Chapter 28
‘Calm down.’
Celine pressed her hand to her chest, trying to steady her racing heart.
This place was a stage. One she had cleared without much difficulty before.
‘Actually, this might be good.’
She had been searching so hard for the next stage—and now she had walked straight into one by accident.
But a single, unpleasant question surfaced.
‘Why here?’
The torture chamber was the third stage.
After clearing the first stage, her plan was to search for the second stage—the Monster Forest—once Leonhardt finished his mission.
She had never expected the third stage to appear out of nowhere.
‘Like someone planned this…’
Celine let out a short laugh at herself. Ridiculous thought.
Sure, Leonhardt getting confined could happen.
But how would anyone know that she’d attempt to infiltrate Tobien—much less that she’d use this exact window?
‘One thing at a time. Deal with this first.’
Celine examined the torture devices around her, their blades gleaming blue under the cold light.
The torture chamber was the only stage of Celine’s Nightmare with no monsters or villains chasing the protagonist.
Instead—
—Clack!
‘I knew it.’
The iron maiden sprang open, revealing its blood-smeared interior as it lunged toward her.
Celine squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again.
There were no sentient villains here.
Only torture instruments that moved like wild beasts.
—Boom!
An ice barrier erupted between her and the iron maiden.
Celine calmly walked around it.
The iron maiden kept charging blindly, like a bull, repeatedly slamming into the center of the ice barrier.
This stage could not be cleared by running fast. In fact, the opposite.
She had to move slowly, calmly neutralizing each torture device one by one.
Magic made things easier, yes—but if she failed even once, she would die a gruesome death.
Just the thought made her tremble.
After she finally escaped the iron maiden, an enormous spiked wheel rolled straight toward her.
‘…!’
She dodged just in time—but the wheel staggered and changed direction, chasing her.
She scanned her surroundings. A thick iron rod lay on the ground.
—Screech!
Right as the wheel was about to crush her, she jammed the rod into its spokes.
—SKRRRIIIK!
The wheel screeched to a stop.
‘…Whew.’
Breathing out shakily, Celine continued deeper inside.
After passing five or six attacks from various torture devices, she found herself standing before an empty space.
Her body stiffened.
‘…Here it comes.’
The worst death flag of the entire torture chamber.
Her gray-blue eyes narrowed.
Up above—too high to see clearly—hung countless death frames.
If she stepped forward carelessly, a frame slightly smaller than her body would drop from the ceiling.
‘And it’ll crush me until I die.’
A shiver ran through her.
She knew how to pass this part. But…
‘Can I do it?’
Celine pulled out the key from her clothes and squeezed it tightly. She had made a vow when she first heard the “prophecy” about Leonhardt.
She would change that future—
where she keeps dying, and Leonhardt falls into darkness.
It would be easy to turn back. But nothing would change if she did.
Celine shut her eyes tight and lowered herself flat onto the floor. The half-dried, sticky blood smeared against her clothes.
‘Slow. Slowly.’
She imagined herself as a snail, inching forward.
In the game, impatient players would rage-quit at this part.
Her whole body throbbed with her heartbeat.
The death frames wouldn’t release until the protagonist’s body had rotted into bones.
‘Don’t think about that.’
Celine kept her eyes shut. It was easier not seeing the sticky black floor.
‘Cold!’
Her fingertips suddenly brushed against a cold wall. She ran her trembling hand along it.
‘Letters…’
Finally, the end.
Celine forced her exhausted body upright. A smear of dried blood stained Danny’s clothes.
Her guilt vanished instantly when she saw the wall.
Because the engraved text on the stone was not what she remembered.
[He who tears open the sky shall become a star.]
‘This isn’t right!’
She couldn’t remember the exact line from the game, but she knew it wasn’t this.
‘It was something like—All humans eventually die…’
It was just a creepy message to intensify fear. Nothing more.
Celine pondered the meaning, but no ideas came.
‘Well, at least it’s different than the game. That’s good.’
Her priority was to clear the stage.
She pushed against the wall.
‘…?’
Nothing happened.
“What?!”
Her voice echoed through the torture chamber.
“What?! What?! WHAT?!”
“……!”
She slapped both hands over her mouth.
The fact that she almost stumbled backward out of fear was even scarier.
She steadied herself and examined the wall closely.
Maybe the changed text also meant the solution was different.
‘Is that…?’
Above her head, a small opening.
She reached up and touched it.
A keyhole.
There had never been a keyhole in this stage.
No stage in Celine’s Nightmare used keys. Pendants, coins, doll heads—yes. Keys—no.
