The vast castle took several hours to search from end to end.

They found plenty of women, golden-haired ones among them—two blonde noblewomen were sprawled in the banquet hall alone—but no one could say for certain whether the princess was among them.

Max pinched a few golden strands between his fingers, compared them one by one, and in the end shook his head and stepped aside to light a cigarette and smoke it slowly.

Everyone was exhausted.

And a little deflated.

After all that effort, nothing to show for it—only heavier fatigue and stronger drowsiness.

The only woman left in the group stood up, hesitating before she spoke: “I… I need to use the restroom.”

The men looked up. Some wore teasing smirks; others looked impatient, finding women inconvenient—unlike men, who could find any corner, unzip, and be done with it.

Max said, “Don’t go too far.”

“Could someone…” The woman bit her lip and looked at them anxiously. “Could someone come with me? I’m too scared to go alone.”

This was no time for chivalry.

Someone said bluntly: “If you were scared, why did you sign up for this in the first place!”

The woman pressed her lips together, looking pitiful and put-upon, standing rooted in place, torn about whether to go.

Tan Xiao was just debating whether to do a good deed when Louis, from the other side of the group, stood up: “Lucia, I’ll go with you.”

Max considered for a moment and selected another person from the group: “Carl, go with Louis. Try not to separate.”

The group of six split into two threes.

Tan Xiao stayed beside Max, chewing his gum steadily.

The others smoked or talked in low voices—all doing something to keep themselves alert.

Those three were gone a long time.

So long that everyone had begun discussing whether to go look for them—when a piercing shriek tore through the silence:

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

Something had happened!

Everyone sprinted toward the sound and saw Lucia and Carl running toward them from the other direction!

Max’s heart plummeted. “Where’s Louis?!”

Lucia sobbed: “When I came out, Louis was already dead! Only Louis and Carl were in the corridor!”

“Carl! How did Louis die?!”

Carl’s face had gone white with panic. “I… I don’t know. I was feeling a bit drowsy, and when I snapped back to myself, Louis was lying on the ground…”

Max pressed Lucia: “Are you certain it was only the two of them at the time? No one else?”

Lucia wept and shook her head over and over: “Only the two of them.”

“Carl! What the hell happened?!” The most hot-tempered of the group raised his sword and demanded, “Was it you?!”

Carl raised his own sword in response, voice taut with tension: “What are you trying to do?! I already told you it wasn’t me! I was dozing off! I don’t know anything!”

Max barked: “Carl! Put the sword down!”

Carl’s whole body was rigid. “What? You’re trying to eliminate the competition so fewer people share the reward? You bastards—don’t think you can pin this on me!”

“Shut up! Put the sword DOWN!!!”

“Carl, calm down!”

“Don’t come any closer! Or I’ll—”

In the chaos, someone swung their iron sword first.

Carl slashed his opponent’s arm.

His opponent drove the blade into Carl’s abdomen.

Two slender vines shot in from the nearby windows without warning—and in an instant, pierced straight through both men still locked in combat!

They didn’t even have time to cry out. Everyone watched helplessly as the vines swept both men out through the window.

The whole thing took under two seconds. Not a single extra drop of blood was left on the floor.

Silence settled over the castle. Not a word was spoken.

After a long moment, Ken’s body swayed, and he took a half-step back, exhaling slowly. “How did it come to this…”

Tan Xiao was stunned as well. “So it was the vines the whole time?”

“No.” Max said quietly. “Those were rule violations being penalized. It seems you really aren’t allowed to kill here… not even an attack with murderous intent is permitted. Otherwise, the system removes you.”

—