Enchanted University of Magemenos

Chapter 103:Shadows Inside the Mansion

Before I could press him, a loud crash echoed from near the elevator.

Of course.
Tom and Jerry.
Our very own Kate and the absolutely not-required Keith.

"Are you guys done?" Kate asked, slightly out of breath, as if they'd raced each other up the stairs.

I started explaining everything, the ground floor, the bedrooms, the useless guest rooms—until I reached the part about the No Entry room.

"The second floor had this one door that was—"

"We didn't see anything important," Nathan cut in, smooth and fast, shutting me down before I could even finish the sentence.

I looked at him.
Why lie?
Why hide it?

Kate just nodded, not suspecting anything.
But I knew Nathan enough by now to recognise the signs.

He definitely knew something.
He just wasn't telling me.

"What about you?" Nathan asked Kate.

Kate let out a tired sigh, like she had been waiting for someone to finally ask her.
"The third floor is... weird," she began. "There's this huge room filled with old furniture, creepy portraits, and a bunch of unexplainable, horrible things I honestly don't want to think about again. But the strangest part is this attic-like passage inside it. Normally, you'd expect an attic to take you down—or at least nowhere important—but this one takes you straight to the terrace. It's like the architect was drunk."

Nathan raised a brow, but she continued.

"There are also plenty of meeting rooms unused, obviously, and then these random rooms with bunk beds. For what reason? I have no idea. I mean, who would actually be dumb enough to sleep there?" Kate finished, pointedly shifting her eyes to Keith.

Keith clutched his chest dramatically. "Wow. Personal attack."

"I meant sleeping during the day," Keith corrected dramatically, as if that made everything suddenly logical.

"What about the terrace?" I asked, hoping maybe, just maybe, it held some miracle hiding spot.

Kate shook her head instantly. "The terrace is just... a terrace. Open, windy, and literally the easiest place for the mafia to kill us. It's like standing on a stage and yelling, 'Come get me.' No way we're using that."

A heavy silence followed.

"Where is Nat?" Kate asked, spinning around as he'd evaporated.

He was right here. Literally one second ago. Now--poof--vanished like some ghost ninja.

"Okay, whatever," Kate sighed. "We still need to find a place to hide for the night before the next announcement."

Before I could answer, footsteps echoed sharply from the stairwell. Nathan appeared, walking down with that calm, unreadable face of his, like disappearing without warning was a normal hobby.

Keith crossed his arms, jaw tight.
"Running away from situations has always been a you thing," he snapped, voice stiff—almost too stiff.
Behind that annoyance, there was a flicker of something else.
Agony. Hurt. Old history, they both pretended didn't exist.

Nathan didn't even flinch. He just looked at him once, cold and brief, then looked away.

"Where were you?" Kate demanded, grabbing Nathan's arm before Keith could start another episode.

Nathan didn't answer her immediately.
He just shook her hand off gently and said, "Just had some water."

But the way he said it wasn't casual at all.

His eyes... were fixed on me.
Sharp. Searching. A little too intense for someone who supposedly just went to take a sip of water.

Keith noticed it too.

And the look he shot Nathan could've launched a war.

The lights began dimming slowly, one by one, until the once grand mansion was swallowed in shadows again. The warm glow faded into an eerie darkness, and instantly my stomach tightened.

Night had come.

The same night, six people had already lost their lives.

Kate's playful expression disappeared completely as she scanned the hallway nervously. "It's too risky to stay together," she said quietly. "We split and hide."

All of us scattered instantly, running in different directions like frightened animals chasing the tiniest ray of hope before the night system forced us unconscious.

Footsteps echoed through the dark halls, hurried and uneven. No one looked back. No one waited.

Because in this game, being together could either save your life... or get everyone killed at once.

I ran straight toward the conference hall, my heartbeat pounding louder with every second the lights dimmed. During the voting earlier, I had noticed a small backstage box hidden behind the curtains, a cramped storage-like space with a lock from the inside.

At that moment, it felt like my only hope.

I rushed in and shut the door behind me. The tiny space smelled of dust and old wood, barely large enough to sit properly. My fingers hovered over the lock.

But I couldn't do it.

My claustrophobia kicked in instantly, wrapping around my throat like invisible hands. Locking it felt wrong, like sealing my own coffin. What if I got trapped? What if I couldn't breathe? What if the mafia found me and there was nowhere to run?

The walls suddenly felt smaller.

The air heavier.

My chest tightened as panic crawled under my skin.

"No... no, no..." I whispered to myself, trying to calm down, but the dizziness was already hitting. The forced sleep was beginning.

 Nausea slammed into me. My vision blurred, knees giving out beneath me.

With a loud thud, I collapsed onto the floor of the box, the darkness swallowing me whole.