Even as he said that, the Master Office was a lot more normal than Deon expected.

After everything the Miracle Royale had thrown at them—a ruined city crawling with monsters, a giant boss that could shoot rock-melting laser beams, and a floating rabbit mascot with the moral compass of a chainsaw—he had expected the room behind the double doors to look a little more dramatic.

A wall plastered in blood-writing that spelled out ’Welcome, Guests," maybe. But instead, it was just an old office.

Dark wooden shelves lined the walls, packed tightly with books that looked expensive enough to make Deon instinctively dislike whoever owned them. A wide desk sat near the far end of the room, polished black and covered with stacks of papers, sealed envelopes, and a lamp that glowed despite having no visible power source.

A few long guest chairs were arranged in front of the main desk, each one decorated in deep red fabric.

A painting hung above it, depicting a stern-looking man with silver hair, dressed in formal clothes and standing beside a window with one hand behind his back.

The others slowly filled in behind them. Vivian lazily strolled over to one of the guest chairs and sat down while Mina did the same, laying the still-injured Nami on them.

Jin came in last, clutching the [Fire Axe] Card in both hands as he glanced around as if expecting monsters to pop out of the bookshelves.

Deon closed the doors after they came in, isolating the sounds of the other group. But when he turned back to look at the group, everyone but Vivian held the same expression on their face.

"I don’t want to do this anymore."

Deon sighed, trying to think of the right words to comfort them before shaking his head and deciding to tell them the ugly truth.

"Everyone, we’re currently in a Death Game. Stop thinking about this as the Miracle Royale."

Hana’s eyes lifted to meet his. "W–what?"

"If you think about it that way, it’ll be easier to keep moving. These sadistic fuckers lured us with the promise of a miracle. And now that we’re in it, they trap us and force us to compete in these games."

"So think about it as survival," he continued. "If they simply wanted us dead, why go through all this hassle? Remember, you have to keep going so you can survive. Because only you can get yourself out of this."

Now the whole room had their eyes on him, and he could see the emotions underneath them—hesitation, grief, and most importantly...hope.

Because ugly or not, Deon’s words had given them something firmer to stand on than panic.

Vivian leaned back against the guest chair and crossed one leg over the other. "That was very inspirational, Little Day."

"Tch..." Deon clicked his tongue, ignoring her. "Enough sitting around. We need to get ahead of the game before anyone outside starts to grow a spine."

Nami lifted her head slightly from the chair. "Meaning?"

"Meaning we search."

Mina blinked. "The whole office?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Books, drawers, paintings, weird objects, suspicious floorboards, anything that looks suspicious enough. Check everything."

Hana nodded quickly. "What about traps?"

"Don’t touch anything if it looks obviously cursed."

Jin swallowed. "How do we know if something looks cursed?"

"Hmmm," Deon placed a finger on his chin. "If you find something suspicious, call me or Vivian."

"Mmm!"

With that, everyone started spreading around the office. Hana went toward the left shelves, carefully scanning the books without pulling any of them out.

Mina stayed near Nami, checking the small tables beside the guest chairs while keeping one eye on her sister. Vivian rose from her seat before wandering toward the painting above the desk.

Deon went straight to the main desk.

If there was anything important inside the Master Office, it would either be hidden behind the painting, inside the desk, or written in one of the papers rich people always kept around because they loved documenting their own corruption. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He sat in the large chair behind the desk and immediately hated how comfortable it was.

[ClownWithWifi: bro sat in the villain chair]

[ChairGoblin_22: +10 aura]

[AuraMonster: A fitting seat.]

[RandomToastEnjoyer: investigate the rich guy desk!!!]

Deon ignored them for the moment and opened his System, the familiar blue panel greeting him.

[Current Points: 371]

Damn, it still looks absurd no matter how many times I see it. Maybe it’s best to spend it on something to help with this Game?

That was when he remembered what those on the ground floor were talking about.

Basic supplies were supposed to be expensive enough for Joshua to oust me immediately...

[Shop]

[Canned Food - 5 Points]

[Bottled Water - 5 Points]

[Blanket - 8 Points]

[Basic Medical Kit - 15 Points]

[Portable Bedding - 20 Points]

[Sanitary Kit - 10 Points]

"Damn, five Points for canned food? That’s gotta be highway robbery."

Hana looked over from the shelf. "Is it that...bad?"

"One can costs almost two Ruined Hounds," Deon nodded. "Or half an Infantry if you wanna get technical with the math."

Mina’s face turned pale. "That’s insane."

"Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out later," Deon muttered, moving toward the Card section of the shop.

With a quick tap, he toggled on the [Non-Consumable] tag and looked at the prices. As expected, the price difference between consumable and non-consumable was around double the former’s value.

Deon did the math.

With this amount, I could easily get myself a non-consumable Rare Card. Given the power of [Lightning Bolt]...

Deon took a glance at Vivian, who casually pulled out a book, read the first page and immediately put it back.

...and [Clone], or rather [Doppelgänger], maybe investing in a Rare Card of my own could be a good trump card.

He moved to the Level tab next.

[Current Level: 6]

[Purchase Level 7?]

[Cost: 64 Points]

Right, and if I go with this route, I could probably get two more Levels, assuming this one costs 64 and the next costs 128. The total would be roughly the same as the Rare Card, but more consistent.

However, a part of him realized that it might not be the best idea. As inside a game literally called [Escape Room]—

Combat power wasn’t what could get them out of here.