Leighton Grenville’s POV:

Formless was killed by a beast.

Hold on. That cat was a beast?

I mean, yes. There’s no way a cat would have a long tongue that functions like a rope or something. But still, I wonder if there are any ordinary cats at all. I’m already having trust issues with animals in this world because of that monster. Maybe even a bird will suddenly land on me and snatch my head off.

Yeah, seriously. I will have trust issues here.

But let’s forget about that for a while. One other thing that bothers me was how the announcement of my death was a minute late.

Was it intentional or not?

Whatever the reason, it could be advantageous to me. It can easily be used to deceive a co-participant by attacking him or here at the same time my death was announced. Catching someone off guard is crucial in this “game”. But that won’t do for now. After all, I still don’t know their identities.

I looked around and inspected my surroundings. It made me realize that I wasn’t in a deep forest at all. Behind me in a few meters away was an exit, so I hurriedly head that way.

By the time I’ve reached the end of the trees, an upward slope filled with grass came into sight. I had no idea what was on top of the hill, but I kept on moving anyway. Looking down from above will give me a few hints of this world’s appearance.

—But while that was true, what I had seen as I was near the peak of the hill creeped me out for a second.

It was the same antique-looking house from when I was first brought here in this world.

I initially thought it was just a different house with the same design, but there was no doubt. It was the same from earlier. After all, I was at a hill when The System had told me about the game.

But why here? This place might be far away from the other participants, but this is near the place where I was killed.

I tried looking down at the dirt path I had bolted off before, and yes, the cat was still there. It was busy nibbling off my former body — although the other leg was the only one left. The rest were already bones.

It was far away from me, but my good eyesight made it look fresh to me.

My gastric juices started rising up.

Endure it, Leighton! I told myself and suppressed the urge to vomit.

I couldn’t help but think that the respawn mechanics of this game was flawed. Yes, I’m far away from the other participants. But what about the beasts? Maybe before I even know it, I respawned right next to a powerful beast.

That would be a waste of life if I died instantly.

My fear grew larger and larger, so I entered the antique-looking house without even thinking. It was dim and a bit hot. The windows were closed and the lamps weren’t lit (I said lamp but I was actually referring to old lamps). And most importantly, there were still no people around.

Just who owns this lonely house? In the medieval age, this would be expensive given its quality.

Hell, it even had third floors.

I tried rubbing my index finger on a dining table. The thick dust made it certain that no one had maintained this house for months.

Seriously, what a waste.

I began wandering around to look for a lighter or fire matches — if they even existed in this world — but found a vintage paper at the end of the dining table instead. There was a key beside it as well.

Come to think of it, the door wasn’t locked.

How did I not notice that?

Well, in any case, I’m more curious about the paper so I picked it and read its handwritten note.

To you who had the guts to enter this house, good luck! It’s all yours.

— The owner of the house

…

I slowly placed the paper back on the table and remained standing, astonished.

“What… the hell?”

For someone to give a property this easily, he must be rich as hell.

The furniture, the interior design, the floor mattes — they all looked quite luxurious. If the first floor is already looking this expensive, I’m starting to wonder about the second and third floor as well. I’m betting that the third floor is full of treasure chests or something.

But there was something a bit strange about the note. It said, “To you who had the guts to enter this house”, so am I supposed to not enter this house or at least enter reluctantly?

All I can think of is that this world has magic, so maybe — just maybe — this house is…

Cursed?

I gulped.

After I picked up the key and put it in my pocket, I took out my knife and began heading to the second floor. Just as I’ve placed my right foot on the stairs, a voice resounded inside my head.

Phantasm has killed Ivy.

I jolted upwards, startled.

“This damned bastard…” I took a deep breath.

“But wow. They’re really at it.”

Whoever that Phantasm was, he or she genuinely surprised me. I mean, they’re from Earth so they should be at least hesitant to kill. She must be an experienced murderer or something. And judging by the nickname “Phantasm”, it must be related to images or illusions. That will be, without a doubt, hard to beat.

Though, I wonder what color it was.

Black? Violet? Navy?

And also, about Ivy, it’ll be plant magic for sure. After all, ivy is a vine. But there is also a different type of ivy that is poisonous. It was called poison ivy, so I’m guessing that there will be a bit of poison on its plant magic.

