Chapter 100 - You Die (3)

I set my bags down in the communal living area and looked around the Mountain Lodge.

Ellie and Soo-ah came in after me.

Soo-ah's shoulders drooped as she grumbled tiredly.

"Haaah... Why isn't the parking lot right in front of this place?"

The lodge was situated pretty high up on the mountain.

After parking at the lot halfway up, we'd had to carry our bags and walk the rest of the way.

Maybe that's why the price was so reasonable?

Ellie looked around the interior of the lodge in admiration.

"Still, it's really spacious and nice. And clean, too."

That much was certainly true.

From the outside, it had looked like a big wooden cabin, but the interior was clean and modern.

With its cozy wooden furniture, hardwood floors, and a wood-burning fireplace, the lodge looked like something straight out of a foreign movie.

Taking a quick look around the living room, I could see that the first floor was a communal space with a kitchen and living area shared by all the guests, while the second floor, accessed by stairs, seemed to be where the private rooms were.

And there were guests who had arrived before us.

Two men and a woman came down from the stairway.

A bright-faced man who looked about college age gave us a slight nod in greeting.

"Hello."

I nodded back out of courtesy, and Ellie gave a small nod as well.

"Yes, hello."

"Hello."

But the woman stared straight at my face.

".........."

Under that searching gaze, I stared back at her.

She was a slender-featured woman who looked almost like a model.

Something about her face bothered me, and my eyes narrowed for a moment.

It wasn't that she was pretty enough to catch my attention... it was the feeling that I'd seen her somewhere before.

And then, suddenly.

From behind me, Soo-ah poked her head out and glared at the woman.

"What are you looking at?"

"S-Soo-ah."

Ellie was flustered, but the woman simply turned her gaze away.

"No, it's nothing. You just look like someone I know."

The woman walked past us first, and the other guests moved to the sofas in the living area as well.

"Then shall we head upstairs first and unpack in our rooms?"

At Ellie's suggestion, we moved as well.

At that moment, the woman among the other guests quietly turned her head.

".........."

She glared at the back of Yo-han as he climbed the stairs.

The second floor of the Mountain Lodge.

I checked the room layout and the building's structure.

There were eight private rooms in total, numbered 201 through 204 and 205 through 208, lined up on either side, with gender-separated shower rooms and a shared restroom at the end of the hallway.

There was also one restroom on the first floor, so two in total. Not bad.

To save money, Ellie had booked two rooms.

Rooms 207 and 208.

Ellie and Soo-ah would share 207, and I got 208.

The room was clean and nice, but not very big.

Well, the bed wasn't so small that two people couldn't sleep on it.

And when it came time to sleep, I could just lay out bedding on the floor.

I set down the ice box packed with the milk and meat I'd brought for Grizzly's food and roughly sorted through my things.

Ellie and Soo-ah came in.

"The room's way too small. If you're just going to stay cooped up inside, you might as well have gotten a hotel room."

Soo-ah grumbled as usual and plopped down on my bed, while Ellie watched her with a laugh and spoke.

"Yo-han-ssi, how's your room?"

"Clean and nice."

I thought about what it would be like bringing the church kids here.

After all, I'd been hired as a camp assistant, so I'd be working too.

"Still, if we're going to bring the kids here for camp, we'd rent out the whole lodge, so rather than having them sleep in the rooms, it'd be better to bring bedding and have them all sleep downstairs together."

"Ah! That sounds great! There's the fireplace too, and the kids would love it!"

I'd said it because it would be easier to keep an eye on them if they were all in one place... but yeah, it would definitely be more fun for them to gather together in a unique space, chat, and fall asleep.

Soo-ah listened to the conversation while swinging her legs.

"...So what do we do now?"

What now? ...But she had a point. There wasn't really anything specific to do.

Still, I figured this was what mountain lodge camping was supposed to be.

