Xie Antong froze instantly, as if her whole body had turned to stone. That sentence was like a sharp blade, bypassing all her defenses and stabbing straight into her heart.

After spending several hours in the game, along with her previous lengthy analysis and observation, she thought she had already figured out “Wrath’s” behavior pattern and could cooperate with him on relatively friendly terms.

But that sentence—undeniably a bucket of cold water dumped on her head.

“W-what?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t hear clearly—just that when the brain locks up, people tend to instinctively ask again.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you’re both idiots.”

“It’s just, you hate him because he’s a privileged kid. But at the core, how different are you from him?”

Honestly, that explanation only made it worse.

This was probably the most coherent and calm sentence Lu Ce had said since entering the game with the Wrath Mask on. And it still managed to completely petrify Xie Antong. No one knew what she was thinking.

He’d wasted half a day already. Now he just wanted to drag out the person who dared challenge him—and kill them.

And kill them!

Even Park Bu Seong probably didn’t understand why Lu Ce was so furious with him. It wasn’t just the Wrath Mask.

Ignoring the now-stone-still Xie Antong behind him, Lu Ce raised his gun and strode forward.

Hell Roar ramped up to second gear. He opened fire on the restroom’s interior, shattering everything that could reflect—everything that could be a mirror.

Hair extending from the walls, ghostly heads from the ceiling—all surged toward Lu Ce to attack.

But after surviving the high-level Thirteen Steps stage, he honestly didn’t even care if he took a few hits from this stuff.

The entangling hair lacked power. Once the collar of the Mysterious Cloak popped up, it completely nullified the damage. That’s an Epic-tier weapon, after all—it had real defense.

The ghost heads got one-shot each. If that didn’t work, one flash of Confessions of the Disillusioned and it was over.

Nearby, Ye Ah—still manifested as Hanako—charged again. Lu Ce fired, but the bullet passed right through her head without leaving a mark.

Without even blinking, he pulled out the book single-handedly, flipped to page three, and aimed it at the red-dressed, black-haired ghost girl.

She didn’t even try to dodge—just let out a scream and was blasted backward, slamming into the ground in a heap.

It looked like she got hurt on purpose—just to find an excuse to give up and stop fighting. Lu Ce was even momentarily stunned by the act.

Those who lose their way will find no allies...

Thankfully, his rage hadn’t clouded his mind completely. Lu Ce still had some brainpower left and was fighting with a bit of strategy.

Since this stage was Hanako in the restroom, and based on what Xie Antong had said earlier, it was basically a ghost lurking in mirrors.

So Lu Ce focused on blasting all the mirrors—then shattered the tiles, and didn’t spare the glossy stall doors either. He destroyed them all.

Any place that could be called a mirror—Lu Ce blew them up. It was violent, sure, but there was a touch of puzzle-solving logic in it.

However, even after everything that could be considered a mirror was reduced to rubble, the horror mystery still hadn’t ended. It lingered. Park Bu Seong was still nowhere to be seen.

“Huh?”

Lu Ce paused, masked face still, deep in thought.

Inside the inner space, Park Bu Seong—who had merged with the horror mystery—realized his hiding place was getting smaller and smaller. That terrifying devil was about to reach him!

And he couldn’t do anything. His mind was pure chaos. In the inner space, he kept inputting his final restriction.

—A right he’d earned after clearing the Thirteen Steps. But he’d never used it, because he didn’t know what to write to win.

His heart was already in disarray.

“Black Side player ‘Sin’ stops breathing—just die already!”

【Restriction exceeds scope. Not approved.】

“Black Side player ‘Sin’ cannot move!”

【Restriction exceeds scope. Not approved.】

“Black Side player loses all current abilities for twenty-four hours!”

【Restriction exceeds scope. Not approved.】

Attempt after attempt—rejected. Park Bu Seong was in total despair.

Sure, what he asked for was extreme, but this wasn’t just stupidity. At the edge of death, people face ultimate terror—not everyone can stay calm and think straight.

Many, in life-or-death moments, collapse with fear, unable to save themselves. Bystanders call them fools—but put those bystanders in the same position, and would they do any better?

Park Bu Seong was collapsing from fear. There was no longer any reasonable restriction he could impose.

“Ssh*bal! This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work—what kind of permissions did this game even give me? This is bulls**t!”

“Just let him die already, aaaaahhhh!”

Park Bu Seong had gone full manic. Ye Ah, injured and unable to resist him, could no longer be used for control. He was truly at the end of his rope.

He fired random fireballs and ice blasts at Lu Ce using the only thing he had left—Song of Ice and Fire.

“Huh?”

Lu Ce frowned. He looked down and saw that the blood pool on the floor was actually shooting fireballs at him?

Blocking them, he paused—then slapped his forehead, thinking to himself: This mask is seriously lowering my IQ.

That blood pool—that’s the final spot, isn’t it?

He glanced at Xie Antong. She said nothing, just silently summoned a flying device, crouched on it, and floated upward.

Lu Ce also leapt up, grabbed a handful of hair from the ceiling, and then switched Hell Roar to third gear—firing a shot straight at the blood pool below.

10% power!

He tossed down a fireball—no deeper reason, just using the high-energy blast to dry up the blood.

A one-time shield formed around Xie Antong. Lu Ce simply wrapped himself in the Mysterious Cloak to block the heat wave.

Looking down again, the entire restroom had collapsed. It no longer resembled what it once was.

Lu Ce blinked into position in front of a sunken patch of floor—and stomped hard!

Space warped. Park Bu Seong came tumbling out, soaked in panic. Without saying a word, he started to run—but how could he possibly outrun Lu Ce?

Desperate, he dove at Ye Ah—who had just exited the horror mystery as well—grabbed her delicate body, and hurled her toward “Sin” like a human shield.

Lu Ce raised Hell Roar, the muzzle locking on instantly.

In midair, Ye Ah and Lu Ce locked eyes—her gaze full of fear and softness. Maybe it stirred something in him, because the trigger hesitated for a moment.

The next second—

Gunshot. A hole appeared dead center in Ye Ah’s forehead.

Headshot!