Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead - Chapter 75
Chapter 75
Translator: Yonnee
—
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
How much time has passed since then?
[ ‘Dietrich’ has acquired a portion of S’s diary. ]
[ The contents of the diary shall be shared with Charlotte. ]
[ Dietrich has found ‘The Lady’s Portrait’. ]
…Now, the real trouble begins.
[ The subordinates of the Second Floor Administrator have awakened. They move to search for the painting. ]
[ The subordinates’ active time is now displayed. ]
[ Time remaining: 02:59:59 ]
[ If the painting is not stolen within 3 hours, the ownership of the painting will transfer to ‘Dietrich’.
※ Note
If the painting is stolen by the subordinates, ‘Dietrich’ will be deprived of the right to ascend to the third floor.]
One of the reasons I gave up on this game has appeared.
Dietrich especially often died at this point.
‘The reason is…’
Thinking about Dietrich’s strength, it wouldn’t be difficult to fend off the subordinates and protect the painting.
But this game isn’t called hardcore for nothing.
Soon, Dietrich will experience a severe identity crisis.
As long as he holds that damned painting.
“……”
I had forgotten something.
Though I told him to die out of my sight, the system window vividly informs me of Dietrich’s trajectory.
I couldn’t just cover my eyes and pretend to be blind.
Just as I was about to get up—
‘What are you going to do even if you go?’
Dietrich doesn’t want my help anyway.
I let my body relax and sat on the bed.
‘Let him be.’
Whether he lives or dies.
Now, it’s none of my concern.
* * *
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◈
The mansion was in turmoil from this morning.
The servants carried the painting drawn by the artist Valek to the garden and burned it all, while the lady screamed.
Until Valek was commissioned to paint the lady’s portrait, he was considered a nobody.
In fact, it was ambiguous to even call him an artist.
As it turned out, he was just an apprentice of Santorini, not even a formal artist, wasn’t he?
It was a ridiculous situation that he ended up painting the portrait just because he followed the master Santorini.
When the master learned of this, he ordered the halt of the portrait’s work, but the lady stubbornly insisted that if it wasn’t him, she wouldn’t entrust the work to anyone else.
The master was not pleased, but he couldn’t win against the stubborn lady.
Johannes’ portrait was worked on by Santorini, but in the end, the lady’s portrait was made by his apprentice, Valek.
And so, the completed portrait.
The moment everyone in the mansion saw that painting, they fell in love with it.
The sullen lady in a pink dress looked like a fairy from a myth.
Porcelain skin, pink cheeks, cherry-red lips, innocent yet clear eyes.
It seemed like the painting could emit the fresh scent of peaches.
So, curious if it really smelled like peaches, I secretly sniffed it but was slightly disappointed to only smell oil.
I loved that portrait.
After painting the lady’s portrait, the artist’s name soared. But now, his end had come.
Only downfall awaited him.
“Don’t do it, Milady! Stop!”
The lady’s portrait was finally thrown into the flames.
“Please stop!”
The servants restrained the lady as she attempted to leap into the flames.
A single tear dropped from the lady’s eyes as she watched the burning painting.
The beloved cheeks of the lady were scorching hot under the sun, like the glue on the portrait.
Poor lady.
She was fond of that painter.
After the portrait had been completed, she seemed to have taken a liking to Valek, having him come over to teach her painting.
Then, a few months later, shocking news was delivered.
The painter’s works were accused of blasphemy against the temple, and the paladins took him away.
The temple announced they would burn all his paintings.
Now, his works would not only end up burned in the mansion but also erased from the entire world.
Not a single piece of the painter’s work would remain.
—Excerpt from S’s Diary
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Upon entering the brightly lit room, Dietrich found the last diary entry.
The diary was placed atop the painting. The intensely yellow flowers painted on it were remarkably striking.
[ 1/2 ]
Dietrich noticed a mark etched beside the painting. What was this?
—Found you.
That was when it happened.
A chilling laugh grazed past his ear.
The spine-tingling sound made Dietrich step back a few paces with the painting in hand.
—Grrr.
A sound no human could make.
Monsters with drawn swords entered through the door Dietrich had left open.
When did they…?
Monsters from outside had invaded the room. This was a first.
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