Chapter 4

I turned to look in that direction instinctively. That was when I saw the Sea God's statue. To be more accurate, I saw a face that resembled Cyrus' on the statue.

My mind cleared up instantly.

Cyrus was the jealous type. One time, he dropped by to pick me up from work. He happened to witness me sharing an umbrella with a male coworker. That weekend, he pinned me down on our bed and proceeded to screw my brains out for two days straight.

I shivered instantly at that memory before avoiding Martin's hand. "It's fine. I'll tell you my measurements right away."

"Alright." Martin retracted his hand awkwardly.

Everyone else copied my actions instantly, coming up with excuses to take their own measurements. This time, no one died.

"That newbie is pretty smart, huh?"

"It must be a coincidence. I never thought she'd be able to find love in this sort of place. Newbies really are bold."

"Just now, I think I saw Yvette and Henry whispering to each other. I wonder what they were talking about. If I'm not mistaken, Yvette had been texting Henry last night as well."

"The fact that those veteran players are secretly communicating with each other spells trouble for the rest of the team."

After today's events, I more or less found out about the other players' identities. Yvette Malgham was the woman with whom I shared a room. Henry Exton was the muscular man who took the lead last time. Both of them were definitely experienced players.

Also, I realized that I was the only one who could see the comments. I wondered if this was a benefit that came with my status as a newbie.

But I didn't expect to be summoned to the village chief's room by a villager that night. I was uneasy about the meeting, but I didn't want to anger the village chief as well, so I could only head over to his room reluctantly.

That was when I bumped into Martin outside the room. When he saw me, he smiled at me while approaching me rapidly.

"Arabella, the village chief must have summoned you here as well!"

My anxiety tripled when I saw Martin. "Did you hand in the measurements to the village chief earlier?"

"Of course! I even specifically wrote down our measurements! When I was about to visit the village chief, I happened to bump into Yvette. She helped me hand in our measurements to the chief," Martin explained.

Oh, shit! I quickly turned to look at the room door.

That was when I saw the village chief's blood-red eyes peering from a small gap behind the door. Sweat began rolling down my face instantly.

"Run!" I screamed before turning to flee from the room.

Clearly, Martin had yet to realize what was going on. Still, he followed me right away.

The door opened instantly. I could smell a strong stench of copper approaching me rapidly.

I couldn't resist turning around to check things out. To my horror, the village chief had already transformed into a monster with eight legs and a human face. He was in the midst of crawling toward Martin and me rapidly.

Blood and goo coated the places he crawled, which formed a disgusting and sickening trail behind him.

"How dare you lie to me! Villagers who don't offer themselves to the Sea God shall be punished!" the village chief screeched shrilly from behind.

My head felt as though it was about to explode.

I wasn't the only one suffering from the effect. Martin let out a pained moan as well.

I could only clutch my head, feeling my legs starting to grow heavy.

Was I meant to die here?

"That Yvette woman really is vile! To think that she changed their measurements on purpose!"

"This is called 'doing everything in her power to survive.' As long as other people are dead, she'll get to live another day."

"Oh, no! They're about to become the Sea God's sacrificial offerings! I knew it! The newbie doesn't even have a chance to see the final boss with her own eyes!"

The Sea God!

I seemed to have remembered something at that critical juncture. Hence, I bolted toward the chapel right away.

I didn't know why, but all I could think of was the statue that looked exactly like Cyrus.

I could hear the village chief's legs making shuffling sounds behind me as well as the squishy sounds of goo being left behind. He was getting closer to me at every second.

I dared not turn back at all. Instead, I ran into the chapel right away.

The moment Martin and I entered the chapel, a strong gust of wind blew in instantly, and the wooden doors began creaking loudly.

Oh, shit!

That was the only thought present in my mind. Did I get it wrong?

The gale was so strong that I could barely maintain my footing. I could only back away from the gale in despair, only to collapse into a pair of cold arms.

At first, I thought Martin was the one behind me. But when I turned around, I saw an extremely familiar face.

"Cyrus!"