Chapter 24 Room of Illusion

As I walked down the hallway, I felt someone staring at me. "Oui... This place is so creepy. I feel like something might come out and grab me." Suddenly, the painting besides me moved. "Huh?" Unlike the other paintings which were portraits of royal families, this painting was empty. I moved closer towards the empty painting, and I felt something was terribly wrong about it. "Strange. Even though the painting is empty, I feel like something is moving inside."

Creak. Creak. Creak.

A human hand came out of the painting and tried to grab me. I dodged back and was so horrified that I screamed, "AHHH!!! A hand! A hand came out of a painting! It wasn't my imagination!!!"

RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

"Oui?" The whole place was shaking like it's been struck by an earthquake. The paintings around me were shaking non-stop. I tried to find somewhere to hide but there was nothing but paintings. "What is wrong with this place!" I had no choice but to drop onto the floor and cover my head and neck. Little stones started to drop on me. "Ackk! These stones are small, but they hurt." After some time, the shaking stopped. I peeked up, and everything seemed to be fine. "The shaking stopped? Finally." I stood up and tried to maintain my balance. "Uwahh... My legs feel so wobbly... I wonder what's all that about."

I continued to walk to the end of the hallway, where I was blocked by a wall. I looked behind and saw the stairs where I came from, which was at the other end of the hallway. "It's a straight road, no turnings. I couldn't have gotten lost on a straight road, right?" I looked back and analyzed the wall. "Maybe a door will come out if I touch it? HAHAHA. Ain't that gonna be magical? But that's impossible, right?" Yet again, curiosity got the better of me. "Of course, if you never try, you'll never know." I reached my hands out and touched the wall, and a door mysteriously appeared. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. "I-It appear?!! This place is getting stranger and stranger. I-I better get out of here before I go crazy." With my sweaty hands, I tried to turn the knob but I couldn't open the door. "It's locked? I don't see any keys." I peered through the keyhole and saw a large room similar to a throne room. "I guess this is the boss room, huh?" I went through my inventory and found the 2 paper clips. "Looks like those rewards from the treasure chests aren't useless after all." I used the paper clips and picked the lock.

Clack. Clack. Clang!

The lock was finally opened. "That sure took some time. I guess my skill got rusty. This sure reminds me of the time, I used to pick the door lock connecting to the rooftop. I would sleep on the rooftop until recess was over. Though sometimes I overslept, then when the teachers found me, they would chase me with a bamboo stick." I chuckled. "Good times those were." I turned the knob and opened the door. I cautiously walked into the room and was dumbfounded by the size of the room. "The place is simple and gorgeous. It has such nice high ceilings, almost 8 stories tall." I massaged my overstretched neck as I looked at the high ceiling. However, the most shocking thing was the 14 statues present in the room. Aside from that, the room is totally empty. The 14 statues were made with such detail. It was hard to determine if they were real or not. I presumed the 2 statues sitting on the throne were the King and Queen, and the 2 statues beside them were the Royal Guard and the King's advisor. The rest of the 10 statues were the ministries of different departments, but coincidently, all 10 ministers had the same faces. "Oui... Freaky..."

[Isaac and Rona's side]

"Why is the room so weird? Those 10 statues have the same face."

[Player Llyne entered the Room of Illusion]

"Room of Illusion?"

[It's a room that dives into the players' minds and finds their greatest desire. The room will create the illusion, making the players unable to leave the place. If they could not overcome their desire, the core would not appear, and they would be stuck there forever.]

"There's such a room?"

"Lil's strong desire is this? Lil weird...?"

[…]

"Are you not telling us something?"

[What you and Player Llyne are looking at is how the room actually looks like, although some parts are her desire, for example, the faces of the statues.]

"The face...?" Rona tilted her head.

"Why some parts only?"

[That's not something I can say.]

"I guess there's nothing to worry about since we can see the core all the way here."

[Llyne's side]

I shook my head. "Stay focus. Got to find that core and waltz myself out of here." I walked up to one of the ministry statues. "Wow... The detailed craftsmanship. I could see his wrinkles, too." I snickered. I analyzed the 10 statues from top to bottom. "The only difference between the 10 statues are the emblems. All of the emblems have animals in them." Lion, snake, rhinoceros, owl, panda, turtle, hyena, dove, koi fish, and sloth. "Sloth...? Of all animals?" I slapped myself. "Why can't I stay focused?" I sighed and approached the Royal Guard and King's advisor. I looked around but found nothing. I glanced at the King and Queen.

"Don't chop my head for my disgraceful act." I prayed and continued searching for the core. I couldn't find the core, so I looked elsewhere.

[Isaac and Rona's side]

Isaac and Rona are watching Llyne through the blue screen.

"Rona, isn't the King holding the core? Or am I just blind?"

"Nah! The core is there."

"Then what is Llyne doing?"

"Maybe she lost something while searching just now."

Isaac looked at Rona and sighed. "I hope so."

[Llyne's side]

Slowly, the time passed. Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours. "Ughh... My body hurts..." I bent down and sat in front of the King and let out a big sigh. "Huuuu... This must be my bad luck. I've searched for hours but I couldn't find any round ball." I looked at the King's sceptre. The sceptre had a lion head with the mouth holding a round crystal ball. "The only round thing here is this sceptre." I groaned and closed my eyes. "..." I looked back at the sceptre and screamed. "The core!" I grabbed the sceptre. "This is the core? I took hours to find it, only to realize it was right in front of me the entire time?" I grumbled and glared at the core.

[Isaac and Rona's side]

Isaac and Rona couldn't believe what just happened.

"D-D-Did she-"

"Lil was searching the core the entire time?"

"S-She wasted hours looking for something that was right in front of her face!"

"Oh, Lil.."

"I regret asking her to go." Issac rubbed his head in frustration.

[Llyne's side]

"Okay, now to destroy it." I hold the core up but hesitate. "What if this isn't the core? I would be destroying a national treasure. Who knows, maybe it's sellable and I can earn lots of money with it." I drooled at the thought I could be a millionaire with this rare piece of item.

[Isaac and Rona's side]

"Don't fall for it, Llyne!"

"Lil!"

[Unfortunately, Player Llyne cannot hear you.]

"Damn it!" Isaac slammed on the blue screen.

[Llyne's side]

"It's so tempting." I stared at the core and wouldn't let go. Suddenly, I had a bad headache. "Ouch! What's the deal?" I rubbed my head and looked at the core. "What's the use of money if I can't survive here? Pssh!" I threw the core on the floor as hard as possible.

Crash!

The core smashed into tiny glass fragments.

[Isaac and Rona's side]

"Gosh, she frightened me there. I thought she wouldn't destroy the core."

"Lil so awesome!"

[Llyne's side]

I stretched my back and gave a peaceful smile. "Job here is done. Finally! I can rest!" However, that peace was short-lived.

Rumble! Rumble!

The entire place was shaking non-stop. "Darn it!" I screamed in distress. "Just when I could rest for a while, and this happens! Grr!"

[Warning! The dungeon is collapsing. Please proceed to the exit in front of you.]

"In front of me?" I looked around hastily and found a door behind the throne. "There!" I shouted. Suddenly, a massive object dropped from the ceiling, right in front of me. I blocked and covered myself with my arms. I placed my arms down and saw a chandelier on the floor. "Oui. Where did that chandelier come from?"

Drip.

Blood was dripping down my cheeks, hands, and body. Some tiny glass fragments from the chandelier broke and flew past me, causing me to bleed. Unfortunately, some fragments were stuck inside me. It doesn't hurt, but the feeling wasn't pleasant.

Boom!

A few giant boulders came crashing toward me.