Beyond the Eternity

Ding!

The sudden sound jolted me from my thoughts. My hand instinctively reached into my pocket, pulling out the stopwatch.

It was time already? That was fast.

"Miyuki, did you find anything?" I asked, glancing over.

She shook her head. Her expression was clouded with disappointment. "I'm sorry... I couldn't find anything."

"Hey, don't worry about it." I offered her a reassuring smile. "I didn't come across anything useful either. Let's head down stairs and meet the others."

She hesitated for a moment but nodded, following me as we made our way back.

As we descended from the third floor and reached the first, I noticed the others had already gathered at the base of the stairs. Our party consisted of Moon Jiyeon, Yoo Rin, Soo Jinyoung, and Ryu Yeji.

Soo Jinyoung was speaking to the group, but her words were too faint to catch from where I stood. I stepped closer, with Miyuki trailing close behind me.

As we approached, everyone turned their heads to look at us. Their expressions were tense, more than usual.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I asked, "What's going on? Did something happen?"

Moon Jiyeon responded in her usual steady voice, "Jinyoung-nim was just explaining that she found something."

"Found something? You mean a Memory?"

"Something like that. But... it's a little different."

Huh? Something similar, yet different from a memory? What was she talking about?

I turned my attention to Soo Jinyoung, silently hoping for a clearer explanation. Noticing my gaze, she met my eyes and simply said, "I found a body."

"A body? Where? Is it one of the 'furnitures'?"

"No, it's not one of the servants. It's a character from the memory."

A character from the memory? I see. So, it's finally come to this. The plot of this Fable must be nearing its climax.

I asked, "Where is the body?"

"I found it in an empty room down here."

"Empty room? Aren't there only supposed to be the servants' rooms, the parlor, the kitchen, and the dining room on the first floor?"

"I thought so too. But it seems there's an extra room on the first floor."

Empty room on the first floor? Was it a storage unit? No, a storage unit would be inside the kitchen.

It was certainly suspicious.

I silently shifted my gaze between Soo Jinyoung and Ryu Yeji. They were the only ones actively searching the first floor for clues, but Soo Jinyoung had mentioned something about an extra room—something that didn't quite add up.

First of all, Soo Jinyoung had already examined the entire mansion's layout. So how could she have missed a single room?

That seemed unusually careless of her, didn't it?

It wasn't a mistake the cautious protagonist would typically make. Perhaps the room had appeared out of nowhere—a trap, maybe. But if that were the case, Soo Jinyoung wouldn't have informed the group about it so openly.

No, something was definitely off here.

I narrowed my eyes. At the same time, I activated a skill with a simple mental command.

[Personal skill, Black Box (Envy) has activated.]

+

[Soul Information]

Name: Soo Jinyoung

Main Attritudes: Infinite Reincarnator (Giant), Fallen Star (Myth)

Skills:

| Dragon Demon Eyes (용마안) |

| Pheonix Demonic Flame (봉황마염) |

| Seven Heavenly Swordsmanship (칠천검) |

| Mental Barrier (정신의 방벽) |

| Crowd Steps (군중보) |

Cont....

Divine Authorities:

| Regeneration (죽음의 귀환) |

| Succession (승계) |

+

Examining her private information, everything appeared normal. There were no discrepancies or irregularities. Her status window matched perfectly with the Soo Jinyoung I knew.

She wasn't an impostor.

Could it be that she was telling the truth? Was there truly an additional room hidden beyond our sight?

Perhaps it was concealed by a special boundary, one designed to make anyone who looked at it subconsciously ignore its existence.

That was the only explanation.

'Before I make any decisions, I should make sure to verify everyone's identities. There's nothing like being too cautious.'

I scanned each member of the group, simultaneously reviewing their private information to identify any potential abnormalities.

Until...

'Ah, so it was you, huh?'

I found what I was looking for. Honestly, I was surprised. These things were surprisingly good at acting.

What a little snake.

"Alright. Let's check what you found. Perhaps we might find something useful there."

Soo Jinyoung paused in front of a door that I hadn't noticed before. It was strange—there was nothing particularly different about the door, but it seemed to exclude an unknown aura.

She glanced back at the group. "This is the room," she said quietly.

I nodded and turned to Yoo Rin and Miyuki Kuroi.

"You two should stay outside and keep watch."

"Ah, I understand."

Yoo Rin grasped the gravity of the situation and nodded in agreement. If there truly was a corpse inside the room, it was no place for underage children to witness such a scene.

I had made that mistake once before, but I couldn't let it happen again.

Shifting my gaze to Soo Jinyoung, I said. "Let's go inside."

Soo Jinyoung said nothing as she pushed the door open.

The moment the door creaked, an unpleasant stench of rot assaulted my senses. I instinctively recoiled, but curiosity pulled me forward.

Inside, the room was barren. No furniture, no decorations, no bookshelves—no windows to let in even a hint of light.

Just a plain empty room with walls that seemed faded and lost their colour. The room was eerily plain, unsettlingly so.

But that wasn't what caught my attention.

My gaze shifted to the center of the room, where something lay motionless on the floor.

As I stepped closer, I realized it wasn't an object—it was a person. A lifeless body, and the unmistakable source of the foul, rotten stench permeating the room.

Wait, that person...

A strange sense of familiarity washed over me as I stared at the lifeless corpse. He was unmistakably someone I'd seen before—in the memories tied to this house.

