From Scammer to Divine: The God That Lies Built

After realizing the offering was a shriveled human head, Emmy was naturally terrified.

She stood pale-faced, leaning against the wall, clearly unable to complete the tasks of arranging offerings or lighting candles.

In contrast, though Liam was also startled, he remained far calmer than Emmy.

On the one hand, it was because Liam had already been frightened in the kitchen earlier, giving him a rough understanding of this game's antics.

On the other hand, though Liam felt somewhat scared too, someone had to complete the task. So he deliberately maintained a calm demeanor.

"Performing" could sometimes provide positive psychological reinforcement for oneself.

By the end, Liam found himself not feeling as scared anymore.

Soon, Liam finished the task.

It simply required repositioning the severed head directly in front of the altar and then lighting the extinguished candles with matches from both sides of the altar.

Fear and physical discomfort were essentially the only challenges in this task.

After completing it quickly and easily, Liam hurriedly left the unsettling room with Emmy.

In the corridor, Emmy overflowed with gratitude toward Liam for completing the task alone.

"Thank you so much, Liam..."

"You're welcome. Just a small effort anyway – we're all in danger if we don't finish," Liam said with feigned nonchalance, "You'll just need to pull more weight in the next mission."

"Fair point. As they say, men and women working together make the job easier."

Emmy leaned against the corridor window with a smile, while crows perched on a withered tree outside the window cawed incessantly.

Yet compared to earlier, there was now a trace of forced cheerfulness in Emmy's demeanor.

That shriveled human head from before had undoubtedly become another grim reminder to her...

This game was themed around "death."

What they saw was no fake "prop," but the genuine remains left after a living being perished.

The two reached the end of the corridor, preparing to go to the third floor for their next task.

Just then, footsteps suddenly echoed from the lower staircase.

Emmy and Liam went on high alert again.

This time, however, they had no time to hide before coming face-to-face with the person ascending from below.

It's the pair of Rolly and Maive.

The chubby Rolly immediately halted his steps upon seeing Liam and Emmy.

"Be careful, Maive—these two seem to be lying in wait for us!"

Rolly bravely shielded Maive by positioning her in front of him.

Maive also stared vigilantly at Liam and Emmy.

Liam felt exasperated.

"Who's lying in wait for you? We're also heading upstairs, okay…"

"More importantly—if I recall correctly, your assigned tasks don't involve the upper floors. What are you trying to do up there?"

He turned the questioning back on the two.

Cornered by Liam's observation, Rolly snapped back: "We're under no obligation to tell you our plans!"

With that, Rolly tugged Maive and retreated down the stairs.

Observing their movements and cross-referencing his earlier study of the mansion's layout, Liam deduced they likely intended to reach the second floor via another staircase.

"Not just thief and hooligan—the combination of an otaku and a teacher… is equally bizarre."

Liam couldn't help but comment.

Encountering two suspicious groups in succession made him wonder if there was something fundamentally wrong with the game itself.

Emmy asked curiously, "What was suspicious about those two people we just met? Was it also because they were going somewhere outside their mission area?"

"Exactly. The strangest part is they were going to non-mission areas together," Liam said seriously. "Put yourself in my position – if I suddenly told you I wanted to go somewhere outside our mission parameters, would you agree?"

Emmy paused, then contemplated earnestly: "I'm not sure. That would probably depend on your reason – if it's compelling enough, I might agree."

Liam nodded and countered: "Then reverse the scenario. Suppose you needed to convince me to go somewhere outside mission parameters – what perfect reason could you devise? Not just to make me go, but to make me fully trust you."

Liam's question caught Emmy off guard. After pondering for a long while, she forced a bitter smile: "Now that you mention it, it is strange."

"Right? Especially that otaku. Earlier, he heard about my detective identity and abilities and even trusted me... But this works in our favor. It's precisely these 'abnormalities' that will help me better identify the werewolf."

Seeing Emmy growing uneasy again, Liam changed his tone to comfort her.

"You're right! With Detective here, there's nothing to worry about!"

Emmy regained her composure and declared: "Let's continue our tasks—just wait until tonight's meeting where you'll show your true skills!"

Liam nodded and resumed working with Emmy on the remaining tasks.

However, due to the suspicious behavior of the other two groups they encountered earlier, Emmy and Liam proceeded with heightened caution.

Combined with the inherently tedious tasks, after a full day's work, Emmy and Liam both felt thoroughly exhausted.

"I'm completely exhausted, this is even more tiring than working overtime!"

After completing the final task on today's schedule, Emmy let out a sigh.

By now, the originally dim sky outside had completely darkened.

"Dong—"

A deep chime sounded, indicating the time was nearing seven in the evening. It was time to return to the conference room.

"Let's go."

Liam also looked drained, resembling the hellish finals week when one has to rehearse plays at night after cramming for exams.

The two dragged their heavy footsteps back to the original conference room. Upon entering, they discovered the remaining five members had already taken their seats.

Drake raised an eyebrow when he saw Liam and Emmy enter.

"What a surprise. There were no deaths today."

After his remark, Jack turned to Drake and asked: "Hey soldier, what do you mean by that?"

Emmy also appeared displeased. After sitting down with Liam, she looked at Drake: "Isn't it a good thing that no one died?"

"Of course it's good," Drake said coldly, "But this also means the werewolves are more patient than I imagined... If they couldn't resist killing today, we'd have an opening - isn't that the whole point of pairing up in twos?"

"But that's such a cruel way to put it!"

Emmy exclaimed angrily.

Drake sighed: "Don't be naive, girl. Haven't you realized this is a 'death game'? To take it a step back, even if the werewolves never kill, humans would still need to eliminate at least two werewolves to survive - and elimination means death!"

"This is fundamentally a game where at least two people will die!"

Drake spoke, leaving Emmy at a loss for words.

Not just Emmy, but others present also fell into silence.

Ultimately, it was Rolly who broke the tense atmosphere by speaking up.

"Alright, alright. I think we humans have a strong advantage now... Although the werewolves refrained from attacking, perhaps lacking a good opportunity, this essentially wasted a werewolf's 'turn' in the game!"

"With the Detective's presence, the good faction can confirm someone's identity each day. As long as the Detective uses his ability... the werewolves are actually at a disadvantage now!"

After Rolly finished speaking, everyone naturally turned their gaze toward the silent Liam.