Becoming a God Starts with Acting
Chapter 164: [Blizzard Manor] - Prophet’s part (11)

Chapter 164: [Blizzard Manor] - Prophet’s part (11)

Just at that moment, Drake suddenly felt his sleeve being tightly clutched. Saphen nestled close to him, tears soaking into Drake’s shirt—so palpable that Drake couldn’t help but frown immediately.

The others also heard the sound of quiet sobbing and glanced subtly at the boy beside Drake.

At that moment, Drake’s expression had turned extremely grim, as if flames were beginning to dance in his pupils.

"Take your damn eyes off him, or I’ll gouge them out."

His words made the atmosphere even more tense.

However, judging by his expression, everyone could tell—he wasn’t joking.

The butler narrowed his eyes at Drake, then suddenly smiled and said,

"Dear guest, I look forward to seeing that tongue of yours—so skilled at saying unpleasant things—turned into a dish and served on a plate. For now, please enjoy your breakfast."

He didn’t make a move against Drake. Perhaps Drake’s words hadn’t triggered the dungeon’s killing rules just yet, but the hostility of the monsters toward Drake had certainly intensified.

Drake let out a cold chuckle. The butler’s words didn’t frighten him in the slightest.

With the danger from the butler averted, everyone’s gaze returned to the challenge before them.

Even though it was just breakfast, the spread looked lavish. But no one wanted to risk eating the wrong thing—they couldn’t predict the level of contamination.

Some people cast expectant glances toward the child beside Drake.

Saphen remained huddled against Drake, seeking protection, entirely unresponsive for the others.

His behavior made several people frown.

Although they didn’t know why Drake was protecting and relying on the help of this child—and they couldn’t even be sure whether the child’s choices were correct—they trusted Drake’s judgment simply because of his strength.

Still, at this moment, the child’s attitude made a few of them sigh.

Sensing their thoughts, Drake spoke in a cold tone:

"Handle your own problems."

He followed that with a cold glare. At that moment, they realized—the child was under Drake’s protection far more than they had assumed.

"He’s just a kid. Keeping him in the team is nothing but trouble."

The speaker was a freelance esper. After finishing his sentence, he grabbed the plate in front of him and began to wolf down the food, ignoring the looks of everyone else.

Just the day before, he had been extremely hesitant—almost overly cautious.

But today, everything seemed completely different. He no longer hesitated in front of the food.

The others also began eating one by one, knowing full well they couldn’t rely on anyone else in this dungeon.

Silvanus noticed that the first ones to start eating were those whose livestream screens had turned black. What’s more, they ate with great enthusiasm, as if the food before them was the most delicious thing in the world.

Even though there hadn’t been any clues beforehand, some people began to sense something was off.

Right after the meal ended, Susan called over two members of her team.

"Emilia, Stella, are you two alright?"

Emilia and Stella were a bit startled at suddenly being addressed by Susan.

Emilia looked at her in confusion. "We’re fine. Why do you ask, High Priestess?"

Susan replied slowly, "I don’t know what was in that food, but the two of you shouldn’t have eaten so much of it."

Stella and Emilia frowned in unison, each seemingly lost in thought.

Stella touched her lips and said softly, "But it tasted so good... once I started eating, I just couldn’t stop..."

"That’s right! And we’ve finished eating, and nothing’s happened. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with the food at all!" Emilia said with great conviction.

Susan explained further, "We’re espers, not ordinary people. Even if the food were problematic, the effects wouldn’t show immediately."

[Honestly, Susan is way too gentle and patient...]

[Exactly. If it were Drake—no, even if it were me—those two should’ve been punished already for being so loud and stupid!]

[Oh, come on, it’s not even really them anymore... maybe they’re already being prepped as rations for Ethan’s next winter supply, haha.]

So... those attacked by the shadow might end up becoming food for the next winter?

But why was it specifically Ethan, the chef’s winter supplies, and not the entire mansion or the estate? Or if shortened, shouldn’t it at least be for the master of the estate, not just some cook?

Silvanus pondered silently, taking note of the detail.

"What are you looking at?"

At that moment, Drake’s voice suddenly sounded next to Silvanus. Silvanus immediately slipped into character, continuing to stare silently in the direction of the kitchen without saying a word.

