Everyone looked at the castle gates and felt a sinister, terrifying aura wash over them.
Intense fear made them shiver. Several girls were so frightened that they burst into tears on the spot, and even the bolder boys were trembling all over.
Shen Hao's earlier words had left a deep impression on them. Now, as they looked at the Blood-Red Castle, it was as if they were looking at a terrifying execution ground.
And of course, they were the ones who were going to be executed there.
Looking at the castle, they seemed to see the fate that awaited them, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered in an abattoir.
A boy said in a trembling voice, "What kind of place is this? It feels really scary."
A girl cried out, "Think of something! I really don't want to die!"
"Who does? I don't want to die either, but what can we do?"
"Weren't you saying your fate was yours to decide, not heaven's? What are you crying for?"
"Somebody save us!"
The crowd's wails went on and on. Shen Hao watched them panic in terror and found it amusing. Even their cries sounded pleasant to him.
Shen Hao looked at them and said,
"Stop holding it in. Cry your hearts out. If you don't cry now, you won't have another chance. Once you're dead, you won't be able to cry anymore."
Shen Hao's words made several of the more timid girls scream.
They were already on edge, their hearts unbearably fragile. At the mention of death, they could no longer control the fear in their hearts.
"Y-you don't seem scared at all?" a boy asked, mustering his courage.
"Of course I'm not scared. I'm a player in the Horror Game, after all, and I've been through things like this.
"You can't compare yourselves to me. You should still be afraid when there's reason to be. I might not die, but you definitely won't make it out alive."
"Can't you save us?"
Everyone looked at Shen Hao pleadingly, waiting for his answer.
"No. I don't even know you," Shen Hao said, refusing outright and plunging them back into despair.
Just then, a boy suddenly started walking toward the Blood-Red Castle. His actions shocked everyone, and they all stared at him in horror.
"Please, somebody save me! I-I can't control my body!"
The boy called out in despair, his face full of terror.
He wasn't going to the Blood-Red Castle of his own accord. He had lost control of his body.
Seeing the boy like that made the others even more afraid. Before long, Shen Hao had gained over 100 Fear Points.
There were more than twenty people here, and each had contributed an average of five Fear Points.
Soon, he was gaining Fear Points even faster, because the fear in their hearts was growing stronger.
More and more people were losing control of their bodies like the boy and walking toward the Blood-Red Castle.
"Help me! Somebody help me!"
"Please, I'm begging you, save me."
People kept calling for help, their desperate voices echoing in everyone's ears.
But those around them were helpless.
The others could barely save themselves, so how could they possibly rescue complete strangers under such circumstances?
Even friends would have a hard time showing their friendship at a time like this.
Some tried to flee, but after only a few steps, they lost control of their bodies and turned back toward the castle.
No matter how much they resisted in their hearts, their bodies would not obey them.
Looking at the castle with its terrifying aura, they could already guess what would happen once they entered.
Before long, Shen Hao was the only one left outside the castle gates.
The reason he could still stand there was that his mental power far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
His Mental Attribute of 130 had kept him from losing control of his body for the time being.
But how long could that last?
Shen Hao looked at his panel. His Mental Attribute was steadily dropping.
Yet he couldn't feel a thing.
Perhaps he should enter the castle of his own accord. He couldn't resist its summons.
Shen Hao decided to walk in of his own accord. The moment he made that decision, his Mental Attribute stopped dropping and even began to rise again.
It seemed he had made the right choice.
Once you embraced fear, it could do nothing to you.
The gates of the Blood-Red Castle were like a great bloody maw, and they were like food entering the hunter's mouth of their own accord.
Looking at the sinister, frightening castle, Shen Hao walked straight in without hesitation.
The castle gates suddenly shut, like a beast closing its jaws.
Inside the castle, Shen Hao saw none of his classmates. Perhaps they had already gone to its deepest reaches.
This was the Bloodied Sovereign's castle. He didn't know where the Bloodied Sovereign resided or where the Bloodied Sovereign would dine.
As the main course of this meal, he took it upon himself to find the dining room and put himself on the table.
He walked forward along the central passage.
Everything here was blood-red, as though stained with blood, but Shen Hao liked the setting.
He thought he would probably get along well with the so-called Bloodied Sovereign.
If the Bloodied Sovereign weren't going to eat him, he would have liked to get to know the Bloodied Sovereign.
The farther he went, the stronger the sinister aura became, and the smell of blood grew even heavier.
He knew he was almost there.
He wondered what the Bloodied Sovereign's dining room looked like. It would probably suit his tastes.
If he really had to die in a place like this, that would be interesting too.
A great hall appeared before him. It was spacious, but somewhat dim.
But it was dim in just the right way, not enough to make anyone uncomfortable. At least, that was how he felt.
A rectangular dining table stood in the middle of the hall, with white plates arranged on it. In the center of those plates was a larger one.
The plate in the middle was probably for the main course, and the main course was Shen Hao himself.
All the plates were empty. Perhaps it wasn't time to serve the meal yet.
Shen Hao saw no utensils on the table, which made him think the Bloodied Sovereign probably wasn't a refined person, at least not when dining.
That made him abandon the idea of becoming friends with the Bloodied Sovereign entirely.
At the far end of the hall stood a throne. It wasn't extravagant, but it was imposing.
A portrait hung on the wall behind the throne. The man in it was tall and handsome, with an extraordinary, martial bearing. He wore dark red armor and held a heavy golden sword.
He sat on the throne, his expression faintly revealing a commanding air that looked down on the world, as though he were the sovereign of the entire realm.
"Is that the Bloodied Sovereign? No matter how I look at him, there's nothing bloodied about him."
He saw his classmates standing around the dining table.
By now, their fear had grown even stronger, and their terrified cries echoed through the hall.
For they too had already guessed that they had become ingredients.
Shen Hao walked over, and a boy looked at him and asked shakily, "You came in too?"
"Yes, I came in too," Shen Hao said with a smile.
"Now you can rest easy. Even I couldn't resist, so you have even less hope. We'll just have to wait to be eaten."
"Eaten? Are we really going to be eaten?"
"Of course. If they weren't going to eat you, would they invite you to dinner instead?"
Shen Hao's words made them cry even louder, and the fear and despair in their hearts grew stronger.
Not only were they going to die, but they were also going to be eaten by some unknown monster.
The mere thought of such a tragedy was enough to make one shudder.
And now that tragedy was about to happen. Even the bravest person could hardly avoid being afraid, let alone students with so little experience of the world.
Just then, something strange happened to the throne at the far end of the hall.
A cloud of blood mist appeared and enveloped the throne. It grew thicker and kept spreading, filling more than half the hall in the blink of an eye.
A figure faintly appeared in the mist.
"Bloodied Sovereign!"