Everyone looked at Shane as if he had done some incredible job. The newbies didn't dare to glare at him anymore as one of them walked forward.
"Hey, let's discuss what we should do. Can you guide us?"
Shane looked over at the experienced people. None of them seemed to want to walk out and volunteer for the leader's position. So he might as well steal it under their noses.
He turned toward the people in front of him and nodded lightly.
So everyone else walked out of the corridor and went directly downstairs, toward the living room area. Everyone else seated wherever they found places. The majority of them stuffed their butts onto the ground and stared at Shane, making the latter uncomfortable.
He coughed and said, "Well, let's share out findings first."
The newbies glanced at one another, not knowing what to do. It was like they hadn't even tried to find any crucial information for the mission.
Shane expected this to happen. So he turned toward the experienced and raised his brows.
"I found a thread on the fog as if they were mere puppets," said a man as he pulled out a picture from his inventory. "I snapped from the Livestream."
Shane looked closely and frowned. It really was the case. It was impossible for a normal person to see through this thing. But it couldn't be missed by an expert who had dealt with many such things.
After looking at it, Shane nodded and thanked them for such an important clue. Then he heard the newbies talking.
"So does it mean someone else is controlling them?"
"Yes, my conclusion was also the same. Earlier, when I froze the foggy ghost again, it seemed like it was afraid of something. Maybe we should work to find out who's the owner of this place rather than focusing on the butler."
Others also nodded and decided to follow him. So after talking for a while, they decided that they would search the entire place once again, especially the pictures on the first floor.
Meanwhile, Shane raised his head. There was another floor above the guest rooms where they weren't allowed. In fact, there was a lock at the place where the staircase was located to stop others from climbing stairs.
Shane quickly decided to try and open that lock. He knew that there must be some clue at that place.
After thinking about it, Shane started walking there. No one followed him because they were all given other duties. So Shane walked upstairs alone.
Then he asked, "Hope, give me an all-purpose key."
The woman compiled and sent the key through the inbox. As soon as Shane received it, he immediately purchased it and used it swiftly without any delay. The door opened with a click.
'This chapter is updated by N o v elBin.cᴏm',
He put down the key in his inventory and brought out a normal electric sword. Then pushing the door, he walked upstairs.
He might find some clues here about the owner of this place. So he couldn't lower his guard.
As he walked step by step, he felt the area around here start to become darker and darker. It was as if there was a presence of a powerful demon here who hid from the eyes of the public.
Shane frowned, but he didn't stop. Finally, he reached the topmost floor and saw a closed door at the end. He pushed it open only to reveal a bedroom. Since it was only a bedroom, the area was quite big. A bathroom and balcony were attached to it.
If it weren't for the dead body hanging from a ceiling fan, the entire scene would have looked even more enchanting.
Shane walked closer. His grip on the sword formed even further as he looked at the dead body.
The body still seemed fresh. So Shane couldn't tell when exactly this body died. The body was that of a young girl, and her eyes had disappeared out of the blue, leaving only an empty socket behind with dried-up blood all over her eyes and cheeks.
She seemed to be wearing a nightgown, which was torn from the bottom. It was covered with dried-up blood all over the place. So it was pretty hard to discern the actual color of the dress.
Was she the real boss of this world?
Shane tilted his head and examined the body. "Hope, I'll need your help. I haven't learned forensics…. Examine this body."
"Okay. Let me take a look at it."
So under Shane's direction, Hope watched everything with a squinted gaze and frowned deeper.
"This body seemed to have died years ago, but something happened at this place that forcibly stopped the decay. Either that or what you're seeing is just an illusion."
Shane nodded. Both aspects were possible. So he backed away from the dead body and continued to look through the room clearly. As he walked around, he noticed a mirror.
It looked ordinary at first glance until he walked in front of it and looked at his own reflection.
His eyes widened. It wasn't him at all! A certain familiar girl who was hanging above came over in his stead, acting similarly to his own body.
He lifted his hand, the girl also lifted her hand.
Shane pursed his lips. Things were becoming stranger. He had a strange feeling in his heart that he was being intensely stared at by someone. Of course, that someone was probably this kid here.
After checking out the mirror, he didn't linger there any longer. He didn't have a habit to scare himself in a weird manner.
After that he made his way toward the bed, which was made, ready to sleep. Except, if there wasn't someone sleeping there already, Shane would have believed that the owner of this place wasn't here at all.
He walked closer to see the frowning face of the same beautiful lady. Her eyes were also there, and there was no trace of gauging them out of the skull. Even her chest moved evenly as if she was deep into her sleep.
'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',
Shane thought for a while before raising his hand and touching her shoulders. As soon as he did, his entire body was sucked into her being.
The room again became empty without a trace of a human being filtering through the place.
Shane felt dizzy as he held his forehead. When he blinked his eyes open, he was again standing in the same room. He frowned as he walked around the room. Just as he passed by the mirror, he was stunned.
He was again the girl. He raised her hand, the girl also repeated the same motion.
Just one difference: his hand also had changed into that of the young girl. His eyes widened as he continued to stare at his girl's attire and body. Just then, a voice echoed through the staircase downstairs.
"Lady, your breakfast is ready."
That voice sounded like that of the butler's, just a bit younger. As soon as he heard his voice, he felt a trace of tremor in his heart as if he was feeling immense fear of someone or something. Perhaps it was the body's natural reaction to something. Even the girl's body trembled upon hearing that voice.
Suddenly, he heard himself saying: "B-Butler, go back. I won't be eating anything today."
"My lady!" the butler barged in and looked at the girl with a worried expression on his face. "I was tasked by your parents to take care of you before they died. How can I let you go hungry?"
The girl, however, didn't look touched after seeing that worried face. Her entire face changed as she stumbled back.
"D-Don't come closer. Get out of here!!!" She screamed at the top of her voice as she jumped onto the bed, hiding her face under the sheets.
The butler was stunned for a moment before walking out of the place with a sad expression on his face, before going, he shut the door and locked it from the outside.
Only after the butler's voice stopped did the girl calm down. She released the breath she was holding and her trembling also stopped. She put her feet down on the bed and walked steadily toward the window.
Then she continued to stare outside the window.
When the scene was happening, Shane couldn't control the body at all. Now that the scene had ended, the control was again shifted to his hands. He frowned.
What was happening? Was this the girl's memory? Or something else?
He needed to see more to figure out what the f*ck was going on here.
Soon enough, the next scene also appeared. This time, Shane just had to blink as the entire view in front of him transformed. Right now, the girl was sitting at the dining table surrounded by her servants and a familiar butler, pouring soup into her bowl.
He had a happy smile on his face as he said, "My lady, please, have some. I made it myself, especially for you."
The girl's face turned pale after hearing that.