"Being out here is about getting away from the city and relaxing in peace. Just do whatever you want and take it easy."

"Yeees~ And what would that be?"

Soo-ah looked unimpressed, and Ellie laughed and spoke to both of us.

"Then shall we go downstairs and check out the game the lodge owner prepared? It's just about time, too."

"Time?"

"Yes, one of the conditions for staying at the lodge was that everyone had to gather on the first floor at six o'clock to check on the game."

At that, Soo-ah and I exchanged a subtle glance.

"That sounds kind of suspicious."

"Suspicious."

Well, let's think positively. How fun must this game be if the lodge owner is making everyone play together?

Anyway, we headed down to the first floor.

It seemed a new guest had arrived, because there was a short-haired woman in athletic wear that I hadn't seen before.

She had a cute face but sharp eyes, giving her the look of a feisty puppy.

As we came downstairs.

The bright-faced man we'd first seen greeted us.

"You're down."

He told us about the lodge owner's condition.

"He said all the guests staying at the lodge have to gather at six o'clock and play a game."

The guests gathered here were me, Ellie, and Soo-ah. Plus four other guests.

Seven people in total.

"Then is everyone here?"

"No, if you look at the guest list, there's still one person who hasn't arrived yet."

The man spoke in a troubled voice.

Clunk-.

Just then, the lodge door opened, and a man entered along with a gust of cold wind.

He was an ordinary-looking man bundled up in thick clothes.

"Ah, sorry I'm late. It started snowing suddenly on the way, so it took me a while to walk up."

And so, all eight guests staying at the lodge that day were gathered in one place.

Crackle- crack-crack-.

The sound of the fireplace filled the spacious living room.

Ding- ding-.

The alarm of the grandfather clock rang, announcing six o'clock.

The lodge owner must have set the alarm for six.

People settled into the sofas surrounding the long table.

The bright-faced man, acting as the representative, pulled out a thick bundle of envelopes from beneath the table.

On the topmost envelope, it read:

[Murder Mystery – Mountain Lodge Serial Murder Case. Find the Culprit.]

"Murder mystery?"

At my question, the bright-faced man explained. He seemed to already know about the game.

"It's a role-playing mystery game that people used to enjoy with guests at American homes and mansions."

From his explanation, it was essentially a situational role-playing deduction game.

Typically, the participants would act out the roles described in the scenario.

The goal was to find out who killed the victim and how.

He said there were also versions where the players were split into a murderer and detectives, and the murderer's character would kill people and try not to get caught, each aiming for their own individual victory.

In the sense that multiple people work together to find the killer, it was a primitive version of Mafia.

Well, Mafia is less of a deduction game where you gather evidence to find the culprit, and more of a political bluffing game where you just dunk whoever seems suspicious.

The bright-faced man seemed to have come to the lodge already knowing about this game.

Anyway, the game proceeded.

The bright-faced man read the scenario written on the envelope.

[The characters of the game are none other than yourselves. Please introduce yourselves.]

"Haha! That's unusual. Then I'll go first."

The bright-faced man introduced himself first.

"My name is Kwon Do-yun, and my hobby is seeking out and exploring haunted spots and unusual locations. I came to this lodge because I heard some strange rumors floating around about it."

The mention of strange rumors about the lodge naturally startled those of us who hadn't heard them, but the introductions continued.

"Cha Do-won. I'm here with Do-yun."

The man who'd been with Do-yun introduced himself briefly, and now it was the model-like woman's turn.

"Kim Cha-ryeo. I came alone."

I'd assumed she was with them since she'd come down the stairs together earlier, but apparently not.

Next was the short-haired woman in athletic wear.

"...Kim Dok-seo. I came because I wanted to try reading a novel by a fireplace at a mountain lodge. I didn't know there were any strange rumors."

The ordinary-looking man nodded.

"Ah, I'm Kim Yong. I came to clear my head and relax... I didn't know about any rumors either. Oh, and again, sorry for being late."

