Chapter 8: Abnormalities

The ladder grew longer and longer, her stamina weaker and weaker.

In a daze, Rosie seemed to hear someone calling her name.

“Lin…”

“Lin Yu…”

“Lin Yu! Lin Yu! Lin Yu!!!”

The calls grew clearer and more urgent each time.

‘Who’s calling me?’

Rosie was in a stupor.

Just as she was about to turn back, another voice bloomed in her ear.

“Rosie!”

She snapped back to her senses.
That’s right, Lin Yu was her original name.
How could people in this world know it?

Rosie’s mind flashed back to what Donahue Bobby had said earlier.

On his way home from work, he had heard someone calling his name!

She gritted her teeth, mustered her strength, and ignored the abnormality around her.

Giving it her all, she finally climbed to the top of the ladder and was pulled up by Hannah.

Hannah looked at her friend’s unusually pale face, a layer of worry covering her delicate brows.

She asked, “Rosie, what happened just now? You climbed halfway and suddenly froze there, completely still.”

‘Completely still?’

In Rosie’s memory, she had been climbing up the whole time.

Rosie looked up at the girl, her heart filled with sincere gratitude.

If Hannah hadn’t called out to her just now, who knew what would have happened if she had turned back.

At this thought, she frowned, not immediately answering.

Instead, she quickly walked over to Dennis Sandek.

Under his surprised gaze, she bent down, lifted the wooden door, and slammed it down heavily, completely sealing the passage to the underground.

After doing all this, Rosie let out a sigh of relief.

Under the candlelight, she glanced around at the people beside her.

After a moment of silence, she chose not to hide it and spoke truthfully.

“While I was climbing the ladder just now, I heard someone calling my name.”

“Someone was calling you?”

Donahue had the strongest reaction to this, anxiously asking, “Was… was it a man’s voice?”

“No.”

Rosie shook her head.

The bodyguard, however, frowned and said, “We didn’t hear any sound coming from below.”

“Perhaps, no one was calling me at all. It was just a feeling, a trick, just to lure me into turning back.”

Hearing this, the three of them had different reactions.

Hannah looked like she wanted to say something but held back.

Dennis was lost in thought.

Donahue trembled all over.

It seemed this small team of four was not as ordinary as it appeared on the surface.
Everyone, more or less, was hiding their own secrets.

“Truth above all.”

Donahue Bobby made the prayer gesture again.

In the end, it was Hannah who took on the task of comforting everyone.

“Everyone, don’t worry.”

“It’s been a while since the four of us went missing. Our families should have noticed something is wrong and reported it to the police.”

“Even if we can’t find a way out of here, as long as we find a safe place and stick together, we can always wait for rescue.”

“Truth above all, may the God of Fate protect us.”

‘People in this world really start praying at the drop of a hat.’

Rosie grumbled inwardly while following the gesture.

After a round of faith strengthening, the group forced themselves to cheer up and continued their exploration.

The environment was different from the underground corridor.

Although the light source was now a problem, the architectural style around them was much more refined.

Artistic stone carvings, retro-style metal light fixtures—these things were everywhere.

As the group went deeper, the signs of life became more and more intense.

Smooth floors, intricately patterned carpets, deer head decorations fixed on the walls, dark-colored solid wood furniture—apart from the owner, every kind of furnishing was present.

This was a castle, and a very large one at that.

Donahue Bobby’s face didn’t look too good.
The further he walked, the more alarmed he became.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Miss Moulton, Miss Carter, may I ask, is there any noble in the vicinity of Glenn City who owns such a large castle or manor?”

Hannah was silent for a moment, then shook her head.

“As far as I know, there are no castles or manors of this scale near Glenn City.”

“Then we… have we left Glenn City?”
The mustached man murmured in a sour tone.

Rosie’s focus was different from theirs.
She was an otherworldly soul who did not belong to this world and lacked most of the original owner’s memories.

Therefore, she had no sense of belonging to this land, which led to a lack of reality regarding the so-called police, church, or other forms of rescue.

In her heart, she still planned to rely on herself to escape this predicament, so she paid more attention to places that were easily overlooked.

For example, from the room where she woke up to the underground corridor, and then up the wooden ladder to the castle hall, from beginning to end, she had not found a single exposed window!

This was very wrong, and anomalies were often the breakthrough points in a predicament.

‘If there’s really no other way, should I risk going back to that room, flip the table, and use the gun to shatter the glass behind the curtain?’

As she was pondering, a man’s voice suddenly came from her ear.

“Stop.”

Rosie came back to her senses and saw an arm blocking the way ahead.

The person who had reached out was the bodyguard.

The candlelight reflected on his somewhat weathered face, leaving a slightly grave expression.

“Someone is approaching.”

Dennis Sandek moved a little closer to his employer and said in a low voice.

Donahue Bobby had been scared out of his wits during the ladder incident.

Hearing this, he couldn’t be bothered with any gentlemanly conduct and tremblingly huddled closer to Hannah.

‘Look at how timid this person is.’
Rosie shook her head, then quietly took a step back, hiding behind Donahue and Hannah.

Her eyes were fixed on the deep darkness ahead.

At the slightest sign of trouble, she would immediately bend down and draw her gun.

‘Is someone really approaching? How did he know?’

But a professional was a professional.
A dozen seconds after Dennis’s early warning, the sound of footsteps other than their own echoed in the empty hall.

“Stop!”

“Whoever you are, stop, or I’ll shoot!”
Dennis held his baton-like weapon, bluffing the other party without a change in his expression.

“Sir, please don’t get excited. We mean no harm.”

A very sincere male voice came from the darkness.

The tone sounded quite young.

“Tsss.”

A small trail of orange-red flame emerged from the darkness.

Then, the firelight blazed.

The outline of a candelabrum became clear, followed by the hand holding it in mid-air.
Gradually, the pale yellow candlelight revealed a man’s face.

The man had black hair and brown eyes.
His facial features were relatively soft, and the corners of his lips were slightly upturned, giving off a casual and easygoing feeling.

He raised his other hand, which was not holding the candelabrum, with his palm facing forward, indicating that he had no weapon.

“Even the most savage animals do not completely abandon communication.”
“Let alone all of you, who look so well-mannered.”

“Perhaps, we are all just unlucky souls who got lost when the God of Fate dozed off?”