Chapter 7: A Bitter Cigarette

On the northwest wing of the castle, Alicia strode through the glimmering hallways, looking for the old man Mr. Wang.

"Mr. Wang!" She shouted, calling out to him. "Where are you?! Answer me if you're there! Mr. Wang!"

15 minutes of searching through the maze-like hallways, Alicia saw a room exhaling grey, whitish smoke from the door gaps.

Wondering what it is, the gas began spreading out and its smell became clearer.

Alicia hurriedly swerved the doorknob, banging her palms against the door.

"Mr. Wang! Are you inside?!" She yelled. "You're in there, aren't you?! Come out this instant!"

The door unlocked and swung angrily, retching the old man in a foul mood.

"Stop yelling and banging the door! What the hell do you want now?"

Alicia snuck into the room, "And what are you smoking over here?! Goodness, there's so much gas that it's leaking out!"

The room had a silver motif, drenched in air filled with chronic substances.

There're cigarette packs, smoke-emitting machines, and stocks of unidentifiable items in quads.

Some of it had similar effects to cannabis, yielding addiction through the sensation.

Alicia looked back, clearly asking for answers, but the old man's expression was indifferent.

"Forget it," He croaked. "Where are the kids, though?"

"They're outside the castle," Alicia answered. "What were you doing in here? You know you could've died if you didn't open the door earlier. Are you trying to kill yourself with asphyxiation?"

Mr. Wang scoffed. "What's a death of an old man's worth, anyway? You're concerning yourself with unnecessary things."

Alicia let out a sigh, seeing Mr. Wang walk away.

The two adults returned to where the other three were and discussed a few things they found out.

They concluded that there's no signs of harm in the world – the feast from the long, golden table is edible, the treasure room doesn't have any traps in it, and the room filled with smoke is not lethal if handled carefully.

Instead of splitting up, they decided to just pick a room in the castle to sleep over for the night since it's getting a bit too late.

They found a huge room with a bathroom, complete in set--toilet, washroom, bathtub, clothes, and all.

It also had at least 3 king-sized beds.

Haru and Ali together occupied one of it, Alicia and Camille in another, and Mr. Wang on the last rightmost bed.