How To Survive A Calamity-Chapter 254: The Girl Who’s Been Watching [2]

Hamlet yanked back the girl's hair from behind, pulling her head and pressing the blade tighter against her neck.

I channeled my Ether into the Ring of Solomon and activated the [Ruler's Authority] enchantment to its full extent. A wave of pressure and intimidation erupted from every fiber of my being, bearing down on the girl and crushing her will beneath my aura.

My gaze was icy as I stared at her.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Initially, I had no thoughts of overreacting to this extent. I'd planned to remain level-headed and mask my agitation behind a heavy facade.

I didn't know who the girl was, what she wanted, or even how she got in. And in a time when it seemed my world was coming undone at the seams around me, I was feverishly on edge against any possibility.

Even still, I had a few guesses about the girl's identity. One of them was the reason I started leaving Hamlet behind in my room whenever I was away—to find the culprit who left me the letter.

Up until now, the culprit hadn't shown themselves or made any other move, but I was certain they eventually would.

And in the likely scenario they tried to sneak me another letter under my door, Hamlet would be there ready.

Who would have thought, instead, that I'd find an unexpected break-in visitor.

And at such a worse possible time as well."

"Ah, how annoying. Out of all the times you could do this, you chose to do this today."

The girl continued to grunt and groan, straining under Hamlet's iron grip. Her neck strained under the sharp edge of the blade kissing her skin, and her starry eyes trembled.

I tilted my head slightly.

"I'll have you know I'm in a pretty bad mood right now. It'll be better for both of us if you answered my questions without too much trouble. As you can see, my partner over there is impatient."

Unexpectedly, the girl's lips broke into a strained smile and she forced a laugh. Even in this situation, she tried to desperately hold on to her facade of control.

"Aren't you going a bit overboard with the theatrics?" she asked, forcing a crooked smile. Her eyes darted furtively toward Hamlet before quickly looking away.

I blinked dryly.

"Theatrics?" I scoffed. "You're the one who snuck into my room in the middle of the night and waited for me."

Her smile widened.

"Not the middle of the night. Almost curfew."

I lingered, then nodded slowly.

"And that's the reason you can act so nonchalantly—because you think you can't be missing for long after curfew. You believe that eliminates any threat of me… getting rid of you."

She chuckled weakly and tried to shrug.

"Your words, not mine. Although, 'getting rid of me' is kind of overkill, don't you think? I mean…"

With a strained expression, she tried to meet my eyes.

"What reason would you even have to do that? What—could you be hiding something you're afraid I'll find? Or maybe… reveal?"

I lingered for a moment, then met her gaze with a deadpan glare.

"I must not have been clear the first time I said it. I'm the one asking the questions. You're the one with a blade to your neck who has to answer. I'm the one with the threats."

The darkness surrounding the room deepened at my subtle command. The eerie shadows coiling from Hamlet reached toward the girl like cold, living limbs as my pressure mounted.

Her arrogant grin faltered again, and her face paled. Then she forced another smile and darted her eyes toward me. She tried to laugh, but it came out forced and dry.

"You're bluffing, Victor. You don't really think you can get rid of me. What do you think would happen the next morning if—by some chance—I happened to be missing? I made sure there were a few witnesses who saw me come here."

I shrugged, almost noncommittally.

"And they'll see you walk right out."

At the same time, Hamlet shape-shifted. The dark, haunting figure cloaked in shadows began to shrink, and the nightmarish demonic mask dissolved—revealing a much more familiar face.

In less than a second, Hamlet looked no different than me. Same parted brown hair, same piercing golden eyes that glared coldly at the girl, still holding a knife to her neck.

She blinked, eyes wide with shock. Then it clicked—what my words actually meant. She tried to laugh off her fear, forcing a nervous smile as she raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Ah, who said anything about not answering? The reason I'm here in the first place is because I wanted to speak to you, Victor. Really, there's no need for… any of this."

Despite her words, I didn't call Hamlet or the darkness off. My gaze stayed locked on her, cold and cutting.

She exhaled a weary sigh.

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"For starters, who are you? At this point, it feels like I'm repeating myself too much." I frowned darkly.

The girl met my question with an almost embarrassed smile and muttered something under her breath I barely caught.

"Ah… you really, really don't know me, then." She sighed again.

"I'm Alice. First-Year, Rank Ten—Alice Al'Rowen."

"What?"

My brows furrowed at her response.

"You're the 10th Ranked?"

The elusive Rank 10 I'd heard so much about.

Alice Al'Rowen.

Now that I think about it, I did hear some strange and unsettling things about her appearance—specifically her eyes and her unnerving charisma.

But…

"What does the Rank 10 want with me?" I voiced the thought out loud.

Before Alice could reply, I cut in again.

"You're the one behind that letter." I raised a skeptical brow.

Alice's starry eyes met mine, and her face lit up oddly.

"Ah, so you did receive the letter! Wow, I was starting to think you might have missed it somehow, from the way you've been acting. Funny—that's actually one of the reasons I decided to show up like this. Haha."

Then her face brightened even more, as if something suddenly clicked and finally made sense to her.

"Ohh. That explains where all the murder vibes are coming from!"