Chapter 5: Mysterious Events

“Has someone died here? It’s not like there’s a murderer, is there?”

“That thing is way scarier than any murderer.”

“Really?”

Fuyeli was a bit surprised, and also a little excited.

“So it really isn’t a murderer, but something else entirely?”

“…?”

The woman didn’t seem to expect Fuyeli to react this way. She paused for a moment, then shook her head and said,

“Don’t ask so many questions. If you don’t want to die, you’d better leave right away…”

“If you really insist on staying, then when you take a shower, you absolutely must lock the bathroom door.”

With that, the woman left without waiting for Fuyeli’s reaction. Fuyeli glanced outside — in just an instant, the woman’s figure vanished into the depths of the hallway.

Fuyeli narrowed her eyes, a hint of calculation in them.

She wasn’t afraid of mysteries. On the contrary, she was more worried that there wouldn’t be any mystery here.

If that were the case, she’d actually have a bit of a headache.

Still, the woman’s mysterious words had indeed planted a small seed of psychological dread.

But the problem was, Fuyeli wasn’t human.

She calmly returned to her room and locked the door from the inside.

Yet the moment the door was fully locked, a strange sense of unease arose in Fuyeli’s heart.

The empty room gave her an inexplicable shiver. She looked around. Perhaps it was the woman’s words taking effect — even though there was clearly no one else there, the room felt eerily ominous.

As if something was watching her.

Fuyeli narrowed her eyes. The woman’s words kept echoing in her ears like a curse.

“This room has seen death… When you shower, lock the bathroom door?”

To be safe, she decided to check the room thoroughly.

Though it was gloomy and strange, there was indeed no one inside.

But oddly enough, when Fuyeli pulled back a corner of the curtain, she saw that the window had been nailed shut with wooden planks.

Yet before entering the inn, she had specifically noticed — the windows of the other rooms were all normal.

Clearly, this room had some kind of dark secret.

The girl’s eyes grew even more excited.

After surveying the room, she walked into the bathroom.

It was an utterly ordinary bathroom.

Even though the game was set in a Renaissance-era medieval world, the furnishings were surprisingly complete.

There was even a flush toilet.

But the small, square space felt strangely oppressive.

Fuyeli noticed a thick clump of hair stuck in the floor drain in the corner — probably left behind by the previous guest.

Everything seemed normal, almost boringly so.

Tired after a long day, Fuyeli took off her clothes and prepared to enjoy a leisurely bath.

The shower head spattered water noisily. Fuyeli sat on a small stool, rinsing her body.

Girls generally take a long time to bathe, mostly because washing their hair is a hassle.

Warm water streamed over her hair. But barely five minutes had passed when the warm water suddenly turned cold. And aside from the sound of running water, an odd noise reached Fuyeli’s ears without warning.

It wasn’t loud, but in the small bathroom, it was exceptionally clear.

Fuyeli instinctively looked toward the bathroom door.

She narrowed her eyes, quickly dried herself off, put her clothes back on, and stared at the entrance.

The strange sound came again. This time, she identified the source.

Click, click, click…

She clearly saw the bathroom doorknob move.

And in that moment, the air inside the bathroom seemed to freeze solid.

She no longer felt like continuing her bath. Every muscle tensed as she stared at the doorknob, not daring to move.

Fuyeli knew very well — she had locked the room door from the inside. Even with a key, no one could enter.

And she had already checked the room thoroughly. No one was there.

Then… what was that thing outside the bathroom?

Click, click! Clatter!

The thing outside grew more and more frantic, more aggressive.

In the empty room beyond the door, the doorknob turned eerily on its own.

The sound of the lock straining echoed in the bathroom, scraping against Fuyeli’s nerves.

She admitted — watching horror movies alone or going through haunted houses in her previous life hadn’t been nearly this thrilling.

Soon, the old, worn-out lock gave way under the relentless twisting.

The bathroom door cracked open.

After a moment, a hand slowly reached through the gap.

Fuyeli saw it clearly — the hand was deathly pale, its skin rough and uneven, covered with what looked like tumors.

And as she watched, those tumors slowly split open, one after another, revealing countless eyeballs rolling in every direction.

They searched the room until finally locking onto the girl inside the bathroom.

That hand, covered in staring eyes, was horrifying enough. But what lay behind the door was even worse.

It seemed to be a humanoid figure.

But the figure’s face looked as if it had melted. Countless eyes were haphazardly piled onto that melted, distorted face.

“Found you…”

The thing outside spoke in a sticky, breathy voice. The door groaned under the strain, the gap widening wider and wider.

Until the monster fully revealed itself to Fuyeli.

It stood hunched outside the bathroom, its rotting body like melting candle wax — barely maintaining a human shape, but constantly dripping viscous fluid.

This was a Grand — a mysterious, deadly creature that ordinary humans could never touch, and would surely die upon encountering.

But even faced with such a grotesque and terrifying monster, Fuyeli’s expression was even more excited than the creature’s.

The monster, which had been about to step into the bathroom for a feast, suddenly froze.

It couldn’t normally feel fear. Yet now, its entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Its countless eyes spun wildly, trying to look away from the girl.

But it was already too late. It felt as if its heart had been seized. Its melting body began to solidify. The girl’s soft laughter sounded in its ears like the terrifying whisper of an ancient god.

It tried to flee, but the girl grabbed it.

Its head turned stiffly, like a rusted gear. The girl’s face still wore that calm, breezy smile.

“Oh my~”

“So it really is a Grand?”

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“But since you’re here… do me one tiny little favor, okay?”

The girl’s spring-like smile, to the monster, was nothing but a bone-chilling cold that seeped into its very soul.