The woman turned around, only for Nidi to realize it was a desiccated corpse!
Upon hearing the voices of the game characters, the corpse started shambling toward them.
The sight freaked Nidi out so much that she froze, forgetting to control her character.
Luckily, Ashley was braver and quickly took over, firing her revolver. Her aim was awful, though—out of six shots, she only landed one, practically outlining the target with misses.
"Nidi, attack already!" Ashley urged.
"Oh, right!" Nidi snapped out of it, taking control of her character and firing. Her aim was leagues better, nearly every shot a headshot.
The police revolver wasn't very powerful, but after three direct hits, the corpse finally collapsed. Nidi let out a relieved breath.
"Phew! That scared the crap out of me!"
Roy glanced at Nidi, noticing the sweat beading on the gaming addict's forehead.
Nidi and Ashley maneuvered their characters to the corpse, inspecting a glowing spot on it, triggering another cutscene.
Nico: What the hell was that thing? Did Mrs. Stoke come back to life or something?
Jack: No, something's off. It doesn't look like Mrs. Stoke's body. Check her clothes—she's wearing a blue dress. I remember Mrs. Stoke wore red.
Nico: You're pretty observant, huh?
Jack: Isn't that just basic detective work?
Nico: Fair point. But Dr. Stoke said there were only three people living in this mansion. So who's this fourth person?
Jack: No idea. Dr. Stoke's missing, so maybe Annie can give us some answers.
The cutscene ended, and the characters were controllable again.
Nidi and Ashley guided their characters forward, soon reaching the servants' quarters.
There were plenty of rooms here, suggesting the mansion once housed many servants. It was odd that Annie was the only maid in such a massive place.
Maybe it was a budget issue, or perhaps the developers designed it this way on purpose.
Most of the rooms in the servants' quarters were locked, except for one with a glowing light—Annie's room, the blonde maid.
Inside, Annie sat alone at a vanity table with a mirror, two lit white candles in front of it, eerily reminiscent of the urban legend ritual to summon Bloody Mary.
Annie: Oh? The two detectives haven't left yet?
Jack: Ms. Annie, we need to talk to you about something.
Annie: Go ahead. I'll cooperate as much as I can.
Nico: We just saw a weird corpse in the hallway. Know anything about it?
Annie: A corpse? What corpse? I've lived here for ages and never seen anything like that.
Jack: What about Mrs. Stoke? Isn't she a corpse?
Annie: Sheriff, what are you talking about? Mrs. Stoke passed away just a year ago. How could she be a corpse already?
At this point, everyone watching the screen found it suspicious.
Jennifer couldn't help but discuss the plot with Roy. "Roy, what's going on here?"
"If Annie isn't lying, then it's possible she's seeing something different from what the protagonists are seeing," Roy replied.
Nidi jumped into the conversation. "Roy, you mean Annie's seeing an illusion?"
"I'm not sure, but it's either that or she's lying."
The plot continued.
Jack: But we definitely just shot down a walking corpse. You didn't hear the gunshots?
Annie: Sorry, I didn't hear anything.
Nico: Not even the woman's scream from the garden earlier?
Annie: What scream? I came back to my room and haven't heard a thing.
Jack: Alright, let's stop this pointless back-and-forth. I'll take you to see that corpse, then we'll check the garden. You okay with that, Ms. Annie?
Annie: I said I'd cooperate, but I hope this doesn't take too long. I need to rest soon—I've got work early tomorrow.
Nico: Of course.
The cutscene ended, and Annie's character began following the protagonists.
Nidi and Ashley guided their characters back to the hallway where the corpse had been, but the floor was empty.
Jack: This can't be! I swear I shot a corpse right here!
Annie: I don't see anything.
Nico: Could someone have moved the body?
Annie: Are you suggesting Dr. Stoke moved it? Impossible. He's definitely asleep by now.
Jack: Damn it! Take me to the garden. There's got to be someone else hiding in this house!
The cutscene ended, and Nidi and Ashley directed their characters toward the garden door.
The blonde maid unlocked it with a key.
Annie: The door's open. I'm heading back to rest. I hope you finish your investigation soon and stop bothering me.
Jack: Ms. Annie, whether you're telling the truth or not, I'll find out what's going on!
Annie: The truth exists only in God's eyes. We mortals can't see it.
Nidi piped up. "I bet this blonde maid is hiding something. She's definitely lying!"
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, that last line felt like a hint."
The game's protagonists echoed Nidi and Ashley's suspicions as they entered the garden.
The garden's centerpiece was a massive hedge maze, a status symbol in certain periods of European and American history, representing wealth and power.
(Hedge Maze)
Building and maintaining a hedge maze took serious time and money, not to mention hiring gardeners to keep it in check. Otherwise, the plants would grow wild.
The maze in Dr. Stoke's mansion was clearly neglected.
Dr. Stoke said only three people lived here—one of them dead—so there was no way they could maintain a maze like this.
Trimming plants was hard work, and women rarely took on gardening roles.
Jack: Look over there—a tower! That scream probably came from there.
Nico: Guess we've got to go through this maze. Jack, I've got a bad feeling about this.
Jack: Me too. But some things have to be done.