Drake also glanced toward the kitchen and then, as if something occurred to him, frowned.

If he remembered correctly, when he first entered the estate, he had sensed a gaze coming from one of the rooms in the mansion. Now, after reevaluating the layout, that gaze clearly originated from the kitchen.

[Ooh, it looks like Drake’s picked up on something in the kitchen, haha.]

[Am I the only one who thinks Saphen is somehow guiding him?]

[Nope. Don’t go glorifying a timid little kid, lol.]

After breakfast, the guests were free to move about.

The butler disappeared to who-knows-where while the two maids went up to the fourth floor—likely to tend to their "ill" master.

"Alright! Now we can finally carry out the plan we couldn’t do last night!"

Zara said excitedly, her blue eyes shining with enthusiasm. Even her short, curly hair seemed to perk up as if in agreement.

"Zara, you were on the second floor—did you hear any strange noises last night?"

Luis adjusted his glasses and looked at Zara seriously.

Drake raised an eyebrow at him, thinking this guy might actually fill Ron’s shoes while Ron was absent from the dungeon.

Zara nodded matter-of-factly.

"Screaming sounds. I think everyone on the first floor must’ve heard them, too. That door-smashing monster slammed into Captain Drake’s door so hard we all felt it—ha ha ha."

She looked so relaxed and cheerful as if she were talking about what tea to have this afternoon rather than discussing a dangerous and terrifying dungeon.

Then she turned toward the freelance esper and asked,

"Right—why did you scream so loudly last night? Something break into your room?"

As she spoke, she made a V-sign with her fingers, wiggling them playfully—more like teasing than seriously asking.

The freelance esper frowned, a bit annoyed.

"I saw Rowan’s corpse come back—he tried to drag me to die with him! But then he disappeared... I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just not my time to die yet, ha ha."

Dude, your livestream screen even went dark.

Luckily, it hadn’t vanished completely. Silvanus guessed that if they found those attacked by the shadow early enough, there was still a chance to save them.

But the real issue now was—he couldn’t be sure if the people standing in front of them were already completely controlled by the shadow or if they still had some of their own consciousness.

Maybe because Saphen had been staring intently at the freelance esper, it caught Drake’s attention.

"You’re not scared today, huh?" Drake suddenly spoke.

The freelance esper forced a laugh:

"Ha ha, yesterday I was just afraid of being wrongly accused. When it comes to dungeons, this is always my attitude—fear won’t lead you to a way out!"

A whole string of motivational words.

Overall, they didn’t show any clear signs of abnormality.

[Haha, this dungeon is really unpredictable. Drake and a few others may be suspicious, but they can’t be sure of anything yet, haha.]

[Maybe a bunch of them are already dead and don’t even know how they died. That’d be an interesting ending.]

[We’ve got Zara here! I feel like her suspicion of that freelance esper is even greater than Drake’s.]

[Why do the cheerful, energetic types always have such dangerous sides?]

[And don’t forget the dangerous guy with the glasses.]

Luis adjusted his glasses and walked up to Drake, lowering his voice:

"I’ve noticed something wrong with Tom, Justin, Mason, Emilia, and Stella. They’re not themselves."

Tom was a freelance esper, while Justin and Mason were dark espers.

His voice was firm, without a trace of doubt.

From the side, Bella looked at Luis admiringly:

"I didn’t even notice that much—I just thought Tom seemed a little odd. Luis, you’re always so sharp!"

Then she turned to Drake.

"Captain Drake, Luis’s observations are never wrong. You should take this seriously!"

Fiona, walking nearby, couldn’t take Bella’s overly sweet, dramatic tone anymore.

"Can’t you speak like a normal person? What’s wrong with your voice? Someone squeezing your throat or what?"

Bella puffed up in anger at Fiona’s jab, stomping her foot.

"My voice has always been like this! And at least I’m not as rude as you!"

Fiona snorted.

"Fake."

Bella was fuming, her eyes starting to well up with tears. Clearly, being by Captain Cocona’s side was the only thing that felt right!

"Alright, we’re in a dungeon right now. Everyone needs to stick together," Alice said gently, then pulled Fiona toward her side. Harry also stepped into comfort Bella, and the argument came to a temporary halt.