Now it was our turn, mine and Ellie's and Soo-ah's.

We gave our names briefly, and Ellie cautiously asked.

"...What are these strange rumors?"

At Ellie's question, Do-yun answered cheerfully.

"Oh, it's really just rumor-level stuff. Apparently a lodge that had been shut down after a group of people killed themselves there reopened... and there are rumors that it uses some kind of unusual game to kill people."

Then he scoffed.

"I've been to a lot of places like this, but most of it always turns out to be people's imagination or just lies. I'm sure this place is the same. Don't worry too much."

Do-yun smiled and proceeded with the game.

"Since we're all here anyway, let's just play the game."

He handed out the envelopes to everyone according to the rules and read the scenario.

[You have all come to this fine mountain lodge at a bargain price for various reasons. Unfortunately, among you, a serial killer with cruel intentions has slipped in.]

I faltered internally for a moment.

'A serial killer... is that me?'

Given that I'd racked up a body count that was hard to call innocent.

Well, just kidding. It's not like I came here to kill anyone.

This was just an unusual game, nothing more.

[The lodge has been isolated by heavy snowfall, and there is no signal. The killer has chosen their first target. Join forces to find the killer and survive until tomorrow morning.]

Do-yun set down the paper with the scenario and spoke.

"It says that once you've read the scenario, check inside the envelopes that were handed out to you."

I checked inside my envelope.

There was nothing in it. Ellie's and Soo-ah's envelopes were empty too.

"There's nothing in mine."

"Same here."

As the others also confirmed their envelopes were empty, Do-yun spoke with a grin.

"Looks like I'm the lucky winner."

Inside Do-yun's envelope was a slip of paper that read [First Victim].

"So now I just drop dead, and you all find the culprit?"

Do-yun got up from his seat and pulled a wine bottle from the lodge's wine display.

"It says participants can freely use anything in the lodge. Haha~ Now that's what I like."

Do-yun uncorked the wine and poured it into a glass.

I sensed something was off.

There was something crucial missing from this game.

A game master, the one needed to run a role-playing game like this.

Since the lodge owner had prepared the game, I'd naturally assumed the owner would serve as the game master.

But the owner had been nowhere to be seen since we first arrived.

".........."

I spoke to Do-yun.

"Do-yun-ssi, just in case, don't touch anything from now on. Just sit still."

"Huh? Are you the superstitious type? You're a scaredy-cat for someone with that face."

Do-yun didn't pay it much mind and drank the wine.

"Huh...? Gack!"

He clutched his throat and staggered.

Crash-!

He collapsed to the floor just like that. Bloody foam seeped from Do-yun's mouth.

It had happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that no one even screamed.

I pulled anti-fingerprint gloves from my coat, put them on, approached the fallen Do-yun, and checked his condition.

No pulse. He was dead.

"...He's dead."

After the confirmation of death, the belated screams spilled out.

"Ah, AAAAAHH!"

The guests were shaken but tried to stay composed.

"W-we should call an ambu... no, the police."

"M-my phone won't work! There's no signal!?"

"Then even though it's dark, maybe we should try going down the mountain...!?"

The person speaking fell silent at the sight outside the window.

Whoooosh-!

Before anyone realized it, the falling snow had turned into a blizzard, isolating the lodge... the entire mountain.

I looked at the snow pouring down outside the window.

The timing was too perfect. Or too terrible, depending on how you looked at it.

'I feel like something like this has happened before.'

Anyway, I turned around and looked at Ellie, who was standing there anxiously.

"Let me just make one thing clear."

"...Yes."

"I don't think this is your fault at all, and it really isn't your fault. But still..."

Soo-ah came up beside me and chimed in.

"Don't ever pick the camp location again."

"She's right!"

Ellie spoke in a deflated voice.

"Okay...."

And so, the bizarre incident camp at the snow-buried mountain lodge began.