Becoming a God Starts with Acting

Adrian happily struck up a conversation with the old woman about Lotus Park.

"But I heard that recently a lot of people have been trying to move out. Why did your daughter choose to buy a house at a time like this?"

Adrian couldn’t help but guess, "Is it because the houses are cheap...?"

He hadn’t even finished speaking when the old woman’s cane slammed heavily against the ground. She shot Adrian a disapproving look.

"You young people really don’t know anything. Where did you hear that? House prices in Lotus Park are incredibly expensive right now. It’s not as if you can buy one whenever you want. My daughter had to stay on the waiting list for a very long time!"

Seeing the old woman’s gray hair puff up in anger, the silver strands twisting together like a nest of snakes, Adrian immediately raised his hands in surrender and nodded repeatedly.

"Then I must have been badly misinformed."

Only then did the old woman nod in satisfaction and say nothing more.

Adrian rubbed his chest in relief. Just then, someone tugged lightly at his sleeve.

He turned around to see Ember looking at him.

"Aren’t you going to check what happened in Room 601?" he asked coolly.

By then, Ember had already opened the case file. Adrian said nothing more and focused on reading.

The file contained not only written reports but also photographs. The first image showed the three victims lying dead in the living room. Each of them was dressed in a jet-black robe trimmed with strange crimson patterns.

In front of them stood a large altar, upon which rested a faceless deity whose appearance could not be discerned.

A note beneath the photograph stated that before the police had a chance to remove the altar, it had disappeared on its own.

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

If the police hadn’t taken it away, then who had? There was no way it had truly vanished by itself.

Ember murmured, "That thing has to be somewhere in Lotus Park."

Adrian felt the same. There was still hope of finding it.

The rest of the file contained more detailed descriptions of the five victims’ deaths.

Surprisingly, all five had died from blunt force trauma. There was nothing about their injuries that suggested the work of a god. If anything, it looked far more like a deliberate murder.

In particular, the three victims who had performed the ritual to pray to the deity had withdrawn large amounts of cash shortly beforehand. Yet the police hadn’t found a single bill at the scene.

After reviewing the case details, Ember had concluded that robbery and murder was the most likely explanation.

But that was in the real world. Inside a dungeon, they could no longer rely on ordinary logic. It was entirely possible that all five victims had begun turning into ghosts. Not only would they seek revenge, they would also target the residents of Lotus Park. Otherwise, how could so many residents hear strange noises every night?

The person who caught Adrian’s attention the most was Mrs. Elena, the owner of the apartment and the mother of the two victims who had died in the bedroom and the kitchen.

"If anyone really could become a ghost, then Mrs. Elena would probably have the highest chance," he said, half-joking, half-serious.

Before Ember could respond, he instinctively glanced outside to see how far they had traveled. Part of the reason, of course, was to make sure they weren’t actually being taken somewhere bizarre.

But the moment he looked up, Ember’s pupils contracted slightly, the surprise on his face impossible to conceal.

The darkness and dense fog that had blanketed everything outside just moments ago had disappeared.

It wasn’t dazzling daylight. Instead, the weather was gloomy, with thick clouds covering the sky and blocking most of the sunlight, allowing only enough light to illuminate the surroundings.

The air was so clean that there wasn’t the slightest trace of dust or mist, making everything look as though it had just been washed by rain.

"Oh, Ember... why does that face look so familiar to me?"

At that moment, Adrian suddenly spoke from beside him.

Ember turned to look.

The spot where there had only been a puddle of water moments ago was now occupied by someone sitting there. It was obviously the drowned man the old woman had mentioned yesterday.

His entire body was a pale grayish white, water continuously dripping from him. Fortunately, the dripping had begun to slow, as though he was almost out of water.

When Ember looked up at the man’s face, he immediately recognized him.

It was unmistakably one of John’s subordinates.

The man stared back at Ember and Adrian with his eyes wide open, clearly never expecting to run into the two of them here.

The moment he met Ember’s gaze, he immediately shrank back, stammering,

"E-Ember... You two died too?!"

He had never expected that even Ember would die. This dungeon was truly terrifying.

"So the saying about the fourth dungeon really does apply to most people..." he muttered with a sigh.

Ember was about to deny it, but Adrian had already nodded at the drowned man and asked curiously,

"By the way, how did you drown inside your apartment? Did a water ghost drag you away?"

The man shuddered at the question. It was as if something had suddenly come back to him.

"N-No... that’s not it. I didn’t drown in my apartment!"

He quickly recalled what had really happened that day.

"That afternoon, while I was looking for clues in Room 601, I accidentally noticed that the door to Room 606 was open, so I took a peek inside..." he said hesitantly. "The only thing I remember is seeing a man in a black robe sitting in a space bathed in a strange crimson light. There was an altar in front of him."

Adrian’s eyes lit up.

"There was a statue of a veiled god on the altar, right?"

The man’s eyes widened in shock, as if asking how Adrian could possibly know that.

Adrian merely smiled, resting his chin on one hand without saying a word.

Just then, the driver’s voice rang out.

"We’ve arrived at Lotus Park!"

The bus doors opened.

Ember could hardly believe they had actually ridden the bus all the way here without anything happening.

However, what truly astonished him was what lay ahead—

the real sight of Lotus Park...