Chapter 26: The Wager

“I’m looking forward to it.” Hutchinson returned a smile. “If you turn into a monster, I wonder what kind of ugly, twisted shape it will be.”

“And what if you lose?” Dounia retorted.

“Then I will voluntarily withdraw from Violet’s treatment team.”

This was tantamount to indirectly proving that her accusations against Dounia were false.

“If you lose, you will take off your Executioner’s badge, crawl back to your prison in Area D, and never be an eyesore again,” Hutchinson reprimanded without mercy.

The usually gentle Maeve couldn’t help but frown, exchanging a look with the stone-faced Holt.

Based on their experience, being younger meant the danger of accepting forbidden knowledge would increase exponentially.

“Dounia, are you sure you want to go first?” Maeve asked in a friendly and kind tone.

“Of course,” Dounia said as she walked down the steps.

Violet cupped her face in her hands, looking expectantly at Dounia’s back. “Go, Dounia! This is the first time I’ve ever written a letter of recommendation! Beat that person to a pulp!~”

Adelle frowned slightly, seemingly thinking this was a bit reckless.

Walking down the steps and taking a seat in the empty row, Dounia finally got a clear look at the true form of the forbidden book—

Its cover was thick, grayish-black leather, rough and cold.
It was carved with bizarre and oppressive symbols and patterns, like ancient curses or the images of some unknown creature, making one’s mind turn to terrifying legends.

A row of silver nails was embedded in the spine, piercing the side haphazardly, like shackles imprisoning an evil power.

Bang—

A soft sound.

The silver nails were pulled as if they were about to come loose.

Dounia’s pupils dilated slightly.

‘This book is alive?’

“You may use any means, any method you can think of, to master the forbidden book before you. The winner will be the one who can read the most content and recite it within ten minutes,” Maeve said.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Begin!”

The moment Dounia’s hand touched the grayish-black leather cover, a horrifying scream rang in her ears, piercing straight into her brain.

The wrinkles and patterns bulged abruptly, like a faceless human visage, opening its blood-red maw at her.

A sticky, nauseating sensation came from her right hand, as if a snake’s tongue were coiling around her arm.
Dounia subconsciously pulled her hand back, but Hutchinson, one aisle over, had already opened the cover.

‘She didn’t hesitate at all. She was probably given the answers beforehand!’

Dounia fought back the feeling of nausea and flipped open the cover.

The rough, dark yellow paper was filled with the traces of time.
Every page was densely packed with obscure text, but it was all strange symbols she had never seen before.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her.
She felt as if she had been thrown into a washing machine, the entire world spinning at high speed.

Dounia subconsciously gripped the table to cope with the dizzying, bizarre sensation.
Her head felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and everything around her began to sway.
She heard gasps and screams from the back row, but those sounds were far away, completely unable to attract her attention.

“…The self… is a relatively independent system…”

“It can perceive, think, and act autonomously…”

A roar like a demon’s exploded in her ears, and a buzzing like swarming mosquitoes droned on endlessly, yet amidst the intense dizziness, she actually understood what that voice was saying.

“It possesses a certain stability, able to maintain relatively stable characteristics and behaviors in different situations…”

“But in a few cases, it will suddenly undergo an abrupt change…”

Dounia struggled against the feeling of discomfort.
The surging nausea made her stomach churn, and a strong urge to vomit rushed up her throat.
Dounia abruptly covered her mouth.

“Mmph—”

Only when she slammed the forbidden book shut did the sounds gradually return to her ears.

Dounia dazedly turned her head.
A pool of viscous vomit had appeared on Hutchinson’s desk, and she herself was still clutching her mouth, dry heaving loudly, as if she were about to vomit up her lungs.

The other test subject had already collapsed onto the desk, her face covered in tears, a long trail of saliva dripping from her wide-open mouth.

Dounia, her face pale, raised the corners of her mouth slightly and wiped the cold sweat that was constantly breaking out on her forehead with the back of her hand.

“I thought I didn’t last very long, but it seems I’m already far above average…” she said to herself inwardly.

