Chapter 60
You have acquired an item.
Ivelyn’s Candy: A painkiller and mild stamina recovery item! Specially crafted by Ivelyn.
Yurel spoke in a low voice without even looking back.
“I was sent here only to deliver this painkiller.”
So… that was the only reason he’d been sent?
“If you dislike treatment, then at least don’t complain about the pain—so I was told. My orders are to protect the young lady from them. Nothing is more important to my master than your survival.”
“……”
I suddenly felt I wanted to leave the third floor quickly and get to Ivelyn.
At the same time, my mind cleared.
“Please tell him I said thank you.”
If it was only a slight stamina recovery, then it shouldn’t cause too much trouble with the Berserker trait.
I steadied my thoughts. I had worried that even a small boost in stamina might weaken me because of the trait.
Memories. It would be best if the ones that return now are the useful ones.
Regaining my memory takes priority.
Even if I quit the game, I have to confirm what exactly is happening to me.
I unwrapped the candy and put it in my mouth.
It was purple, but it tasted vaguely like strawberry. Sweet.
Some of your life force has been restored!
Total life force: 17.2%
It even felt like my strength had weakened a little.
Administrator Authority: 3rd Floor (Accessing)…
The moment I thought of it, memories of the third floor came flooding back.
As vividly as if a video had been played inside my head.
Before my eyes, the <Archmage’s Mansion> screen unfolded—through Ivelyn’s perspective.
Information about the third floor burned into my mind as if injected by a syringe.
As always, my brother’s voice followed.
“Play this game for me. I’ll buy you tteokbokki.”
“Sundae, fried squid, steamed eggs. Oh, and a large cola too.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll buy it for you if you want. Just do this one thing. My teammate here is trying to kill me, so just avoid that. You know Yeniel, right? It’s the same thing as before.”
“No idea. Archmage’s Mansion? First time I’ve heard of it. Move over.”
My brother played so many horror games back then, I probably just forgot about this one… maybe.
I did as he said without thinking much.
Food for gameplay. A fair trade. Before the delivery arrived, I was the boss. But once I’d eaten, he became the client.
For more than half a day, I just clicked whatever choices he told me to.
Although the game was technically a romance-fantasy, playing from Ivelyn’s perspective made romance tricky.
Because of Ivelyn’s arrogant personality, her firm allegiance to the noble faction, and her status as future duchess.
The romance endings were notoriously hard to get. Unless you counted the tragic endings—where she ruined her lover and kept them as a concubine.
Duke Kyle? Impossible. The Crown Prince or Sian? Only bad-end or ruin routes. Political criminal Michael? Brutally difficult.
Even the slave knight, Yurel, was hard because of his own trait.
He had a peculiar trait: <Butcher>.
So, the more affection you built up with him in Ivelyn’s route, the more murderous intent he developed toward her.
From Yeniel’s route, he wasn’t even an option at all.
And in the end, because their political allegiances were at odds, even if you succeeded in romance, the story forced you apart.
So, if you wanted his romance, you had to play as Ivelyn.
But then the game would start flashing messages like “Yurel’s killing intent increases”—until it was nearly impossible to survive.
“What the hell?! His eyes just went red and he charged me. Should I just kill him?”
“No! Don’t kill him! We’re on the Biltrel route right now!”
“Him? Why? He’s literally trying to kill Ivelan.”
“It’s Ivelyn.”
Yurel’s romance ending existed, but it always boiled down to one choice: either you die, or your lover dies.
That day, we spent hours just running around in circles inside the game.
The third floor had a lot of loot scattered around.
The most notable were hidden maps and bonus stages.
“Hidden map! That’s it. Let’s go there. Wait, don’t leave the third floor yet.”
“Why? What for?”
“There’s a cursed item that steals traits. Biltrel, I’ll save you! The item’s location is…”
My brother had the idea of using it to temporarily strip Yurel of his trait.
The hidden stage was called “The Butler’s Room.”
Wherever the player character’s “role” took them on the third floor, a key to the Butler’s Room would always drop.
But if you didn’t pick it up quickly, it would vanish.
Clearing the hidden stage rewarded you with an item that temporarily removed one character’s trait.
It seemed pretty useless at first—I couldn’t understand why my brother insisted on getting it.
“So, is the third floor over now?”
“Wait. The third floor is loaded with items. Don’t leave yet. If you stay, you can play a defense game!”
After all sorts of detours, we cleared the third floor, only for my brother to beg me to do the bonus stage.
That stage was a defense game at the mansion’s main gate.
The heroine’s faction and the villainess’s faction each defended a tower, fighting off monsters in competition.
Whichever faction killed more monsters or survived better would win.
At the end of each monster wave, the winning side earned an item.
“It only takes five minutes! Defense games go by quickly.”
“Why do you keep making me pick up all this junk? When do we go to the second floor?”
“Almost done. But we have to clear the bonus stage. The rewards are insane. Mostly healing items. Elixirs almost never drop otherwise.”
“And if we don’t clear it?”
“Then the opposing faction takes all the rewards. Super annoying. Plus, once you leave the mansion and enter the capital, healing items become absolutely essential. The Archmage’s Wraith shows up sometimes.”
Elixirs, potions, bandages, random mana potions, jewels, and more…
There was so much loot it made my head spin.
I usually didn’t bother gathering items, but my brother hoarded everything, insisting it would be useful someday.
It was a fairly fun day.
My brother screamed and cried; I just chatted.
But in the end, all our effort to clear Yurel’s route ended in failure.
When his CG showed him lying in a coffin with his eyes closed, my brother wailed.
“Nooo! Yurel! I’m so sorry!”
“You mean Bintrel, right? It couldn’t be helped. If you didn’t kill him, Ivelan would’ve died. They designed it that way.”
“Ivelyn! It’s Ivelyn! Why is her romance route so impossible?!”
He had cried out in despair.
The memories swirling in my head finally settled and became mine.
The banquet hall, the maps, every single strategy my brother had dictated—all of it engraved itself into me.
