Yuze cleared his throat, hiding the mischief in his eyes: "Oh right, how could I forget that?"
Josh, irritated, gave him another punch: "And there’s a dance tonight, how am I supposed to dance with the Prince looking like a green pighead?"
Yuze beca more regretful: "What should we do? We can only leave this dancing opportunity to so other lucky soul."
Josh shot him a fierce glare and turned to leave.
Having annoyed Josh, Yuze couldn’t help but chuckle, chasing after her, just about to speak when Josh suddenly vanished in front of him.
He narrowed his eyes, seemingly sensing sothing, abruptly turned his head to look at the attic on the castle’s high tower.
In the attic, there was nothing but a pitch-black window.
He withdrew his gaze, pocketed the item in his hand, and entered the castle.
Josh returned to her room and couldn’t help but grimace at the sight of herself in the mirror.
She pushed her bangs to the center, barely managing to cover up the green pighead.
Knocking sounds ca from outside.
There were only knocking sounds, no one speaking.
Josh was annoyed and didn’t bother to respond.
The knocking outside sounded again.
Josh, feeling a bit agitated, called out: "Who is it!"
The person outside paused montarily, then, sowhat surprised, said: "I... I’m the owner of this room, but the door won’t open. Can you co out from my room?"
Josh narrowed her eyes, sensing sothing amiss.
Her room?
This was clearly Room 1, the one Josh switched to yesterday afternoon.
She got up to open the door, revealing the sister from the twin team standing outside.
The girl was two heads taller than her, which only added to Josh’s already sour mood.
Seeing her displeased expression, the girl stepped back a bit in fear: "Hello, I’m Ani. You’re Josh, right? My sister ntioned you. You’re much smaller than I imagined."
Josh: "..."
Ani smiled again, friendly: "Josh, what are you doing in my room?"
Josh narrowed her eyes, guessing that her tiline intersected with others’.
Just like she and Yuze often intersected at the other courtyard.
Yuze must have figured out this crossover ti and place too.
Josh glanced at the ti, 10:30 AM.
So, every day at 10:30 AM at the entrance of Room 1, different tilines intersect.
Josh secretly noted the ti, looking at Ani, coughed lightly: "I’m not feeling well, so I pushed a door nearby to rest. Could you call my teammates to pick up?"
Ani, seeing she indeed looked unwell, found it odd: "Did you forget? All your teammates were killed, there can’t be any to co."
Josh quickly realized, "Oh, right... I forgot. See, I’m really not feeling well, burning up and all confused."
Ani warily looked at her: "Can you leave my room now?"
Josh nodded, stepping out of the room.
Ani kindly stepped aside.
Just as Josh took a couple of steps forward, Ani suddenly struck, grabbing a sharp candlestick and aiming at the back of Josh’s head.
The long candlestick was originally ant to hold candles in place, but such a long sharp tal plunged into the brain would be fatal without a doubt.
Josh, perceptively aware of the movent behind her, swiftly drew a long knife, knocking the candlestick from Ani’s hand, and with a reverse strike, severed her head.
[Ding! Congratulations on eliminating player Ani. You will receive corresponding rewards after the instance settlent.]
It was Josh’s first ti hearing this announcent, so she really killed a real player?
But when she previously killed Susanna, there was no system announcent...
Josh suddenly rembered that Resurrection Cards couldn’t be used in this instance.
So this ant she completely killed the person, thus triggering the system notification?
Ani’s body quickly turned into a shimr of light and disappeared.
A shell necklace dropped to the ground, which she picked up and examined.
[Congratulations, you have obtained the key item Shell Necklace, unlocking the storyline "Prince Sisi and the Lover’s Tragic Past" Scene 4.]
As the announcent echoed, a mory unfamiliar to Josh flashed in her mind.
In the mory, handso Prince Sisi was scouring the beach for shells, heedless of his image, while a slender girl with rolled-up pants showed her white, cute ankles, seemingly helpless, carrying the Prince’s precious, luxurious boots by his side.
The Prince collected many beautiful shells, stringing them into a pearl shell necklace and giving it to the girl.
The girl, blushing, asked the Prince to help her put on the necklace.
The snow-white slender nape received a kiss from the Prince, filling both with a wave of emotion.
The storyline ended there.
Josh raised an eyebrow, placing the shell necklace into the inventory, thinking she now knew how to complete the task "Obtain Prince Sisi’s First Dance" tonight.
She wiped the knife and turned back inside, tidying up briefly before heading out again.
The equipnt dropped by Ani reminded her she should go explore for new items; who knows, there might be hidden rewards.
Moreover, Ani ntioned her teammates were all dead.
This implied in her tiline, her teammates were dead and no replacents ca.
This further confird Josh’s speculation.
It seed like there were many different tilines in this ancient castle, with real players and fake players intermixed.
Dead people appeared again the next day, not through resurrection, but as replacents from another tiline.
She initially thought replacents were infinite, but since no replacent appeared for Ani, it indicated one thing: the superimposed tilines in this castle were not limitless but had a specific capacity.
Once a person or NPC in one tiline died, replacents from another tiline would fill the spot. anwhile, spots vacated in those other tilines would be empty.
Perhaps it was because Yuze killed too many people, causing Ani’s teammates to be replaced over where Yuze was, or perhaps Ani’s tiline didn’t have replacents after her team died.
But the replacent probability seed random.
Josh couldn’t ascertain that every ti she left the room, she entered the sa tiline of the castle.
She didn’t dwell on the issue further, planning to explore after lunch.
After lunch, the maids delivered dresses to their rooms.
The man in the study last ti was likely Prince Sisi. The study was on the fourth floor, so the bedroom might also be on the fourth floor.
However...
She needed to find soone other than Prince Sisi who would appear tonight; there was no need to spend the afternoon exploring.
She knocked on Thomas’s door.
"Miss Josh, what brings you here?" Thomas was busy with paperwork on his desk, looking rather ticulous.
Josh smiled apologetically: "I’m here to switch rooms, are you busy?"
Thomas shook his head gentlemanly: "Of course not, please sit down, I’ll make you so tea."
While making tea, he smiled: "By the way, I should thank Miss Josh. Prince Sisi heard about your previous suggestion of planting trees and had us implent it. As expected, his health improved significantly, and his headaches faded away. Quite miraculous. Because of this, His Highness is quite interested in you."
"It’s my honor!" Josh smiled, seating herself nearby, and handed over the room key of the person she killed for Thomas to register the room change.
Thomas’s office was rather spacious, filled with dark, ancient-style redwood furniture, with luxurious, intricate wool rugs on the floor and oil lamps burning on the desk.
Though the room was on the first floor, and the windows were large, they were all blocked by the thorns and roses outside.
His desk was cluttered with a multitude of mundane castle affairs, necessitating several lamps.
Josh glanced around the office, smiling: "Mr. Thomas, you’re truly dedicated, working so seriously even in such a dim environnt. It must be straining on the eyes, right?"
Thomas smiled back, pouring her a cup of tea and respectfully handing it over: "There’s no choice. The castle affairs are overwhelming and would only heap up if left unattended for a day."
"Hardworking Mr. Thomas, why not have the maids clear so of the thorns outside? It would brighten up your room too," Josh asked.
Thomas’s eyes flickered slightly as he glanced at the thorns outside: "You don’t like them?"
Josh smiled and shook her head: "Of course not, I just think working in such a dark environnt is really hard on your eyes."
Thomas chuckled: "Certainly, in recent years, my eyesight has gradually deteriorated, and I can’t see distant things clearly anymore."
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