She Was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment [Unlimited] - Chapter 36
Chapter 36: The Rose Manor (1)
I Have No Obligation to Save You
[Congratulations, player, you have successfully entered the dungeon.]
Jiang Nan opened her eyes. A biting wind hit her face, and a shadow flashed past. A sharp feather grazed her cheek.
The sting on her face made her frown. She raised her hand to her cheek, her fingertips touching a warm, sticky liquid. The faint smell of bl00d lingered in her nostrils.
“Damn it, why are there so many wild birds here?!”
A loud voice boomed in her ears, making Jiang Nan frown. A hint of annoyance flashed in her eyes.
She looked in the direction of the voice. A man’s face was flushed red, and a large, gold chain around his neck was being held in the beak of a ferocious-looking red bird. The bird flapped its wings, pulling the man and almost dragging him off the ground.
During the tug-of-war, the man spewed a continuous stream of curses. But the bird was clearly not to be trifled with and held him in a death grip.
After a brief glance, Jiang Nan had no intention of helping. This made the man with the gold chain even angrier, but he had no time to deal with Jiang Nan.
After a moment, more people began to appear. Hearing the noisy chatter, Jiang Nan retreated to the back of the crowd, lowered her eyes, and kept silent, lowering her sense of presence.
She uncomfortably tugged at her dress. A subtle, confused emotion flashed in her eyes.
Her clothes had already been changed into an exquisite long dress. The silk material and light blue color made her already fair skin look even more delicate. Her flawless face, adorned with styled, luminous hair, made her look like a young lady who had been carefully dressed up for a banquet.
She had seen this dress before, in the clothing store in the Exchange Area. She forgot the exact price, but it was expensive.
Jiang Nan knew she hadn’t bought it herself, but it had been changed for her, just like in the previous dungeon.
She looked up, scanning the players who had already entered the dungeon, but she couldn’t see that one familiar figure.
After pulling her gaze back, she wasn’t even aware of the disappointment in her eyes.
Most of the players had arrived, scattered and filling the area. None of them had any intention of helping the man with the gold chain. They just watched from a distance, many staying far away for fear of being implicated.
A man with a fierce face appeared. He held a military knife, took a big step forward, and made a harsh slice. The large red bird immediately let out a mournful cry.
The bird shrieked and flapped its wings. A number of feathers scattered into the air, and hot bl00d splattered onto the man’s face, making him look even more terrifying and forcing people to retreat.
One woman pulled at her dress with a hint of disgust and frowned.
“Stay away. You’re getting bl00d on me.”
The man turned his head and gave the woman a sinister smile, completely unbothered by his frightening appearance. He spoke in a deep voice.
“Miss, when you can barely save yourself, why care about staying clean?”
Yan Xin met his eyes and noticed that the other male players were also looking her up and down. Already ill-tempered, she completely lost her cool. She immediately flared up.
“What are you looking at? Have you never seen a woman? Is it so wrong to be a clean freak?!”
She was like a girl who had been spoiled by her parents, and everyone seemed to annoy her.
The man’s smile became even more sinister, which made Yan Xin even more displeased.
A girl with a high ponytail and a gentle face walked over and tried to calm down the fuming Yan Xin. She spoke, trying to mediate.
“We’re all players. Let’s be considerate of each other. After all, we have to stay in this place together.”
Yan Xin glared at the girl standing next to her, pushed her hand away, and said coldly.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
They all argued amongst themselves, and the scene was chaotic for a moment.
The man who had been dragged by the bird clutched his chest. He took a breath and began to cough violently, his face turning beet red. After finally catching his breath, his bloodshot eyes stared at the quiet Jiang Nan in the back of the crowd. He pointed at her and cursed her out.
“You dead woman, you clearly saw it! Why didn’t you save me?! If something had happened to me, I’ll make sure you lose everything!”
There were many people here who had chosen to stand by and watch, but he chose to curse at Jiang Nan specifically. He had obviously seen the expensive dress on her, mistakenly believing her to be a high-level player.
He was the only son in his family. After his family became rich, he was spoiled by everyone. Even when he caused trouble, someone would indulge him. Naturally, after he came here, he still thought everyone should revolve around him.
The gold-chain man wanted to find trouble with Jiang Nan because he was attracted to her striking looks, and because her sickly appearance made her look easy to bully. Most importantly, he thought she was a high-level player.
The others also looked over. The high-ponytail girl saw the dress on Jiang Nan and her eyes flashed. She immediately walked to Jiang Nan and said to the man, who was clearly a nouveau riche.
“What are you saying? You can’t just curse at people.”
Others didn’t understand Jiang Nan. All of the gold-chain man’s guesses about her were wrong.
Jiang Nan raised her eyes. The depths of her pale pupils were like a clear spring, calm and still. When she looked at the other person, it made them shiver.
Even with her pale face and sullen expression, the fact that she hadn’t opened her mouth yet made people conclude that she was a player who had come down from a higher level for a bit of fun.
Jiang Nan parted her lips and spoke calmly, without a hint of emotion.
“First, I have no property. Second, I have no obligation to save you.”
She was speaking the truth, but the man with the gold chain was so stunned that his face turned green. He was so angry he could only point a finger at Jiang Nan.
Yan Xin crossed her arms. Her eyes were filled with disdain. While she found everyone annoying, this gold-chain man was clearly the worst. A look of mockery appeared on her lips.
