Kerr didn't seem to notice Lucas's sudden change in attitude. She continued speaking with a soft, almost innocent smile, answering his earlier question with honesty that felt rehearsed.
"The lighthouse has a total of ninety-nine floors," she explained, carefully counting on her fingers as if to prove she wasn't lying. "Alice Town is on the forty-third floor, which is considered the middle level of the lighthouse."
Then she added, almost cheerfully, "And the town of Verne is on the third floor, which is already very high!"
[System prompt: Player Lucas deeply explores the secret of the Hungry Lighthouse]
[Side Mission Progress: +15%]
[Current worldview exploration progress: 56%]
Lucas's thoughts sharpened as the mechanical system voice echoed in his head. So, the world divides human beings into different classes. Nobles above, villagers below. A rigid structure built into this tower.
He frowned. None of this has anything to do with me. Human tyranny has always only affected human beings themselves…
Still, the progress made him uneasy.
He looked down at the object in his hand. The faint shimmer of [Girl's Coin] appeared between his fingers.
He tossed it lightly. The coin arced into the air and landed neatly in his palm—blank side up.
Kerr tilted her head curiously. "What are you doing?"
Lucas closed his fingers over the coin and forced a casual tone. "Nothing. I just wanted to see if I had any luck left."
But Kerr's attention had already wandered. She yawned, stretched her arms, and stood up. "Thank you for chatting with me. I don't feel so scared anymore. Could I… could I stay on your couch for the night?"
Lucas looked at her for a long moment, then finally pointed toward the bedroom. "You sleep in the bedroom."
The offer stunned her. Her eyes glistened as if she might cry again. Bowing deeply, she whispered a trembling "thank you" before retreating into the bedroom. The door clicked shut.
Only then did Lucas open his palm again. The coin glowed faintly under the lantern light.
"One more time…" he muttered, and tossed it again.
Blank.
He tried again. Blank.
Five times in a row he flipped it, and every time the coin revealed nothing but emptiness.
Lucas's face hardened. He shoved the coin back into his inventory and let out a long breath. "So this was the reward for completing a mission? After all that effort… just a broken coin?"
The clock ticked past midnight.
[System prompt: The third day of the qualifying competition has ended. The elimination list of players is as follows. Please continue to work hard, remaining players.]
[Elimination List]
Contestant Qiao Xinghuo, overall score B1
Contestant Shao Shuo, overall score B
Contestant Feng Biqin, overall score B+
Player Zhuo Ru, overall rating A-
Contestant Yan Minxue, overall score B
Contestant Fang Kunyao, overall rating B
[Remaining finalists: 6 out of 19]
Lucas frowned. "It's only been three days, and more than half the players are gone…"
The announcement carried a chilling weight. It wasn't just numbers—it was proof that the lighthouse was consuming people faster than anyone expected.
"The dangers in the dungeon will only increase."
Closing the glowing panel, Lucas stood up, flexed his wrists, and quietly opened the bedroom door.
The quilt on the bed rose and fell gently. Kerr lay facing inward, seemingly asleep, her breathing soft.
But the system immediately flared with warning.
[Risk Assessment in Progress…]
[Kerr, villager of Alice Town: low-level danger]
Lucas took a cautious step closer.
[Kerr, villager of Alice Town: about to surpass low-level danger]
His eyes narrowed.
[Kerr, villager of Alice Town: intermediate danger]
The tension snapped. Lucas's lips curled in a thin smile. "Pretending to sleep, are you?"
He stopped tiptoeing. In three long strides he reached the bedside, and without hesitation brought the kitchen knife down toward her body.
The blade whooshed through the air, missing her by inches as Kerr twisted violently to dodge. The knife cut across the blanket instead of her throat.
She stared at him in shock. When did he notice?!
There was no time to think. She rolled, trying to escape, but Lucas was faster. He grabbed her ankle.
"Ah!" she screamed as pain ripped through her body. The knife slashed down again, carving across her calf. Her leg bent at an unnatural angle, bone cracking audibly.
She collapsed onto the floor, clutching her mutilated leg, eyes wide with horror as Lucas's shadow fell over her. His presence crushed her, cold and suffocating.
[System prompt: Player Lucas triggers a hidden mission.]
[Hidden Mission: Explore the secrets of Kerr.]
[Reward: Unknown.]
Tears streamed from Kerr's eyes as she gasped. "Why are you—"
The words never finished. The knife silenced her mid-sentence, slicing through chest and throat with merciless precision.
Her danger level plummeted:
[Intermediate danger → low-level danger → …no danger]
Finally, Lucas stopped. His chest heaved as he lowered the bloody knife and sat heavily on the floor.
"This woman was too dangerous. The mission isn't worth my life."
He stood slowly, looking down at his blood-soaked clothes.
Moving to the closet, he pulled out a fresh set of clothes while speaking to himself in a flat tone.
"Judging from what I know now, the lighthouse's hierarchy is based on genetics. Alice Town, serving reproduction, shouldn't be below Verne Town. Something doesn't add up."
He tugged on the clean shirt, his mind replaying the last hours.
"A woman full of lies. Because the town's surveillance mechanism had disappeared, my vigilance slipped."
[System prompt: Player Lucas discovers the secret of the Hungry Lighthouse.]
[Side Mission: Complete (100%).]
[Current worldview exploration progress: 66%.]
The system's whisper lingered in his ears: Resist, resist… When you enter the upper world, will you still resist? Resist…
The live broadcast audience watched the entire scene unfold. Strangely, no one was shocked.
If anything, they felt something darker. A collective thought spread: "This is how it should be."
For them, the lighthouse had always been a game of survival, not morality.
One hundred players chosen. One memory carved into the record.
Somewhere else, in a monitoring room, Blue Kill sat silently.
"Why does this feel familiar…" she murmured, unease tugging at her.
Her gaze hardened. "The lighthouse is descending into chaos. Seven days remain. At this elimination rate… something catastrophic will happen tomorrow."
On the main screen, Lucas appeared—lying on the bed with the bloodied kitchen knife still in his hand. The corpse beside him bled out, crimson soaking into the sheets and spilling onto the floor.
It was a grotesque painting of inevitability.
The young author behind the broadcast wrote in his notes: He feels on the verge of establishing his foundation.
And so, another day ended in Verne Town, with a whisper of truth that rang louder than any system prompt:
Women are all liars.
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