Chapter 2

“What?”

Startled by the message that suddenly appeared before his eyes, he reflexively jerked his head. Immediately after, a low, hollow laugh escaped from Taewoon, who was clutching his forehead.

“They say in a once-in-a-lifetime life, you’re never destined to starve to death…”

He didn’t even have to think to know what the message was.

Taewoon’s Trait, the Theater of All Things, had finally revealed itself, breaking through years of silence.

‘Why on earth now?’

As a test, he placed his hand on the mirror and expressed his intent to enter the Theater of All Things; once again, a message like the previous one appeared to welcome him.

“Good grief, damn it. There’s a limit to these kinds of jokes…”

To think he had to face a mirror and recall the keyword ‘Theater of All Things’ to open the entrance—who on earth could come up with such a condition?

While he felt cheated on one hand, Taewoon nonetheless let out an exclamation of pure joy.

And as for what to do next, there was naturally only one option.

【Would you like to enter the Theater?】

【With your current Tickets, you can enter a total of 3 Theaters.】

▶【The Red Man (★☆) / Action, Detective, Thriller】

▶【Clarte (★★) / Romance, Action, Historical Drama】

▶【Match Point (★) / Sports, Crime, Suspense】

‘This is…’

It wasn’t difficult to understand the meaning, but the progression was truly baffling.

He had thought ‘Theater of All Things’ was a slightly eccentric name, but he had never imagined it would be this kind of Trait.

‘The titles and genres are listed, but what’s that next to them?’

Calling them ratings felt slightly off; he guessed they likely indicated the difficulty of the Theater.

Selecting the desired Theater in this manner and ‘entering’—wouldn’t that be the correct way to use Taewoon’s Trait, the Theater of All Things?

“….”

After pondering the options for a moment, Taewoon made up his mind, placed his hand on the mirror, and selected a Theater.

【You have selected ‘The Red Man’. Would you like to enter the Theater?】

“Yes.”

He excluded Clarte, which seemed to have the highest difficulty, and between the remaining two options, The Red Man was the one with genres he was more familiar with.

‘Action, Detective, Thriller. It’s not hard to gauge roughly what kind of Theater this is.’

Once the selection was made, the mirror was dyed in a mysterious light, guiding Taewoon. As he placed his hand upon it, he felt as if he were passing through a Barrier, and his consciousness began to be sucked away.

The moment he closed and opened his eyes amidst the flickering light, Taewoon found himself in an unknown place.

A space where everything was pitch black, and nothing existed except for Taewoon.

There, Taewoon was given another three options.

【You may select an Entry Privilege!】

▶【A Handful of Blessing】

▶【A Step of Change】

▶【A Word of Advice】

‘This is…’

It was, so to speak, a kind of selectable advantage—at least, that’s how Taewoon perceived it.

‘Which one is the most effective?’

Honestly, there was no way to know. Right now, Taewoon didn’t even know what would happen to him after entering the Theater.

Therefore, for the time being, he couldn’t help but be drawn to ‘A Word of Advice,’ which seemed the most intuitive.

“I’ll choose A Word of Advice.”

【Entry Privilege selected!】

▶【A Word of Advice: Wilson Craig is black.】

Without even a moment to chew over the meaning of those words, his vision went dark once more, and Taewoon’s consciousness was sucked into a giant vortex.

When he came to, Taewoon was already seated in a luxurious carriage, dressed in a neatly tailored medieval suit.

‘…What on earth is going on?’

Going here and there, he had been completely disoriented for a while now.

However, even in such a situation, he was certain that he had entered a ‘Theater,’ so Taewoon hurried to grasp the surrounding circumstances.

‘A mysterious woman is before me, and what is this in my arms?’

While glancing around, he searched the space inside his clothes and found three tickets of unknown origin in his hand.

Then, one of them was suddenly engulfed in grayish-white flames and began to vanish, turning into a handful of dust.

‘That startled me… By the way, can that woman not see this?’

It was a sight that would startle anyone, but the woman riding in the carriage with Taewoon showed not the slightest interest.

Clearing his throat, Taewoon asked in a low voice.

“…Excuse me, but where is this carriage headed?”

“Oh my, Baron Werik, really, did you happen to fall asleep for a moment?”

From what he could gather, Taewoon was perceived as a man named Albert Werik in this Theater, and it seemed he was heading to the mansion of Marquis Hendo, having received an invitation to a party.

‘I see, so roles are assigned this way?’

Though he had lived through many twists and turns, he wasn’t lacking in intuition.

Taewoon quickly struck up a conversation with the lovely woman before him, attempting to dig out as much information as possible about this Theater.

“Hehe, I’ve heard the Hendo family parties are truly legendary; such an opportunity doesn’t come often.”

“That is certainly true.”

“Even I was so excited that I barely slept last night. I’m hoping it will become a memory I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”

The woman before him was Mary, the most skilled seamstress in the area, who said she had been commissioned to accompany him to the mansion.

He wasn’t entirely sure, but this was the starting point, and it was certain that some incident would occur after arriving at the mansion.

