Several people jumped at the sudden, thunderous noise and instinctively turned to look. A solid-black cat was crouching on the window frame.
Falk paid it no mind and continued reading out the rules:
"Rule two:
"The first person must be used.
"Rule three:
"The work must belong to the mystery and horror genre.
"Rule four:
"The protagonist's ending must be death."
Lucas, a mystery writer from the Southern Continent wearing a dark jacket and wide-legged trousers, could not help frowning deeply at this:
"The protagonist has to have our own name, and we have to kill them off?"
I remember the original novel mentioning that the natives of the Southern Continent generally worship Death. This is undoubtedly rather inauspicious. No wonder he reacted like that...
Lorry considered this privately, his face expressionless, leaving his attitude unreadable.
As a newcomer, observing his surroundings and the other people was the most important thing.
Falk turned slightly toward the man who had raised the objection and explained:
"Yes, Lucas.
"This isn't your first salon. You should know that the 'prescribed ending' rule appears in practically every competition.
"It just so happens that this time, the 'ending' is death."
With that, he looked around at the others.
"We're all outstanding writers in our field. Without specific restrictions, someone might anticipate the prompt beforehand, which would compromise the fairness of the competition."
Everyone fell silent.
Although they did not worship Death, Lucas's little interjection had left them feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
"Ahem... Mr. Falk has a point. Please continue."
Dylan, who was on good terms with everyone, spoke up to smooth things over, looking around with a chuckle. "Wasn't there a previous competition where the prescribed 'ending' was that everyone survived? Where there's life, there's death."
"If it bothers you, you could always ignore the 'prescribed