve got custors. Aren’t you going to do business?”
“...”
At the ntion of business, the woman puffed out her cheeks.
“...Such a boring person has arrived. Well, fine. You three, co up to the second floor.”
With those words, she disappeared like smoke.
“Sh-she disappeared?!”
“A-a ghost... Ugh.”
It must have been so kind of skill, but Khan and Mari, who didn’t know that, had turned pale.
By the way, what did Luci just say?
‘...Three?’
There were four of us.
Mari, lying flat on the floor catching her breath, Khan standing beside , and Beryl, who was standing solidly behind …
...
...Beryl?
I turned to check on Beryl.
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He was standing steadfastly behind like an impregnable fortress.
...
No, upon closer inspection, he wasn’t standing guard but was completely motionless.
With a hunch, I reached out to touch his body...
Thunk—
As expected.
When he saw the teapot move, he must have fainted on the spot, still standing.
“...”
There was no way we could carry this big guy up to the second floor.
And with safety already confird, there was no need to bring Beryl along either.
I decided to unsummon Beryl.
[Recalling 7th-grade employee Beryl.]
After confirming Beryl disappeared in a flash of white light, I helped Mari up from the floor.
“Ti to get up.”
As I helped her up, Mari murmured in a half-crying voice.
“...Could you please send back too?”
I had no problem sending her back, but I didn’t bother to do so.
If I wanted to ransack the secret shop thoroughly, I needed Mari’s concentration.
“Mari, do you rember the promise I made you at the start?”
“...That you’d give grilled chicken skewers if I got through this?”
“Yes. I’ll ask for triple the amount.”
“Triple...”
The ntion of chicken skewers made her hesitate before she clenched her fist with determination.
“I’ll try.”
With that, we headed up to the second floor.
The second floor wasn’t much different from the first.
Gothic-style furniture and dozens of magic circles.
It didn’t take long to find the room where Luci had asked us to go.
At the far end of the second floor, the largest room had a noticeable presence.
Creak—
I opened the door to the innermost room.
“Right, it seems you already know, but I’ll introduce myself anyway.”
Long hair that reached down to her waist, blue glowing eyes that watched us closely.
“I’m Luci. Luci Restia. The owner of this place.”
She extended both hands forward.
Imdiately, the magic artifacts that filled the room began to glow.
Bam!
[You have discovered Luci’s Secret Shop.]
[Achievent Unlocked: Luci's Secret Shop]
- An isolation zone directly connected to the secret shop will be created. (However, entry is not allowed without Luci’s permission.)
Luci’s Secret Shop.
I’ve been here a few tis, but there’s one thing I know for sure.
‘This gives us one more advantage when dealing with other companies.’
None of the items Luci sells are useless to the company.
Of course, if you lose your mind and try to cause trouble or attempt to steal sothing...
‘It would be a horrifying experience.’
Luci herself is a monster equivalent to a 3rd-class being, just by her presence.
Just as we can step into a secret shop, Lucy could visit our company anyti she wanted.
So, it was wise not to provoke her unnecessarily and end up creating a monster—better just to keep her as a trading partner.
Clatter.
Lucy, who was sitting on a chair, turned her gaze towards .
Then, the sa hologram I had seen on my mobile device appeared in front of .
"Well, go ahead and pick sothing."
[Secret Shop (Silver)]
* High-Grade Healing Potion [1,500 points]
- A potion that can completely heal moderate to severe injuries. (It tastes like strawberry.)
* Enhancent Potion [1,000 points]
- A potion that temporarily increases the target's abilities. (All stats 5)
* Illusion Potion [2,000 points]
- A potion that summons a duplicated player character for a certain period. (Duration: 3 minutes)
.....
Although it was a Silver-level secret shop, the items on display were not suitable for beginners at all.
Furthermore, the prices were astronomical.
You would have to spend all the points that a typical [Silver] level company earns in a week to afford even one item.
'Of course, the performance is good for the price.'
These items could be used up to the [Diamond] level, so it wasn't a waste... but still...
'This kind of trick only works on people who are entering the secret shop for the first ti.'
Since I already understood the essence of the secret shop, the current list didn't excite at all. I chuckled and activated my skill.
[Focus LV. 1]
'Even though it's just Level 1 Focus...'
It was more than enough to loot the [Silver] level secret shop.
"Oh?"
Lucy rested her chin on her hand and looked at with interest as I used my skill to uncover a hidden list.
[Secret Shop (Silver-LV. 1)]
* Silver Key Blackhole [2,000 points]
- A special key that can open any door, but inflicts significant ntal damage each ti it is used.
* Talisman of Nightmare [2,500 points]
- When used, it lowers the target's stats and causes confusion, but it also inflicts severe ntal damage on the user.
Reading the item descriptions, I smirked.
"As expected, they hid it here."
Usually, people don't rejoice when they discover the secret shop.
'In the first place, gathering this many points is difficult.'
Even if you did gather them, most companies would be desperate to invest in the company instead... but not ours.
"Alright, let's blow so money."
Thanks to my hard-working employees, I had more than enough points.
[Points: 2,711]
"I'll buy the Talisman of Nightmare."
"...Oh?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes, clearly surprised that I chose to purchase the Talisman of Nightmare, despite the debuffs.
'Well, of course.'
The reason such items are hidden deep within secret shops is usually for one of three reasons: the item's performance is overwhelmingly high for its level, the debuffs are too severe to make it usable, or...
'...it falls into both categories.'
The Talisman of Nightmare I chose belonged to the latter.
Any other player reading the description would have been horrified.
'A normal employee wouldn't be able to use it.'
Ah, but I'm an exception.
[Your mind will never waver.]
As long as I have the "Star of the Foundation," my ntal strength is invulnerable.
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