Holt and Maeve looked at Dounia with a new hint of appreciation in their eyes, while the instructor in the witch’s hat remained unresponsive.

“Everyone, a reminder, two and a half minutes have now passed,” Maeve said.

“Retch…” Hutchinson glared venomously at Dounia and spat out another mouthful of acid.
She tremblingly reached into her pocket and took out a small, inconspicuous glass shard, which seemed to have some unreadable inscriptions on it.

Dounia’s pupils widened slightly.

‘That was… the glass shard stuck to the heavy wooden door at the entrance to the classroom!’

Hutchinson’s symptoms immediately improved.
She took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, glanced provocatively at Dounia, and opened the forbidden book again.

Not one to admit defeat, Dounia immediately followed suit.
She read voraciously, ignoring the demonic whispers.
But at the same time, her physical senses became unusually acute, as if every pore was opening and contracting.
In the goosebumps that rose on her skin, it felt as if countless tiny insects were crawling.

Hallucinations also began to appear before Dounia’s eyes.

She saw a pool of viscous, pitch-black water burning silently, emitting an eerie glow.
Within the flames, countless faces seemed to be struggling and contorting, groaning in pain.

“Can… you… see…? Lady… Dounia?” a gentle, maternal voice hovered by her ear.

“…Train… defeat…”

“Awaiting… your… instructions…”

Dounia slammed the forbidden book shut, her mind a chaotic buzz.

In contrast, although Hutchinson didn’t look much better than her, her recovery speed was a tad faster.

This was all thanks to the help of the strange shard she had prepared in advance!

“Unbelievable… at this rate, I’m going to lose to her…” Dounia panted softly.

“Lilith? A little help?”

As always, there was no response.

Dounia lowered her head slightly, a small smile appearing on her face.

She knew how to get Lilith’s help, just as the game’s introduction stated—”Offer up pleasure!”

“I request my Surveillance Officer, Clementine Adelle, to come to my side!” Dounia raised her arm.

“You may.”

Maeve nodded.

Violet wore a curious expression, eager for the show to unfold, while Adelle, on the other hand, raised her eyebrows in confusion.

‘What does this have to do with her?’

“Miss Adelle, you will help me, won’t you?” Dounia turned around and asked pitifully.

Adelle, frowning, sighed lightly but still stood up and walked quickly to sit beside Dounia.

“You know I can’t possibly help you cheat,” Adelle refused.

Dounia shook her head.

“The Surveillance Officer is like the Executioner’s eyes, and the Executioner is like the Surveillance Officer’s hands, right?”

A hint of confusion appeared in Adelle’s gray eyes.

‘What is she trying to do?’

‘Being sentimental won’t make me break the rules.’

“This time, could I ask you to be my hands?”

A blush appeared on Dounia’s small face.
She gently lifted Adelle’s hand and guided it between her own knees.

Adelle’s gray eyes were filled with shock.

‘Does she mean that? Does she mean what I think she means?’

Dounia gently brought her knees together, softly preventing the hand from pulling away.

Adelle’s eyes flickered, and her heart suddenly accelerated.

‘Wait, are you going to… in this place… huh!?’

‘Everyone is watching! Do you think the instructors are blind!?’

“Can’t I…?” Her moist eyes shone, revealing a hint of disappointment and regret, as if she were about to cry.

Adelle swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her thoughts nearly grinding to a halt.

Sympathy and pity welled up uncontrollably in her heart.

“Or is it… that Miss Adelle has wanted to do this for a long time?” Dounia mocked gently.

The trembling hand felt as if it had sunk into a fragrant mire, just like her heart that was about to fall into a swamp.

Dounia lowered her head slightly, her long eyelashes trembling gently, adorned with a bright morning dewdrop.

“Mmm…~”

A soft “Mmm” escaped from her cherry-pink lips.

The gentle, lingering tone sounded as if she had used all the tenderness in her body to hum it from her nose, the final note trembling slightly, enough to make anyone who heard it feel their very bones go weak and soft.