Nidi and Ashley steered their characters into the overgrown maze.
In real life, you'd just go around, but in a game, you're stuck following the designed path.
The maze was full of obstacles—wild, uncontrolled plants—but it wasn't too complex.
The real problem was the increasing number of female corpses crawling out from corners, trying to give the protagonists a deadly hug.
The game's difficulty spiked, throwing Ashley into a panic.
Fortunately, Nidi was a pro. Even with a rookie like Ashley, she held her own, though they burned through ammo and health items fast.
Suddenly, a red figure flashed by, startling both Nidi and Ashley.
"Nidi, did something just dart past?" Ashley asked.
"Looked like a woman!" Nidi replied.
At that moment, all three girls felt the living room's temperature drop, goosebumps rising.
"Why's it so cold? Did someone turn down the AC?" Jennifer asked, rubbing her arms as she stood to check the thermostat.
But as she got up, a red figure zipped past outside, making her scream.
The scream startled the other three.
"What? What's wrong?" Roy asked, jumping up to steady Jennifer.
"I-I think I just saw a ghost!" she stammered.
Roy sighed. "Jennifer, it's just a ghost. What's there to be scared of?"
Jennifer blinked. "Oh, right. Why am I scared?"
As a witch with demon blood, a mere ghost was nothing to her. Even a spirit lord might not stand a chance.
Then she remembered something. "Wait, that ghost looked exactly like the one in the game!"
Now that was interesting.
"You're saying the game's ghost showed up here?" Roy asked.
He activated his True Sight, his dark golden pupils scanning the room. Aside from some dark energy lingering, nothing stood out.
But when his gaze landed on the gaming console, he noticed something.
"Interesting. That game disc is a magical artifact."
"What?" Jennifer and Nidi said in unison, shocked. They hadn't sensed anything from the disc.
"The disc's magical aura is faint, just an anchor point, so it's normal you didn't pick up on it," Roy explained.
"So someone used this disc to anchor a space? What's their goal?" Nidi asked, eyeing the Xbox curiously.
"Keep playing, and we'll find out. You guys want to continue?" Roy asked Nidi and Ashley.
He wasn't worried—whatever level of ghost they faced, it couldn't touch him.
"This is getting fun. I'm in!" Nidi said, licking her lips and giving Roy a pleading look.
Ashley hesitated. As an ordinary human, she lacked Nidi's abilities. "Roy, let me play with Nidi. This way, we can have a proper showdown!" Jennifer cut in, not forgetting their earlier competition.
The original rules were out the window, so she proposed new ones.
Nidi grinned confidently at Jennifer. "You're toast, Jennifer. I don't lose at games!"
"Set the rules first. We split the items between the two characters. Whoever's character dies first loses. Sound good?"
"Deal!" Nidi agreed.
Ashley handed her controller to Jennifer and plopped into Roy's lap, feeling safer there with ghosts possibly lurking.
The game resumed.
After the earlier fight, the characters made it through the maze and reached the tower.
A cutscene triggered.
As Jack and Nico climbed the tower's steps, they heard hoofbeats but saw no horses.
Nico: Jack, you hear that? Hoofbeats?
Jack: Yeah, but I don't see any horses!
Nico: So where's it coming from?
Jack: I think—watch out!
Jack shoved Nico aside as a shadowy Headless Horseman appeared, the source of the hoofbeats.
Nico: What the hell is that?
Jack: Looks like a ghost.
Nico: A ghost? You serious?
Jack: You saw it too, didn't you?
Nico: Damn it! I feel like I'm losing my mind!
Jack: No time to think. It's turning back for another charge!
The cutscene ended, and the characters were controllable again.
The Headless Horseman was clearly a boss, and they'd need to defeat it to reach the tower.
Nidi reacted fast, knowing boss fights often had supplies nearby. After pinpointing the Horseman, she rushed to grab items.
Jennifer, less experienced, followed Nidi's lead and started collecting too.
But the Horseman turned invisible at a distance and charged at high speed, making it easy to get ambushed from blind spots.
Its attacks hit hard—half their health in one blow.
After each taking a hit, Nidi and Jennifer stopped scavenging and focused on taking down the Horseman first.
Despite competing, they worked well together, positioning their characters back-to-back to minimize the split-screen's limited visibility.
"I see it!" Jennifer shouted, spotting the Horseman's shadow. She fired several shots, but the boss didn't react, meaning her bullets did no damage.
"That's weird. The bullets aren't working?" she said.
"Let me try!" Nidi turned her character and fired, but the Horseman kept coming.
"What's going on?" Jennifer asked, starting to panic. Her movement skills were nowhere near Nidi's, and if they didn't find a way to fight this boss, her character would die first.
"There's gotta be a mechanic we're missing!" Nidi said.
Then Ashley, nestled in Roy's lap, had a realization. "Did you guys forget there's something in your inventory?"
Her words clicked for both Nidi and Jennifer—they needed to use the roses.
But there were only four roses, two in each character's inventory. The question was who'd use them first.
"Nidi, why don't you go first?" Jennifer suggested.
"Why should I? Let's see who lasts longer," Nidi shot back.
The Blonde Maid from Among Ashes