Chapter 3

The village chief kept staring at us as he spoke. I could only avert my gaze before hurrying toward the rooms.

His gaze seemed a little frightening. We could feel goosebumps crawling across our scalps. "Rest well. I'll see you all tomorrow."

After that, he turned on his heel and headed toward a room. That should be his room.

"I think we should stick together," the muscular man suggested.

Even though the village chief said they could stay in their own rooms, no one was brave enough to do so in such a spooky environment.

Everyone immediately agreed to the suggestion. The woman and I would stay in one room while the remaining three men shared the other.

Once we entered our room, the woman curled up on the bed while typing up a storm on her phone. I dug out my phone as well and tried to call Cyrus, hoping that he'd pick up.

Of course, no one picked up the call.

I tried to text him, only to realize there weren't any signals here.

"Who's the newbie calling? Don't tell me she doesn't know she can't contact people who aren't in the dungeon!"

"Yeah, she doesn't know about it at all. Just look at how dumb she is. I bet she won't be able to survive past tomorrow morning."

It turned out that I couldn't contact people who weren't in the dungeon. If I couldn't contact Cyrus, did that mean he wasn't in this dungeon at all?

That realization made me feel a little disappointed.

If only Cyrus was an NPC of this dungeon. I'd be safe if that were the case.

…

The next morning, the village chief summoned us to the chapel we saw last night.

"We worship the Sea God in this village," he said to us while facing the god's statue.

I raised my head to look at the statue. Only then could I make out its features properly.

The upper half of the statue was humanoid, but its lower half consisted of countless tentacles. At first glance, it looked very frightening.

But when I looked at the statue from such a close distance, I felt that the exposed half of its face resembled Cyrus'.

I didn't know if I was seeing things, but I saw one of the eyes blink abruptly. But when I stared at the statue again, it no longer moved.

"The reason why I invited you here is to attend the annual Ritual of the Tides that's held in the village. We need to pick out the most suitable man and woman to take on the roles of the groom and the bride. They'll be presented as offerings to the Sea God."

Then, the village chief turned to look at us. "The wedding outfits didn't fit you quite well yesterday, but it's alright. I've invited a tailor here to take your measurements in order to make the alterations."

After that, he turned to look at a tailor, who walked over to the group. The tailor could be seen holding a long coil of measuring tape while approaching us.

"Who's going first?"

Everyone quickly recalled what happened last night. Then, they looked at the measuring tape, which was more than capable of strangling someone to death. They all took a step backward.

The tailor's dark gaze swept over our faces. Suddenly, he fixed his gaze on me.

Ugh… Was my luck really that shitty? Did I just get picked again?

"You, then." As expected, the tailor began walking toward me.

My body froze up immediately as though someone had cast a freezing spell on me.

The tailor looked pretty suspicious of me when he noticed how nervous I looked. He leaned in abruptly to stare into my eyes. His voice took on a haunting quality.

"Do you not want your measurements taken?"

The tailor's expression contorted frighteningly at that moment. I had a feeling that if I were to say no, he'd snap my neck with that measuring tape of his.

My heart was about to leap out of my throat.

"N-No!"

I happened to catch sight of a man next to me from the corner of my eye. An idea popped into my mind immediately, prompting me to point at him.

"The truth is, I'm worried that my boyfriend will get jealous!"

That man was the one who had thrown the tuxedo away last night. He was shocked when he heard my words. "Huh?"

The tailor turned to look at the man doubtfully. I quickly shot the man a look.

"Didn't you mention that you didn't want other men to touch me?"

Thank goodness that man wasn't an idiot. He quickly registered what was going on after a brief moment of shock. Then, he approached me right away.

"Yeah! This woman is my girlfriend. We'll just take each other's measurements!"

The tailor stared at us. His frightening expression was instantly replaced by a friendly one. "Oh, I see! Young people really tend to get jealous, huh?"

He passed the measuring tape to the man. "Alright, then. You can just take each other's measurements."

After that, the tailor approached the next person. I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for the save just now," the man murmured. "I'm Martin Valinsky. What's your name?"

"I'm Arabella Page."

Martin extended his hand to me. "I'll take your measurements for you."

Suddenly, I could feel a chilly presence right next to me.