"..." I paused, thinking deep for a few more seconds.

My biggest concern is probably "who the hell is Tanya"…

Her entire identity is so mysterious, I mean, she could grow a cock and change gender in game freely… So she must have admin privilages, proven by how she fucked Eirlys the other day, or she must've been a hacker/exploiter like me and Ann.

Also… I could've just backed out and never ask a question so I'm never tied down to another IOU, but like… I don't know what made me say it. Maybe it was the grape wine dulling my nerves, or Ann's smug little grin daring me to take the bait. But I finally told her my deicsion.

"I'll start with the cave. I want to know what happened there."

The words came out quieter than I intended, but she heard me well enough. Her fan stopped mid-swing. The smile she gave wasn't surprise, it was satisfaction, like she'd been waiting for me to make that exact choice.

The New Destiny dungeon incident... Even after all this time, the memory still lingered like a stain, it's not because I'm righteous or something, but like, it was mind-boggling you know.

Nine people went in but only two came out. And somehow, both survivors were right and wrong at the same time..

They walked into a cave, met an NPC who asked to be escort back to his nearby town, then voala, splash splosh, his head was off his shoulders, panic ensued and everyone started throwing hands.

At the end, the NPC was decapitated, seven members were dead, Hailie was trembling in shock, and Olga was standing over them all claiming self-defense.

According to her, the NPC used some kind of red-colored magic to ambush them. She killed him before he could cast after she already told him to stand down, but the others turned on her, so she fought back.

"Self-defense," she said with a Russian mommy dommy accent.

But the others, came back with different accusations:

The NPC had done nothing and Olga had just snapped, she killed the NPC before turning and killing them while they tried to reason with her.

And then there was Hailie… sweet, fragile Hailie, who didn't even swing her weapon. She said she had closed her eyes after one of the others uh… What his name was again? Dan? lunged at her with killing intent.

She didn't know what happened after that, just closed her eyes, despite the fact that she should've the most unbiased and trustworthy testimony as a freshly baked member with 0 ties and connections to to any affiliations.

"Before I tell you," Ann said slowly, her tone almost musical, "what do you personally think happened?"

I crossed my arms, trying to sound dismissive.

"Doesn't matter what I think really... Everyone's already moved on, after the vote, they've decided that Olga'll still in charge, and no one wants to dig that mess up again."

Ann tilted her head, smiling faintly, the way she always did when she knew I was dodging something.

"I'm asking what you think," she repeated, gently.

"Fine, hypnosis." I sighed, "It was the most plausible explanation, some kind of illusion magic even though no one could've got their hands on it at that stage of the game... Maybe the NPC was some weird scripted event that was new and never appeared in the Early Access."

Ann poured some more grape wine for herself as I made my speech.

"But like… Every eyewitness account contradicts the next, you weren't there, but you surely must've heard about how much jumbling, talking over each other and changing testimony happened there, right? Absolutely zero reliable angle."

At this point, I had already finished donning on my armor.

"So, I'll go with the most boring explanation, Olga and Hailie were both hypnotized to turn on the others, everyone's innocent, end of story."

That was supposed to be the end of it, but Ann's smile widened amusingly, as if she was satisfied by my answer.

It was the kind that slithered under your skin, making you feel like you'd just told a joke without realizing it.

I could almost hear the amusement leaking through her voice when she spoke again.

"You should ask Hailie or Olga to accompany you tomorrow," she said.

"...Huh?" I blinked at her. "For what?"

Ann leaned forward, signaling for one of her workers to come over and handed her a pen.

Her handwriting was lazy but elegant, and when she finished scribbling, she tore the note off and slid it toward me.

"Take here," she said. "Tomorrow, around seven to seven-thirty."

"Wha-" I said as I picked it up,

"Not today you're already too late… Unless you have teleportation or super speed... But he's usually there every day at this exact time, except Sunday."

"You…" I frowned, staring down at the paper. "…He?"

"Bring one of them to identify the guy from the dungeon," she said softly. "When she sees him… you'll understand."

My skin prickled under the dim lights as I stared at the folded piece of paper between us… On it was a tavern in Danielle kingdom, a tavern in a small town near Wroeg's Hollow that I can recall visiting faintly.

"So it's a player…?" I looked up at Ann.

Ann's eyes were half-lidded, the picture of calm satisfaction, but they were laughing without an answer.

"One more thing, Cory." She spoke, "I'll give you 330 gold coins for that wristwatch, LyraBell would've loved this."

I didn't even care why she wanted it, how she knew it was from LyraBell of Lion's Parade. But I just took it off and gave it to her without a second thought.

The sound of gold hit the table as she turned around and left.

I sat there, looking at the piece of paper, then scratched at my hair, then grip tight on my gauntlet, head to the air.

"I should've just picked the third option…" I muttered, not really able to decide if I'm ready to talk to Hailie in game again, considering how much fun she was having with the other four.

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