Xie Qi walked up to the third floor. When he looked up, he saw black geometric patterns carved into the villa's lofty overhead beams. Unlike the religious paintings found in other castles, they made a distorted and powerful visual impact.
Portraits hung on both sides of the long corridor, and a soft red carpet covered the floor, swallowing every footstep.
Mrs. Caster's room was just to the left of the staircase. It was tall and spacious. Xie Qi knocked and, after receiving permission to enter, saw Mrs. Caster sitting on a sofa.
The faint light from the corridor behind Xie Qi shone inside, but illuminated only the hem of Mrs. Caster's dress.
"Kani, you're here."
A husky, mellow voice came from the darkness. Xie Qi's expression remained unchanged as he shut the door behind him, plunging the entire room into darkness.
"Master, did you summon me to give me some instructions?"
Xie Qi spoke first. He had this body's memories and knew he had scarcely ever visited Mrs. Caster's room before.
Perhaps his actions had changed Mrs. Caster's view of him, bringing about a situation that had never occurred before.
If an ordinary person noticed that things had changed, they would surely proceed with caution, afraid of giving themselves away.
But Xie Qi was no ordinary person. The tenser the situation and the harder things were to handle, the more excited he became, his mind filled with an intensely pleasurable sensation.
That was also why he had frequented casinos in his previous life.
In ordinary life, it was not easy to find the same kind of stimulation and satisfy his predilection.
Xie Qi's eyes gleamed in the dark like those of a bloodthirsty leopard as he stared fixedly at the corner where Mrs. Caster sat.
Mrs. Caster seemed not to notice anything different about him. Hearing Xie Qi's question, she slowly replied:
"The guests have settled in today. Starting tomorrow, you may simply resume your usual activities."
A gloom that could not be dispelled permeated the room. Xie Qi's prolonged silence may have made Mrs. Caster feel something was amiss, for she asked, "What are you thinking about, Kani? Could it be that you're interested in those guests?"
The atmosphere changed abruptly.
A bone-piercing chill swept over him. If Xie Qi said a single wrong word now, he would likely be swallowed by the darkness in the room, leaving neither blood nor bone behind.
But Xie Qi seemed not to notice anything amiss. His expression remained unchanged, like a mask, as he said:
"Why would you think that, Master? I just had an idea, and I wanted to ask if you thought it might work."
Mrs. Caster was silent for a moment, then asked him, "What idea?"
"It's nothing major. It's just that these guests have only just met with disaster, so they're bound to be on edge. I thought I'd play a game with them each day to help them relax."
Unhurriedly, Xie Qi laid out the idea that had just occurred to him.
"And although these guests were all prepared for the ritual seven days from now, choosing someone each day is also a headache. Why not choose a winner or a loser from that day's game? Master, what do you think of that suggestion?"
Mrs. Caster's eyes lit up at Xie Qi's suggestion. Catching people as usual was fine, but adding a little fun would be even better.
She looked at Xie Qi with some appreciation, though he couldn't see it, and nodded. "That's a good idea. We can give it a try. Have you decided what games to play with the guests?"
Xie Qi had already made plans. Before becoming the boss behind Las Vegas's largest casino, he had been a regular on the blacklists of major casinos.
Back then, whenever he played, as long as the house didn't step in, he could sweep the tables and walk away with a fortune.
Handling a small game with eight people would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?
Xie Qi smiled confidently and said, "You'll find out tomorrow, Master. I'd like to give you a surprise too."
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Mrs. Caster watched Xie Qi open the door and leave, her look full of meaning.
[Beep—side quest 2 triggered: Prepare tomorrow's ingredients before 24:00 each day (0/7)]
[Side quest 3: Play one game with the guests each day (0/7)]
Two side quests popped up in quick succession. Xie Qi paused for a moment, then quickly resumed walking.
This time, the side quests did not specify the rewards beforehand. It was also possible that rewards would be given at random according to how well Xie Qi completed them.
Normally, newcomers only needed to complete the main quest in their first instance, because simply staying alive already took all their energy.
No newcomer had ever triggered three side quests in succession during their first instance.
There was also a hidden rule in this game on Prisoner Island.
In a normal game, failing to complete a side quest only meant missing out on some rewards; there would be no punishment.
But this game was different. Although the system did not explicitly say there would be a punishment, the prisoners had worked it out themselves: if even one side quest went unfinished, the difficulty would automatically rise in the next instance. Both the instance difficulty and the difficulty of playing their assigned roles would increase to some degree.
In the prisoners' eyes, that was already a severe punishment.
So when they entered an instance, they avoided unnecessary actions as long as they could keep themselves alive. Otherwise, if they accidentally triggered a side quest, they would have to do everything they could to complete it, which was extremely detrimental to their survival.
Xie Qi did not know this, but even if he had, he would not have held back.
Side quests were great. They offered rewards, let him explore the fun of the game, and pleased the audience. Did people really want to turn down something with so many benefits?
Xie Qi couldn't understand it.