Chapter 297: Chapter 297: Hidden Events
“The ‘Commercial District’ has the most challenging strange tales…there might be some points I have not fully considered.”

When the store clerks queuing outside the General Mansion had all undergone the ‘hanging-modification’ and left the underground area.

Lead by Mia.

Han Dong was to the left and Abe to the right.

The three directly entered the mansion through the front door…Winry, on the other hand, quietly went round to the entrance of the underground passage, preparing to disconnect the underground area from the surface as quickly as possible.

The main yard of the mansion.

Although the main building of the mansion was severely damaged, and a large amount of blood could be seen between the external corridor and the sliding doors, it was still generally well-preserved.

Not far from the main house, there was the shallow pond mentioned in the clues.

A crooked tree grew in the pond, a structure greatly suited for ‘hanging’…even when the team looked directly at the tree, they had a brief moment of suicidal thoughts.

This startled Mia and Abe for a moment; their hair, both on their bodies and on their insects, extended slightly away from their body, sweat dripping down their foreheads.

However…Han Dong’s focus was elsewhere.

When Han Dong stepped into the main yard, most of his attention was on the main building.

Because the Little Demon Eye seemed to see something lurking in the dark corners of the building…moreover, bizarre blood handprints would occasionally appear on the paper doors.

The entire building radiated an unspeakable evil aura.

At this moment… sobbing noises came from under the pagoda tree.

An icy chill spread from the shallow pond, even freezing the surroundings in a layer of ice.

A woman appeared under the tree, wearing a white-edged pale-pink kimono and a prajna mask… her figure was both substance and void, immune to common attacks.

Looking at her smooth skin, she did not look like a middle-aged person over fifty at all.

At this moment, Han Dong made a rather unusual decision.

His hand lightly landed on his companion’s shoulder.

“Abe…assist Mia and confront this female host! I must check the inside of the building.”

If it was their first time collaborating, Abe would definitely object to Han Dong’s proposal.

After all, the ultimate target of the strange tale was right here; dispersing the fighting forces at this time was unwise.

However, after previous collaborations, Abe fully trusted his decisions.

Abe’s furry pointed ears twitched slightly as if he had heard something, “There seems to be a strange noise coming from the building, be careful.”

Han Dong gave an ‘OK’ sign with his hand.

“Don’t worry…I alone am a team.”

Just then.

Boom!

Loud sounds came from all the entrances of the underground area.

With a light tap from Winry’s hammer, the small passage connecting to the ground-level dormitory was about to collapse completely.

Such noise naturally drew most of the attention of the crying woman under the pagoda tree…By the time she turned her head, she noticed that there was one less intruder in the General’s Mansion.

However, she didn’t care.

The only thing that caught her attention was the Demon Sword, wrapped in spider silk on Mia’s back.

The Demon Sword, stolen years ago, had finally returned.

On the outer corridor of the main building.

Han Dong stood in front of the sliding door stained with blood handprints.

Swoosh…

As he violently slid open the door, he caught a glimpse of a figure with a bare butt, quickly crawling away on the ceiling… the aura from the figure was completely different from the worker at the hot spring inn.

“As expected…even though the main character of the strange tale is the female host [Huan], this General’s Mansion is also an important factor that cannot be ignored.

The Samurai follow the Bushido code, regard ‘seppuku’ as the most noble way of death.

But when the enemy army invaded the mansion, this female host chose not to end her life with ritual suicide.”

She had chosen to “hang herself” and placed a cultic ritual arrangement beneath her body, using the skulls of her loved ones and her favorite Tachi sword.

Quite likely, the lady of the house had been practicing these lowly and evil techniques of witchcraft for a long time.

‘A yin nature Pagoda Tree grown in a shallow pond’

‘Who, despite being over fifty, had delicately smooth skin and skills of swordsmanship and agility beyond ordinary people’

All these aspects were supporting evidence towards the same.

I even suspect that this lady of the house, [Huan], long ago took the general’s place and became the true master of the General Mansion.

The real secret of the General Mansion should be hidden here… finding it could completely eradicate ‘Strange Tales’.”

Just after Han Dong had deduced all these possibilities in his mind,

A shadow gradually began to form in the corner of the current room.

“Who’s there!?”

Han Dong was prepared to use his tentacle-like abilities.

But the next second, Han Dong was gradually withdrawing and his pupils flashed an unexpected surprise.

The figure that emerged from the shadows, which slowly appeared out of the darkness, was not the ghost of The General Mansion nor the clown – Pennywise from the illusion.

It was….

“Mr. Aha!?”

Exactly, the one who appeared from the corner was the bony and decrepit Mr. Aha, the owner of the ‘store’.

Han Dong, who had been intensely analysing the event at the General Mansion, suddenly felt his thoughts scatter due to Mr. Aha’s unexpected appearance, as if a large-scale program had suddenly been added and needed to be processed in parallel.

This left Han Dong somewhat confused.

“Aha! I knew from the beginning that you, a young man, were completely different from the [Dead Prisoners] brought in here as usual.

You dismissed the main theme of ‘Strange Tales’ outside, and came alone to this key area of construction.

I’ve been having trouble managing this [General Mansion] as I have to oversee multiple stores and have little time to deal with matters here.

The last time I managed to find some free time, I only stole the ‘Demon Sword’.

I gave the Demon Sword to many convict teams, but they were all incompetent. They all died before reaching deep into this underground area and I had to recover the Demon Sword again.

However, this time my premonition is not bad! You are completely different from those incapable prisoners.

Since you have discovered the root of the problem in advance, and today there aren’t many customers in the store… Let us handle the affairs of the [General Mansion] together, shall we, Aha?

If it’s handled well, I might consider giving you a discount on items in the store!”

The situation took an unexpected turn.

Mr. Aha actually suggested cooperation.

At the moment Han Dong was hesitating, a prompt tone rang:

“Hidden Event – General Mansion (Triggered)”

Brief requirement: When your team was exploring the ‘Strange Tales – [Ghost Huan]’, they inadvertently stumbled upon the secret of the General Mansion.

The General Mansion is in the commercial area of [Paradise], and falls under the area of non-full control. You need to assist Mr. Aha in uncovering the secret of the General Mansion and help Mr. Aha gain complete control of this area.

Trigger Condition: Enter the General Mansion alone when the lady of the house [Huan] is not yet dead.

Event type: Assisting

Completion Reward: Improve the intimacy level with Mr. Aha. (Hint: Improving the relationship with Mr. Aha would allow you to enjoy unique discounts in the ‘store’ and might let you buy some rare items.)

Do you want to take the hidden event?

“Yes!”

Han Dong was also taken by surprise.

He did not expect his solo exploration to trigger such an unexpected hidden event… and also involve the mysterious Mr. Aha.

This also made Han Dong curious about Mr. Aha’s real positioning in [Paradise].

Seeing the collaboration had been agreed upon, Mr. Aha pulled out a layer of shadow from his small pocket and attached it to the wall of the General Mansion.

For the moment…the shadows spread out, sealing the entire General Mansion, blocking anyone from entering or leaving.

The current hidden event needs to be completed by Han Dong alone.

“Let’s go… young man.”