‘The genres of The Red Man I checked when entering the Theater were three in total.’

Action, Detective, Thriller.

If so, the simplest possibility would be a murder case at the mansion.

‘And the Entry Privilege, A Word of Advice, pointed to a person named Wilson Craig.’

Interpreting it intuitively, it meant that some incident would occur at the mansion, and the culprit would be Wilson Craig.

‘But…’

In the first place, this was ‘A Word’ of advice, as specified by the Theater.

Could things really be that simple?

That part naturally became an object of suspicion for Taewoon.

‘Wilson Craig is black, huh…’

That ‘black’ could refer to the culprit, but there was certainly a possibility that it didn’t.

Just as he reached that conclusion, news came from the coachman outside that they had nearly arrived at the mansion.

“….”

Right. Regardless, it was time to enter the mansion and secure information.

Organizing his complicated thoughts, Taewoon followed the guidance of a servant and unpacked in his assigned room.

‘By the way, what kind of mansion is this?’

First of all, it was far too large.

He had imagined a merely giant noble’s residence, but this was practically a fortress.

‘It has four floors, and the area of each floor is immense.’

From the Banquet Hall and dressing rooms to a giant library and exhibition rooms, there were so many spaces based on purpose alone that it was nearly impossible to memorize them in a short time.

If an incident were to occur in a place like this, it would certainly be several times harder to grasp the surrounding situation, if nothing else.

“…This is difficult.”

“Is there some problem, sir?”

“No. I was just thinking about something else. By any chance, is there an official schedule later?”

When he asked the elderly man who appeared to be a servant of the mansion, he obtained the information that the party would begin tonight at 10 o’clock.

‘Then until nightfall, it’ll be about questioning the surroundings.’

Since he had no other clues anyway, Taewoon began to busily move around the interior of the mansion, examining its structure and layout.

In the process, he was able to get acquainted with a few servants and naturally exchanged greetings with other nobles who appeared to be party guests.

A few hours later, after exhausting his legs all day, Taewoon realized one simple fact.

‘I don’t know anything…’

Between the servants of the mansion and the outside guests, there were far too many people visible in this mansion.

Taewoon’s plan to leisurely find and mark the key figures, as if watching a movie, was an incredibly naive thought.

‘Damn it, why is it like this?’

At least with the current method, too much time would pass before he could find anyone suspicious.

Usually, in a detective movie where you find the culprit, the cast of characters is set, but isn’t this just too haphazard!

‘No, should I think the opposite?’

Though he let out a complaint, it might mean that Taewoon’s approach to clearing the Theater was wrong.

In fact, rather than worrying about the people around him right now, wouldn’t it be the right timing to get information about the title, ‘The Red Man’?

Thinking so, Taewoon returned to the second floor where he had unpacked and spoke to Mary, whom he happened to encounter.

“The Red Man? I’ve never heard such a rumor.”

“Is that so?”

“I hear there are many people with red hair and eyes in the distant Cologne region, so perhaps it’s a story related to that.”

Since it didn’t seem like further conversation would lead to any progress, Taewoon gave a brief thank you and returned to his room, lost in thought.

‘Right. I don’t think this is the way.’

Even if he had watched some movies and read some books in reality, it didn’t make Taewoon a dashing master detective or a brilliant intellectual.

Collect clues to deduce and reveal the identity of the mastermind?

The words sounded fancy, but why should Taewoon force himself to fit into the Theater’s intentions and struggle like an amateur?

Regardless of everything, in the end, a person should do what they are good at.

Thinking this, Taewoon cast everything aside and began to walk without hesitation to find Wilson Craig.

“Count Craig? I saw him drinking tea in the garden a moment ago.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to find his whereabouts. Before long, Taewoon came face to face with the Count.

“Yes, I heard you have business with me?”

“That is correct, Count. If it is not an imposition, could you spare me a moment of your time?”

Wilson Craig’s first impression was that of a truly imposing noble gentleman.

He looked to be just entering his 50s, and while he had a rather plump build, he was tall enough that it didn’t look unsightly.

Taewoon thought he had a decent eye for people, but it was difficult to judge what kind of person he was from a single glance.

“So, what are you curious about?”

“I have heard much of your reputation, Count. I heard you recently achieved great success in the transportation business in Holman. I was interested in that as well, and I was deeply impressed by your flawless business acumen.”

He opened the conversation with things he had heard while exchanging pleasantries with other nobles, firing off flattery like a machine gun, but Wilson didn’t even show a hint of being pleased, as if he were used to it.

‘Is this not enough?’

They continued to talk for another ten minutes or so, but in Taewoon’s eyes, he was merely a successful businessman and a cautious noble.

‘I can’t tell. But that makes him even more suspicious.’

It was clear that there was something about this man. However, it was impossible to draw out the inner truth with Taewoon’s intuition and speaking skills.

If so, from now on, a more ‘intuitive conversation’ might be necessary.

‘I’ll see you again tonight, Wilson!’

The first day’s exploration ended with a meaningful phrase, and finally, the sun set.

It was now time for the party to begin.