Blonde hair and a youthful face. A man with a unique fashion style, dressed in antique white suit layered over a black collared shirt, a golden tie elegantly draped around his neck.

There was only one person who matched that description—a character who appeared time and time again in the fragmented memories of this house.

Adrian. The son of the Third Child of the Valoment Family.

His elegant attire was stained by the pool of blood surrounding his lifeless body. The crimson liquid had seeped from numerous wounds, forming dark, dried streaks across the once-pristine fabric.

It was a haunting sight, one that spoke of a violent end. His lifeless gaze was fixed on the ceiling. It almost seemed he couldn't believe he had died.

The second murder. Like Reginald, it was brutal and grotesque.

But this wasn't truly his body.

It was a fragment—a piece of this place's memory, given form. Fragments often took the shape of objects, weapons, or even people. This wasn't unusual, but it wasn't common either.

I crouched near him, studying the wounds more closely. His chest was riddled with stab marks—more than fifty to be precise. And a trail of dried blood flowed from his wounds to the ground.

It was disturbingly lifelike, as though I were examining a real corpse. But there was no room for fascination here.

What kind of savagery is this? Who stabs someone more than fifty times?

My eyes narrowed in thought.

This doesn't feel like the work of an assassin. A single stab to the throat would have sufficed. Even if he fought back, two or three additional strikes would've ended it.

It takes considerable strength to stab someone—once, let alone dozens of times. This wasn't just about killing Adrian. Whoever did this wanted him to suffer, to feel unimaginable pain and terror before his life slipped away.

I had read stories with similar patterns, and they always shared two key traits. Adrian's death felt no different.

Standing up, I finished forming the theory in my head and turned to the others in the room.

Soo Jinyoung, Moon Jiyeon, and Ryu Yeji.

Moon Jiyeon was the first to break the silence. Her expression was hidden behind the hand fan she raised to her lips. She spoke with a distasteful voice. "What a brutal and unsightly death. Were you able to figure anything out just by looking? And more importantly, why is there a corpse here?"

"That's not a real corpse," I replied evenly. "It's a memory—a fragment given form. It's hard to determine much just by looking, but I think I'm starting to piece things together."

"Really?"

I began explaining the theory I had carefully pieced together.

"First of all, I don't think these murders are connected to the Epitaph. If they were, Julian would've been the one killed first since he's the heir. Secondly, Adrian's death doesn't look premeditated—it seems like it happened in the heat of the moment. I've narrowed it down to two possibilities, and if either of them is true, it could change everything we think we know."

I raised a finger for each theory.

"One, Adrian's death was a crime of passion. Or two, it was a crime of jealousy."

Moon Jiyeon appeared deep in thought. "A crime of passion or a crime of jealousy, huh? By 'crime of passion,' do you mean he was killed by someone who loved him?"

"Yes."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense. The only people in the mansion were family. None of them would've loved him that way."

"It's a possibility, but I'm not saying it was a family member. Don't forget, there were also the servants."

"Ah..." Moon Jiyeon's brows furrowed as if the idea hadn't crossed her mind before.

I pressed on. "There are two prime suspects for a crime of passion: Iris, or one of the maidservants. And for jealousy, the most likely candidate is Victor."

Moon Jiyeon raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit too specific?"

"I know, I know. It's just a theory, nothing concrete. But dismissing it outright would be careless." I turned to the quietest person in the room. "Yeji-ssi, what's your take?"

Ryu Yeji had been staring off into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

"Yeji-ssi?"

"Huh?" He snapped back to attention, blinking rapidly. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"We were discussing the murder," I said slowly. "I asked for your opinion."

"Oh, right... I see."

"Are you okay? You seem distracted."

Ryu Yeji laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ha! Is it that obvious? Sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind. And honestly, doesn't this whole thing feel... underwhelming? Adrian didn't even put up a fight. None of them did. Wouldn't it have been more interesting if someone left behind a message? Or fought back?"

The room fell silent.

Soo Jinyoung narrowed her eyes, while Moon Jiyeon also became suspicious and silently distanced herself.

I ignored both of them and said with a calm expression: "By the way, Yeji-ssi, can you do something for me?"

"Ah, anything for you, boss."

"Remove all your clothes, take off you shoes and fold yourself twelve times."

"You got it~"

Ryu Yeji swiftly removed his suit along with his shirt and proceeded to fold himself as I instructed.

Crack! Pop! Snap!

First, he began by bending his arms unnaturally, twisting them at impossible angles. The sickening crack of his joints echoed in the silent room as his grin stretched wider than any human face should allow. Next, he folded his torso in three places as if he were no longer bound by bones or flesh. Then, he twisted one leg twice at an unnatural angle two times, the sound of splintering bone reverberating through the air.

At some point, his contortions abruptly stopped. Six folds, huh? It seemed that was 'Its' limit.

'It' really did a good job.

"Ahhhh! What the hell? What the hell?!"

Moon Jiyeon let out a piercing scream, stumbling backward as her face drained of color. Her composed demeanor shattered in an instant.

It was hardly surprising. Who wouldn't react like that? The sight of someone twisting their body like a piece of dried cloth was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

Of course, I remained calm—thanks to the stupid Black Box relentlessly suppressing my emotions.

Without a word, I raised the Silver Magic Gun, Ivory, and aimed directly at his forehead. My finger squeezed the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

With a deafening crack, Ryu Yeji's head exploded, fragments shattering as his unnaturally contorted body crumpled to the ground.