‘Could it be…’
She pulled out the golden key again.
Even in the darkness, it shimmered brightly.
She hesitated, then raised her hand.
Not a high chance—but she wouldn’t know until she tried.
—Click.
The key turned perfectly, and Celine’s face lit up with hope.
The wall slid open to both sides.
A long hallway appeared.
The windows lining both sides flooded the hallway with bright, white light.
‘Music…?’
As soon as she stepped forward, she heard it.
A calm, beautiful, yet faintly sorrowful harpsichord melody.
‘No way—!’
She froze and listened.
It was unmistakable.
The theme of Celine’s Nightmare—the music that played only when a stage was cleared.
A hot surge of emotions—fear, awe, relief, hope—shot up within her.
She walked, led by something beyond her will.
—Thud.
Something bumped against her foot.
She looked down.
A plain wooden box.
‘This is it.’
Most stage rewards came from these wooden boxes.
Her hands trembled—not from nerves.
But because the truth was undeniable.
‘Back at the mansion… I didn’t clear a stage.’
Here, clearing a stage triggered music and a reward box.
The mansion had neither.
‘This is my first real stage clear.’
She had avoided spoilers well, but she did know one thing mentioned by the developers:
The true ending route split from Stage 1.
But because repetitive stages were boring, multiple stages were merged together.
All the information pointed to one conclusion:
Celine was on the true ending path.
Her eyes filled with tears.
If she followed this route, she would learn why game-Leonhardt turned dark, and why he couldn’t stop killing the protagonist.
‘And I’ll change it. Before five years pass.’
She opened the box.
Inside were five small glass vials filled with red liquid, and a crystal orb the size of her fist.
She picked up one of the vials—healing potion.
‘This will help Leonhardt.’
She had asked him many times why he didn’t carry potions when he got hurt by monsters.
He always replied—What’s that?
‘And this…’
She brushed her fingers over the crystal orb.
It wasn’t a game item she recognized—but she knew what it was.
In the game, the quest window appeared over this exact orb.
Celine lifted it and looked through it.
‘…?’
Only her reflection stared back. No text.
‘Why?’
She examined it for a long time, but nothing changed.
Giving up, she stored the orb and the potions.
Stage cleared. Reward obtained.
Now she needed to find Leonhardt.
Straightening her posture, she stepped forward—no more trembling, no more fear, no more awe.
Her strides were full of conviction.
***
“Leonhardt Bernui will be confined indefinitely within Tobien,
and all members of his household will be expelled from the capital.”
What a ridiculous situation.
The moment he realized things had reached the worst possible outcome,
his mind was filled not with concern for himself—but worry for a woman he had only known for a few months.
Even as he mocked himself, he could not stop thinking about Celine.
‘Celine.’
Leonhardt repeated her name like a prayer.
Even telling himself she would be fine—she had a maid escort—did nothing to calm his racing heart.
Unable to sit still, he shot up from the sofa and rushed to the barred gate—the only exit.
Tobien’s facilities were like luxury hotels, except for the iron gate that made it feel undeniably like a prison.
‘If I’d only had time to hide Rashir…!’
The moment the order was given, he transformed Rashir into a dagger—but before he could conceal it, an imperial examiner confiscated it.
The examiner could barely hold its weight, stumbling under the burden. It should have been funny.
Leonhardt didn’t feel like laughing.
Without Rashir—without a sword—he was just a normal human.
Magic swordsmen could only use magic through their swords.
Their magic was stronger than ordinary mages, but without a sword, it was meaningless.
‘Not that even a mage could escape from here.’
This prison was built over a hundred years—
Designed solely to nullify all magic.
The method was passed down secretly among the craftsmen.
They would rather die than reveal the secret to anyone but their successor.
‘Please be safe.’
Thinking of magic brought his thoughts back to Celine.
He recalled her flushed cheeks whenever she used magic and smiled faintly.
‘I wish she wouldn’t worry about me.’
He wasn’t worried for himself.
He had attacked a member of the imperial family, but if monsters appeared, they’d have no choice but to release him.
And ultimately, this all began because of the Emperor.
The Crown Prince was just venting anger by having him imprisoned.
Celine should worry about herself—
she might be exiled to the northern territory any moment—
“Leonhardt!”
Leonhardt’s eyes widened. His mouth dropped open.
A woman was running toward him.
Her hair was jet black.
Her gray-blue eyes burned with resolve.
Her flushed cheeks, her delicate features—
It was unmistakably Celine.