“Oh, the fake rich guy wants to latch onto someone, and this is how he does it.”
Just as another argument was about to break out, an average-looking man with a kind smile tried to mediate.
“Stop arguing. Let’s see what we need to do next.”
“I say, young man, you’re too hot-headed,” a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a bald head slowly came out, trying to take charge condescendingly.
A woman in a professional suit and light makeup glanced at them. She didn’t say anything and just looked at her surroundings with a female student who didn’t want to argue, pondering their strategy.
The system’s voice rang out at this moment, stopping the argument.
[This dungeon’s name is: The Rose Manor]
Hearing that, Jiang Nan’s eyebrows raised slightly. Her gaze fell on the roses that surrounded them. Every petal was as red as if it had been stained with bl00d, giving off an eerie and chilling vibe.
After the system’s static, a cold voice began to describe the dungeon’s world.
[The manor has an extremely beautiful owner named Henriette. She has many admirers, but Henriette is only obsessed with perfume. For this, she ordered people to plant her favorite perfume ingredient, roses. The blooming roses surrounded the manor, and Henriette’s admirers also vanished. Occasionally, a noble man would hear of the manor owner’s beauty but would be too afraid of the roses’ thorns to get close. Soon, they too disappeared. Henriette’s roses became even more beautiful.]
[But Henriette has always had a problem. She wants the best perfume, but she can’t make it herself. So she put out a public notice looking for a perfumer. You are the outstanding individuals who have been chosen.]
[Please make a perfume for Henriette to satisfy her.]
Everyone held their breath as they listened to the system’s introduction, their expressions varied.
The gold-chain man’s face had just recovered a bit. He was horrified when he heard the system’s words. He uncomfortably shifted on the ground.
“So you’re saying there are corpses buried under our feet.”
No one answered him, but their expressions already gave the answer.
[The following are the dungeon rules:]
[1: Do not defy the manor owner’s statements regarding perfume!]
[2: Please protect your perfume!]
[3: The manor owner will choose the best-smelling perfume in the morning and invite its owner to her room for a late-night chat.]
[Please work hard to survive while making perfume, and good luck to all. We look forward to meeting again.]
[A warning from the system: Dear players, you cannot seek death, only survival. Violators will be sentenced to a life sentence, forever living in the dungeon’s cycle.]
They had thought the system’s words would end there, but they never expected the next words to make them instantly move away from each other, their faces filled with caution toward everyone else.
[Players, please note, this dungeon has an open kill right.]
“What the hell?! Didn’t they say that the open kill right would only be available at the tenth level?!” The man with the gold chain was shocked. He walked far away, pointed at the others, and warned them.
“Don’t you dare come near me.”
The others were stunned when they heard the system’s words and completely ignored the man.
The man with the fiercest face was the first to regain his composure. His chilling gaze swept over the others, the smile on his lips filled with a hidden meaning.
A scoundrel-looking man with a swagger bit down on a cigarette. Before it could burn his mouth, he took it out and smiled lewdly.
“Isn’t this great? Any ladies need a brother’s protection?”
None of the female players answered him. Their expressions were all different.
Yan Xin frowned impatiently and said without mercy.
“Get lost.”
Jiang Nan, after coming to her senses, frowned.
Why would the system suddenly increase the difficulty and open the kill right in a low-level dungeon?
She had a faint feeling that the system was targeting her.
But if the system or the main god had discovered her existence, why hadn’t it erased her immediately?
The only explanation was that something was stopping the system and the main god.
She remembered that she could designate a boss to be killed. She lowered her eyes and looked at her hand, but she couldn’t see anything.
While she was thinking, someone walked through the rose field. She was tall and wore a well-tailored outfit. Her expression held a standard smile. She stopped in front of everyone and spoke.
“I am Coralee, the butler here. My master sent me to welcome all of you perfumers to the manor.”
With that, her gaze swept over everyone and landed on the cigarette butt on the ground. The ember hadn’t been extinguished. The smile on her lips didn’t change, but her eyes were cold.
“I’ll give you all a piece of advice. Do not harm a single rose. Otherwise, my master will be sad.”
The scoundrel saw that the butler was a woman and didn’t realize the warning was for him. He looked completely unbothered and beckoned to the others.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
He stepped on a few roses, having already forgotten the butler’s warning.
The coldness in Coralee’s eyes deepened. The red bird from earlier circled in the air for a moment before landing on her shoulder. Bl00d flowed, staining her white clothes. The smile on her face only made her look more eerie and terrifying.
The female butler led the players through the sea of roses and successfully arrived at the manor.
A woman was standing with her back to them. She wore a black silk dress embroidered with silver thread. The subtle glitter on her skirt was like the stars in the night sky. Her long hands were covered by black gloves, her hair was slightly curly and draped over her shoulders. A black hat on her head covered most of her face, making her look mysterious and noble.
The woman held a golden watering can and was lazily watering the roses in the flower bed.
The roses swayed in the wind, and the water droplets on the petals glistened. But for some reason, when Jiang Nan looked at them, she felt like the flowers were desperately trying to get away from the woman.
Jiang Nan’s gaze fell on the woman. In an instant, a fresh scent mingled with the strong rose fragrance. She was stunned for a moment.
The players had thought the woman in the black dress was the manor’s owner, Henriette, but they were surprised when the female butler went up to her and said warmly.
“You’ve been so kind.”