Just maybe.

Well, thanks to that announcement, I’ve wasted time. When I looked through the window, the sun was nearly setting so I hurriedly went to the second floor — with the knife still in my hand of course.

While I was heading upstairs, another announcement had reached my mind, startling me again. But not as intense as last time.

Quasar has killed Fury.

If only I could temporarily turn off the notifications like it was an app…

Finally, I had reached the second floor. To be honest, it didn’t look like what I had expected. It was so strange that I forgot I was in a different world. The walls were full of paintings, and I had identified a few.

Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, Soleil Levant, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.

I didn’t know about the rest. But the fact that these paintings existed here…

Maybe Earth really had a connection to the Otherworld and vice-versa.

If you ask me, I didn’t want to believe what nonsense that Shady System had been spouting awhile ago. But seeing these makes me want to reconsider. I might have looked like a problem child recently, but there are still people whom I truly cherish on Earth.

Though I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to return there.

…

Well whatever. I should focus on my situation right now.

Putting my knife back to its sheath, I headed to a wall mirror and faced it. And then, my stupid-looking reflection was shown. But I didn’t go there just to check my appearance — it was to test a certain spell of mine.

If I remember correctly, The Shady System said that it could only not work against other participants. So objects will work, right?

Looking around, I began choosing which object will be suitable to be cast upon. While I was in the process, my eyes had landed upon a luxurious chair.

Well then…

Shapeshift!

Still looking at the mirror, my body warped into the same chair I had chosen in a blur. It was a perfect replica — all the physical features were exactly the same.

That’s right jerks, I’m a freaking chair!

I looked at the mirror for like three minutes straight, totally amazed.

With this spell, I’m probably on par with Phantasm if it was really about images and illusions. I even tried moving while I was still in the chair form, and it looked creepy. I was like one of those moving objects from a horror movie. However, I can only look around and move while I'm in this form. I’m not sure if it will stay the same if I shapeshifted into a living creature instead of an object, but we’ll get into that soon.

Satisfied, I reverted to my original form.

The fact that I only have to think about it to return to my normal appearance was also amazing. I didn’t have to shout every single spell by its name like a certain show I’ve watched when I was still a kid. Because seriously, that would ruin the very purpose of Shapeshift.

Feeling that I was mentally tired, I sat on a piano stool.

Yes, there was also a piano. I guess that this floor is mostly filled with music, arts, literature, and so on. The house owner must be a noble or at least a creative and artistic person that had made a living out of these.

Well, except if he proclaimed himself to be the painter of Mona Lisa.

That will be a major case of plagiarism.

…On Earth.

I began thinking of what piano piece I’d play.

Since my mind wasn’t in a good state right now, playing the piano will help improve my mood.

Not to sound boastful, but I can play the piano pretty well.

That was the reason why I had high grades in music. As a former top one student, it was necessary to meet a teacher’s expectations — though I later on realized that they were all just a pain in the butt, so enough about that.

After a few minutes of reminiscing about my past experiences, I decided to play Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17 “Tempest”, the third movement. I’ve always liked that piece for a while, so I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it.

By the time I’ve finished playing the piano, the day had already died. It was almost dark outside, and so was the house. I had forgotten to light the lamps, so I hurriedly went downstairs and looked for any suitable fire starter. Luckily, I found one — a primitive one. It was a flint paired with steel placed on top of a wooden stool, so it took me whole 10 minutes to start a fire in the fireplace.

This is the first time I’ll seriously admit how hard it was living without electricity. But it wasn’t all that bad. After all that exhaustion, the satisfaction I’ve felt when I had managed to create fire was far more intense than what I’ve felt when I was at the top one.

It was a bit exaggerated, but you get what I mean.

Using a detachable torch I’d found on a wall, I lit a few lamps. The view of the room filled with yellow light had brought me a feeling of nostalgia. It must have been because of how vintage it looked.

Subconsciously, I looked through a nearby window.

Because the full moon had already risen, it wasn’t dark anymore. It even gave me a clear view of the outside, which had terrified me to the point that my heart stopped beating for a second.

At that moment, I finally understood why the house owner had left this house. Anyone would be forced to run away from this place if they had seen such bone-chilling scene.

Outside, there were like hundreds of those ferocious cats that had brutally killed me awhile ago.